Originally Posted by
wiggin
People falling down the stairs on the way to the courthouse, yes - though only on a local, rather than institutional level. People getting injured in clashes with cops? Sure, though definitely not 600 hospitalized and 10+ deaths. The last time the US had widespread protests was probably associated with the Vietnam war (and, concurrent with and earlier, civil rights). Yet events like the Kent State shootings and the '68 DNC police brutality made the protests of the minority far more mainstream and eventually led to significant changes in US policy. If the same thing happened today (say, deaths and widespread beatings of OWS types from police or government thugs) it wouldn't be sanctioned from on high, and would likely lead to significant and immediate government action against the offending parties (led alone a massive PR headache). It's just not the same as Ukraine.
I don't disagree with you entirely that the protesters are protesting because they can't win at the ballot box; but I also think they see Russia's outright bribery as a perversion of the democratic process.... and Yanukovych's ham-handed attempts to stifle protest as absolutely unacceptable. Is it tied up in a bunch of other issues - identity politics, history, etc? Absolutely. But what really made these protests swell in magnitude was Yanukovych's response. I'm not sure that counts as a popular coup.