W.J. Astore
Forget about peace or reductions to military spending
According to an NBC News poll, America is rooting for Ukraine but Trump prefers Russia. Seriously. That’s the gist of the headline.
The intent of this poll wasn’t to analyze how Americans think about the Russia-Ukraine War or Trump or military strength. It was to control how they think by giving them only the most constrained choices.
Let’s take a close look at the results and the NBC headline. According to NBC News:
When asked where they believe Trump’s sympathies are, 49% choose Russia, 40% say they think Trump favors neither side, and 8% choose Ukraine. Another 3% say they are not sure.
So, a majority of Americans, 51%, believe Trump is either carefully neutral on the war, a Ukraine supporter, or they don’t know. A minority (49%) believes he sympathizes with Russia. But the headline says Americans believe “Trump prefers Russia.”
Interestingly, I see no question about whether the Russia-Ukraine War should end after three long and bloody years so that lives are saved, or whether the U.S. should stop sending billions in weaponry to Ukraine with virtually no oversight as to where the weapons end up.
Further on, Americans are asked whether we should focus more on domestic affairs or whether we haven’t been strong enough globally. A majority of Americans believe we should focus on domestic affairs. But note how there’s no choice given for opposing war and preferring peace. Americans aren’t asked if they think the government is relying too much on military force. You have only two options: focus more at home, or strengthen the U.S. position abroad.
Interestingly, it’s Democrats who are most concerned with strengthening America’s position abroad, with nearly six out of ten taking this position, whereas six out of ten Republicans want to focus on domestic affairs. That is a remarkable result, as Democrats have supplanted Republicans as the party of military interventionism and “strength.”
Again, NBC didn’t bother to ask directly whether Americans would prefer peace and substantial reductions to military spending. You are not supposed to have those preferences, so you’re not asked about them.
The bottom line of this poll and article is simple: Real Americans support Ukraine. Only 2% of Americans support Russia. Trump is overly sympathetic to Russia.
Apparently, real Americans can’t support peace nor are they allowed to consider significant reductions to spending on wars and weapons. To do so would be un-American, or so NBC News seems to suggest.
Bracing Views 
Yes, precisely, thought control, that’s what this supposed “poll” is all about. Question, did the ostensible advocates of “freedom of the press” at NBC cook this up all by themselves, or were they merely the front for some shadowy warmongering cabal? Doesn’t much matter, they’re interchangeable. So much for mainstream media having any sense of obligation to inform, to explain, to examine.
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You wrote: “The bottom line of this poll and article is simple: Real Americans support Ukraine. Only 2% of Americans support Russia. Trump is overly sympathetic to Russia.”
Why does this seem strange? The U.S. has been promoting Ukraine from the beginning of this horrific war. I have known Ukrainians in Canada, some are recent arrivals who came as refugees and some I’ve known for decades, many of whom arrived in Canada after WWII. Although a relatively small percentage of Canada’s population they are primarily supportive of Ukraine.
I agree the questions mentioned in the poll concerning “peace” seem to have been poorly selected or non-existent. For those who seek an in-depth history of Ukraine I recommend a series of lectures by Timothy Snyder, a Yale historian. I recommended these lectures to my students, in a course I recently taught on world conflicts. The 24 Lectures are available on YouTube and are very informative re: the 1000 years history of Ukraine, a country that came into existence prior to the existence of Russia.
You wrote re: the choices: “But note how there’s no choice given for opposing war and preferring peace. Americans aren’t asked if they think the government is relying too much on military force”. Up until the coming of the Trump Administration whose sympathies have evidently veered toward Russia as well as the growing support for Putin’s Russia among some in the right wing media, there is a general shift away from support of Ukraine taking place.
Ukrainians, whom I know, are desperate for peace, but not peace at any price. That is still the crux of the situation. Putin is deeply distrusted since his promises are not reliable, so a peace deal will require the U.S. as well as Europe to back it to the hilt.
Whatever may be said of Zelenksy, recent polls (reported in Forbes) indicate he has over 60% approval while his conduct of the war is still supported by a majority, although 52% want negotiations for peace to take place and would be willing to “make some territorial concessions”. As in many conflicts in the world there is a need for long term trust in any peace settlement, and whether it is in Palestine or the Ukraine, those who have possessed and used overwhelming power are the the ones trusted the least.
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