You may have missed stories like this, this or this. Not to mention this.

Fair enough on me reading too much into the word "realize" or your use of it and if that's your opinion on the matter, I respect that as well. In my defense, I did say that this was my first time writing any of this, so I guess it's understandable if I didn't connect a few things properly.

I don't see how the Patriot Act, if used the way it's writen would infringe on my civil rights. I think some people are just afraid of what it "could be used for" in a big brother view of things. But if you take just a second to see how this is an on going war, and not just a battle that took place in Afghanistan, then releasing captured combatants seems premature. To me, it'd be like the Canadians, American and British releasing any captured German soldiers a day or so after D-Day so that they could be killed by them in later battles. So, in that sense, I agree with you on the "90%" that humans deserve to be treated a certain way and that we could prehaps do more. But my "10%" is that we are still at war and those captured have no intention of calling it a day.

A public hearing would reveal tactics and sources. You knew that!

I certainly hope that most people don't think that economic communism is okay. There are plenty of other nations in the world that view life this way, and I'm confused why someone would continue to live in the US if that's what they'd prefer for an economy.