The first is that only after CBS made the abuse public did GBW & Co. find the acts to be objectionable. Oh, minor penalties to scapegoats. But no outcry.

Reality: This issue came up last year, and months ago was being handled in the military justice system. The abuses had already stopped. Remember when those photos were taken? The DOD issued open press releases on the subject in March, and even earlier. Some newspapers picked it up. The issue was reported to some members of Congress, to little response.

One timeline of the prison issue can be found Here.

It became an "issue" when the pictures were released, because it then became useful as a political weapon.

Period. End of story.

There is no other explanation for the grandstanding after the pictures, combined with the sheer lack of interest on the part of Congress and the media prior to that. "Outcry" doesn't accomplish a lot on its own to solve problems, but it sure does have political utility.

Secondly, under the "Patriot Act" THE VERY SAME THINGS COULD BE HAPPENING TO UNTOLD NUMBERS OF AMERICANS and we would not know it. There would be no oversight, no review, no nothing.

Sure. Untold numbers of Americans might be getting beamed into flying saucers and we wouldn't know it either. It's not like anyone would miss them, or their relatives might mention it.

Reality: There is absolutely no evidence that any major abuses are taking place under the Patriot Act. None. Not a hint, not a rumor. If there was the slightest clue, the media would be on it like a duck on a June bug.

"Oh, but nobody is ALLOWED to talk about it." Oh, yeah, the illegality of releasing information doesn't seem to have stopped a whole lot of other political issues. One guy standing up in front of the press with lawyers on each side, blowing the whistle. It's been done many times.

You can't simply imagine an abuse that might be happening and try and make it a real issue. If those were the ground rules, we'd be all over the map here. "Hey, the antiwar organizations MIGHT be getting funded by terror groups. How would we know?"