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Good Friday Morning! Except to Las Vegas. If you’ve followed economic news for a while, you may be aware that the city of sin is ailing with tourists emptying out. What you may not know, because I surely did not until yesterday, is that Vegas has around 1,500 “mole people” living below the strip.
That’s an exact quote from the Daily Mail which interviewed some of the people who live there. The reports claims there are an “stimated 1,500 people, many of whom are drug, alcohol or gambling addicts, who live underneath the glittering Strip in a vast 600-mile system of storm drain tunnels built in the early 1990s.”
The Daily Mail isn’t making up the term, either. Because you get this sentence on one of the people interview: “Natasha is unusual among what some call ‘mole people’ – a term discouraged by the volunteers who help them and prefer to call them ‘unhoused’ – in that she is wearing clean clothes and her hair looks freshly washed.”
It’s a wild story. And I’m only scratching the surface with these quotes. Homelessness out west remains unlike anything I’ve ever seen in America.
Quick Hits:
- History sometimes rhymes. On October 9, 2009, Barack Obama received the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” I had to thank ABC News for posting the “This Day in History” link on social media. Because on October 8, 2025, Donald Trump cut a deal to free all the hostages in the Israel/Hamas war in Gaza. It’s his umpteenth Middle East Peace deal going back to the Abraham Accords. I know why Trump won’t win a Nobel Peace Prize. It’s just ironic to get reminded of why he won’t get one when he’s cutting a literal historic peace deal, something Obama could never claim.
- The American Almanac is growing! Hundreds of thousands of people now read us daily. I want to express my sincere gratitude to those of you who subscribe, share, and help us grow. You can subscribe here for free. Additionally, please check out Capital Digest (finance/economics), Conservative Legal News, and Real Talk Digest. There are more projects in the pipeline. If you don’t see anything in your inbox a day after signing up, check your spam folder.
Where you can find me this week
Please subscribe, rate, and review The Horse Race on YouTube — the reviews help listeners, and readers like you find me. Make sure to sign up for the Conservative Institute’s daily newsletter and The American Almanac.
Jay Jones Should Resign The Virginia AG Race – Conservative Institute
Republicans Should Repeal Obamacare, Not Save It – Conservative Institute
Yes, Trump Deserves The Nobel Peace Prize – Conservative Institute
Left-Wing Violence Begets More Violence
We had another left-wing terrorist arrested this week, this time trying to use bombs. The country is fortunate nothing happened, but it’s a reminder that the threat isn’t going away. In fact, it’s growing.
Police arrested and charged “Louis Geri, 41, of Vineland, N.J., who had a tent set up on the top of the stairs leading to St. Matthew’s Cathedral with more than 200 handmade destructive devices inside, including bottle rockets and Molotov cocktails, the Washington Post reported.
The location is crucial because it was the Red Mass at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington D.C., “an annual service marking the start of a new Supreme Court term and honoring the judiciary. Several justices normally attend the Mass, but the incident prevented them from doing so Sunday.”
When police searched him, they found papers and a notebook. “Per court records, the pages expressed animosity toward the Catholic Church, Supreme Court justices, members of Judaism, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
If this sounds familiar, it should. These motivations are pretty close to what we’ve seen from other left-wing killers.
At the same time this is happening, Attorney General candidate Jay Jones, a Democrat, is struggling to explain why he sent texts wishing death on his Republican colleagues, specifically that they be shot. When asked about it in interviews and debates, Democrats don’t have much of an answer.
It’s no wonder, looking at this, that Steve Kornacki is pouring cold water on Democrats for the midterms. Kornacki’s analysis is similar to mine. He added an observation about the parties’ popularity. Republicans are somehow more popular than Democrats right now. Kornacki notes:
Republicans in Trump’s first term, 27 percent average favorable score at this point. Democrats were up at 39 percent. There was a pretty clear imbalance there.
It worked to the favor of Democrats. What do you have right now when you run these same numbers? Well, again, neither one’s popular, but the Republicans are sitting at 41 favorable, the Democrats at 35 favorable, the Democrats are less popular than the Republicans now.
And that’s one of the things, when you look at midterm elections, the opposition party counts on getting a bit of a boost, just from being sort of a protest vehicle for anyone who’s got issues with the White House. Democrats, though, with numbers like that, you’ve got to worry a little bit. Are people wanting to send a message to them as well?
This partially explains why the shutdown is still going. Schumer has to prove something with no leverage. Otherwise, he could get canned.
Left-wing violence, without being able to channel its anger into the Democratic Party, is shifting to outright violence. And we’re not talking clashes with police, or even a burning city. We’re talking about assassinations, executions, and bombings.
The Democratic Party is sitting on a knife-edge right now. If this shutdown goes south on them, and the politics of this moment dictate that it does, they will lose even more of their marbles. If they can’t retake Congress in the midterms, they’re going to descend to an even deeper level of insanity.
The pivot will go from “Republicans steal Supreme Court seats,” to “Republicans steal elertions through gerrymandering/[insert random “ism” here].” It’s a party that loses more of its grip on reality with each passing day.
The shutdown and off-year elections are going to be instructive. If Republicans overperform, and there are signs they will despite all odds, Democrats will lose it.
That shift likely triggers more violence. It’s a concerning trend that feeds itself. I don’t see a way out at the moment, just more spiraling.
Links of the week
Dangerous funders fill Zohran Mamdani’s coffers – NYPost
Republicans See an Upset in Violent Texts From Virginia Democrat – NY Magazine
Contrast the White House Loves: Trump Gets Gaza Deal as Dems Continue Shutdown – RealClearPolitics
The Climate Movement Is Circling the Drain – The Liberal Patriot
Confederate Chaos in Chicago – John Kass
Condé Nast has turned into Commie Nast — publishing tributes to far-left pols and DSA propaganda – NYPost
X/Twitter Thread(s) of the week
Josh Hammer on the Charlie Kirk texts.
Satire of the week
Report: 83% Of Americans Just Want To Put On Sunglasses And Say ‘Let’s Do This’ – Onion
Bill Burr Lands Stand-Up Comedy Gig On Jabba’s Sail Barge – Babylon Bee
Study Finds Missing Sock Will Only Appear Once Matching Sock Has Been Executed – Reductress
Boyfriend Reports Good Part of Movie Coming Up – The Hard Times
Tragic: Obvious Wall Jump Spot Long Forgotten Before Wall Jump Unlocked – The Hard Drive
Construction Halted On Social Housing Site After Discovery Of Archeologically: Significant Millennium Time Capsule Buried By Primary School Children – Waterford Whispers News