And here is President Obama, speaking about the police violence in Ukraine:
"We hold the Ukrainian government primarily responsible for making sure that it is dealing with peaceful protesters in an appropriate way, that the Ukrainian people are able to assemble and speak freely about their interests without fear of repression."
Even in Thailand where, unlike in Venezuela or Ukraine, the US is backing the government against protesters seeking new elections, with State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf still insisted that the US supports:
"...a democratic process to resolve the ongoing political tensions in Thailand...We also continue to urge all sides to refrain from violence, exercise restraint and respect the rule of law...and we do, I would note, applaud the restraint shown thus far by government authorities in this regard."
Now let's compare those fine, high-minded scoldings and warnings -- and remember, we're talking about three countries where the protesters have been seeking the overthrow of their existing governments, not just for reforms in the system, and protesters, particularly in Ukraine and Venezuela, who have themselves resorted to violence and especially to property damage -- to how our own government these days responds to peaceful public protest.
We need only look back just a little over two years to the brief and numerically rather small Occupy Movement...
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