We the people will decide who will govern us. The next election will not be decided by the intelligence agencies, the news media, the politicians or the elites. We will recognize the difference between the truth and the narratives that we have been told.

We all remember that we used to buy gas for under $2, and that inflation is a hidden tax caused by inept leadership. The U.S. inflation rate reached 40-year highs early in the Biden administration. While the inflation rate was reduced as the Federal Reserve increased interest rates, this created other problems, particularly in housing markets and servicing debt, including the U.S. deficit.

We were initially told that the inflation was transitory and later that prices were not rising. We will decide if we are better off now financially then we were four years ago.

We remember that four years ago illegal immigration was largely controlled before our borders were intentionally opened by “progressive” Democrats. As a result, a rise in crime, drug and human trafficking, is a risk for all of us. We remember the poorly executed exit from Afghanistan, and how the military personnel were withdrawn before our civilians and our Afghani interpreters. We recall how we abandoned billions of dollars of military equipment, leaving it to be used by the Taliban, or sold to our enemies around the world. We remember the lack of accountability.

We remember the COVID pandemic and the shutdown of much of our economy. We cannot forget the mandates, the experimental vaccines, the masking and social distancing, or the isolation we felt. We recall the weaponization of questionable science to force an agenda, and the attempts to silence any dissent. We also recall the governmental disinterest in determining how the pandemic started.

Again, there is a lack of accountability. We remember how the Democratic leadership with help from the Department of Justice corrupted the legal system and attempted to keep their leading opponent from being elected. This included their attempts to remove him from the ballot, and limit his time to campaign. We recall this was the hallmark of the USSR.

We remember how Jan. 6 was immediately labeled as an insurrection, while the rioting by BLM and Antifa were portrayed as peaceful protests. We will not forget the buildings burnt, and the destruction they caused or that many politicized district attorney’s refused to prosecute those crimes.

We remember the Democrat’s attempt to buy votes in 2020 and 2022 with the student loan forgiveness programs and how the Supreme Court later ruled on its constitutionality, finding that spending must be approved by Congress. We question why the executive branch continues to use executive orders to push this through in small increments, ignoring the judicial branch ruling. There are constitutional separation of powers for a reason.

We remember how the executive branch coerced social media outlets to suppress opinions that conflicted with the official narrative on the origin of COVID, treatment of COVID, vaccine efficacy and other topics.

We realize if the First Amendment is lost, that we have lost a key freedom. We remember that President Joe Biden, a lifelong public servant has somehow become extremely wealthy, far beyond anything achievable solely by his salary. We remember the investigations by the Committee on Oversight and Accountability into foreign payments to the Biden family and the suspicious activity reports.

We recall in 2020 how Hunter Biden’s laptop was characterized as “Russian disinformation,” and how the same laptop has since been determined to be authentic, and was used by the government as evidence in Hunter’s trial for gun-related crimes. No one in the intelligence community has been held accountable for the intentional deception of the voters in 2020.

We remember that when the Dobbs Supreme Court decision regarding abortion was leaked, that the Democratic leadership encouraged protests at the homes of several of the Supreme Court justices, despite that activity being illegal under federal law. We won’t forget how this was followed by an assassination attempt on Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

We remember that Russia attacked Ukraine during the Obama and Biden presidencies but not during the Trump administration. We won’t forget that the Biden administration’s failure to enforce the sanctions on Iran, which enriched Iran, allowing it to resume its funding of the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups. No one will forget the half-hearted support provided to our ally Israel following the Hamas terror attack.

We recognize that the Democratic Party has moved to the extreme left, and includes numerous socio-fascists. We will recall the efforts to restrict the type of cars we drive, what appliances we use, and their efforts to generally interfere with our lives.

Finally, we recognize that dementia does not develop overnight. The signs of President Biden’s cognitive decline have been visible for most of his term. While the administration, President Biden’s family and the news media have attempted to hide these signs, it has been unsuccessful. Exposing this issue now serves as the “shiny object” for us to follow, in an attempt to distract us, so we don’t remember the failures mentioned above.

Fortunately, we the people will decide who governs us. Please remember what has happened, and remember to vote.

David Graves lives in Greenfield.