This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you. *** Shortly after the birth of my third son, I was talking with my grandmother, whose homemaking without computers, air conditioning, and a host of other modern conveniences was beginning to seem miraculous. I admitted to her how often my husband and I resort to takeout for dinner and how I struggle to find time to make even three or four home-cooked meals a week. How she managed to get meals almost entirely from scratch on the table with far fewer resources at her fingertips, and with four children at that, was beyond me. I asked her how on earth she did it. What she said shocked me. She responded by asking me the same thing. My grandmother said she didn’t know how I balanced everything. She said life was slower back then, and she wasn’t as busy as I am. While she may have some rose-colored glasses when it comes to remembering her past, this interaction nonetheless made me view my reliance on technology in a new light. The more I have thought about it, the more convinced I am that the very technological advancements that make my life easier — the most recent being artificial intelligence — actually contribute to a busier, more overwhelming life. I’ll be the first to acknowledge that AI has proven and will continue to prove beneficial to society in many ways, particularly through its ability to expedite human ingenuity when employed wisely in the professional sphere. I saw this firsthand when I worked in the intelligence community. But in the personal sphere, I’m skeptical of AI’s overall benefit, and I worry that its promise to make everyday tasks easier may come with more strings than we care to imagine. Even simple tasks offloaded to AI lead to large amounts of wasted screen time. A few months ago, I asked ChatGPT to generate a meal plan for a week of healthy, easy meals. It spit out some good recipes, and while not overly complicated, one poke bowl-style recipe included pickled onions. I rarely ever use pickled onions, and I ended up making another inquiry to find other meals to make with the pickled onions that would inevitably be left over. I also asked where certain ingredients came from, researched their calories, and checked my grocery app to make sure my preferred grocery store carried pickled onions. ChatGPT often leads to tangents and extended phone time beyond the simple task at hand. Perhaps more sinisterly, AI platforms encourage this continued use. Anyone who engages with AI regularly knows how its answers are regenerative, encouraging users to extend their searches by further refining or even redirecting users toward new inquiries. AI programs such as ChatGPT or Grok often suggest targeted follow-up inquiries based on the original prompt. Would you like a lower-carb version? An exportable recipe list to share? Suddenly, I’m considering that one of my other busy mom friends would like one of the recipes ChatGPT has given me, and I begin texting the recipe link out to other moms who I think may appreciate them. So there I am, 25 minutes into meal prepping, and I haven’t begun at all. I’m still on my phone. Technology has an uncanny way of making life busier while making specific tasks easier. Although you may not have spent 30-plus minutes on ChatGPT meal plan tangents like I have, you probably know what I mean. Facebook Marketplace, Google Classrooms, community or city websites, even weather apps — they all make life easier and facilitate incredible information sharing, but they have an unparalleled way of consuming our time. We’re drowning in digital to-dos and an overwhelming amount of online information that we feel obligated to check on a daily basis. Enter ChatGPT, and we’re only further compounding our digital busyness in the name of expediency. A Pew Research study last fall found something interesting: While Americans express concern over the amount of control AI has in their lives, over half of them use AI daily, and an even higher percentage — 73% of Americans — say that they are willing to allow AI to assist them, at least to some small degree, with day-to-day activities. In other words, while Americans are concerned about AI, it is becoming increasingly woven into our already digitally maxed-out lives.  This got me thinking, if I hadn’t turned to AI for recipe help, what would I have done instead? Brainstormed harder to come up with some on my own? Asked a friend for her go-to meals? Experimented with recipe creation in an entrepreneurial trial-and-error process? Whatever I would have done, I am convinced it would have been better than the time I spent on ChatGPT searching for meals and embarking down other AI rabbit holes. In a post-pandemic world, we know all too well the profound shallowness of digital dependence. Using AI to assist with daily tasks and decisions will make life easier in the same way that social media allows us to connect with other people: It will be far less rewarding than ways that we could pursue the same ends offline. Screens flatten genuine human connection and chip away at self-discipline and contentment. AI further liberates us from everyday dependence on friends and family, minimizing the need to ask another human for small matters of advice in decisions for which we now use AI. It also liberates us from the rewarding process and intrinsic fulfillment that comes from brainstorming things ourselves. And in thus liberating us, it robs us of the everyday joys that come from these mundane human interactions and from the power of organic ideas. As a society, we desperately need to ingest the truth that engaging in activities — whether those be simple matters of housekeeping or artistic and intellectual endeavors — in a way that cultivates wisdom, virtue, self-discipline, and genuine human relationships is the true measure of time well spent. The next time I’m tempted to turn to ChatGPT for recipe ideas, I’m going to call my grandmother and ask her instead.  *** Rebekah Bills is a freelance writer and mother of three. She previously served as a civilian intelligence officer in the Defense Intelligence Agency. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

In politics, it’s never too early to start looking ahead. For Republicans today, that means thinking about who will lead their party after Trump leaves the scene. Legal and political analyst Frank DeVito believes Vice President JD Vance is the man for the job, a case he lays out in the new book, “JD Vance and the Future of the Republican Party.”  “I think there’s a pretty good argument that [Trump] chose somebody who has the potential to be a post-Trump leader of the Republican Party and the MAGA movement,” DeVito told The Daily Wire.  To say not every Republican agrees with that assessment is an understatement. While Vance has become a central figure in the Trump coalition, critics on both the populist right and the GOP’s more traditional conservative wing question whether his relatively short tenure in national office and shifting political positions make him the natural heir to the movement. DeVito makes the case that Vance isn’t simply riding the Trump wave, but represents a deeper shift inside the GOP. He says Vance’s focus on family, faith, practicality, and a willingness to confront institutions that have clearly stopped working for normal people are a huge part of the appeal.  “One of the priorities that he is clearly focused on,” DeVito says, “is how do we provide a world where as many people as possible can get married, have stable marriages, and raise children.” That emphasis has landed Vance in hot water before, especially when he criticized the Left’s open hostility toward the family. But DeVito said he agrees with Vance’s stance. “How does any civilization function?” he asked. “You have parents who have children, they raise those children as best they can … You can’t really have civilization without that.” He points out how normalized it’s become to dismiss those foundations entirely, which leads to civilizational collapse. “If kids are being raised by institutions instead of stable parents … who exactly do we think is going to be running the country in 30 years?” he asked.  That’s also the context behind one of Vance’s most controversial remarks about how world leaders without children may lack the long-term perspective required to govern well. The backlash was extreme, but DeVito claims the point Vance was making is just obvious. “I would hope leaders are thinking not just about the next election or their stock portfolio, but about what kind of country their grandchildren are going to inherit,” he said. The comments were criticized not only by Democrats but by some Republicans, who warned that this kind of rhetoric could be politically damaging in a general election. But it does help to explain Vance’s political evolution, especially his highly scrutinized shift from Trump skeptic to Trump’s running mate. While some conservatives rightly question this about face, DeVito argues it wasn’t opportunism, but a reflection of Vance reassessing Trump’s role in confronting institutional power.  “If you think American institutions are basically healthy and just need minor corrections, then of course Trump looks insane,” he said. “But what Vance came to believe is that he was wrong about how broken those institutions really are.” Once Vance figured out the depth of the rot, he pivoted. “They’re actually so co-opted that it might take dropping some dynamite into the system to recover a sane America,” DeVito explained. In that light, Trump isn’t wrecking things for fun, he’s doing what needs to be done to reshape the culture. What gives Vance credibility here, DeVito insists, is his unique experience going from a broken home to running in elite circles. “How do we create an America where normal people can get married, raise kids, and have meaningful work?” DeVito said. “That question animates everything Vance does.” Vance grew up amid addiction and instability, then passed through Yale Law and into the upper echelons of society. What he found, DeVito said, was a stunning disconnect. “The elites think things are great and getting better,” he said. “Meanwhile, in the communities Vance came from, it’s addiction, joblessness, broken families, and despair.”  Faith, again, plays a role here. DeVito argues that Vance’s Catholicism isn’t political branding, but is just more proof that the politician is willing to embrace a truth even when it could hurt his popularity. “There’s really nothing advantageous to your political career about becoming a Catholic in 2026 or when he converted … So I don’t think he would do it unless it was genuine,” the author said. DeVito said in the book that Vance is uniquely positioned to unify the Republican Party. “The Republican Party in 2015 when Trump went down the escalator was something very different than it is now,” he said, noting how that change hinged on the charisma and force of one person over the last decade.  Whether that unity is achievable remains an open question, particularly as factions within the party continue to debate the future of MAGA itself. DeVito also mentioned that the person on deck doesn’t have an easy job. “It’s a hard dance,” he observed. “Nobody’s going to be Donald Trump.”

In Michigan, late winter and early spring are unpredictable. It’s a time of year when the state could get buried under a foot of snow at the beginning of a week and then reach 60 degrees with sunshine by the weekend. This year, Michigan’s unpredictable late winter season will also serve as an important gauge in a wide-open 2026 midterm Senate election. For the first time in the state’s history, the governor’s race and the U.S. Senate contest will both take place without an incumbent running in either election, thanks to the retirement of Democratic Senator Gary Peters. While the primary elections and the warm Michigan summer are still months away, the Michigan Senate race is already heating up. The 2026 Senate election in Michigan could also serve as a bellwether for other important races across the country as the GOP looks to hold onto control in the upper chamber. Michigan remains a political paradox as a state that returned Trump to the White House in 2024 while simultaneously electing a Democrat to the Senate. In 2026, it once again remains a pure toss-up. Recent elections have been brutal for Michigan Republican Senate candidates. The party hasn’t won a Senate race in the state since 1994 — when star athletes Isaiah Thomas and Barry Sanders were still playing in Detroit. Strong Start For Republicans Republicans are hoping for a breakthrough in this year’s Senate election with former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, a familiar name on the ballot in Michigan. Rogers ran for an open Senate seat in 2024, but despite voters pushing Trump over the edge in Michigan, Rogers lost to Democrat Elissa Slotkin by just over 20,000 votes. Asked if there is any lingering trepidation from the 2024 election loss, Rogers told The Daily Wire that he’s confident he has “enough votes in the bank to win this election.” “We had over 100,000 people walk into the polls in 2024, vote for Donald Trump, and turn around and leave, didn’t vote for any other Republican,” Rogers said. “Here’s the good news: I got more Republican votes than any other statewide candidate for a state of Michigan office in the history of the state by 300,000 votes. So I have enough votes in the bank to win this election. We’ve just got to get people ginned up to get there.” Mike Rogers (JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images) This year, Rogers once again boasts an endorsement from Trump, which came much earlier in the race than in 2024, marking him as the clear favorite to win the GOP primary. With the primary all but secure, Rogers is busy building a general election war chest as a crowded field of Democrats vie for the nomination. That’s a welcome development for the Rogers campaign, which fell far behind the Democrats in fundraising in 2024. Rogers told The Daily Wire that he believes his campaign represents Republicans’ best chance to pick up a Senate seat in the 2026 midterms. “Having President Trump’s endorsement early, having the Senate leadership support early, having our ground game organized early, all of that has made a tremendous difference,” he said. “And the result of that is that we’ve led in the last four current polls, which tells you in a state like Michigan, getting out a little bit early like this and having better ground game, better organization, better funding is really, really significant.” Rogers said that after decades of Democratic control of both U.S. Senate seats in Michigan, residents are ready for “change.” “People are fired up about this race, and they’re excited for change,” he said. “And why not have a voice of reason finally, after 30 years, representing somebody who actually started working on a factory floor and is now a candidate for Senate.” As he gears up for a general election battle, Rogers is fine-tuning his messaging on the economy and the housing market, issues that President Trump has also focused on in recent months. Earlier this month, Rogers unveiled a plan to help Americans “unlock homeownership.” The Republican Senate candidate proposed expanding 529 savings plans to cover first-time home down payments and deferring student loan payments while saving for a down payment. “The Democrats will find everything to be against. They don’t stand for much of anything for how to fix a problem,” Rogers said. “They know that I’ve fixed problems, and I’m going to fix problems when I become their next United States senator. That’s what people are fired up about.” The Daily Wire asked Rogers about Americans’ ongoing economic frustrations one year after Trump, who was largely elected on promises to fix those economic issues, was sworn in. Rogers said the Trump administration and Republicans are trying to fix “four years of really bad Democrat policies” under the Biden administration. The GOP Senate candidate specifically called out how former President Joe Biden’s policies affected Michigan autoworkers. “They damn near put out of business two great American car companies with all these EV mandates. Even the Ford CEO came out and said it was the EV mandates that was the cause of the increase of cost for these cars,” he said. “Democrats have had years to do this damage. The Republicans and Donald Trump have had about a year to undo as much of that as possible.” A Big Question Mark For Democrats Three Democratic candidates are in a close primary race for the chance to face Rogers and maintain the Democratic Party’s dominance in Michigan Senate elections. U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, state Senate leader Mallory McMorrow, and former health care director Dr. Abdul El-Sayed are at the top of the field in a crowded race. While Republicans are already focusing on the general election, the door remains wide open for Democrats. According to the most recent polling from Emerson College, McMorrow leads the field at 22%, with Stevens coming in at 17% and El-Sayed standing at 16%. Nearly 40% of voters polled, however, remained undecided. Each of the Democratic candidates is struggling to maintain momentum and has been hurt by recent controversies. A video published by conservative outlet Townhall in December shows McMorrow suggesting to supporters that she would throw beer at conservative Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh if she saw them in public. “I talked to somebody yesterday who said they saw her with Brett Kavanaugh at a tailgate last weekend. I was like, ‘I would not be able to control myself,’” McMorrow said. “That would be bad — there would be beers thrown in people’s faces.” State Sen. Mallory McMorrow (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images) Stevens was criticized by some Democratic leaders late last year after she filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. According to The New York Times, some of Stevens Democratic colleagues viewed the move as a political stunt. Stevens shot back, arguing that she’s “not one for political theater” and that she was “standing up for the health and safety of the people I represent.” Rep. Haley Stevens (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images) In October, El-Sayed sent a fundraising email on the anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, but in the email, El-Sayed made no mention of the terror group’s atrocities and blamed Israel for launching “a ground invasion of Gaza.” After the email was sent, the Democratic candidate said that it was pushed out by mistake, and he released a separate statement on the anniversary of October 7 condemning Hamas for the “heinous attack,” but also accusing Israel of committing “genocide.” El-Sayed, who was endorsed by democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, told The Daily Wire last week that the email had been approved to go out, but was supposed to be sent on a different day. “It went out, and I very quickly reached out to leaders in the Jewish community to apologize for having stepped on their grief,” he said, adding, “The message in the email is something I stand by.” Dr. Abdul El-Sayed (Erin Kirkland/Bloomberg via Getty Images) The top Democratic candidates are already beating up on each other, and there are still months to go in the bitter primary battle before Michigan’s August 4 primary. In a forum hosted by the United Auto Workers in Detroit last week, the Democratic candidates clashed over multiple issues, including how far to the Left Michigan voters would be willing to go. McMorrow, who is leading in early polls, suggested that El-Sayed — who is the farthest to the Left of the three Democrats — is focusing on “rhetoric” over delivering results, while arguing that Stevens is “too beholden to corporate interests.” During the forum, Stevens, who is viewed as most in line with the Democratic establishment and is endorsed by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, focused her attacks on Trump and Rogers, NBC News reported. El-Sayed, meanwhile, ran to the Left of both McMorrow and Stevens, calling for “Medicare for all” and for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be “abolished,” stances he also discussed in a 20-minute phone conversation with The Daily Wire last week. The Daily Wire reached out to the campaigns of McMorrow and Stevens, requesting interviews, but they have not responded. The race could ultimately come down to how well Republicans can maintain their focus on the general election and whether Rogers can maintain his fundraising advantage, as the Democrats battle it out for the nomination. A lot can change in these political campaigns in a short amount of time — just like Michigan’s weather in late February.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed a global 10% tariff on all countries Friday evening following the Supreme Court’s ruling blocking his tariffs earlier in the day. The president announced Friday evening that it was his “great honor” to have signed “a Global 10% Tariff on all Countries, which will be effective almost immediately.” The move is intended to address the fundamental international payment problems, the White House said, and to continue the Trump administration’s work to rebalance trade relationships in order to benefit American workers. Trump is invoking his authority under section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, empowering him to address “certain fundamental international payment problems through surcharges and other special import restrictions,” the White House clarified in a fact sheet. The proclamation imposes a 10% ad valorem import duty on all articles imported into the U.S. for 150 days, taking effect February 24 at 12:01 a.m. “By taking this action, the United States can stem the outflow of its dollars to foreign producers and incentivize the return of domestic production,” the fact sheet states. “By increasing its domestic production, the United States can correct its balance-of-payments deficit, while also creating good paying jobs, and lowering costs for consumers.” The move came after the Supreme Court basically struck down Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries in a 6-3 decision, saying that the president does not have the authority to impose those broad-scale tariffs. Trump, in a White House press briefing on Friday and in subsequent social media posts, said repeatedly that he is “ashamed” of the Supreme Court justices who ruled against him for “not having the Courage to do what is right for our Country.” In a Truth Social post on Friday night, he praised Justices Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Samuel Alito for their “Strength, Wisdom, and Love of our Country.” President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing at the White House on February 20, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chen Mengtong/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images) “When you read the dissenting opinions, there is no way that anyone can argue against them,” Trump said. “Foreign Countries that have been ripping us off for years are ecstatic, and dancing in the streets — But they won’t be dancing for long! The Democrats on the Court are thrilled, but they will automatically vote ‘NO’ against ANYTHING that makes America Strong and Healthy Again.” “They, also, are a Disgrace to our Nation,” Trump added. “Others think they’re being ‘politically correct,’ which has happened before, far too often, with certain Members of this Court when, in fact, they’re just FOOLS and ‘LAPDOGS’ for the RINOS and Radical Left Democrats and, not that this should have anything to do with it, very unpatriotic, and disloyal to the Constitution. It is my opinion that the Court has been swayed by Foreign Interests, and a Political Movement that is far smaller than people would think — But obnoxious, ignorant, and loud!” Trump said that the case was extremely important to him, symbolizing economic and national security more “than anything else.” “The Good News,” the president said, “is that there are methods, practices, Statutes, and other Authorities, as recognized by the entire Court and Congress, that are even stronger than the IEEPA TARIFFS, available to me as President of the United States of America and, in actuality, I was very modest in my ‘ask’ of other Countries and Businesses because I wanted to do nothing that could sway the decision that has been rendered by the Court.” According to the White House, there are some goods that won’t be subject to the import duty, such as certain critical minerals, natural resources and fertilizers that can’t be grown or produced in the U.S., pharmaceuticals, electronics, passengers vehicles, certain aerospace products, and more.

The following is an edited transcript excerpt from The Michael Knowles Show. * * * A woman who presents herself as a “priestess” — a role that does not exist in Christianity — just went viral. This priestess puts on a collar and a stole and pretends to be a priest. And to make the whole presentation even more satanic, she includes the Planned Parenthood logo on the priestly stole. Here is her defense of the Left’s highest sacrament, abortion: Headline: RELIGION MEETS PLANNED PARENTHOOD A female pastor is sparking a firestorm after claiming she “felt God’s presence” while deciding to end two pregnancies—all while wearing a Planned Parenthood stole at the pulpit pic.twitter.com/sUvgk7HIRz — BuzzBrief (@_BuzzBrief__) February 15, 2026 Credit: @_BuzzBrief_X.com & @OilLondonTV/X.com In the abortion imaginary, all people of faith are against abortion. This imaginary has colonized our minds, traumatizing many people with its toxic theology and shaping a culture of stigma and shame that has silenced millions of women and people who have had abortions, erasing their voices, their stories, and their witness from the public sphere. As a child of God, I can certainly appreciate the lyrical beauty of this text, as well as the descriptions in Jeremiah and Job of their certain knowledge that God was with them in the womb. I too feel that I am known by God in these ways. As a woman who has borne two children, I can affirm that I felt something sacred happening in my gestating body during those pregnancies. I can also attest that I felt God’s presence with me as I made the decision to end two pregnancies, and I felt no guilt, no shame, no sin. Okay, this is horrifying.  But you have to give this murderous woman, this truly sacrilegious heretic, some credit for honesty. She is openly acknowledging something that most pro-abortion Christians will not: something sacred was going on in my womb when that baby was being knit there.  She goes on to basically say, Jeremiah and Job describe being knit in the womb. And yeah, that’s all real. I totally grant that. And I felt it. I personally know it’s real — but I chose to kill my kids and I felt that that was cool too. So, of course, the difference between real Christianity and a lot of pagan cults is that Christianity is a definitive religion. Our Lord is a real person who lives in real time and space and picks real people to build his Church with and upon, like Saint Peter, to whom he gave the keys to the kingdom of heaven and the power to bind and to loose. It is a religion that has real, visible authority in the world throughout history. During that history, our Lord says, I will send the helper, I will send the Holy Spirit to you, and I will be with you always, even until the end of the age, because our Lord is the bridegroom and the Church is the bride. It is a real, definitive religion. We can definitively say Christianity outlaws abortion. We can definitively say Christianity has a real view of marriage, and it doesn’t change. We can really say all of that. And this woman kind of admits that, which is why you have to give her points for honesty. She says there was a divine thing happening when babies were being created in her womb. But she killed them anyway because her autonomy trumped even the spark of the divine. In other words, her autonomy trumps even God himself. WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show on DailyWire+ And it’s nuts when you hear it that way from a forthright liberal woman. But that is the premise of liberalism today — nothing is more important than my autonomy. I will make of myself the highest god. We saw this in the Biden administration. Joe Biden believed he could be a liberal and a Christian, he was happy to do it. He called himself the most devout Catholic in the world. However, when his liberalism conflicted with his Christianity, he always chose liberalism. And this is what liberalism tells us to do. We can believe a wide number of things. We can engage in a wide number of behaviors. We can even join many political parties. But the highest good is my autonomy. I’m really number one. I will make a god of myself. It’s a fulfillment of what the serpent promises to our first ancestors in the garden: “You will be like gods.” You don’t have to listen to him. And that’s what this woman is saying. It’s all the more shocking because she admits: Jeremiah and Job talk about the divine spark in the womb. I felt it too — and I killed them. Press them on that. Press the Democrats and the liberals on that: If you’re a Christian, what happens when Christianity contradicts your liberalism? Which side do you pick?