NEWS AND OPINION:
How are Americans feeling about the nation amid such challenges as the pandemic, the Ukraine invasion, inflation, social discord and other negative factors continue to batter the status quo?
An NBC News poll has asked this disconcerting question.
“All in all, thinking about where the United States is today, do you feel we are experiencing the kind of tough times the country faces from time to time, or is this the start of a longer-term decline where the U.S. is no longer the leading country in the world?” NBC asked in a new poll released Sunday.
Here’s what it revealed: 53% of the respondents think the U.S. is at the start of “long term decline,” while 42% felt the nation was simply experiencing a “tough time.” Another 3% were not sure about the issue, 1% felt the nation was experiencing “a little of both” situations while 1% said the nation was experiencing neither situation
And on a related front, the poll also found that 50% of the respondents agreed that the nation needs to “focus here at home because America cannot be the world’s policeman trying to solve all the problems and intervening in countries around the world.”
Another 41%, however, think the nation has “not been strong enough” on the world stage. Another 4% feel the U.S. should do both things, 4% said the nation should do neither, and 1% are not sure.
The NBC News poll of 1,000 U.S. adults was conducted March 18-22.
FOR THE LEXICON
“Arabella Advisors.”
In recent days, several Republican senators have mentioned Arabella Advisors — a consulting firm — during the televised Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
Fred Lucas — chief national affairs correspondent for The Daily Signal — points out that some viewers were likely unfamiliar with the group.
“Washington-based Arabella Advisors has gained attention even from left-leaning media outlets,” Mr. Lucas said in an analysis published Monday.
“The Atlantic magazine called Arabella’s network of nonprofits ‘the massive progressive dark money group you’ve never heard of.’ Politico referred to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, the advocacy arm of the Arabella nonprofit network, as both a ‘little-known’ and ‘massive’ dark money group that spent $140 million in the 2018 election cycle,’” Mr. Lucas continued.
“The New York Times reported: ‘The system of political financing, which often obscures the identities of donors, is known as dark money, and Arabella’s network is a leading vehicle for it on the left,’” he said.
It’s complicated but interesting. Find Mr. Lucas’ complete analysis — titled “6 Things You Need to Know About Left’s Arabella Network” — at DailySignal.com, a publication of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
THE OTHER MEDIA
More than a half-million people tuned in to view former President Donald Trump’s rally in Georgia on Saturday by logging on to GETTR, a free-speech social-media platform.
“We know that the Silicon Valley oligarchs have denied President Trump the opportunity to speak on their social media platforms, just as the ‘news’ networks are refusing to cover his speeches, which means that GETTR is the place to hear from him,” GETTR CEO Jason Miller said in a statement.
“GETTR is a place where people are free to express their points of view, and you don’t have to be a former president for that to be true,” he said.
He pointed out that five GETTR accounts carried livestreams of the Trump rally — Right Side Broadcasting Network, Right America Media, Newsmax, Chase Geiser and Real America’s Voice. They combined to attract 539,400 views, Mr. Miller said.
“This is yet another shot across the bow of the social media giants and the corporate media,” he noted.
A QUIET REMINDER
The U.S. Census offers a reminder that Tuesday is National Vietnam War Veterans Day — which marks the day in 1973 when the United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam was disestablished and the day the last U.S. combat troops departed Vietnam.
In addition, on and around this same day, Hanoi released the last of its acknowledged prisoners of war.
Find much information at VietnamWar50th.com — which advises that over 1,000 events are planned across the country and abroad to thank and honor the nation’s Vietnam veterans.
WHAT THE SPACE FORCE WANTS
The Defense Department is requesting $17.4 billion for the U.S. Space Force in 2022, up from the $15.2 billion it received in the current budget year. If inflation stays around 4%, that would mean roughly a 7% real increase, according to Tara Copp, senior Pentagon correspondent for Defense One.
The funds would go for operations and maintenance, procurement, research, development, testing and evaluation.
The request also includes $1.4 billion for two GPS III follow-on satellites that have new “spot beam anti-jam capabilities,” Ms. Copp wrote — plus funding for five National Security Space Launch vehicles.
“Space Force seeks to grow its active duty end strength from 6,434 in 2021 to 8,400 Guardians. The larger number would include 2,020 civilian positions for space acquisition. Congress has repeatedly pressed the Space Force to build up its acquisition workforce and speed the delivery of new systems,” Ms. Copp noted.
POLL DU JOUR
• 36% of U.S. adults say it is safe to resume normal life activities affected by coronavirus “right now”; 58% of Republicans, 41% of independents and 16% of Democrats agree.
• 10% overall say it will be safe sometime “in the first half of 2022”; 10% of Republicans, 10% of independents and 9% of Democrats agree.
• 18% overall say it will be safe “in the second half of 2022”; 15% of Republicans, 14% of independents and 26% of Democrats agree.
• 25% overall say it will be safe “after 2022”; 11% of Republicans, 25% of independents and 36% of Democrats agree.
• 11% overall say it will “never” be safe; 7% of Republicans, 10% of independents and 12% of Democrats agree.
SOURCE: An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,500 U.S. adults conducted March 19-22.
• Helpful information to jharper@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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