Reuters headline from today: "U.S. Voices Concern at Breakup of Russian Protests."
If they had confined the protesters miles away in fenced-in "Free Speech Zones," it probably wouldn't have been an issue.
"Russian police detained several hundred people in central Moscow...as they dispersed an attempt by President Putin's opponents to hold a protest march near the Kremlin."
Apparently, this is "heavy-handed," according to the White House. Nothing at all like the over 550 people protesting the Republican National Convention in New York in Sept. 2004, who were detained for well over 24 hours (some up to 60 hours) without seeing a judge (as the law requires).
I'm being somewhat facetious here, as there was a certain amount of police brutality involved in the Moscow arrests, but it is damn similar.
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