America has a habit of bringing ideas — sometimes others’ ideas — to life. This habit breeds a certain culture of meritocratic, independent superiority, understood by self-made elites and commoners alike, that ideas are a dime a dozen: If you don’t get out there and actually do it, you’re just another dreamer.

I think the most powerful example of this dynamic, and its enduring resonance today, is found in a single line from a single film. In the smash hit 1962 epic “Lawrence of Arabia,” our hero sums up the Western ethos of the ennobled individual will by refusing to let his Arab ally die. Confronted with the dismissive, fatalistic belief that the man’s seemingly inevitable death in the desert is foreordained by God, Lawrence famously snaps back that “nothing is written!” Sure enough, he saves the man, through sheer force of personal grit.

The only true choice is one of freely willed action.

The line was written by British playwright Robert Bolt for British director David Lean in a British production of a British tale of a British officer. Yet, casting our eye across the pond on this landmark national anniversary, we are struck by how lonely America seems today in its insistence on not only the Western principle that a man can, through goodness and greatness, personally break the iron grip of circumstances, but on the proactive living-out of that principle, without which it is but a hollow aspiration.

Our uniquely aggressive, defiant, and self-justifying sense of optimism can, of course, be taken too far; at the extremes, it can lead us to deny that God is always in control and to accept the deaths of millions as a price worth paying for greater power, riches, or renown.

Fate, however, is a pagan concept that can fraudulently enchain a whole people; even a whole world. And the power of even the most ordinary and obscure of men to shatter prideful prognostication through freely willed spiritual sacrifice is richly rooted in great godly obedience.

The paradox of these two ways — that our love of enacted independence can either fulfill or default on our relationship with God — weighs extra heavy upon the soul this 250th year of our land. The chaotic circumstances of our fast-accelerating technologies have opened doors to new expressions of both the healing and damaging versions of our national will to do, not just to think, feel, or be.

For many, simply trying to stay abreast of these developments in the field of AI alone is too bewildering, frustrating, and frightening an effort to maintain. Many who manage to keep roughly current are themselves increasingly pushed for the sake of cognitive stability toward one of the two extreme positions — deifying or demonizing the thing.

Yet the actual state of play is not, in fact, reflective of the urge to feel willfully in control by choosing sides in a crisp, clean, complete, and comprehensive war for all the marbles, then determine the fate of America, the world, and humankind.

As disorienting and destabilizing as it may be, the state of the AI art in America is a riot of competing and conflicting trajectories and tendencies. Between the deifiers and the demonizers is a roiling stew of wildly different factions: open-sourcers, both for and against Chinese tech; closed-sourcers, some pragmatic, some principled; groups in favor of nationalization; groups opposed; groups opposed depending on how much nationalization is on the table; groups opposed depending on who is doing the nationalizing. There are interests pushing for federal preemption of the states, others hammering away at state-level laws either to restrict or enshrine the right to compute, and still others focused simply on playing politics with the issues in the most effective and enriching ways.

RELATED: The backlash against AI reveals it’s a terrible scapegoat

RYGERSZEM/Getty Images

A farrago of federal bills jostles together with a flotilla of regulatory efforts, some but not all flowing from the administration’s executive orders and broader agenda. The Supreme Court is now in the mix. Foreign countries and administrative bodies are striking at American companies, imposing fines and rules of their own. The list goes on.

No single political authority is in control of our national technological situation. No one spiritual authority is recognized as our shared guide. We exist in a moment indescribable as simply democratic, oligarchic, technocratic, fascist, communist, socialist, capitalist, nationalist, populist, anarchic, despotic, or, frankly, anything else. We have the Declaration, we have the Constitution, we have federalism, and we have each other. The rest is remarkably, almost stunningly, up in the air.

We can all sit around and wait for the shoes to drop, and for many, beset by the universal cares of life and the hypnotic glare of tech’s pulsing power, paralysis can seem the only sustainable option. But for many more, even those inclined to choose silence and self-exile over wading into the melee, the only true choice is one of freely willed action. Interpreting technological acceleration as the unfolding of fate itself is a choice, not a cosmic requirement, one that is often made reactively, as cope, rather than proactively, as will to power. What presents as prediction is often actually a bet on the overwhelming power of the past, one that denies human agency and life-bringing newness more than it enables people with skin in the game to manifest their plans.

Rather than freaking out over the AI chaos, we ought to take this memorable opportunity to put our actions where our principles purport to be. Don’t try to game out the scramble of the factions. Don’t try to win prediction roulette, scrying, soothsaying, and scheming a way to strength or safety. Decide with discernment where you can forge a path in a manner that allows you to meet your own gaze in the mirror in the morning. And trust that what is written about us is written on the heart, where we still may pledge our honor, and all that is sacred within, to freely make good on who we have been given to be.

​United states, Artificial intelligence, America 250, Tech 

Foreigners across the globe have flooded the United States for the World Cup — and according to videos they’ve been posting to social media, what many of them are finding is freedom, opportunity, abundance, and a culture that still allows people to be different.

One man posted a video of himself walking around a neighborhood with driveways for planes, commenting on how that would never be allowed in the U.K.

Another man posted a video of himself excited about free soda refills, while a woman posted a video of herself wearing a Buc-ee’s hat, excitedly talking about the mindset of Americans: “We don’t care; do whatever you want.”

“If you want to dress a certain way, go for it. If you want to start a project, go for it. If you want to pass a car on the right, you can do it. And it’s something that personally is helping me to heal, because when you’re used to shrinking yourself, and you arrive in the U.S., and you discover this space to just be yourself and do whatever you want,” the woman said.

“It’s so refreshing,” she added.

“Share these things. I’m telling you: All we need is to believe that we are worth saving. That’s the first step. Listen to what people from all around the world are coming here and experiencing and saying about you,” Glenn says.

“You could be overseas and say they just hate people. They are bigots or whatever. They just hate foreigners or they don’t want, you know, brown people or whatever the lie is. It’s not true,” he continues.

Glenn points out that as long as you treat America with respect, you’re welcome here.

“That is America. Again, I don’t need you to look like me. I don’t need you to dress like me. I don’t need you to listen to the same kind of music. I don’t need any of that. I just want you to respect the basic idea that all men are created equal,” he says.

“Endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And governments are instituted among men to protect those rights. And that’s what makes us different,” he continues.

“It’s not our wealth,” he says.

“It’s a total mindset that you can be different because we can all come together on one idea: that we are all meant to be different and the government is to enforce the freedoms that we have.”

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​United states, World cup, The glenn beck program, Uk, Glenn beck 

Sorry, leftists. Despite a decade of screeching demands that we refuse to “normalize” Donald Trump, the concept of Trump as president of the United States and the most powerful man on earth is now the norm.

Thank goodness.

Even some of Trump’s fiercest critics have softened.

As we celebrate our country’s 250th birthday and our exceptional heritage, it’s nice that the cultural focus on politics in general and on Trump in particular has waned.

The Trump obsession has not been healthy for America or our relationships with one another. Deep familial divisions that Jesus predicted would result from resistance to God’s truth instead have occurred because of a fleeting political landscape.

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and President Donald Trump in the Oval Office in November 2025; Demetrius Freeman/the Washington Post/Getty Images

Joy Behar, for instance, seemed to forge a genuine connection with Vice President JD Vance during his appearance on “The View” last month. Without any trace of her trademark snark, Behar afterward characterized Vance as “intelligent” and funny, while Vance complimented her tough persona and joked good-naturedly that they are now “best friends.”

Americans in deep-blue cities like Memphis and D.C. have thanked Trump for cleaning up crime in their area and for restoring beautiful fountains and statues. Meanwhile, the No Kings rallies have made little impact, while attempts to cancel celebrities for participating in Trump-adjacent events have failed miserably.

In fact, respecting the office appears to be back en vogue.

For the first time under a Trump presidency, a championship NBA team has accepted an invitation to the White House. Trump’s hometown team, the New York Knicks, will reportedly travel to the White House to mark their first title in more than half a century.

Jack Hughes, who scored the game-winning overtime goal against Canada to bring home Olympic gold in men’s hockey, indicated back in February the power of sports to unite the country:

“Everything is so political. We’re athletes. We’re so proud to represent the U.S., and when you get the chance to go to White House and meet the president, we’re proud to be Americans and that’s so patriotic.”

It turns out that endlessly hating Trump, and by extension, America itself, is exhausting. Even certain Democrats had to admit in an election autopsy that “anti-Trump sentiment alone was insufficient to motivate voters” in 2024.

By contrast, falling in love with the U.S. is easy. Just ask the thousands of World Cup visitors who have been surprised by the kind welcome they have received and the unique culture they have experienced in America’s heartland.

America and American greatness are much bigger than any one person, and though a larger-than-life figure, Trump is just a man — a man who, to paraphrase basketball legend Michael Jordan, still has to use the bathroom just like we all do.

The era of treating Trump as an “existential threat,” an enemy, or even a proxy for all of America’s faults, real or perceived, is over. For nearly six of the past 10 years, Trump has been the president of the United States, and the sun has still risen in the east and set in the west.

In other words, all is normal. Thank goodness.

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​America, Politics, Donald trump, Opinion 

A U.S. Olympian canoeist who was arrested for allegedly vandalizing the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial has been indicted by a federal grand jury, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.

David Hearn, 67, willfully and “violently” damaged a 2-square-foot section of the sealant at the pool on June 19 after it was renovated by order of President Donald Trump, according to Pirro.

‘By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.’

“Today a grand jury has returned a felony indictment against a defendant, David Hearn, for felony destruction of property for which he faces 10 years in prison,” Pirro said in a media briefing.

She said Hearn admitted to reaching down into the pool and that National Park Service employees observed him forcefully pulling up and removing the bottom liner “with both hands.”

A National Park Service employee reportedly told Hearn to stop what he was doing.

“Hearn reacted by shouting at that Parks employee, saying that she cared too much about the reflecting pool,” Pirro said.

The witnesses described Hearn’s behavior as “belligerent, rude, and disrespectful.”

Hearn denied damaging the liner in comments to the Washington Post.

“I didn’t vandalize anything,” he said. “I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.”

The renovation of the reflecting pool has been mocked by many on the left, but others say it was a necessary and reasonable effort to clean up the monument for the 250th anniversary celebration.

Hearn competed for the U.S. in the 2000 Olympics.

RELATED: Trump greets crew that restored Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in visit to the White House

“This was a deliberate act to damage the Reflecting Pool at the National Mall that members of the National Park Service actually have worked hard to restore and have witnessed,” Pirro said.

She added that there are about six other similar cases being investigated.

“Some of them will be misdemeanors, and some of them could be less, like a violation, but we’re reviewing every case based upon the evidence and reviewing all of the reports, and right now it’s about another half dozen misdemeanors,” Pirro said.

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​Lincoln memorial, National mall, President donald trump, Reflecting pool, Politics, National park service 

Elected officials in California are carrying on with business as usual, even after their constituents voted overwhelmingly to send them packing.

An election was held on April 28 in the California city of Avenal in Kings County, where the mayor, Alvaro Preciado, and three city council members — Leticia Gamez, David Reynosa, and Pablo Hernandez — were recalled with at least 76% of voters backing the ouster in each case. The Kings County Registrar of Voters certified the recall election.

‘I’ve never seen a city so deflated.’

The driving force behind this electoral housecleaning — which the council members unsuccessfully attempted to stop with a lawsuit in April — was principally voter concerns about transparency and the council’s previous decision to cease contracting with the county fire department.

Preciado, Gamez, and Hernandez voted on June 11 to reject the will of the electorate and remain in office. They even approved a new city budget despite recall advocates producing a restraining order, reported the SF Chronicle.

Those officials clinging to power, including Reynosa, maintain that the recall election was conducted unlawfully by Kings County and without the council’s authorization.

Preciado told the SF Chronicle last month that he was staying in office until a judge decides on the recall’s legality.

California Democrat Attorney General Robert Bonta cleared the way for legal action against the recalled officials on June 11.

RELATED: Gov. Pritzker says he’s one of the good billionaires, not the ones vilified by socialists

In his opinion, Bonta noted that “if the Relators are correct on the merits, then the Defendants are not lawfully occupying office. It would not be in the public interest to permit elected officials to disregard election results.”

Days after Bonta granted the recall campaigners’ application for leave to sue in quo warranto, residents served Preciado and the other recalled officials a lawsuit and an earful at an Avenal city council meeting.

Dalila Barajas, a resident of Avenal who is one of the recall proponents, told KGPE-TV, “It just seems that the more meetings they have, the more money that they’re spending illegally, the more our citizens are getting frustrated and the more we’re asking for them to step down.”

While Bonta cleared lawsuits against the recall officials, King County District 2 Supervisor Richard Valle criticized the state attorney general for his apparent disinterest in the scandal, telling KMPH-TV on Wednesday, “I believe that if these were MAGA republicans who were refusing to leave office, someone in California would have done something about that.”

“We were hoping he would take some action,” added Valle.

“I’ve never seen a city so deflated in my time of being around in public service. The people feel like nobody’s coming to help,” added the King County supervisor. “Why is it being allowed to take place here in the state of California, in the county of Kings, in the city of Avenal? It’s embarrassing.”

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​California, Robert bonta, Recall, Election, Politics 

Pro-lifer warrior Seth Gruber has a chilling message for Americans celebrating the nation’s 250th birthday: “To celebrate America, this 250th, while simultaneously doing nothing to tear down the high places of weird, gay sex stuff and baby killing would merely be the decoration of a coffin.”

On this enlightening episode of “Relatable” with Allie Beth Stuckey, Gruber warns that America has “37 years left” before she fails — unless Christians are willing to rise up and be “the last stand.”

Gruber begins by sharing two facts that should alarm anyone who cares about America’s longevity:

In a 2025 interview with Noema Magazine, celebrated historian Niall Ferguson said, “My sense is that history has always been against any republic lasting 250 years.” J.D. Unwin’s 1934 book “Sex and Culture” — a massive study of 80 primitive societies and six major civilizations across 5,000 years of history — found strong positive correlation between a society’s level of sexual restraint (especially premarital chastity and monogamy) and its cultural energy, creative flourishing, and societal achievement in art, science, architecture, literature, etc.

Given America’s age and modern culture’s celebration of all things sexually depraved, Gruber believes the nation is a ticking time bomb.

According to Unwin’s research, “Societies that adopted and … codified total sexual freedom collapsed within 90 to 100 years,” he explains.

He pinpoints 1973 as the year America embraced “total sexual freedom” thanks to three landmark events: Roe v. Wade that made abortion a constitutional right, the Supreme Court’s ruling in Miller v. California that effectively opened the floodgates for widespread, legal pornography distribution, and the passing of the Endangered Species Act that gave more legal protections to animals than unborn children.

These developments put a “demonic trinity” on America’s throne, says Gruber: Molech, the god of child sacrifice, Ashtoreth, the goddess of sexual immorality, and Baal, the god of animal worship.

“That should be a little bit of an Old Testament alarm bell for the church in America that maybe we came into something of a demonic trinity and agreement in ‘73 that codified total sexual freedom,” he tells Allie.

“That’s why I think America began its 90- to 100-year clock in ‘73, which means we could be approaching the third and final chapter of Western civilization in this republic as we understand it today,” he warns. “That should be a sobering wake-up call.”

To hear the full interview, watch the episode above.

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​250th us anniversary, Relatable, Allie beth stuckey 

A machete-wielding male who dragged a woman down a Texas street Sunday night went after a man who told him to stop — but the Good Samaritan also had a gun on hand.

Fort Worth Police said officers were called to the 2900 block of Ross Avenue around 10:20 p.m. regarding a male with a weapon, KXAS-TV reported.

‘If you see a lady that’s in danger, I mean, what would you do in that situation?’

When officers arrived, they found a male with an apparent gunshot wound, the station said, adding that officers and Fort Worth firefighters provided medical care before the wounded male was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

Witnesses told investigators that before the shooting, the male in question had been involved in a verbal argument with a woman that turned physical — specifically, he was “dragging the female down the street with a machete in his hand,” KXAS reported.

A neighbor who heard the woman screaming came outside and saw the male dragging the woman and told him to stop, the station said.

Police were told the male with the machete approached the man confronting him, KXAS said, adding that the intervening man shot the machete-wielding male at least once.

Police said witnesses called 911, the station said.

The man who shot the machete-wielding male remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators, KXAS reported, adding that homicide detectives interviewed him.

RELATED: Machete-wielding females beat up homeowner in robbery try, cops say. But victim ends attack with single shotgun blast.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the man’s identity, as well as the official cause and manner of death, the station said.

Officials did not say if the woman had been injured, KXAS said.

No arrests have been made in the case, the station added.

Nicole Flores told KXAS that the male with the machete has caused issues in the neighborhood before.

KXAS interviewed another witness who said, “If you see a lady that’s in danger, I mean, what would you do in that situation?”

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​Fatal shooting, Defending others, Texas, Fort worth, Machete, Armed male drags woman, 2nd amendment, Gun rights, Good samaritan, Crime