Question about Woodward . . .

[Richard D]

. . . He had the tapes in over 6 months ago. Why did he not release them and potentially save hundreds of thousands of lives back at the beginning?

[Blue Owl]

1. Wondering that myself... WTF Woodward?

[NJCher]

2. Of the

15 (or is it 18) interviews, which one did trump say this?
The fourth? The 10th? Which one?

[agingdem]

3. Don't "shoot" the messenger..

he's a journalist not Mighty Mouse.. "Here I come to save the day!"...this is all on Trump..he had dismantled and defunded the safeguards Obama put in place long before the pandemic hit...so what if Woodward had gone public with the tapes in April, how would that have changed anything? Trump was the idiot in charge then and he's the idiot in charge now....Bob didn't kill 190,000 people.. Trump did...self-serving callous benign neglect...the orange teflon imbecile cannot escape this one...

[uponit7771]

7. He could've released the information about the bug being airborne in the smartest way possible ...

... he had a way to get that information out to the public.

Multiple governors have already said that alone would've saved so many lives.

[agingdem]

11. Woodward is a self serving jerk and yes

he coulda shoulda said something but would anyone have listened?.. we were at the beginning of this crap..no one knew anything for sure...social distancing 5 feet no 6 feet no maybe 8 feet..no masks necessary but don't touch your face..mask and hand sanitizers yes but only a suggestion..going to the grocery store?..wear gloves, don't wear gloves, sanitize your kitchen counter before you sanitize your fruits and vegetables..we didn't know a damn thing except we suspected the virus was airborne.....Trump had sidelined or disappeared Fauci and real science and he shut down any real information coming out of the CDC...this is on Trump

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

22. Because otherwise we would never have known the bug was airborne?

Oh, wait. We knew that at the beginning, without needing Trump to tell us so.

I understand that the outrage here is that Trump apparently clearly knew and understood what this virus was all about back in the very beginning, but made the deliberate choice to lie and obfuscate. However, that does not take away the responsibility of ordinary citizens to pay attention to the scientists and be able to understand what this was all about, rather than listening to any self-serving politician in this matter.

[notinkansas]

34. Just seeing pictures of citizens in other countries

all wearing masks told us that it was airborne. So we already knew that without Woodward's tapes.

I don't blame Woodward. I blame 45. He wants to shift blame to Woodward? That's what he's trying to do and I'm not buying it.

[snpsmom]

19. February 7

Plenty of time to have affected the outcome...

[NJCher]

32. thanks

agree and he had options on how to get that info out, too.

[NJCher]

40. Here's what Woodward says in response to allegations

snip
Woodward told Sullivan he did not know where Trump acquired his information and “the biggest problem I had, which is always a problem with Trump, is I didn’t know if it was true”.

“My job is to understand it, and to hold him accountable, and to hold myself accountable,” said Woodward, explaining that it took months to contextualize everything with reporting. “I did the best I could.”

snip

Bob Woodward rejects criticism that he sat on Trump 'deadly' virus remarks

[boston bean]

20. We know it was feb 7th of this year.

[OnDoutside]

4. I don't think it would have made a difference. There were plenty of

Trump administration people and GOP Congress people who knew the truth and did nothing themselves. I suspect that it might have temporarily changed direction but they'd soon do as Trump actually did do, speed up the reopening.

[uponit7771]

6. There are already multiple gov who said it would've made all the different to know the bug was

... airborne at that time.

Not everyone knew, even governors

[OnDoutside]

8. I tend to believe Cuomo that they were blindsided by the virus

coming into New York from Europe rather than China. The rest I am a little slow to accept.

[uponit7771]

10. Here's one of them (link)

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100214051687

I think people on DU believe their normal when it comes to information, we're not.

People who lurk here are more informed than usual even governors, that's why the uninformed reporters piss us off so much.

The fact that that bug was airborne at that time was not known know information

[OnDoutside]

17. That's shocking, how the hell did he think it was transmitted ??? That's up there with the critical

dissuading people from wearing masks, so that they could keep them for health care staff.

[Hav]

28. In this context about infectious diseases, there is a distinction

between airborne and droplets despite both of those happening through the air.
I might remember it incorrectly but I thought that the experts weren't sure about the possibility of airborne transmission at first. Just recently I heard about articles indicating that there are signs for airborne transmission as well but I don't know how long that was known. That doesn't mean that people weren't aware about infection through the medium of droplets because that's why there was this 6 feet apart rule in the beginning.

[OnDoutside]

29. As soon as they first heard about CV causing respiratory issues, it should really have put them on

alert that it could be either or both. I mean it's not as if they were concerned that it was being transferred through unprotected sex ! Even on Feb 7 Trump said to Woodward that it goes through the air.

[uponit7771]

30. Touching stuff, that's what we were told

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

25. It was known very early on that this was airborne.

And all of the constant sanitizing is merely Sanitation Theater. Don't be fooled by nonsense about the virus surviving for some supposed length of time on some surface. So what if the genetic material can be identified 2 or 3 or 20 days later? People are NOT getting this from those surfaces. They're getting it from airborne droplets, which is why proper wearing of effective masks is so crucial. Don't think one of those neck gaiters is a good idea. I've read that they can actually help spread the virus. Don't think it's okay to pull the mask down to talk to someone in the grocery store. Wearing an effective mask properly and in all appropriate contexts is the key. Not constant sanitizing of surfaces.

[uponit7771]

31. No, it wasn't known among the general public in January and February

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

35. True. It was not known to the general public in January and February.

But everyone should know it by now.

[agingdem]

13. think about how many

cashed in their stocks months before the virus had a a name...and they followed Trump's lead because if it was good fo Trump is was good for them..

[uponit7771]

5. THANK YOU!! or in the smartest way possible leak the information about the bug being airborne

[Skittles]

9. $$$

[LuvNewcastle]

12. Woodward might have thought he was getting set up.

Or maybe Trump was testing Woodward to see what he would reveal. Maybe Woodward was testing Trump to see what HE would reveal. I'm guessing that it's Woodward's goal, just as it would be my goal, to bring Trump down. Anything else would be a waste of time and effort. But if in the future you want to be trusted with anything consequential, you first have to be silent about what you already know.

[captain queeg]

14. 5 or 6 months ago it would have gotten swept under the rug

All trumps BS is finally approaching critical mass. For those that have a couple of brain cells but have been big Trump supporters, all the shit that’s coming out is starting to get thru. There’s the 30% that will never listen or care, but a few are waking up

[Thekaspervote]

18. Agree! They weren't listening to any experts, why would one think a tell all book would do it??!!

By releasing a little here and there this close to the election it may further doom his re-election chances. Big shifts in the polls... no. But it changes the narrative, makes him play defense, which he is terrible at. He’s the craziest when he’s being challenged... keeps the focus on the real issues of his total lack of ability to lead or govern

It further hardens the resolve of dems and hopefully independents to vote him out

[gopiscrap]

15. because that fucking asshole was in it to make money

remember that shit prick is basically a republican

[Rebl2]

16. Because

he was writing a book and that’s what he cared about most.

[Mike 03]

21. I think Trump learned from Xi that COVID was airborne

because that information, although speculative and based on one study, came out much earlier than most people remember, and it was published in a study out of China.

We don't have to speculate about what might have happened if Woodward had released the tape early, because we actually saw yesterday what Trump would have done if Woodward had released the tape: lied and spun, just like he always does. "I was exaggerating... It was taken out of context... I wanted to be positive... It was a perfect call." It would be long forgotten today.

What cracks me up about these "He should have come forward sooner" posts is that dozens of people have come forward and even testified damaging-as-hell information about Trump over the last three years and Trump always escaped culpability and removal.

And that tape, had Woodward released it, would now be a distant, fleeting memory just like Trump pulling our troops out of Syria after a call with Erdogan and the subsequent slaughter of the Kurds, and all the other abominations Trump committed. Hell, there were things in the very first book, Fire and Fury, that could have put away any other president. Jared Kushner and his bullshit Top Secret security clearances, his relationship with MbS, abuse of funds for the Inauguration, violations of the emoluments clause, Manafort and Mike Flynn, a First Lady who doesn't want to live with her husband, firing of Comey, etc...

Who here remembers Fiona Hill's devastating testimony today? That should have been enough to put Trump out of office. And we could say that about dozens of other people, including Cohen. Any one of them, had this been any other presidential administration, could have set into motion the removal of a president.

Woodward isn't a saint, but what I am appreciating is the timing of all this. Same for Mattis waiting to come forward, Bolton, these DHS people, and Miles Taylor, and these others.

[LisaL]

24. Sars Cov 2 is a respiratory virus.

As such, it was a good bet it was airborne. I guessed all this info from the start, and I didn't need Trump to tell me that.

[Klaralven]

33. Press report from February 19 - no guessing needed.

Coronavirus: China receives protective gear from US as death toll passes 2,000

Closed environment may increase risk
Staying in relatively closed environments for extended periods of time may lead to infection, according to the latest guidelines.
China’s National Health Commission issued its sixth national treatment and diagnosis plan for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, which confirmed that the virus was mainly transmitted through respiratory droplets and close contact with infected people.
However, it added that aerosolisation was possible through exposure to high concentrations of aerosols – small particle droplets – in a relatively closed environment for long periods.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3051250/coronavirus-mainland-death-toll-hits-2000-132-more-fatalities

There was also the Diamond Princess cruise ship infection going on at this time. And it's obvious that it was spreading through the ship's heating and ventilation systems, since the spread continued after cabins were locked down.

[LisaL]

23. Oh give me a freaking break.

How was it going to save hundreds of thousands?

[Montelimar]

38. Because Bob Woodward

is a superhuman epidemiologist, researcher, and doctor.

He is the CDC, WHO, every European, African, Asian public health entity.

He's also the President.

Some are saying he might be Jesus Christ himself.

This is how much Bob Woodward has working for him to CURE covid and all covid-related issues.

/sarcasm

[aidbo]

39. No way to tell since it is a counter factual case.

But knowing the mitigating factors of wearing a mask sooner than later could have saved at least a percent of the ~200k that have died so far. Just 1 percent saved would mean 2000 people.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

26. I don't think it would have made a difference.

Because Tweeter and Facebook are full of trumpers praising him for "not starting a panic".

[Ilsa]

27. That is Fox News' new meme they are pushing to deflect from Trump's vile

decision.

The people who believed Fauci knew trump was either lying or that he did not under stand the problem. So trump succeeded again in making another decision to divide the country.

[avebury]

36. Read the post I started about a discussion about Woodward

based upon the discussion I listened to CNN a little while ago.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100214054234

It was kind of an interesting discussion.

It wasn't until sometime in May when something else came out that he realized exactly what Trump gave him in the beginning of February. He had not immediately assumed that Trump was truthful in the February phone call because we all know what Trump is like.

[markpkessinger]

37. Most likely he was contractually barred from doing so by his publisher . . .

. . . Look, book publishing is a business, and publishers know how to protect and maximize their investment. You don't have to like it, but that's the real world. And if you are suggesting Woodward should have breached his contract, let me remind you that the consequences for doing so would have been liability for lost sales, as well as legal fees (his own AND the publisher's).

[mackdaddy]

41. The only thing Woodward has changed is releasing absolute proof of Trump's intentional Evil.

And even with the recordings, Trump's base will not believe it.

Anyone who was watching could tell this virus was a big deal. China built an entire new hospital in a week! It ripped through Italy and the middle east like a wildfire.

Trump knew, Trump lied and thousands died. Woodwards recordings have changed little. Anyone with two working brain cells knows that Trump is a delusional liar. This just verifies that Trump was deliberate and scheming in his deception.