Russia is evil. That is at least what they say. But who says it? The media, the “ruling class”, and even the government. When you search Google for Russia you are immediately inundated with headlines such as: “FBI’s Comey: Republicans also hacked by Russia” and “Trump Received Unsubstantiated Report That Russia Had Damaging Information About Him”. Those headlines are the very first thing to show up on the page, no not a wikipedia article or a informational website. The internet is the main location where Americans get their news and their beliefs from. Displaying highly political articles as the first thing that shows up leaves a significant presence on how people think of Russia. Every word is carefully chosen to display Russia in a specific light, formulating the ruling ideas. Even Popular Mechanics wrote an article claiming that Russia has a “submarine nuke” with the subtitle “This is very bad news” (Popular Mechanics). The very fact that the ruling ideas of Russia being evil and that Russia is interfering with our democracy all has even permeated the most unpoliticized magazines and journals just goes to show how powerful of a ruling idea it is.

If it even is true that Russia did hack the election the United States, the U.S. has influenced many elections worldwide themselves. The Huffington post claims that “For more than 100 years, without any significant break, the U.S. has been doing whatever it can to influence the outcome of elections ― up to and including assassinating politicians it has found unfriendly” (Huffington Post). Most people do not know that America influences foreign elections on the scale that it does. There is very little news coverage on all of the elections that the United States has messed with, while the so called Russian hacking has been completely overblown.

These beliefs contribute to the sense of American Exceptionalism. In our society an extreme sense of Nationalism and a hatred for the “other”, in this case Russia, is omnipresently promoted. Nationalism was used during the early 20th century to create a unity between the state and the people (59). The same principles have been applied to modern day, ignoring our own issues and wrong doings against other nations while portraying the state as the great protector of freedom. Through the creation of American identity, the eliminations of our wrongdoings, and the emphasizing of threats the United States has created a sense of nationalism that rules and placates the people.