An Open Letter To Dana White - And The Rest Of The Country

Last night on June 14, 2026, there was an amazing sporting event held on the South Lawn of the White House, primarily honoring and celebrating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States in 1776. It was dubbed Freedom 250. 

It was truly spectacular, even though the main focus was on a series of bouts in which two men would pound on each other for up to 15–25 minutes to see who would prevail and “win.” But surrounding these fights, there was pageantry and narrative and music and speech specially honoring those who serve and have served in the nation's armed forces over the years, as well as the “first responders” of our nation. If it had not been for fighting, after all, we might still be “British.” As someone said, fighting is in our DNA, our nature. 

The whole event and even the temporary arena was paid for by the UFC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, made up of promoters, sponsors, and fighters involved in the mixed martial arts of the fighting world. Such has been part of the entire history of man, like it or not. 

Generally, there is wonderful sportsmanship practiced by most of those involved in the fights themselves, as well as the support personnel. Sometimes before or after a fight there will be expressions of true respect or admiration between the fighters, along with some expected smack talk that can get downright vulgar. It's a shame, but is understandable. 

One thing that sort of amazed me was that this event was held on June 14, which, as a matter of fact, was President Donald Trump's 80th birthday, as well as Flag Day. There was almost no mention of President Trump's birthday during this whole six-hour event, though he and many of his family were in attendance, and it was held, after all, IN THE FRONT YARD OF THEIR CURRENT HOME. So much for him being a classic, hard-core narcissist. The focus was on the military personnel as well as the other first responders, who were highlighted continually from the music, to the fly-over, to the guarding of the property and event, to the old, retired members of the Armed Forces in attendance. 

A suggestion I would share with Dana White, along with many others in the public eye these days - let's clean up our language, as well as the depths of our own hearts and lives from where the language comes. It is especially shameful how some of the fighters thank and extol God and Jesus Christ for saving them, and then proceed to defile themselves with filthy language and disrespectful actions. It's not just the fighters, though they are the ones in the spotlight. Similar degrading speech and actions have permeated our society to the point that even young children use such filthy language as a matter of course with their parents or teachers or out in public.

The filthy language and disrespect for life and God's world need to be put in proper perspective, yet it must be a voluntary thing - it cannot be legislated. Freedom of speech is paramount in this country of ours. But there are societal restraints that we do use to prevent certain language from being used on the airwaves, like radio or TV (the F-word especially comes to mind). Unfortunately, with the spreading of the new media, over the Internet, trash spreads like a wildfire. 

For any event such as this, and just for our lives in general, there should be a recognition of the deep importance and relevance of just who and what is involved. There is an overwhelming need for a return to the respect, the decorum, the decency, and even the reverence for that which is important in this world and in our lives. 

GOD BLESS US ALL!