Glenn Greenwald has done an outstanding job of directing the blogosphere’s attention toward the U.S. Army’s inhumane pre-trial imprisonment of Private Bradley Manning, who is accused of providing classified information to WikiLeaks, which in turn published the info for the world to read.

The Manning affair has been bubbling just below the surface of public controversy for the past nine months. However, it started to become a full-blown public scandal last week when President Obama – who campaigned on the disingenuous slogan of “change we can believe in” – endorsed the military’s brutal treatment of this innocent young man while giving a feckless answer to a question about Manning’s treatment during a press conference.

Now, the Manning affair is turning into a firestorm. In addition to this scathing NY Times editorial, Greenwald’s latest post links to the international attention that our government’s abusive treatment of Manning is getting. Constitutional Law scholar Jack Balkin and his colleagues over at Balkinization have prepared and are circulating this excellent statement to the Obama Administration condemning the “degrading and inhumane” conditions of Manning’s “illegal and immoral” detention.

I applaud Greenwald for focusing attention on the gross injustice of the Manning case and for the others who are now objecting publicly to this outrageous misuse of governmental power. As with the government’s vapid security theater and overcriminalization of American life, Manning’s treatment is another powerful reminder of just how remote and unresponsive the government has become to civilized society.

Meanwhile, though, I’m wondering about something.

Why is Manning’s treatment – as barbaric as it is – generating much more outcry than the arguably worse treatment that R. Allen Stanford has received during his pre-trial incarceration?

If we are going to forego protecting the innocent because the accusations against them are serious and seemingly compelling, then – as Thomas More reminds us — “when the last law was down, and the Devil turned ’round on you, where would you hide, .  .  . the laws all being flat?”

“This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man’s laws, not God’s! And if you cut them down, .  .  . do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then?”

“Yes, I’d give the Devil the benefit of the law.”

“For my own safety’s sake.”