The Chicago Bears have taken another step toward a multi-billion-dollar stadium project in Hammond, Indiana, and people are pissed off. I’m a Carolina Panthers fan, I don’t particularly care where the Bears play from a geographic standpoint. It certainly would be lame for the “Chicago” Bears, one of the more storied franchises in the NFL, to play somewhere other than Chicago, but I’m not emotionally invested in it. What I am emotionally invested in is preventing the pussification of American sport, which is why the Bears move is troubling to me. It’s troubling because they’re apparently going to build an indoor stadium wherever their new home is, be it in Indiana, Illinois, or elsewhere. To put it bluntly, domed football stadiums are an affront to God. Football is the ultimate expression of American masculinity. It’s a battle of physical strength and endurance, toughness, and gladiator spirit. It is not for the faint of heart, and it is not meant to be played in prime conditions. In fact, one of the appeals of the game is that it can be played rain or shine, sun or snow, sweltering heat or frigid freeze. Replacing Soldier Field with a dome is a pinch of salt in the wound. It’s one of the iconic venues of football. Again, I don’t care about the Bears either way, but even I get a little tingle up the spine when I tune into a primetime matchup at Soldier Field in December, maybe a dusting of snow covering the grass, that orange “C” in the middle of the arena. It’s up there with the Heinz, Lambeaus, and Arrowheads in terms of aura. Domes are the antithesis of football, and dare I say America. They are fake in their presentation, communist in their value, and European in their softness. If I have to explain that to you, you just don’t get it. The NBA has been destroyed by flopping losers. Soccer is never going to happen. Baseball is my favorite sport, but it is at the mercy of the elements. We can’t lose what makes football different, or America won’t have a true man’s game it can call its own any longer.

As fireworks light up the sky above the South Lawn and the roar of a sold-out UFC crowd echoes through the nation’s capital, America pauses to celebrate a milestone that few could have predicted: Donald J. Trump, the 45th and 47th President of the United States, turns 80 years old today — and he’s doing it from the Oval Office. Born on June 14, 1946, in Queens, New York, Trump shares his birthday with Flag Day, a coincidence he has long called a point of pride. “I am blessed to have shared my birthday with the Star-Spangled Banner,” he once said. Today, as the country marks its own 250th year of independence, the celebration feels fitting for a man whose supporters say has spent a lifetime putting America first. Trump’s road to this point in history has been anything but conventional. A real estate mogul turned reality television star turned political phenomenon, he stunned the world in 2016 by winning the presidency without a single day of prior government or military service. He left office in January 2021 — and then came back to do it again four years later. In doing so, he became the first president since Grover Cleveland to serve non-consecutive terms, reclaiming the White House in 2024 with a decisive electoral victory. As he blows out the candles on his 80th birthday, the record books are already being rewritten around him. From a conservative standpoint, Trump’s presidential resume is formidable. His first term unleashed one of the most prosperous economies in modern American history. Before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, his administration oversaw the creation of 7 million new jobs, drove unemployment to a 50-year low of 3.5%, and saw wage growth surge fastest for the very workers politicians have long promised to help — blue-collar Americans and those at the bottom of the income ladder. Middle-class family incomes rose nearly $6,000, and poverty rates for Black and Hispanic Americans fell to record lows. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — the largest tax overhaul in a generation — slashed the corporate rate from 35% to 21% and delivered meaningful relief to working families. Nearly 9,000 Opportunity Zones were created, channeling $75 billion in private investment into communities long overlooked by Washington. On the courts, Trump’s impact may outlast every other element of his legacy. He appointed three Supreme Court Justices — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett — cementing a 6–3 conservative majority, and placed over 200 federal judges on the bench, reshaping the judiciary for a generation. His first term also saw the replacement of NAFTA with the stronger USMCA trade deal, the construction of over 400 miles of border wall, the brokering of the historic Abraham Accords in the Middle East, and the launch of Operation Warp Speed, which delivered COVID-19 vaccines in record time. His return to power in 2025 has been equally bold. In his first year back, Trump signed over 225 executive orders — a single-year record — delivering rapid-fire action on border security, energy production, and government reform. The results speak for themselves. Unauthorized border crossings have plummeted to near-zero. U.S. crude oil production hit a record 13.6 million barrels per day in 2025. The newly created Department of Government Efficiency has identified billions in potential savings, marking the most aggressive downsizing of the federal bureaucracy since the Reagan era. And the “One Big Beautiful Bill” delivered further tax and spending reforms through Congress. Today, as Trump watches UFC fighters battle on the White House lawn — in a celebration that doubles as America’s 250th birthday party — his supporters would argue the man himself mirrors the occasion: a little older, a little louder, and still, unmistakably, in the ring. Happy 80th, Mr. President.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA — Bishop Michael Burbidge is aware that a good percentage of the 432,700 Catholics in his flock are politically important. “One of the first shocks I experienced when I became the Bishop of Arlington was being in this office and looking out and seeing the Capitol and the Washington Monument from my window,” Burbidge told The Daily Wire in a recent interview. “There are some heavy hitters here who are influencing our country’s politics.” For about two years, those heavy hitters included Vice President JD Vance, who, as a first-term senator from Ohio, settled his family in Northern Virginia. Vance’s Catholicism has been a central part of his identity since his 2019 baptism — back when he was still just “the author of ‘Hillbilly Elegy’” and a promising young man. Vance, who tells the story of his faith journey in a forthcoming book, “Communion,” may have broken the land speed record for transition from catechumen to prominent Catholic. By the time Donald Trump asked him to join the presidential ticket, he was one of the most well-known American Catholics, second only to the man he and Trump were running to succeed. Once in office, Vance became the locus for Catholic critiques of the Trump administration’s foreign policy and immigration crackdown — which earned the White House rebukes from Pope Francis and now Pope Leo XIV, whose elevation to the Throne of St. Peter moved Vance a few notches down the list of prominent American Catholics. Burbidge knows all of this. He’s met Vance, he says, but hasn’t had a formal meeting with him since he became vice president. And Burbidge realizes the vice president has a particular challenge before him, not just as a Catholic leader, but one with a countryman in Rome. But the bishop — who encouraged Trump and Vance in January 2025 to “develop a national immigration policy that reflects the Catholic commitment to human dignity and the common good” — stressed that Vance has all the tools he needs to navigate choppy theological-political waters. “We have a mandate to be not only citizens, but to be faithful citizens,” Burbidge says. “You can’t separate what you know to be true and what you profess to believe into your life as a politician. And will you have to pay a price for that sometimes? Of course you will. Will you maybe be rejected by others? Of course you will. But there’s no other path.” “This is what’s so great about being Catholic,” the bishop adds. “There’s a consistency of the gospel of life and the truth.” “Now, does this become more challenging for a politician? I’m sure it does. But you can’t be one person here and another person here.” A Philadelphia native ordained in 1984, Burbidge began his episcopal journey as the auxiliary bishop of his hometown in 2002. Named bishop of Raleigh in 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI, he held that post for a decade before Pope Francis named him the fourth bishop of Arlington. It’s a role to which Burbidge — a polished speaker unafraid to preach the “gospel of life” to all manner of politicians — seems uniquely suited. “It really doesn’t matter who’s in office,” Burbidge says when asked how he’s navigated the transition from President Joe Biden, a Catholic who flouted the Church’s teaching on abortion, to Trump and Vance, whose paeans to the faith have not kept them out of the fray. “It’s always going to be a challenge, because [the Catholic Church is] so beautiful, the way we teach the gospel of life. It confuses people that we can be on this side or that side, but the truth of the gospel, what we’re teaching doesn’t change because of who’s in office.” The bishop certainly practices what he’s preaching here. Burbidge issued his statement on immigration less than two weeks after Inauguration Day, reminding the Trump team of the Church’s stance before it had finished unpacking. Burbidge had plenty of practice dealing with politicians by this point. From 2022 to 2024, he chaired the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Pro-Life Activities Committee. In that role, he chastised Biden for “causing great scandal when he announces both his faith and his pro-abortion position publicly,” calling on the president to “repent.” Still, Burbidge goes out of his way to stress that his role is no different than that of other bishops. He does not tell his priests to preach to the powerful in the pews and thinks there “should be no effort at all” for priests to do that. For all that’s happening in the American church, Burbidge is most excited about the things that get bishops excited: seven ordinations this year and 12 in 2025; 39 active seminarians; mass attendance rebounding to pre-COVID numbers; 27 George Mason students brought into the church this Easter alone, the work of just one campus priest. “We have so many young adults who are fully engaged in the life of the church,” Burbidge says. “We are very, very blessed with vocations … and we have so many beautiful holy families, holy marriages, from which vocations so often come.” With a flourishing diocese and rising levels of religiosity among young Americans, Burbidge is optimistic about the future of the country and the church. And he sees even more reason for hope in Pope Leo, whom he praises for “the serenity and the simplicity and the joy” he has projected in his first year as pontiff. “I think it was a blessing, a gift, that he knows the United States,” Burbidge says. “He’s lived here, he’s from here. He speaks the language. He gets us, and I think he understands us, in our politics and our culture and things like that.” One might say it’s providential, the ascension of an American pope at the dawn of a very Catholic age in American politics. Abortion and immigration, the twin issues of our time, make it clear that Catholic social teaching does not cleave easily along party lines. And yet, the days of Catholics sidestepping politics seem to be over. The Republican nominee for president in 2028 will almost certainly be Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio, both Catholics. And at least two Democratic frontrunners — California Governor Gavin Newsom and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — are proximately Catholic as well. Our nation’s next presidential election may not just be a referendum on competing political systems, but competing conceptions of Catholicism. Regardless of whether that happens, American Catholics will certainly be glad to have one of their own leading the church in the coming years. But perhaps they’ll also look to a prelate just two years younger than Pope Leo, another son of a great American city whose ordination came almost two years to the day of the Holy Father’s. “As a bishop, I have to have full responsibility for every soul entrusted to me,” Burbidge says. “And therefore, I have to speak truth and love, and love involves speaking the truth.” “So, I think that if you’re a Catholic and you’re running for office, your bishop’s going to be talking to you.”

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. *** The White House lawn will become the stage for a celebration unlike anything in recent American history on Monday. As part of the nation’s 250th birthday festivities, a UFC fight card will take place on the grounds of the People’s House. One of us will be participating. The other will be cheering as a friend and supporter. Most importantly, our sons will be watching. Many people will see a cage fight. We see something else entirely. We see an opportunity to celebrate America in a way that matches the scale of this historic milestone. America did not endure for 250 years through caution. It endured through courage, perseverance, sacrifice, and a willingness to meet challenges head-on. When we met several years ago at Penn State University, neither of us could have predicted where life would lead. One of us would pursue a career in professional fighting. The other would dedicate his life to building homes and communities. On the surface, those paths seem very different. Yet the values required for both pursuits are remarkably similar. Both demand discipline, require accountability, reward perseverance, and teach humility. Most importantly, both remind us that success is rarely achieved alone. It requires mentors, family, faith, and a community that challenges us to become better men. That is why we continue to meet each week with a group of fathers committed to sharpening one another through friendship, mentorship, and Bible study. In a culture that has made a sport of attacking masculinity, we have found value in gathering with other men who are committed to faith, family, and serving our community. We know men’s Bible studies and fellowship groups like ours are thriving across the country. In spite of attempts to shame men for leaning into masculinity, we see men modeling the biblical principle of iron sharpening iron in a positive way. It helps explain a surprising trend emerging among young men. According to a recent Gallup survey, 42% of young men now say religion is “very important” in their lives, surpassing young women for the first time in the 25 years Gallup has tracked the question. Why? Because men crave community and brotherhood. They want to be challenged. They want to belong. They want to know their lives matter. Every generation eventually discovers that material success alone is not enough. Young men are searching for purpose, responsibility, and relationships that challenge them to grow, and they want to be part of something larger than themselves. We believe the ultimate model of masculinity is found in Jesus Christ. He paired strength with humility, combined leadership with service, and expressed love through sacrifice. Some people will never be comfortable with a UFC event on the White House lawn. That’s their right. Americans have always disagreed about how best to celebrate our nation and express its values. And sufferers of the infamous derangement syndrome will inevitably dismiss the whole thing as the president throwing himself a birthday party. What is happening on that lawn is far more meaningful than that. We believe many critics are missing a larger story. The search for what some critics have called throwback masculinity is leading many young men back to faith. In our own weekly Bible study, we have seen it lead men back to fathers, coaches, pastors, and mentors. As America prepares to celebrate 250 years of freedom, our hope is not simply that people remember a historic UFC event. Our hope is that they remember the values that made such a celebration possible in the first place: courage, perseverance, sacrifice, faith, and personal responsibility. Tomorrow, millions of Americans will watch what happens inside a cage on the White House lawn. We encourage them also to watch the healthy masculine relationships being built outside the cage. Look at the enthusiasm of our young sons, who but for this fight may have never become interested in celebrating America’s 250th birthday at all. And like fathers across this country, we will be hoping they grow into men who love God, serve others, lead their families well, and embrace the responsibilities that come with freedom. That legacy is worth every fight. *** Bo Nickal is a mixed martial artist. Michael Burkentine is a real estate developer.

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. *** It would be cool if life would stop imitating “Futurama.” From virtual reality to the response to COVID-19 to easily available assisted suicide, the series had an uncanny ability to see the direction of society. Its worst prediction to come true, though, is the increasing prevalence of human-AI chatbot relationships.  In the third season of the show, which aired in 2001, one episode centered on Fry’s decision to date a robot, specifically one designed to resemble Lucy Liu. Professor Farnsworth comes down hard on Fry, forcing him to watch the educational video “Don’t Date Robots.” Though hilarious, the fake educational video does make a variety of solid points, chiefly that when humans choose technology over other humans, there’s zero chance of becoming a parent, which ultimately leads to societal collapse, which is pretty much where we are over here in real life.  For we’ve got a problem not just with humans “dating” AI chatbots, but also a decline in fertility related to smartphones. Starting with the former, as reported by the Institute for Family Studies, a whopping “1 in 7 (15%) of dating, engaged, and married young adults regularly interact with AI chatbots that simulate a committed romantic partner. Another 20% to 30% reported that they had at least experimented with using an AI romantic companion at some point in time.” This is insane. While arguing with AI about its mistakes can be fun (not that I’ve ever done so), AI is not actually intelligent. It’s merely a mirror that takes your inputs and serves them back to you in the most pleasing way it can. Of course it’s going to make a more submissive romantic partner, assuming that physical contact isn’t your thing for whatever weird reason, than a flesh-and-blood one. The flesh and blood partner is going to be an actual human with his or her own desires, opinions, expectations, and humanity. Maybe you want a cool girl à la Amy Dunne. A little danger is exciting, being framed for murder is much less so. Also, though, the cool girl can only maintain the façade for so long. At some juncture, she’s going to crack, and you’re going to find yourself dealing with an extremely angry flesh-and-blood woman. At least that forces you to respond and do some damage control.  Similarly, immersing yourself into anything artificial, as the A in AI stands for, is going to remove you from reality. This is not a development that bodes well for the future. The more people forget how to talk to others and only learn how to talk to themselves, the more fragmented and angrier we’ll become.  And angriness is already an issue. As writer Magdalene Taylor has discussed at length, modern men hate modern women. Modern women hate modern men. Sinking further into this hatred via smartphones, apps, and AI is only going to exacerbate the problems between the sexes and the global decline in total fertility rate.  Some people may be of the opinion that declining fertility isn’t a problem, whether because they still believe Paul Ehrlich or they think Mother Nature is simply thinning the herd. Either way, they’re wrong because declining population is a huge problem. The world is built for growth. Entitlements are already strained and facing insolvency. Housing, though in short supply now, is many people’s primary source of wealth. When there are a rapidly declining pool of potential buyers, what do you think is going to happen to the value of those homes?  Those are practical arguments, though. The real issue isn’t in funding Social Security or appraisals, but in what happens when our horizons extend only to the decades we spend walking the planet. When we don’t have to worry about what comes after us, there is no reason to build grand institutions, to nurture our natural resources, to go to other planets, to truly elevate the greatness of the world we are blessed to inhabit.  I say all this as someone who is a rabid consumer of technology. Pretty much all the money I make in the world is thanks to a text, a phone call, or my computer. I appreciate that Claude can teach me how to do my youngest’s math homework so that I can teach her. Having ChatGPT spit out a marketing plan and some materials in seconds is ridiculously efficient. But the value of those tools and efficiencies is the time they afford me to do other things, things not involving getting virtually nasty with some ones and zeroes. I’m a cranky 50-year-old at this point, though, not a young digital native. They’re the ones we need to convince, much as Professor Farnsworth had to convince Fry.  Because even if the 15% figure holds and only that many people virtually cheat on their significant others, that’s still bad. We wouldn’t look the other way if 15% of people started using heroin. We wouldn’t shrug if 15% of people started committing murder. We wouldn’t even tolerate 15% of cool girls merely framing people for murder.  The technology isn’t going away. There is not going to be a new Luddite uprising. The First Church of Ted Kaczynski isn’t going to happen (probably). Smartphones are how we communicate now. Boundaries have been erased. The friction of daily life can be almost entirely eliminated. That’s not a good thing.  Struggle leads to success. Friction is part of that struggle. Successful relationships that help to build the future don’t arise out of artificial harmony, but out of the messiness of human life, out of the arguments over dishes or where to eat or what to watch. Greatness comes from being challenged and learning from those challenges, from overcoming obstacles, from accepting at times that we’re wrong.  And the people attempting to usher in a tech utopia are wrong. Being able to easily order pizza is great. Receiving unyielding validation and admiration from a robot, not so much. So, let us not normalize the slow descent into artificiality and instead urge people, particularly our young men who are going to have to lead on this front, to put the screen away, step outside, and touch not grass, but a pretty girl. The future depends on it. *** Rich Cromwell is a writer living in Northwest Arkansas. He produces the Cookin’ Up a Story podcast. Follow him on X @rcromwell4.