U.S. elites frequently portray Ukraine as the solitary defender of democracy in Eastern Europe, a region otherwise dominated by authoritarian regimes. However, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s move to extend his presidential term by maintaining martial law complicates this simplified narrative of Ukrainian democratic behavior that the American ruling class and their allies in the corporate media have been promoting to U.S. taxpayers.
According to the President of Ukraine’s official website, the country’s leader should be “elected by the citizens of Ukraine on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by means of secret ballot for five years.”
Zelensky, who first assumed office in 2019, was scheduled for another election this spring. Faced with a potential decline in his approval ratings, Zelensky chose to prolong his term indefinitely instead of going through an election.
“Ukraine doesn’t need to prove anything about democracy to anyone. Because Ukraine and its people are proving it through their war,” Zelensky asserted in a New York Times article titled “‘What’s the Problem?’ Zelensky Challenges West Over Hesitations.”
Zelensky’s decision to extend his rule without democratic consent received approval from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who suggested that elections should be postponed until “all Ukrainians, including those displaced by Russia’s aggression” can participate. The American corporate media also supported Zelensky’s extended term, claiming that an election is something Ukrainians have “little appetite” for.
For over two years, U.S. government officials have justified investing billions of taxpayer dollars in the Russia-Ukraine conflict by emphasizing the need to defeat Russia and “defend democracy.”
They consistently ignored and even attempted to silence those who highlighted the corruption within the Zelensky regime, instead amplifying overly optimistic rhetoric about sending more funds to ensure Vladimir Putin’s defeat.
Yahoo! Finance assured its readers that much of the money directed towards the new proxy war would “pass through the U.S. economy first.”
By doing so, Yahoo! aims to support Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s belief that channeling funds to Ukraine through defense companies such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin benefits Americans. However, many taxpayers believe that significant spending should prioritize securing the U.S. border rather than Ukraine’s.
The same politicians and media figures who criticized former President Donald Trump’s First Amendment-protected speech regarding election issues are now calling for more financial support, more media coverage, and further PR for a leader whose continued hold on power is solely ensured by martial law.
“Ukraine still shutters churches and restricts the free press,” noted Federalist Senior Editor David Harsanyi last year. “Maybe you believe those are justifiable actions during wartime, but under no definition are they liberal. Ukraine has never been a functioning ‘democracy.’”
Zelensky’s decision to extend his term without the consent of Ukrainian voters highlights more than ever that Americans were misled about the real reasons billions of their tax dollars are being allocated to sustain a war overseas.
Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at Truth Voices and co-producer of Truth Voices Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordanboydtx.
