I read his defense of his actions, and yes, I think I would do the same thing. What positive effect do you think it would have had if he had released these tapes before he was able to check on things like the reports Trump was relying on? Why did the public need to know this earlier–what would have happened differently?
I think what would have happened differently is that in the long litany of names that Fox News would rake through the coals, Woodward’s name would’ve been included a few months earlier. And Woodward would’ve lost a chance to contextualize the tapes in a way that shows exactly how damning they are.
When you come at the king, you best not miss. Woodward was trying to make his shot count.
You don’t claim a hoax in an effort to prevent panic. You don’t stoke “Antifa Riots” in an effort to prevent panic.
These tapes are, I believe, going to turn some red votes to blue. Especially with the news from Dan Coats and the latest whistleblower complaint added to the mix.
He presents no valid excuse for his behavior, any more than Trump does. And since they did exactly the same thing then if he has an excuse then Trump has the same excuse. Both of them had the same motivation, personal gain.
Points all well taken. I guess what I’m saying is that the admission by itself isn’t damaging, even though his handling of the crisis is - in so many ways. It seems like it would be easy for his supporters to claim that this is nothing more than a “gotcha!” tape.
Beyond that, it’s only his base of willfully brainwashed or people who vote for him “because…abortion” who haven’t acknowledged that he’s deliberately tried to spin the situation and downplayed its dangers. That has been obvious since March. I’m not sure how much this revelation means, other than the fact that it’s harder for his base to win arguments at the dinner table now.
That’s ridiculous, TriPolar; but based on our previous conversations, I’m not seeing much point in continuing this one. I trust other folks can see why it’s ridiculous just as well as I can.
It’s potentially damaging because it makes it difficult for him to later claim that “nobody knew” or that at least he didn’t know how bad it was going to get. Even if he didn’t want to panic people, why didn’t he start stockpiling PPE? Get a response team in place?
In a purely rational world, filled with purely rational people, Bob Woodward could have released this tape five months ago and the response (even from Trump’s supporters) would be “this is serious, I should take all precautions against catching and transmitting this virus” and many lives would have been saved. We do not live in that world.
I have no idea what would have really happened. It’s not hard to imagine Trump at a microphone “Bob Woodward, lamestream media, Washington insider, trying to make me look bad. The failing Washington Post is just trying to sell newspapers. I have the best people working on this in terms of the virus.” The true believers would swallow it hook, line, and sinker, and we’d have the same number of deaths as we do now.
Further, this might have been the optimal time for Woodward to release this. By waiting several months, it’s even more obvious just how wrong Trump was. In the long run, it may wind up saving lives. We’ll never know.
Trump is a known lying liar who especially loves lies that lionize him. Exaggerating the deadliness of a ‘secret’ disease is exactly the kind of lie he would tell to a reporter. So there’s no doubt that Woodward should not have released the tapes right away.
But the scientific consensus on COVID crystallized a long time ago. The tapes should have been released as soon as it was apparent that the administration’s official stance was to discredit and undermine the scientists and physicians who were urging extreme caution.
I don’t know the timelines of his interviews, but releasing the tape early would certainly have limited his access and his book would have suffered for it. So on the whole, I agree that Woodward seems to have sacrificed a great deal of personal integrity for the sake of his book.
How much does it matter? I don’t think releasing the tape really would have made much difference. Trump’s base has had four years to master the art of doublethink. This wouldn’t have twitched the meter. It would not have changed Trump’s policies. It would not have changed his directives to federal health agencies. It would not have changed his attitude towards international health organizations like WHO. It would not have changed his embrace of frauds and shyster skeptics.
I think the timing of its release is nearly perfect.
I frequently find myself not in agreement with Woodward’s characterization of political events and history. Woodward is pretty clearly a right-leaning centrist at most and arguably even ‘conservative’, but like Chris Wallace, I think he takes his work seriously enough that he will say what he feels must be said.
I think he felt compelled to release this at the time when he figured it would have the most impact, when people were likely to pay the most attention. I’m sure he was partly motivated by greed, but in this case, those selfish impulses also aligned with a higher calling, which is to inform and educate the public about the kind of character they elected 4 years ago, and what’s on the line right now and these next 4 years.
I’ve changed my tune a bit on Woodward’s holding on to the information. On one hand, exposing Donald’s knowledge of the severity of the virus might have forced the administration’s hand and saved some lives. On the other, it would have also shut the door on getting more damaging information. I suspect there will be more tapes released in the future and perhaps the cumulative effect will make a difference in the election that one revelation in March would not have made.
I often think trump probably does not really care much if he gets another term. He will still have plenty of money and he will blast Biden all day long with tweets. And I don’t think he will go to jail after he leaves office . He will get probation at the worst. If he really thinks he might do time, he will just fly to someplace that won’t send him back. Like Russia, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, etc
In an interview with the Washington Post’s media columnist, Margaret Sullivan, Woodward said he needed to provide more complete context than he would a news story.
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.”
I’m am not so sure about that, but of course Woodward wants to benefit from it. I personally wish he had waited, oh, another month or so, so it’s fresher in people’s minds come November.
Not as bad, but pretty goddamned bad–in hindsight.
I look at him having this tape in February as being akin to coming to the realization sometime in 1997 that hey, we need to change some computer code in the next couple years. It looks like a disaster is on the horizon, but maybe not. If Woodward had let slip the tape in March, and the governors said a collective, “Oh shit!” and got themselves organized and united in their responses and got on top of the virus…nothing burger. Just like Y2K turned out to be (because of all the action taken to avert the crisis). Trump wins.
On the other hand, Woody didn’t know anything Trump didn’t know, and Trump had the authority to actually do something. So, let the POTUS be the POTUS, he in charge and knows what he’s dealing with. But month after month goes by and POTUS does the opposite of nothing. And now the election is coming up. NOW Trump is a mass murderer (or mass reckless endangerer?), and there is his own admission… I look sideways at Woodward for holding out on us, but he didn’t have info that everyone else didn’t already have (denying reality is not the same as not having the info), all he had was Trump admitting to allowing the spread of a hugely lethal virus in his own country. Which helps how, unless the admission is used to end Trump’s presidency.
Honestly I don’t know why anyone hangs their hat on Qanon when there is a much more believable, deadly, and intricate conspiracy to run down in real life.