PD Editorial: Why did it take a video to be outraged?

If there's a lesson to be learned from the Ray Rice/NFL debacle it's that a picture may be worth a thousand words, but a video can be worth seven million page views on YouTube — and more in emails, calls and other expressions of outrage.

But why did it take a video to unify a nation about the sickening reality of such physical abuse?

The facts were not new. The public was already aware that Rice was accused of beating Janay Palmer, his then-fiancée and current wife, in the elevator of an Atlantic City casino on Feb. 15.

It was known that he had knocked her unconscious. These facts were disturbing on face value. Many were equally angry when the Baltimore Ravens running back was allowed to plead not guilty in May and enter an intervention program for first-time offenders as part of a plea bargain to avoid criminal trial.

Outrage spread further when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell soft-peddled his punishment by handing Rice a meager two-game suspension in July.

But it was only when a video of the incident was released to the world on Monday by the gossip website TMZ Sports that millions more got engaged — and enraged. The hotel security video shows Rice flooring Palmer with a punch to the head, then dragging her out of the elevator and dropping her face down on the floor.

Only then did the NFL take appropriate action. Two months after it appeared that the matter had been settled, the Ravens, the target of an outpouring of public anger, terminated Rice's contract, cutting all ties with its standout running back.

Equally hard to believe is that the NFL, and Goodell in particular, were not among the first to see the video. How could they not? Goodell claimed in an interview on Wednesday that the league asked for the film on several occasions but was denied access to it. He said he personally did not see the video before handing down the two-day suspension, a punishment that he has already acknowledged was too light.

The Associated Press has since reported, however, that a law enforcement official who requested anonymity claims that an NFL executive was provided with a copy of the video as far back as April. The NFL says it's looking into the matter.

Is the NFL guilty of willful disregard for the ugly truth about one of its biggest stars?

Where this will end matters little. The options seem clear that either Goodell is disingenuous or he's incompetent. Either way, he's unfit for a job that — along with the entire league — is in need of an overhaul.

Meanwhile, it appears that our nation's overall perspective on domestic abuse also demands an overhaul. It shouldn't take such a graphic video for revulsion to kick in.

In recognition of the thousands of women who are subject to violence out of the national spotlight and out of sight of security cameras, let's admit it. We should have been outraged the first time this came up.