It was mid-August last year. I knew it was going to be bad after weeks of telegraphing our next moves, but even so, my family and I watched in horror as people fell to their deaths from a US military plane trying to escape Afghanistan. In the days that followed, hundreds of millions of dollars in military equipment would be handed over to our enemies. But the worst was 13 dead Americans among 200 of our friends in the explosion at Karzai Airport gate, and the thousands of allies and Americans left to whatever fate the Taliban dealt as they seamlessly re-emerged to wield their treachery.
I had spent the previous 10 years in retirement from the Army, teaching my handicapped daughter how to walk and then recovering from a devastating health event myself. But I couldn’t sit by any longer. I had skills to offer, and I knew my country needed leadership. It was time to re-enter the fight for America. With my wife’s support, I have not looked back since that day. The last decade has taught me about perseverance and healing. Now I will persist until the damage that has been wrought by our current leadership has been overcome.
Since that day, I have watched as residents of North Carolina and the Piedmont have taken body blow after body blow.
Financially, families are suffering 10-15% food inflation. Greensboro led the nation in rent inflation (74% according to Rent.com in July). Gas prices which peaked at $xxx this summer, have contracted slightly, but are expected to rise again after the election. A contact at the NC Agriculture Department reports that the U.S. now has a mere 20-day supply of diesel fuel. This could be catastrophic for farming, supply chains and workers.
Further challenges facing NC families include gender and race theory being taught to our children even as they are struggling to make up significant academic learning loss from lock- down policies. Parents are being shut out of their kids’ educations and forced to condone or explain abnormal student behaviors in schools, such as kids identifying as animals.
Locally, crime is soaring, and perhaps most tragic of all, fentanyl deaths up over 600% in a five- year span. As if all this isn’t enough, there is even a residential neighborhood in Greensboro that now is home to an illegal migrant facility of males aged 13-18. Temporarily postponed until after the election, there will be consequences when it opens.
These are the policies Biden and his 100% rubber stamp, Kathy Manning, are now trying to convince you are “good for you.”
It has been a long and unexpected road for me and my family – three different maps that led me to take on an incumbent Democrat from out of district. Then a move into the district. We have persevered because we believe we can make a difference in our new community. Together, we can all work toward restoring sanity in government, stability in our currency and supply chains, safety in our neighborhoods and well-being in our families, as parents and citizens regain their rightful authority.
Those are the values I will pursue as your Congressional Representative. I look forward to serving in the years to come in the same war for America, on a different hill.
Christian Castelli is the Republican nominee for North Carolina’s 6th Congressional District.
