The Elite Fixation With Russiagate

By Aaron Mate

The Nation

Helsinki Summit: Handshake between Putin and Trump

No single act of Donald Trump’s presidency has engendered more criticism than his performance at the Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin. For declining to endorse US intelligence claims that the Kremlin meddled in our election and faulting both countries for the poor state of US-Russia relations, Trump was roundly accused of “shameful,” “disgraceful,” and “treasonous” behavior that has sparked a full-blown “national security crisis.”

But does the American public at large share the prevailing elite assessment? Save for a White House vigil led by two longtime Hillary Clinton staffers and a few scattered rallies—and in stark contrast to mass protests over Trump’s misogyny, Muslim ban, and zero-tolerance immigration policy—Americans have not poured into the streets to confront the “crisis.” A poll by The Hill and the HarrisX polling company found 54 percent support for Trump’s now-scuttled plan for a follow-up summit with Putin at the White House. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that Trump’s post-Helsinki approval rating slightly increased to 45 percent. While the uptick does not necessarily signal an embrace of Trump’s behavior, it is not difficult to see why his numbers did not plummet. In a recent Gallup poll on problems facing the country, the “Situation with Russia” was such a marginal concern that it did not even register. While an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found that 64 percent believe Trump has not been tough enough on Russia, it also saw a near-even split on whether Putin is a foe or an ally, and 59 percent support for better relations.

The gap between elite and public priorities highlights an endemic problem that long predates Trump. Since his election, however, the elite fixation on alleged Russian meddling and the president’s suspected collusion has exacerbated that divide. . .

via The Elite Fixation With Russiagate

5 thoughts on “The Elite Fixation With Russiagate”

With all the serious issues affecting many people in America, Russia is not at the top of the list. It is not even close. Inflation has reared its ugly head, heatwave after heatwave is causing issues. Extreme weather conditions are making it difficult to cope, the health care situation is dire, income inequality is a huge problem and the list is endless, but, again, Russia does not top the list and many people that I talk to are quite frankly, tired of “Russia did this and Russia did that.” And Trump, himself, is guilty because he has already stated that the Russians will probably help the Dems out in midterms. So, he is even setting the stage for more’ Russiagate’ if the Democrats actually make any gains in November. Even some college students are saying things like, “When I return to campus, I’m going to tell the professor that Russia ate my completed assignment.” And I am quite sure if the ‘elites’ actually believe in ‘climate change’, they’d claim Russia is responsible for that as well. Also, I saw an article the other day that claims Russian hackers are out to mess with our grid. The grid is already fucked up and doesn’t need any help from Russian hackers or anybody else for that matter. But if the grid collapses, which it will, Russia is already set to get the blame. For the love of !!!

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stuartbramhall on July 31, 2018 at 6:21 pm said:

I’m struck by the innate logic of your comment, Shelby. The whole thing reminds me of a carnival sideshow where they trick you by distracting your attention to something else. Everyone’s tired of the Russiagate frenzy. I guess the CIA and their media whores are so used to leading us by the nose that they still haven’t noticed that it’s not working any more.

As for the grid, we need to get off the grid and empower communities to produce and store their own power locally. The grid has never been anything but a rip off to enable Wall Street companies to control the production and distribution of power so they can jack up prices.

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