When you say "killed", do you mean "murdered", or are all forms of homicide equal in your eyes? I'm also not the one in a frothing rage because people I've never met and have no connection with are being physically attacked by other people I've never met and have no connection with. Supporting Pussy Riot would be as…

Indicate any non-Western society that has invented (not adopted or had forced on it by conquest) the idea that free speech is a good thing.

I never took a freshman philosophy class. I did have the opportunity to cast off the civic religion spoon-fed to every American child.

You haven't given any reason as to why the government suppressing criticism and controlling the masses with propaganda is a bad thing. "Self-evidence" is a hard sell if you aren't discussing something with physical properties.

You asked it. Who do you think defines what things are stupid and what things are smart?

No, I'm not contrarian merely for the sake of being contrarian; freedom of speech isn't universally accepted as a good thing.

Who are you to say that people shouldn't get beaten up, raped and/or murdered (unless you meant that all homicide is wrong)?

The crowd? The guy with the biggest gun? God? The over-comer (my personal theory)?

No, we don't know that killing other humans wrong. Americans believe that a subset of homicides is wrong; Canadians believe that another subset of homicides is wrong. There's a fair amount of overlap, but both countries are British settler colonies. Some cultures believe that honor-killings are not only acceptable,…

Quoting a heretical Jew who may or may not have been God incarnate isn't an argument. Furthermore, the Russians aren't my enemy; they're strangers. I don't hate them; I don't care about them at all, except as a source of resources, goods, and the occasional ethnic joke. They're an asset, to be used (when we can)…

I'm familiar with Said. He was full of shit, but I'm not certain how a half-assed text about the West's relationship with what's properly termed the Near East relates to a discussion of Russia's centuries-long embrace of dictatorship.

Yes, I do. I think limitations on political participation would be a good thing in America; in Russia, they're a necessity, due to centuries of despotism. Russians aren't capable of living under a system that doesn't actively suppress political dissent.

"You want to speak out against your government, you should be able to do so because you're human have feelings."

I suppose I could express concern for strangers, but I wouldn't want to insult the people that matter to me.

That's not a rebuttal.

Right after you. Keep whining about a situation over which you have no control. The pissing and moaning on this thread is the worst sort of slacktivism.

I agree 100%. The childish American belief in its goodness and the righteousness of its goals would be amusing if it weren't so intellectually dishonest (and dangerous).

I don't care what they (Pussy Riot) do; I don't care what Putin does to them. String him up from a lamppost; string them up from lamppost. Neither affects me, you, or America.

Most foreigners? I would point out that neither China (population 1.35 billion) nor India (population 1.21 billion) seem up-in-arms about Russia's treatment of Pussy Riot, or homosexuals.

Your post implies that change is a good thing, without presenting any evidence.