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A 66-year-old grandmother traveled to an Aldi grocery store on the South Side of Chicago one afternoon earlier this month — and she had her 6-year-old grandson in tow, CWB Chicago reported.

After parking in the Aldi lot, the grandmother pulled her purse from the trunk of her black 2024 Buick SUV, and she and her grandson began walking toward the grocery store, the outlet said, citing a detention proffer from Cook County prosecutors.

Gilmore got away in the victim’s SUV, prosecutors told the outlet, adding that surveillance video captured the June 8 incident in its entirety.

But what began as an everyday shopping trip soon took a terrifying turn.

RELATED: Second suspect arrested after suburban Chicago couple obediently handed over valuables to armed males in front of their home

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Prosecutors told CWB Chicago that 18-year-old Keshawn Gilmore confronted the grandmother with a black handgun and demanded the grandmother’s keys and even “grappled” with her as her young grandson stood nearby.

Gilmore got away in the victim’s SUV, prosecutors told the outlet, adding that surveillance video captured the June 8 incident in its entirety.

The suspect soon ran out of luck, however.

License plate readers on the Dan Ryan Expressway picked up the stolen SUV around 4:30 p.m., CWB Chicago said, adding that Chicago police spotted the vehicle around 30 minutes later near 19th Street and Albany.

RELATED: ‘I’ll blow your head off’: Carjacking victim threatened crook after turning the tables on him. Now carjacker learns his fate.

Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Gilmore was behind the wheel, prosecutors told the outlet, adding that two passengers also were in the vehicle.

More from CWB Chicago:

When officers tried to stop the vehicle, Gilmore allegedly sped off, running red lights and stop signs. But the chase ended two minutes later when Gilmore crashed at 3200 South Kedzie, ejecting a juvenile passenger from the SUV’s back seat. All three occupants, including the juvenile, fled. But cops caught Gilmore, still wearing the same clothing seen in the Aldi video, officials said.

Police allegedly found a Glock handgun on the driver’s floorboard, its “distinct shape” matching the weapon in the store video, and a second handgun on the passenger floorboard, prosecutors said in a detention petition.

Judge Shauna Boliker ordered Gilmore detained as a safety risk, the outlet said, adding that he faces charges of aggravated vehicular hijacking, aggravated fleeing, aggravated possession of a weapon, unlawful transportation of a stolen vehicle, and resisting police.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday told Blaze News that Gilmore was still in custody with no bond listed.

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​Arrest, Carjacking, Chicago, Grandmother, Grandson, Crash, Police chase, Aldi, Crime 

On a recent episode of “Kibbe on Liberty,” Matt Kibbe sat down with nationally recognized political changemaker Steven Olikara, senior fellow for political transformation at the USC Schwarzenegger Institute and the founder of Millennial Action Project (now Future Caucus), the largest nonpartisan organization of young elected leaders in the U.S.

In their conversation, the two expressed their hopes that populism — a political approach that aims to represent the interests of commoners against a perceived elite or establishment — will eventually conquer the two-party system that crushes the voice of the people.

The current political culture in America, says Olikara, has both Republicans and Democrats saying, “We know what’s best for you,” but what they should be saying is, “We want to hear from you.”

Kibbe, a self-described “libertarian populist,” agrees, arguing that populism is “the right side of history because the other side is the machine” — “a collusion of government power and corporate power.”

The question is, can populism garner enough support to break the political establishment?

The answer, says Olikara, is yes. Support for populism is high. The issue is the entrenched elites who rig the system to snuff out any non-establishment opponent.

In his experience campaigning in the 2022 U.S. Senate primary in Wisconsin as a Democrat with a strong bent towards populism, his team would “get the most applause out of all the candidates” at campaign events, and yet they could rarely secure a debate to get their “ideas out to a statewide audience” because “all the other campaigns in the party were making an extra effort to make sure there were no debates.”

On the rare occasion he did secure a debate, he was often declared the winner. However, “just as those sparks were flying, the Democratic establishment effectively ended the race 10 days before the election,” says Olikara. “They said, ‘We don’t want to wait to hear what the people have to say. We’re going to violate our bylaws and endorse the establishment candidate.”’

Despite Olikara’s popularity, Mandela Barnes, a well-known Democrat with strong party support, was endorsed by key figures, making his win in the primary nearly certain.

“I got phone calls from a number of senior Democratic leaders calling to apologize to me why they’re not only breaking their bylaws but breaking their promise that they had made to me to be neutral in the primary,” says Olikara, noting that these leaders will admit they’re more concerned about money and control than the people’s voices being heard.

“If you just let ideas breathe a little bit, if you let people express their voices, that’s the kind of democracy I believe in,” he says.

Kibbe shares Olikara’s sentiments, comparing the current two-party system to having “Taylor Swift” or “the most obnoxious country musician” as your only options for music. “I like the democracy that is Spotify, where I can listen to my weird, very fringy … versions of music that I like,” he analogizes.

Unfortunately, for now it’s Swift or honky-tonk. “They make it so that you have to choose their candidate or that really bad guy on the other side,” Kibbe laments. “We go through this cycle every two to four years, and it’s pretty disheartening for anybody that imagines that we could give people in democratic America choices that they would actually be proud of.”

However, President Trump’s 2016 rise to power as a system-breaker is proof that populist movements can challenge the two-party establishment.

“He’s the first guy to sort of take over a party, at least since maybe since Abe Lincoln,” says Kibbe. “Now he is the party, so it was impossible to run against him in his last primary.” But even though Trump proved the system could be broken, “the Democrats seem still hell-bent on preventing a real primary.”

Olikara is hopeful that in 2028, Democrats will allow “the first truly open democratic primary since 2007 and 2008,” when Barack Obama — “not the establishment candidate” — “emerged and defeated the Clinton machine,” a victory he says is “on par with Trump winning the 2016 Republican primary against the establishment.”

“The moment is perfect for it — like there’s clearly no field-clearing candidate. It’s wide-open. Democrats are in the wilderness now, which usually means a new voice, a new movement, can emerge,” he says. “It’s all set up for them, and yet there’s a good chance they still shoot themselves in the foot.”

To hear more of the conversation, watch the episode above.

Want more from Matt Kibbe?

To enjoy more of Matt’s liberty-defending stance as he gets in the face of the fake news establishment, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Matt kibbe, Libertarian, Populism, Donald trump, Barak obama, Steven olikara, Blazetv, Blaze media, Kibbe on liberty 

I spent the first nine months of my life separated from my mother — not because of cruelty or neglect, but because Ireland enforced its immigration laws.

My mother, a U.S. citizen in her late 20s, traveled to Ireland to visit her brother while pregnant with me. Medical complications during her pregnancy made further air travel unsafe, and she overstayed her visa. After my birth, Ireland’s immigration rules required her to leave while officials sorted out my paperwork.

A nation without enforcement invites chaos, and chaos always hurts the most vulnerable first.

As a result, I — a U.S. citizen by birth and by heritage — spent my infancy with a foster family in a foreign country.

I don’t blame Ireland for enforcing its laws. I don’t blame my mother for traveling when it was risky. Life handed us a difficult situation, but the government didn’t become the villain. That experience taught me a truth that applies directly to America’s current debate over deportation and family separation.

Enforcement isn’t cruelty

My story doesn’t qualify as a sob story. It’s simply the fact of the matter. For years, activists and media outlets have flooded Americans with emotional tales of children separated from their parents during deportation. The usual narrative paints Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as soulless monsters tearing families apart for sport.

That’s nonsense.

I lived through separation. I understand the pain. But I also understand something else: Nations enforce laws not because they’re heartless, but because they must.

RELATED: One bad order could undermine Trump’s strongest issue

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

My mother’s visa violation led to our temporary separation. The U.S. does the same to those who violate our immigration laws. These actions don’t stem from hatred or malice. They serve the purpose of preserving order, national sovereignty, and the rule of law.

I know what loss feels like

I spent my earliest months far from the woman who gave me life. I never had the chance to meet my father — he was murdered before I could know him. My mother died of cancer when I was 7. Separation and loss defined my childhood.

But I’ve never blamed the Irish government for upholding its laws. Immigration enforcement didn’t cause my father’s death. It didn’t cause my mother’s cancer. Life brings tragedy, sometimes with no one to blame.

Emotional pain doesn’t make law enforcement unjust. It makes law enforcement necessary. Countries must uphold their borders. And when they fail to do so, real people suffer — on both sides of the law.

The American system is under siege

The United States faces a historic immigration crisis.

In 2019, during President Trump’s first term, ICE arrested approximately 143,000 aliens and removed more than 267,000. In 2024, under Joe Biden, those numbers shifted: 113,431 arrests, 271,484 removals — despite over 11 million border encounters during his term. That dwarfs the roughly 3 million encounters under Trump’s entire administration.

The Department of Homeland Security also reports that 1.4 million inadmissible aliens received parole into the country’s interior. As of mid-2024, nearly 650,000 criminal illegal aliens remained on ICE’s non-detained docket — free to roam the United States.

That doesn’t seem like compassion. That’s more like collapse.

These figures signal a breakdown of accountability. And when laws go unenforced at this scale, tragedy doesn’t just grow — it multiplies.

Responsibility, not blame

I only had a handful of years with my mother. I understand the impulse to blame something — or someone — when that kind of pain hits. But blame rarely leads to truth. It deflects responsibility and gives emotional suffering a temporary target.

It’s a political crutch as much as a psychological one. But what if we stopped pointing fingers and started taking responsibility? Every choice brings consequences. That’s not cruelty — it’s Newton’s third law in action.

Walk into someone’s home uninvited, and that person has every right to call the police. Try to explain away the trespass, and it won’t change the fact that the law exists to protect the homeowner. If we accept that principle at the level of private property, we should respect it at the level of national borders.

Not every story is the same

My situation 30 years ago was different from what we see today. My mother, aside from a parking ticket, had no criminal history. She didn’t intend to break the law. In contrast, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 44% of prosecuted illegal immigrants today already have a criminal record.

I didn’t arrive in America through human smugglers. I wasn’t trafficked. I wasn’t handed over to a fraudulent sponsor.

I came home because my grandfather — a World War II veteran and political organizer — fought for me. He used every resource he had, including connections to Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), to bring me back to the United States. I flew across the Atlantic on the lap of a decorated American soldier, finally returning to the country that already recognized me as its own.

We owe the next generation better

That’s why I can’t accept the argument that lawlessness is compassion. It isn’t.

We owe it to every child born here, raised here, or separated like I was not to replace justice with sentimentality. A nation without enforcement invites chaos, and chaos always hurts the most vulnerable first.

This debate isn’t about cruelty. It’s about sovereignty. It’s about clarity. It’s about preserving a system that works for those who follow the law — and holding accountable those who don’t.

​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, Immigration, Immigration crisis, Immigrants, Immigration enforcement, Law enforcement, Donald trump, Immigration and customs enforcement, Deportations, Visa overstay 

The globalist fairy tale is finally unraveling — and not a moment too soon.

For decades, Americans were sold the shiny promise of globalization: open markets, booming trade, cheaper goods, and peace through economic integration. But behind the glittering sales pitch was a brutal reality — the slow, deliberate hollowing out of the American middle class.

Trump’s tariffs are not just about trade. They’re about rebuilding what our elites sold off piece by piece.

Enough of this.

President Donald Trump’s recent announcement on tariffs sent the elites — those who profited most from this decades-long experiment — into full panic mode, and for good reason. Their gravy train may finally be running out of track.

This isn’t about economic theory. This is about the lives, livelihoods, and dignity of the American people — especially those in towns and cities that once hummed with the sound of industry.

How it started

The North American Free Trade Agreement was the appetizer in a global feast that served American manufacturing to foreign competitors on a silver platter. Even President Bill Clinton, at the NAFTA signing ceremony in 1993, seemed eager to get past the domestic details and embrace the coming wave of globalization.

By the early 2000s, the United States was importing at unprecedented rates. Today, the trade deficit with the European Union alone is $235 billion. That’s not trade — that’s surrender. Our deficit with Europe hasn’t fallen below $100 billion since 2011.

None of this happened by accident.

It began with a handshake in 1972, when President Richard Nixon traveled to Mao Zedong’s China. At the time, China was riding bicycles and rationing rice. No one imagined that opening the door to trade would lead to the economic superpower we face today.

But by 2001, that door had been blasted open. China joined the World Trade Organization, committing to lower tariffs and removing trade barriers. American markets were flooded with cheap Chinese goods — and American workers were left holding an empty lunch pail.

The result was a trade deficit with China that ballooned to $295 billion last year. That’s the largest deficit we have with any country. Our total trade deficit in 2024 was a record $1.2 trillion — the fourth consecutive year topping $1 trillion.

The human toll

The fallout from this one-sided relationship with China is staggering. A 2016 MIT study found that, in the decade following China’s World Trade Organization entry, the U.S. lost 2.4 million jobs — nearly a million in manufacturing alone. The researchers concluded that international trade makes low-skilled workers in America “worse off — not just temporarily, but on a sustained basis.”

You’d think a quote like that would be plastered across every office in Congress. But no. The political class — especially on the left — chose to ignore it.

Instead, they wring their hands in confusion when working-class Americans turn to a leader like Donald Trump. “Why are they so angry?” they ask, while standing atop the wreckage of towns they helped dismantle.

About that wreckage

In Galesburg, Illinois, Maytag once employed 5,000 workers. The last refrigerator rolled off the line in 2004. The site is now rubble and weeds.

Youngstown, Ohio — once a titan of American steel — has lost 60% of its population since the 1970s. Gary, Indiana, once home to U.S. Steel’s largest mill, has over 10,000 abandoned buildings. In Flint, Michigan, over 80,000 GM jobs vanished. By 2016, over half of men ages 25 to 54 in Flint were unemployed. Buick City, once a symbol of industrial might, was demolished in 2002.

Detroit, once richer than Boston, is now 40% poorer. The U.S. auto parts industry lost 419,000 jobs in the decade after China joined the WTO.

Even NPR admitted that “the China Shock created what looked like miniature Great Depressions” in these areas.

From dream to despair

Between 2000 and 2014, America lost 5 million manufacturing jobs — the steepest decline in American history.

Meanwhile, in the same time period, corporate profits soared 600%. CEO pay has ballooned to 290 times that of the average worker. In 1965, it was 21 times. Since 1978, CEO compensation has grown by over 1,000%. Regular worker pay? Just 24%.

They told us the rising tide would lift all boats. Turns out, it mostly lifted yachts. And the rest of the boats? Capsized.

This economic assault came with a steep psychological toll.

A 2017 Princeton study found a link between rising deaths of despair — suicide, alcoholism, drug overdoses — and job losses in trade-exposed areas.

Since 1999, overdose deaths in America have increased sixfold. In Ohio, they rose 1,000% between 2001 and 2017. The hardest-hit areas? Deindustrialized, working-class communities.

The American middle class is vanishing. In 1971, 61% of households were middle class. By 2023, it was just 51%. In 1950, manufacturing jobs made up 30% of total U.S. employment. Today, they make up just 8%.

RELATED: Why tariffs are the key to America’s industrial comeback

Bet_Noire via iStock/Getty Images

There are fewer Americans working in manufacturing today than there were in 1941 — before we entered World War II — despite our population more than doubling.

This collapse hit black workers especially hard. Between 1998 and 2020, more than 646,000 manufacturing jobs held by black Americans disappeared — a 30% loss in that sector.

A reckoning long overdue

Trump’s tariff push is a long-overdue confrontation with the failed consensus of globalization. For 25 years, the arrangement has been spectacular — for China and for U.S. corporations chasing cheap labor. But for America’s workers and towns, it has been catastrophic.

Yes, the corporate press is scoffing. CBS News recently “fact-checked” Trump and Vice President JD Vance’s claim that America has lost 90,000 factories since NAFTA. The correct number, they said, was actually 70,500.

Oh? Only 70,500? As if that’s supposed to be reassuring.

These aren’t merely statistics. These are livelihoods — entire communities turned into ghost towns. Every shuttered factory was once a promise of stability, dignity, and upward mobility. And with each closure, that promise was betrayed.

We’ve allowed globalization to crush the backbone of this country — the working men and women who don’t show up on CNBC but who built the very foundation we all stand on.

Trump’s tariffs are not just about trade. They’re about sovereignty. They’re about self-respect. They’re about rebuilding what our elites sold off piece by piece.

This is not a perfect plan. But it’s the first real attempt in decades to confront the human cost of globalization. It’s a wager that America can still choose dignity over dependence, self-sufficiency over servitude.

Let’s hope we’re not too late.

​Opinion & analysis, Free trade myth, Free trade, Tariffs, Rust belt, Globalization, Nafta, Bill clinton, China, World trade organization, Trade deficit, Debt, Jobs, Offshore, Reshoring, Exports, Imports, Richard nixon, Mao zedong, Mit, Gary indiana, Galesburg illinois, Flint michigan, Youngstown ohio, Ceo, Salaries, Drugs, Addiction, Overdose deaths, Manufacturing, World war ii 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine revealed stunning new details following President Donald Trump’s historic strikes against Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday.

Hegseth and Caine confirmed deception was involved to execute “Operation Midnight Hammer,” commending the American military who “performed flawlessly” during the mission. Part of the fleet of B-2 bombers flew West over the Pacific as a decoy while the “main strike package” headed East before striking Iran at about 6:40 pm Eastern Standard Time.

‘When this president speaks, the world should listen.’

Hegseth also clarified that only the Iranian nuclear targets were “devastated” and that civilians were not targeted.

“Many presidents have dreamed of delivering the final blow to Iran’s nuclear program, and none could, until President Trump,” Hegseth told reporters during a press conference Sunday. “The operation President Trump planned was bold and it was brilliant, showing the world that American deterrence is back when this president speaks, the world should listen.”

“No other country on planet Earth could have conducted the operation that the chairman is going to outline this morning, not even close,” Hegseth added.

RELATED: President Trump threatens Iran with further attacks in national address touting ‘spectacular military success’

Caine also confirmed that American troops in the region were not notified in advance of the strikes, but were placed on high alert due to increasing tension and risk in the region.

“This operation underscores the unmatched capabilities and global reach of the United States military,” Caine said. “As the President clearly said last night, no other in the military in the world could have done this.”

Operation Midnight Hammer was executed without any internal leaks, only notifying members of Congress immediately after the strike took place.

Hegseth also reiterated that the president does not intend to escalate the conflict to a full blown war, but has threatened Iran with further military action if they retaliate.

RELATED: Praise, prayers, and impeachment: Reactions pour in following US attack on Iran

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

“As President Trump has stated, the United States does not seek war, but let me be clear,” Hegseth said. ‘We will act swiftly and decisively when our people, our partners, or our interests are threatened. Iran should listen to the president of the United States and know that he means of it every word.”

Trump announced the attack shortly after he arrived at the White House on Saturday afternoon. Notably, the president didn’t speak with the press when he stepped off of Marine One and onto the South Lawn, but he did pause to admire his new towering flag poles before entering the White House.

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​Donald trump, Pete hegseth, Dan caine, Dod, Department of defense, Israel, Iran, Middle east, Iran strike, Iran bombing, Iran nuclear program, Operation midnight hammer, White house, Trump administration, Peace through strength, No new wars, Politics 

It took only one Bible passage to expose the myth of leftist “tolerance.”

On June 13, the Los Angeles Dodgers hosted their annual “Pride Night,” a celebration of LGBTQ ideology and activism. As part of the special night, Dodgers players wore special-edition team caps featuring the Dodgers logo overlaid with rainbow colors.

Christians believe that Jesus is Lord of all creation — including over culture, identity, and sexuality.

Enter Clayton Kershaw, the teams’s 10-time All-Star pitcher and committed Christian. He decided to add his own special touch to his cap. Inscribed next to the rainbow-colored team logo, Kershaw wrote: Gen. 9:12-16.

It was a subtle yet powerful reminder that the LGBTQ lobby does not own the rainbow — but God does.

Bible basics

The passage that Kershaw referenced on his cap points to one of the most famous stories in the Bible.

After God destroyed the earth with the flood, God made a covenant with his servant Noah and all creation in which he promised never again to destroy creation with the chaos waters. The sign of that covenant, God explained, is the rainbow.

Genesis 9:12–16:

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations: I have placed my bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all the living creatures: water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature. The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the permanent covenant between God and all the living creatures on earth.”

The Hebrew word for “bow” in Genesis 9 is the same Hebrew word that means a bow used in war and hunting. Interestingly, nearly every usage of the word in the Old Testament refers to the weapon, the only exceptions being in Genesis 9 and Ezekiel 1:28.

The meaning of the rainbow is significant: It’s a sign of God’s power, his promises, and his mercy — not personal pride in sin and anti-God ideologies.

Leftist (in)tolerance

Like clockwork, leftists (ironically) unable to coexist with people who disagree with them blasted Kershaw. One viral X post summed up their outrage.

“Clayton Kershaw will always be a Dodger great, but it’s things like this that make him a lot less likable. Just wear the hat. Be a tolerant Christian and accept that there are others who believe differently than you,” the post reads.

The message behind the post is obvious: Submit. Shut up. Keep your Christianity to yourself.

This is the kind of “tolerance” leftists demand. It no longer means disagreeing respectfully or giving people space to live by their own reasonable convictions. In the leftist worldview, “tolerance” is a one-way street — and there’s no room for any views but theirs.

Ironically, the demand for “tolerance” pretends that a double standard doesn’t exist. While leftists want Christians to be tolerant of the LGBTQ agenda, they’re simultaneously demonstrating intolerance for Christianity. Leftist “tolerance” is a core lie of the liberal agenda, and it’s how you know the demand for “tolerance” from everyone else is not genuine.

Truth untamed

To modern leftists, “tolerance” is silence, compliance, affirmation, and total surrender — or else. The problem is that Christianity doesn’t operate on these terms.

Faith in Jesus is not a hobby. It’s an all-encompassing truth claim that changes literally everything. Christians believe that Jesus is Lord of all creation — including over culture, identity, and sexuality.

To be “tolerant” in the way that leftists demand — such as embracing, promoting, and affirming anti-God ideologies — would require Christians to reject the lordship of Jesus Christ. This “tolerance” guts Christianity of its moral clarity and truth claims, and it reduces Jesus to a private guru who never makes demands of us. And the “tolerant” Jesus that leftists imagine certainly never contradicts LGBTQ ideology.

But the real Jesus doesn’t bend to the leftist agenda. Real Christianity bears witness to truth, speaks with conviction, and refuses to be muzzled. When God’s truth is weaponized and his symbols are co-opted for anti-God ideologies, Christians must stand up and speak out with conviction, wisdom, and clarity.

That’s exactly what Kershaw did. Leftists hate this because biblical truth spoken by bold Christians is both a light that illuminates leftist lies and a disinfectant that wipes them away.

Reclaim the rainbow

In this cultural moment, Christians live under constant pressure to compromise. Leftists love Christians who stay quiet, keep their heads down, and privatize their faith, but despise Christians who dare challenge the leftist agenda and stand up for biblical truth.

But Kershaw didn’t back down. His simple protest reclaimed the true meaning of the rainbow, exposed the leftist double standard on “tolerance,” and reminded Christians how to act courageously in a culture that looks down on biblical truth.

Let us follow Kershaw’s lead.

Reclaim the rainbow. Boldly stand on God’s truth. And never cower to leftist demands for “tolerance.”

​Clayton kershaw, Leftist ideology, Lgbtq agenda, Lgbtq ideology, Leftist intolerance, Mlb, Rainbow, Christianity, Christian, Biblical truth, God, Bible, Genesis, Faith 

June is the wonderful time of year when we get to witness deranged adults drag their children to “family-friendly” Pride events to watch heavily made-up men in lingerie dance provocatively — all in the name of inclusion.

As part of the Texas Family Project, Sara Gonzales spends the month infiltrating these LGBTQ+ festivals to expose the sexual depravity that is anything but family-friendly. On this episode of “Come and Take It,” Sara reveals the darkness she recently uncovered at two “all-ages” Texas Pride festivals.

Dallas Pride Music Festival

The first event Sara attended was hosted at Fair Park in Dallas.

“So I get there, and I go through the gate, and I go through the metal detector, and I immediately walk into a room, and I am greeted by a booth with naked man paintings,” she says, playing video footage she took from the event that captures an art exhibit selling male nude artwork.

“There was a child that was, like, literally right there. … That’s not crazy sexual indoctrination at all,” she says sarcastically.

Around the corner, Sara encountered a “sexual health clinic” offering “free condoms and HIV testing and ‘PrEP’” — a medication regimen used to prevent HIV infection in individuals who are at high risk but are not infected.

“Really weird stuff to be putting out, displaying in front of kids,” says Sara, noting that there were numerous HIV-related booths present.

The most disgusting vendors, however, were the ones selling apparel. One T-shirt booth was selling shirts with sayings such as “Eat p***y it’s healthy,” “My ex hates my guts because he couldn’t reach them,” “I like boys that lick boys,” “Girls eat it better,” and “Overworked and underf**ked” — “all in view of children” who ranged from babies to high schoolers.

Another booth sold LGBTQ-themed books, including some children’s books, as well as stickers with sayings such as “F**k Trump,” “Be gay, do crime,” “Bad witch vibes,” “Live fast, eat ass,” “Poor and horny,” and “A trans person peed here.” Perhaps worst of all was a sticker that said “Daddy” over an image of Luigi Mangione, the alleged murderer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

To be expected, drag shows were also part of the festival. Sara plays a video compilation she took of various biological men — all of whom were scantily clad in women’s clothing — performing promiscuous routines in front of crowds that included children.

The entire event, from activities to merchandise, Sara says, was centered around “sex and degeneracy and perversion,” despite the family-friendly marketing.

Arlington Pride Festival

The second festival Sara attended was in Arlington, a suburb of Dallas. While it was “toned down” compared to last year’s event, which Sara describes as “absolutely crazy, reprehensible, [and] disgusting,” it nonetheless crossed several lines.

Thankfully, the wide range of “sex toys” from Arlington’s 2024 Pride festival had been axed, but there was still plenty of graphic dancing by drag queens, one of which was wearing a thong, as well as profane sayings on merchandise, sexual health clinics, and performances that included phrases like “show me your titties.”

Sara plays video footage of numerous children walking around the event decked out in rainbow Pride gear alongside their parents.

“This should not happen in the state of Texas,” she says.

To hear more about Sara’s discoveries, watch the episode above.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred take to news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Sara gonzales, Come and take it, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Blazetv, Blaze media, Texas, Texas family project, Pride month, June, Pride festival, Drag queens 

Every so often, an academic wrapped in the robes of theory decides to rewrite history — not to correct it, but to commandeer it.

The latest example comes from the Conversation, in which a University of Iowa scholar, Sarah Barringer, claims that Christianity has a “transgender” heritage. You heard that right: Saints who renounced the world to live in chastity and devotion are now being posthumously enlisted in a modern identity crusade they never chose.

The modern obsession with identity — splintering the self into ever-narrower categories — is antithetical to the Christian ethos.

Let’s acknowledge the truth up front: There is no such thing as a “transgender saint.” There are saints who disguised themselves, fled arranged marriages, and shaved their heads and donned robes to live among men in monasteries because that was the only place they could escape danger, obligation, or temptation.

But calling this “transness” is like calling Joan of Arc gender-fluid because she wore armor. It’s historical trespassing and spiritual identity theft dressed up as scholarship.

Faith, not fluidity

Consider St. Eugenia, St. Euphrosyne, and St. Marinos.

They weren’t confused teenagers raised on TikTok and identity slogans but were devout individuals who, in a brutal and hierarchical world, did what they had to do to escape danger, avoid forced marriage, or pursue a life of monastic devotion. Dressing as a man wasn’t some statement about “true gender” or an inner identity waiting to be expressed. Rather, it was strategy and self-preservation.

More than anything, they chose the path of intense spiritual focus in a world that gave women few choices.

They weren’t rewriting Genesis or making statements about biology. They were rejecting the noise of their time — power, status, family expectations — to live lives of sacrifice and submission to God.

These saints didn’t “identify” as anything — but only with Christ.

Leftists can’t comprehend it

To retrofit their stories into modern trans narratives isn’t just ahistorical — it’s grotesque. It’s a desecration of the very virtues they lived for: humility, chastity, obedience, and detachment from self. They weren’t looking inward to define themselves. They were looking upward to lose themselves.

That is the difference. That is what today’s leftist ideologues can’t comprehend, and it’s why they have no right to co-opt these lives for their own agendas.

The argument hinges on a dishonest conflation. Barringer admits these stories were “morality tales,” symbolic journeys about rejecting the world and embracing God. Yet somehow rejecting arranged marriage becomes an early form of identity politics and running from Roman militarism becomes evidence of internalized gender non-conformity.

It’s the theological equivalent of reading “The Iliad” and diagnosing Achilles with toxic masculinity.

The saints in question lived in monastic communities that demanded celibacy and asceticism. They weren’t changing genders; they were erasing self — not affirming identity, but crucifying it. Their bodies were temples, not canvases for self-expression.

To call this “transgender” is to confuse spiritual transformation with a social rebrand. One seeks union with God, but the other seeks alignment with self.

Desecrating the dead

Therein lies the real tension. Christianity, at its core, is not about affirming the self. It’s about dying to it.

“I no longer live, but Christ lives in me,” the apostle Paul wrote (Galatians 2:20) — not “I live my truth.”

But the modern obsession with identity — splintering the self into ever-narrower categories — is antithetical to the Christian ethos. You are not your urges. You are not your emotions. You are a soul, and you are called to holiness like Jesus Christ.

The irony is laughable. The same scholars who sneer at scripture’s authority now claim ownership of its saints. They reject Christianity as bigoted and outdated, yet raid its tombs for ideological mascots. It’s not a demonstration of reverence for Christianity’s ancient saints, but an attempt to rewrite the past to control the present.

Let the saints rest

We can’t pretend this is harmless. Redefining religious tradition to fit modern ideologies amounts to spiritual counterfeiting. It muddies doctrine, breeds confusion among believers, and turns the sacred into just another stage for performance politics.

If you want to find affirmation for trans identity, look to modern movements. Don’t twist the lives of ancient saints who had no concept of gender theory and would likely be horrified by what’s being done in their names.

Christianity welcomes the broken, the wounded, the uncertain — but not by sanctifying confusion.

So no, Christianity does not have a transgender heritage. It has a long and rich tradition of souls rejecting worldly labels to pursue something higher than themselves. That’s not a forerunner to modern identity politics. It’s the antidote to it.

Let the saints rest. Let the church speak. And let the past remain sacred.

​Christianity, Christians, Saints, Church history, Trans agenda, Trans ideology, Lgbtq agenda, Lqbtq ideology, Faith 

President Donald Trump addressed the nation on Saturday evening after the U.S. bombed Iran and joined Israel’s military campaign.

The president offered some further details about the attack and also warned Iran that it would face further strikes from the U.S. if Iranian leaders do not agree to a peace deal.

‘The strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.’

“Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number-one state sponsor of terror,” said the president. “Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.”

Behind the president during the address stood Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu,” the president continued. “We worked as a team, like perhaps no team has ever worked before, and we’ve gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel. I want to thank the Israeli military for the wonderful job they’ve done, and most importantly, I want to congratulate the great American patriots who flew those magnificent machines tonight and all of the United States military on an operation the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades. Hopefully we will no longer need their services in this capacity. “

RELATED: Tulsi Gabbard blames ‘dishonest media’ after Trump says she’s wrong about Iranian nuclear weapon development

The president went on to thank the military for the extraordinary success.

“There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days,” he said.

“Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight’s was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed, and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes. There’s no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight — not even close,” he added.

Trump closed by giving thanks to God.

“And I want to just thank everybody, and in particular God,” he concluded. “I want to just say we love you, God, and we love our great military — protect them. God bless the Middle East. God bless Israel, and God bless America. Thank you very much. Thank you.”

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​Trump national address, Trump strike on iran, Us strikes iran, Iran vs israel, Politics 

On Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that the United States had conducted attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities. As the news reverberates around the world, political leaders and pundits are weighing in, both in support of and in opposition to the president’s escalation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was one of the first to commend the president.

‘Who gives a flip what AOC says?’

“President Trump and I often say: ‘Peace through strength.’ First comes strength, then comes peace,” Netanyahu said in a post on X. “And tonight, President Donald Trump and the United States acted with a lot of strength.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also came out in support of the president, arguing that the attack will prevent the “world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism” from obtaining nuclear weapons.

“The military operations in Iran should serve as a clear reminder to our adversaries and allies that President Trump means what he says,” Johnson said in a post on X. “The President gave Iran’s leader every opportunity to make a deal, but Iran refused to commit to a nuclear disarmament agreement.”

“President Trump has been consistent and clear that a nuclear-armed Iran will not be tolerated,” Johnson added. “That posture has now been enforced with strength, precision, and clarity.”

RELATED: President Trump threatens Iran with further attacks in national address touting ‘spectacular military success’

Carlos Barria/Reuters/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Johnson’s counterpart in the Senate, Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), echoed the speaker’s support for the president.

“The regime in Iran, which has committed itself to bringing ‘death to America’ and wiping Israel off the map, has rejected all diplomatic pathways to peace,” Thune said in a post on X.

“I stand with President Trump and pray for the American troops and personnel in harm’s way.”

Although the president has secured support from top congressional Republicans, other lawmakers have been more critical. Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a longtime critic of continued American involvement in foreign wars, said the president’s attack was “not Constitutional” in a post on X. Notably, Massie is leading a bipartisan effort in the House to prohibit America’s involvement in Iran.

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia expressed a similar sentiment in an X post, saying, “The American public is overwhelmingly opposed to the U.S. waging war on Iran.”

“And the Israeli Foreign Minister admitted yesterday that Israeli bombing had set the Iranian nuclear program back ‘at least 2 or 3 years.’ So what made Trump recklessly decide to rush and bomb today? Horrible judgment,” Kaine said. “I will push for all Senators to vote on whether they are for this third idiotic Middle East war.”

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) took it a step farther and called for Trump to be impeached altogether.

“The President’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a post on X.

“He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations,” she added. “It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.”

Blaze Media co-founder Mark Levin has a starkly different take. He told Sean Hannity that despite those who believe a strike would irreversibly escalate the conflict, “Donald Trump just prevented World War 3.”

Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck encouraged onlookers to pray for all those involved, including Americans, Iranians, Israelis, and the president.

“I have been saying for almost two weeks now, pray for peace but prepare for fire” Beck said in a post on X. “I would imagine that Iran will take this as an act of war, as we would. But more importantly, I agree with Sean Davis. PRAY for peace, wisdom, the people of Iran, Israel, and OUR people. Our soldiers, sailors, and airmen and most of all our Commander in Chief. May he be led to The Lords will.”

Jason Buttrill, Beck’s head writer and a former intelligence analyst for the Department of Defense, cautioned against a rush to judgement about the results of the attack.

“It’s happened. We now wait to see where this goes,” Buttrill wrote in a post on X. “Will there be attacks on U.S. forces in the ME? Will we get more involved in the main assault? Will Iran activate cells in the U.S.? Do they still have the command and control to do so? Lots of questions.”

Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma had a blunter takeaway on Fox News.

“Who gives a flip what AOC says?”

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​Iran, War, Donald trump, Nuclear armament, Attack, Politics 

Residents of a neighborhood in Southern California are upset about the manner in which two gardeners were allegedly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The incident unfolded Thursday outside the home of Christopher Ames on Fifth Street in the city of Ontario. Ames told KTLA-TV his neighbors alerted him when they noticed that the gardeners were being detained.

‘I just think that’s wrong. … This is not the way we treat people, and this is not the way this country should be acting.’

“They left the lawn mower running right here on the front lawn,” Ames said. “They threw my gardeners’ phones in their [work truck], along with the car keys, left everything open, and just took off.”

The KTLA report showed how the arrest left Ames’ lawn halfway mowed.

Neighbors said the action bothered them.

“I understand people are just doing their jobs and people are here illegally,” said a woman named Rose, who said she watched the arrest from her home. “I get the entire picture. But to be scooped up in such a way, I just hope that they had the opportunity to reach out to their families.”

RELATED: Illegal alien activist group demands Phoenix end ‘racist’ police stops on broken taillights and tinted windows

Ames agreed.

“I just think that’s wrong,” he said. “This is not the way we treat people, and this is not the way this country should be acting.”

Later on Thursday evening, a family member named Luis picked up the truck and indicated to KTLA that the men had been taken by ICE agents. He said there was no contact yet from law enforcement about their detainment.

The Ontario Police Department confirmed to KTLA that ICE operations were performed in the city on Thursday morning. They would not comment on the specific case, however.

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​Ice nabs gardeners, Ontario ice operation, Socal residents vs ice, Trump deportations, Politics 

On Saturday evening, after Blaze News’ Rebeka Zeljko reported a press lid was called for the day at the White House, President Donald Trump announced via Truth Social that the United States had carried out a “successful attack on three nuclear sites in Iran.” The president’s post was shared by Secretary of State Marco Rubio via a post on X.”

— (@)

Earlier in the day, there were multiple reports that B2 bombers had left their base in Missouri. The destination was not known. It was speculated to be Diego Garcia where the U.S. Air Force keeps bombers or Iran. With the president’s post it appears that the destination was Iran.

Trump identified the nuclear sites hit as “Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan.” He further declared that “all planes are now outised of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow.”

This is a developing story and Blaze News will update throughout the night.

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​War, Iran, Donald trump, Nuclear, Politics 

When it comes to tariffs on foreign cars, President Trump seems to have a simple philosophy: “The higher you go, the more likely it is they build a plant here.”

This bold strategy is already showing results, with foreign automakers investing billions of dollars in American production. But it’s also raising costs for automakers and consumers.

When automakers build plants in the US, they create jobs not only in manufacturing but also in related industries like steel, logistics, and technology.

So what does this mean for the cars we drive, the jobs we create, and the prices we pay? Let’s dive into the details and unpack why this story matters to every American — and why you’ll want to understand the full impact.

Tariffs as a catalyst for US investment

Trump’s tariff strategy is straightforward: Make it more expensive to import vehicles, and automakers will have no choice but to build factories in the United States.

It’s a high-stakes chess move, and early signs suggest it’s working. General Motors recently announced a $4 billion investment in three U.S. plants, including a shift of some SUV production from Mexico to American soil.

Hyundai, too, made headlines in March with a $21 billion commitment, which includes a new U.S. steel plant. Trump didn’t mince words when he credited these moves to his tariff policies. “They wouldn’t have invested 10 cents if we didn’t have tariffs,” he said, pointing to the ripple effect on industries like American steel, which is seeing a resurgence.

RELATED: Revving up America: Trump’s Nippon Steel deal puts the pedal to the metal

Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

These investments are more than just numbers — they translate into jobs, economic growth, and a renewed sense of pride in American manufacturing. For communities hit hard by decades of outsourcing, the prospect of new factories is a beacon of hope. But the story isn’t all rosy. Automakers are feeling the pinch, and some of those costs are trickling down to consumers. The question is: Will the long-term gains outweigh the short-term pain?

The auto industry’s pushback

Not everyone is cheering Trump’s tariff plans. General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis have been vocal about their concerns, urging the White House to roll back the 25% tariffs imposed on imported autos. They argue that these tariffs drive up costs, making it harder to compete in a global market.

Adding fuel to the fire, automakers are frustrated by a recent deal that reduces tariffs on British car imports but leaves Canadian and Mexican production facing the full 25% levy. This discrepancy has created tension, as North American supply chains are deeply integrated, with parts and vehicles crossing borders multiple times before reaching showrooms.

Mexico, however, has secured a partial reprieve. Cars assembled in Mexico and exported to the U.S. will face an average tariff of 15%, thanks to reductions tied to the value of U.S. content in those vehicles. This compromise shows the complexity of Trump’s tariff strategy — it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, and automakers are navigating a maze of regulations to keep costs down. Still, the pressure is on, and companies are being forced to rethink their global production strategies.

The cost of tariffs: Who pays the price?

Tariffs are a double-edged sword. On one hand, they’re spurring investment in U.S. factories; on the other, they’re driving up costs for automakers and, ultimately, consumers.

Ford Motor recently raised prices on some models, citing tariff-related costs that are expected to shave $1.5 billion off its adjusted earnings.

General Motors is grappling with an even bigger hit, estimating its tariff exposure at $4 billion to $5 billion, with roughly $2 billion tied to affordable Chevrolet and Buick models imported from South Korea.

Subaru of America has also hiked prices, a move that reflects the broader industry trend.

For car buyers, this could mean sticker shock at dealerships. Higher production costs often lead to pricier vehicles, especially for entry-level models that rely on imported components.

The average American family shopping for a reliable sedan or SUV might feel the squeeze, particularly as inflation and supply-chain challenges already strain household budgets.

But there’s a silver lining: As automakers shift production to the U.S., new jobs and economic opportunities could offset some of these costs over time. The trade-off is real, and it’s worth exploring how this balance will play out.

It’s also important to note that there are over 2.5 million cars that are ready to sell that are pre-tariffed. So there are some deals out there if you shop around.

Why tariffs matter to you

You might be wondering: Why should I care about tariffs if I’m not in the auto industry?

The answer lies in the broader impact. Tariffs don’t just affect car prices — they shape the economy, influence job creation, and even touch on national pride. When automakers build plants in the U.S., they create jobs not only in manufacturing but also in related industries like steel, logistics, and technology. These are the kinds of jobs that sustain communities, from small towns in the Midwest to bustling industrial hubs.

Moreover, Trump’s tariff push is part of a larger conversation about America’s place in the global economy. By incentivizing domestic production, the administration aims to reduce reliance on foreign manufacturing, a move that resonates with many Americans who want to see “Made in the USA” mean something again.

But it’s not without risks. Higher tariffs could strain trade relationships with allies like Canada and Mexico, and they might invite retaliatory tariffs on American exports. The stakes are high, and the outcome will shape the auto industry — and the economy — for years to come.

The road ahead: What to watch for

As Trump hints at raising tariffs soon, all eyes are on how automakers will respond.

Will they increase U.S. investments, as GM and Hyundai have done, or will they find ways to absorb or pass on the costs? The Detroit Big Three are already under pressure to compete with foreign automakers, which may have more flexibility in navigating global supply chains. Meanwhile, consumers will be watching their wallets, weighing the benefits of American-made vehicles against the reality of higher prices.

Another key factor is the global response. Countries like Mexico and Canada, integral to the North American auto industry, may push back against U.S. tariffs, potentially escalating trade tensions.

At the same time, the steel industry, a beneficiary of Trump’s policies, could see further growth as demand for American-made materials rises. It’s a complex web of cause and effect, and the next few months will be critical in determining whether Trump’s gamble pays off.

Why you should share this story

This isn’t just an auto industry story — it’s an American story. Whether you’re a car enthusiast, a worker in a manufacturing town, or just someone who cares about the economy, Trump’s tariff strategy affects you. It’s about jobs, innovation, and the future of American industry. Stay informed about policies that could reshape the way we buy and drive cars.

So what’s the bottom line? Trump’s tariff push is a bold move to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., and it’s already yielding results with billions in new investments. But it comes with challenges — higher costs for automakers and consumers, trade tensions, and an uncertain road ahead. By reading this far, you’ve gotten a front-row seat to one of the most consequential economic debates of our time.

So let’s keep the conversation going. What do you think about Trump’s tariff strategy? Will it drive American innovation, or is it a risky bet? The answers are still unfolding, and you won’t want to miss what happens next.

​Tariffs, Lifestyle, Auto industry, Manufacturing, Hyundai, Gm, Stellantis, Align cars 

Beneath the sparks of Tucker Carlson’s debate with Sen. Ted Cruz (R) about a possible war with Iran lies a far more important — and ancient — question.

One of the most revealing moments of the interview came about halfway through, when Cruz explained why he wants to be the “leading defender of Israel.”

If we reduce scripture to foreign policy talking points, we risk baptizing political agendas in the name of God while justifying more war.

His reason? “As a Christian, growing up in Sunday school, I was taught from the Bible, ‘Those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed.'”

When Carlson pressed Cruz on whether that means Christians must support the modern nation-state of Israel, Cruz replied, “Biblically, we are commanded to support Israel.”

That response failed to satisfy Carlson.

“But hold on — define Israel,” Carlson responded.

More specifically, Carlson asked Cruz if he believes Genesis is referring to the modern nation-state of Israel as it currently exists as a political entity, with its current leadership and borders.

“Yes,” Cruz responded.

Carlson’s interjection — “define Israel” — gets at the heart of an important question, a theological fault line in American Christianity: What is Israel, and is there a difference between the modern nation-state of Israel and biblical Israel?

The answer is often treated as self-evident. But the assumption that the modern nation-state of Israel is identical to biblical Israel is not just a matter of political opinion. It’s a theological claim, and it deserves biblical scrutiny.

What is (biblical) Israel?

The verse that Cruz cites comes from one of the most important passages in the entire Bible. In Genesis 12, God calls Abraham to leave his family and homeland and go to a new land that he will show Abraham.

Then, God tells Abraham (Genesis 12:2-3):

I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

Notice that God did not say that “Israel will be blessed.” Rather, the subject of God’s blessing is “you.” God tells Abraham that he will be blessed. How will Abraham be blessed? Through his descendants, who will become a “great nation” and a people through whom the entire earth is blessed.

The Hebrew word “Israel,” in fact, doesn’t appear in the Old Testament until Genesis 32:28. It’s first used to explain why Abraham’s grandson Jacob is called “Israel.” Throughout the rest of the Torah, Israel exclusively refers to a people group: The descendants of Jacob, who are the 12 tribes of Israel.

And Israel, indeed, is unique and set apart.

After God rescues his people from the hand of Pharaoh and brings them to Mount Sinai, God enters into a covenant with Israel and reveals their vocation.

Exodus 19:3-6:

Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

Israel is God’s “special possession” (if its people obey him and keep God’s covenant). But for what purpose? To be a “kingdom of priests” and a “holy nation.”

What this means is that God established Israel as a unique and set-apart nation for the purpose of mediating God — which is the job of a priest — to the nations. Israel received special honor not for an ambiguous reason, but because God had enacted a cosmic redemption mission since the fall in Genesis 3. And central to God’s redemption plan was a priestly people through whom God could be mediated and, therefore, reconciled to his people.

But as the biblical story unfolds, Israel fails its mission. Israel breaks the covenant, pursues other gods, and becomes like the other nations, ultimately abdicating the priestly vocation. Blessing, the prophets warn, is not tied to ethnicity or geography — but faithfulness to God.

Because of the people’s unfaithfulness, curse comes to Israel, and God allows Israel to be exiled. In the 8th century B.C., the Assyrian Empire conquers the Northern Kingdom of Israel and takes the people into exile. Those 10 tribes of Israel are mostly lost to history because of their horrendous failures.

Yet God is faithful. He continues to work through the Southern Kingdom of Judea (comprised of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin), but they, too, fail, and are exiled to Babylon in the 6th century B.C.

Fortunately, the story doesn’t end there. God preserves a remnant from the seed of David, and Israel’s mission is ultimately fulfilled by a Jewish man from a backwater town in Galilee: Jesus of Nazareth. He is the true and faithful Israelite who perfectly fulfills Israel’s vocation and perfectly keeps the covenant. Jesus is the great high priest, the anointed one, and the prophet of prophets.

Through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, God is mediated to all people. The blessings that God promised Abraham are finally realized.

“If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise,” the apostle Paul writes in Galatians 3:29.

In other words, the true Israel — the true children of Abraham — is not defined by ethnicity, politics, or national barriers. It is defined by faith in Jesus. Gentiles are grafted into the family of God through Christ (Romans 9-11).

This is the fulfillment of Israel’s mission, the Old Testament promises, and God’s redemption plan.

Why this matters

How you define “Israel” carries tremendous theological and political weight. If we conflate the ancient covenant people of God with the modern nation-state, we risk distorting the gospel and global politics.

The modern state of Israel is not the covenant people of God. It is a secular nation with borders, politicians, and politics that serve its interests — just like every other nation. It did not exist until 1948, and, in fact, there was a campaign to name the new nation “Judea,” a nod to the fact that Jews were settling there. But David Ben-Gurion chose the name “Israel” for reasons of political, symbolic, and geographic pragmatism.

This doesn’t mean that Christians shouldn’t care about Israel or support its right to exist. Christians should pray for Israel and for peace in the Holy Land.

But our view of Israel must not be rooted in misreadings and misunderstandings of the Bible. If we reduce scripture to foreign policy talking points, we risk baptizing political agendas in the name of God while justifying more war.

In biblical interpretation, context is king.

The true “Israel of God,” according to the apostle Paul, is the church (Galatians 6:16). To “bless Israel,” therefore, does not mean offering unconditional support to a foreign country that shares a name with the biblical “Israel.” It means honoring the covenant fulfilled in Christ and recognizing that the mission of Israel is being carried forward by faithful Christians, Jew and Gentile alike.

Does the Bible command Christians to support the modern nation-state of Israel? No.

If Christians want to be faithful to God and wise in matters of global affairs, we should begin by answering with biblical clarity the theological question that Carlson implicitly raised: What is (biblical) Israel?

Israel is the people of God, shaped by covenant and defined by hope — and ultimately revealed in Jesus Christ. Those who belong to him are the children of Abraham, heirs according to the promise.

​Ted cruz, Bible, God, Christianity, Christians, Israel, Jesus christ, Faith 

Over the past month, numerous cities have erupted in protests against deportation operations from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, led by massive demonstrations in Los Angeles, California. Some protesters resorted to violence and vandalism, which was denounced by local officials.

According to FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, those involved in the violence are beginning to face justice. On Saturday Bongino released an update of investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and included one about the ICE rioting.

‘I told you we would not forget. I wasn’t kidding. Stay tuned for more.’

In the update, Bongino said that over 700 people had been arrested for their alleged role in the anti-ICE riots and promised that more arrests were coming.

“We warned those violently acting out in the recent riots that we would not tolerate it, and we would not forget,” wrote Bongino on the X social media platform.

“Over 700 arrests have been made in coordination with our federal and state partners. Many of those arrests are members of organized groups, and we are pouring through data in pursuit of more bad actors. We are not done. We are in the process of identifying and moving in on those who threw rocks at law enforcement officers and damaged property.

“I told you we would not forget,” he concluded. “I wasn’t kidding. Stay tuned for more.”

Much of the rioting kicked off in Los Angeles after a the president of the SEIU union was detained and injured during an ICE operation on June 7. The union claimed that he was only documenting the activities of ICE but he was later charged with one felony count of conspiracy to impede an officer.

RELATED: LA Dodgers say they blocked ICE agents at stadium after campaign to pressure team to condemn deportations

Photo by Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The Trump administration responded to the rioting by activating thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of U.S. Marine troops to help federal troops that were under siege. The actions have been decried by Democrats Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who accuse the president of militarizing the streets.

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​Dan bongino, Anti-ice rioting arrests, Trump vs rioters, Rioter arrests, Politics 

On June 17, Arnold Schwarzenegger braved the coven that is ABC’s “The View.” Joy Behar tried to snare him with a question about ICE raids, but it didn’t go in the America-hating direction she hoped it would. In fact, it went in the completely opposite direction.

Pat Gray of “Pat Gray Unleashed” plays the clip of the Terminator’s epic pro-America speech.

“You’re an immigrant in this country. Did you have a visceral reaction to what [ICE is] doing?” Behar asked.

“I’m so proud and happy that I was embraced by the American people,” Schwarzenegger responded. “I came over here at the age of 21 with absolutely nothing. And then to create a career like that — I mean, in no other country in the world could you do that.”

“My bodybuilding career … my acting career, becoming governor, the beautiful family that I have created — all of this is because of America,” he continued. “This is the greatest country in the world, and it is the land of opportunity.”

Schwarzenegger then announced that he will be giving the keynote speech at Mount Vernon on July 4 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America. The event will include a naturalization ceremony — a formal rite of passage in which legal immigrants who have met the requirements to become U.S. citizens take the Oath of Allegiance, officially granting them U.S. citizenship. During the ceremony, these new citizens pledge loyalty to the United States, renounce allegiance to foreign governments, and agree to uphold the Constitution.

Schwarzenegger made it crystal clear that he loves this ceremony. “It’s really a great, great celebration, and this is what this is all about — to celebrate people becoming Americans and coming to America,” he said.

All this while, the panel was politely nodding along, occasionally adding a “that’s true” or a “that’s great.” But then Schwarzenegger said something that caused their countenances to visibly sour.

“But the key thing also is at the same time, we got to do things legal,” he said. “Those people that are doing illegal things in America and the foreigners, they are not smart.”

“When you come to America, you’re a guest, and you have to behave like a guest. Like when I go to someone’s house and I’m a guest, then I will do everything I can to keep things clean … and do everything that is the right thing to do rather than committing a crime or being abusive,” he continued.

That’s when Sunny Hostin placed her manicured, heavily ringed hand on his arm as if to say, “All right, honey, don’t go there.”

But he would not be deterred. “The important thing is when you become an immigrant to think about: Okay, I go to America because I want to use America for the great opportunities that America has in education, in jobs, creating a family. … Then I have to give something back,” he said, arguing that immigrants “have a responsibility … to give back to America.”

They “didn’t expect conservative Arnold from 30 years ago”; they wanted “‘screw your freedom’ from five years ago,” says Pat.

To see the footage of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s patriotic speech that left “The View’s” hosts deeply uncomfortable, watch the video above.

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After a Texas man dumped his girlfriend, the breakup reportedly didn’t stop her from going behind her ex-boyfriend’s back to marry him without his knowledge. However, the ex-girlfriend ended up going to jail for allegedly stalking her former lover.

Beverly Hills Chief of Police Kory Martin said a 42-year-old man contacted the police department on June 13 to report that he returned home and found a package from his ex-girlfriend on his property, Law & Crime reported.

Chief Martin said the alleged victim was ‘going through a significant process to try to fix this at this point, so that’s a whole [different] situation.’

The package was a “gift bag from Bath & Body Works,” which contained products from the personal care and home fragrance retail chain, the outlet added.

The package also had some surprising contents.

One item was a photo of his ex-girlfriend — 36-year-old Kristin Marie Spearman — “holding what appears to be a marriage license showing them married and officiated by a local reverend,” People magazine reported.

The package also had a copy of the marriage certificate filed with the McLennan County Clerk’s Office, Law & Crime added.

RELATED: Florida woman, who doused herself in Diet Mountain Dew to tamper with evidence, learns her fate in murder of elderly roommate

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The anonymous victim told police that he never got married to Spearman.

He told police he went with Spearman to get a marriage license on June 2. However, the couple reportedly got into an argument, they allegedly broke up, and their marriage never happened.

According to police, the man told Spearman that “he did not want to be in a relationship” with her any longer.

Investigators suspect that Spearman convinced a reverend to certify her marriage, even though the groom wasn’t in attendance or even aware that he was getting married.

“It was found during a follow-up investigation with the reverend that Kristin Spearman pursuant to the scheme of obtaining a marriage certificate convinced the reverend to certify the victim and Kristin in the Holy Union of Matrimony without the knowledge of the victim and his required presence,” police said, according to Law & Crime.

According to McLennan County’s website, both parties “must appear in person” and have valid identification to apply for a marriage license.

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Chief Martin told KWKT-TV, “At first, we were really considering that it may be some forged documents. However, once we made contact with the reverend who ended up signing the actual ceremony, showing that they were unified, he basically, you know, solidified the fact that, yeah, the groom was not present when that occurred.”

He added to the station that “I don’t think in 23 years I’ve never heard of anybody who managed somehow to get married to someone who wasn’t present for a ceremony.”

The Beverly Hills Police Department did not release the identity of the marriage officiant.

Chief Martin said the alleged victim was “going through a significant process to try to fix this at this point, so that’s a whole [different] situation.”

Police took Spearman to the McLennan County Jail after obtaining an arrest warrant for third-degree felony stalking, KWKT said.

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I’ve been in Italy for the past 10 days, and I’m bored.

Yes, I’m bored, but not in the way you may think, and not for the reasons you may suspect. I haven’t been bored my entire time here.

My tolerance for input has increased since becoming a father, and now anything less than chaos is kind of a boring breeze.

The first week was packed to the gills. I was co-hosting a retreat centered around Josef Pieper’s “Leisure: The Basis of Culture.” The days were full of stimulating, productive discussion with like spirits. Great food, great cigars, great beer, great sights, great minds, great insights, great developments. It was a busy week, a fruitful week.

But the retreat is over, and now I’m bored.

Missing the bickering

Why am I bored?

Because I am dull and just want to sit inside and watch television all day? No. I don’t like TV. Because I can’t entertain myself? No. I’m pretty creative. Because I don’t have a job or any obligations and thusly suffer from a kind of postmodern ennui? No. I have a job, that’s what I am doing here. Just yesterday, I drove eight hours south and will be here for the week taking photos for a photo book, writing, and working. I’ve been working ever since I landed.

So then, why am I bored?

Because I’m alone. My wife and kids are at home. All the yelling and screaming that I have become so used to over the past few years are on the other side of the world. The bickering over who stole whose toy first is still happening I am sure, but it’s out of earshot.

The endless questions about cars, trees and if we are going to get ice cream later have been paused. The nagging feeling about safety — that feeling that wears you down over the course of the day — is absent from my quiet mind.

Off-duty dad

I would think I would love this trip all alone: the chance to be free of fatherly responsibilities for a couple of weeks; the opportunity to focus on work without distraction; the chance to be by myself again. But I don’t love it. It was fine for a couple days, novel in a way, but now it’s just kind of boring.

My tolerance for input has increased since becoming a father, and now anything less than chaos is kind of a boring breeze. My love has expanded in a way that isn’t so easy to explain. It might be summed up by that feeling you get at the end of the day. You can’t wait for your kids to go to bed because you are exhausted and fed up, yet 25 minutes after they are sleeping, you feel the need to go into their room again and give them a kiss because you miss them.

What the hell is that? One of the strange feelings that only parents know.

Been there, done that

I’ve seen all this stuff before. I’ve been to Italy. I’ve already taken in all the vistas I’m taking photos of today. I’ve already experienced all this, and it doesn’t really interest me doing it alone. When I was 25 and single, sure. When I’m 38 with a wife and kids, not really. I’ve seen enough; I would rather show them.

Some guys have a fear of settling down and starting a family. They are afraid of getting trapped or stuck with no way out. In a sense, they are right. When you have children, you are trapping yourself. You are forced together as a man and a woman. You are stuck forever as a father. You cannot go back. Your life is no longer only yours. You will never be as free as you were once before.

Stretching the soul

It’s true in all the shallow, obvious ways. But it’s true in a deeper, stranger, more emotional way, as well. My soul has been expanded outward. It’s broader than it was when I was just me. Yet, somehow, it didn’t become more shallow in the process. It’s actually grown deeper at the same time. It’s one of the mysteries of love. It grows.

I am no longer contained in a tight little shell that follows me wherever I go. I want to bring my kids with me, not out of duty — though duty is, of course, important — but because I am kind of bored without them. Because I want to share my world with them. It’s not because I love them — though I very much do — but because I like them.

From island to archipelago

I know that as soon as I get home, the chaos will hit me like a two-by-four right in the face. I will be forced to dole out instructions and mediate arguments. I will be exhausted by the time 8 p.m. rolls around. I will snap my fingers once and sternly tell them to stop whatever it is that they are doing. But in all of that, I will be whole as I know myself to be at this stage in my life.

Having a family means you are no longer only you. Your children are also you. Your sense of wholeness is deeper, yet more terrifyingly fragile at the same time. You are no longer protected and self-contained. You stop being an island and grow into an archipelago. What it means to be you means more than merely you.

That’s why I am bored here in Italy. I’m here, but it’s only one part, and I miss the whole thing.

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Republicans are having more babies than Democrats, and the difference has only increased in the Donald Trump era.

Several reports, along with data from the National Center for Health Statistics and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, show a clear relationship between red and blue counties and their fertility rates.

Not only do fertility rates get higher the more a county votes for Republicans, but the contrast with Democrat counties is growing stronger over time.

‘We need a culture that values our children intrinsically.’

According to a data analysis by the Institute for Family Studies, Trump support equals more families. For every 10% increase in Trump votes in 2024, there is an expected fertility rate increase of 0.09 in a woman’s lifetime.

The IFS also noted that in counties that had less than 25% of their votes going to Trump, like D.C., the median fertility rate was 1.31. In counties with a more than 75% vote share for Trump, the median fertility rate was 1.84. Of course, 2.1 or above is the ideal replacement rate, but the contrast is still large.

Moreover, the gap in fertility rates has grown by 85% in the last 12 years.

In the Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney era of 2012, there was an 8% fertility difference between red and blue counties. According to the IFS, that difference has more than tripled to a 26% difference in 2024.

RELATED: America last: Hillary Clinton lets truth slip about illegal aliens and low US birth rates

Image courtesy ifstudies.org

In counties with more than 100,000 people, the “most Democratic” voter turnout correlates with a drastically lower fertility rate than the rest of the country, with a 1.37 birth rate. While moderate Democrat numbers are closer to the American average, the swing is big toward the “most Republican” counties, which average a 1.76 birth rate.

The Republican fertility advantage can be directly attributed to marriage, says Grant Bailey, research associate at IFS.

“Republicans (and conservatives) marry at higher rates, and married adults have much higher fertility rates than do singles,” Bailey told Blaze News. “With that said, even within marriage, conservatives have more children than their liberal peers.”

Bailey explained that even many married liberals never have children, and that drives an even bigger divide between the fertility rates across party lines.

RELATED: Hormonal birth control: As bad for you as smoking

Image courtesy ifstudies.org

“It’s no secret that birth rates have been in free fall worldwide for decades and that continuing on our current course will spell economic and social disaster for many,” Erika Ahern told Blaze News.

Ahern, an author at CatholicVote and a mother of seven, said that increasing a family’s demand for children requires “a shift in how we as a society value children and family altogether.”

Ahern added, “Instead of emphasizing the cost and inconvenience of children, we need a culture that values our children intrinsically.”

According to CDC data, the top 10 states with the highest birth rates in 2023 were Republican, and the bottom 10 were Democrat.

South Dakota is the only state with a birth rate above 2, at 2.01. Nebraska, North Dakota, Alaska, and Louisiana round out the top five.

On the bottom end, Vermont has just a 1.3 birth rate, the worst in the nation. Other than Oregon, which ranks 48th on the birth rate list, the Northeast dominates the bottom of the rankings. Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island are all near the bottom, with birth rates of 1.4 or below.

In 2022, Vermont, Wyoming, and Delaware had the fewest births by state in the country, with five states having fewer than 10,000. This can be attributed to population size for all but Vermont, which came in last on the CDC’s fertility rate rankings for 2022.

California had by far the most births of any state in 2022, approximately 420,000, but nowhere near the highest fertility rate; it was 11th worst.

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The latest wheeze from global public health elites? Jack up taxes on tobacco, alcohol, sugary drinks, and processed food by 50% to raise $3.7 trillion in new revenue. They call it “health policy.” In plain English, it’s government-sanctioned theft.

This isn’t about curing disease. It’s about expanding state power. These so-called health taxes, pushed by academic ideologues and international bureaucrats, are little more than economic punishment disguised as progress. They won’t meaningfully reduce illness, but they’ll absolutely hit working people the hardest.

Sin taxes don’t foster well-being — they weaponize economic pain against the people who can least afford it.

The new push for massive taxes on soda, smokes, beer, and snacks is social engineering with a hefty price tag. The goal isn’t better health so much as behavioral compliance. And who pays for it? Not corporations. Not policymakers. Regular people. Especially those already stretched thin.

The promise of $3.7 trillion in new revenue tells you everything you need to know. This is about cash, not caring. You’re not going to fix the obesity crisis by making a Coke cost $4. You’re just making life worse for the guy who wants a cold drink after work.

These aren’t just products. They’re small pleasures — a beer at dinner, a smoke on break, a soda on a hot afternoon. Legal, affordable, familiar. Stripping them from people’s lives in the name of “health” doesn’t uplift anyone. It makes life more miserable.

And this plan doesn’t educate or empower. It punishes. It uses taxes to bludgeon people into compliance. That’s not public health — that’s moral authoritarianism.

Proponents claim that higher prices discourage consumption, especially among young people. But that’s not smart policy — it’s an admission that the entire strategy relies on pricing people out of their own choices.

That’s not a sign of sound policy; it’s a confession that the aim is to price people out of their own choices. It’s hard not to see this as profoundly elitist. A worldview in which an ignorant public must be nudged, coerced, and taxed into making decisions deemed acceptable by a distant class of arrogant policymakers.

Sin taxes don’t foster well-being — they weaponize economic pain against the people who can least afford it. The more someone spends on a drink or a cigarette, the less they can spend on rent, groceries, or gas. In the U.K., economists found that sin taxes cost low-income families up to 10 times more than they cost the wealthy. That holds true in the United States as well. These are regressive by design.

History offers a warning. Prohibition didn’t end drinking — it empowered criminals. Today, in places like Australia, black markets for vapes and other restricted products are booming. When governments overregulate, people continue to consume. They just go underground, and quality, safety, and accountability go with them.

Public health bureaucrats love to talk about the “commercial determinants of health,” blaming industry for every social ill. But they ignore the personal determinants that matter even more: freedom, dignity, and the right to make informed decisions.

RELATED: Cigarettes and beer: The heady perfume that transports me to my childhood

guruXOOX via iStock/Getty Images

People already know the risks of smoking, drinking, and sugar consumption. They’ve seen the labels and heard the warnings for years. They don’t need lectures from bureaucrats, government ministers, or international agencies. What they need is respect — and the freedom to live as they choose.

These new tax schemes don’t offer support or alternatives. They rely on coercion, not persuasion. The state becomes the enforcer, not the helper. It’s a government model that punishes pleasure and equates restriction with virtue.

The sinister core of this health tax agenda lies in its relentless condescension. It assumes people are too stupid, too reckless, or too addicted to choose what’s best for themselves, and so government must intervene forcefully and repeatedly.

This is control, not compassionate governance.

A better path exists — one rooted in harm reduction, not prohibition. Encourage low-sugar drink options. Expand access to safer nicotine alternatives. Support moderate alcohol consumption. Respect the people you’re trying to help.

If public health advocates truly want to improve outcomes, they should abandon these regressive, punitive proposals. They should promote innovation, not punishment. Education, not enforcement.

Because real public health doesn’t treat people like problems to be managed. It treats them like citizens — free to live, choose, and thrive.

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