Desperately Seeking Moral High Ground....

Remember when our admonishments to other countries about human rights didn't elicit a global guffaw?

The White House expressed deep concern on Monday over how Russian authorities broke up opposition protests over the weekend, calling it heavy-handed and part of an "emerging pattern of use of excessive force."

"We are deeply disturbed by the heavy-handed manner in which this weekend's demonstrations ... were broken up by the authorities and by an emerging pattern of use of excessive force by the authorities in reaction to similar events," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

"We also find it intolerable that journalists were detained, an unacceptable practice that hinders freedom of the press," she said. "We underscore that allowing peaceful expression of protest is an essential component of democracy and of universally recognized human rights."

"Heavy-handed." "Use of excessive force." Uh-huh....

And speaking of detained journalists, anyone know what's become of Bilal Hussein, the Pulitzer-winning AP photographer jailed without charges by the U.S. for over a year now?