By Monday, the story is going to be completely about Woodward and why he didn't release...

[Drunken Irishman]

... with little mention about Trump's lying and the amount of deaths it caused. He won't be held accountable or have to explain any of it away because the news cycle will shift to Woodward and he'll be tagged with the question of whether his inaction caused all the deaths - not Trump's.

Then some posters here will be shocked that Trump's numbers didn't take a hit after the initial revelation and ask how he never is held accountable to anything from his rabid supporters. "What will it take for him to lose support?" they'll ask.

Meanwhile, Woodward will be dragged by those on the left, teeing up the right to do the same, which will eventually discredit him on both sides so now any subsequent tape is ignored and the initial tapes that stoked the controversy become more known for Woodward and less about Trump as he's now just a background player.

Remember the Access Hollywood tapes? It was the same thing. Trump comes out on tape saying awful stuff but then people started asking who had the tapes after all these years...why were the tapes released now and not years or months ago...and how could Billy Bush just go along with all that? It was an interesting dynamic as Bush received equal outrage for the event, despite him being a nobody reporter, and the irony is that Bush was the one most damaged. He lost his job at Today. But the outrage toward Bush deflected a lot of the outrage toward Trump. The questioning of the tapes gave Trump even the slightest cover. And he successfully used it.

Well, we're doing it again.

Boy we're good at kicking a gift horse in the mouth.

[Joinfortmill]

1. Let's not kill the messenger

This is on Trump.

[wryter2000]

2. Wish I could rec this a dozen times

[TreasonousBastard]

3. It never fails-- we try to kick him in the balls but miss and kick ourselves in the teeth.

[Freethinker65]

4. Nope. Not a chance.

Trump might do or say something more batshit crazy to bump it off page one, but going after Woodward won't work.

[soothsayer]

5. I'm with you

[Drunken Irishman]

7. Only way it doesn't is if we focus on Trump and not Woodward.

But attacking Woodward doesn't actually do anything but further discredit him. Then even the tapes become tainted by it and people tune it out.

It shouldn't be: what Trump did was awful but Woodward...

The focus needs to be on Trump. 100% of it.

[underpants]

14. I agree. We all watched him the last 6 months

All of us. Both sides. We all also heard him in his own words. Yes the media can dissipate it but it’s there. Everyone has it stuck in their brain.

The Woodward stuff will last a week tops. Yes I’m fully aware of the the susceptibility of the public but Trump can’t stay quiet, he will come out and play his biggest hits and it will trigger something in everyone. The losers and suckers thing burned a lot of votes for him that won’t come back. This will be 5 times that at least.

To the OP, DI - the Access tape is different. He was running against the system and a candidate who had somehow withered 25 years of attacks. But she had 25 years of attacks and their were people who would never vote for her. Anyway the media had told them they didn’t need to - the election was already over. Trump won on a fluke. Now he is running on himself and that’s not a good brand.

[uponit7771]

29. THIS !!! The worst view of Woodward still doesn't exonorate Trump one bit

[CrispyQ]

6. My response: One is the president and one is not.

Yes shame on Woodward, but he is not the president. In spite of what the Con says, the buck stops at the desk of the president.

[fleur-de-lisa]

16. Exactly. Two things can both be true at the same time.

Dump is 100% at fault and all responsibility for this debacle should be placed on him.

And Woodward is a human being. There must have been something he could have said or done. A thousand people were dying each day.

[uponit7771]

31. +1, .... and still are

[uponit7771]

30. +1,

[DarthDem]

8. Disagree

That's what Mr. Trump will be trying to do, but no one buys that argument except the unpersuadables. The media isn't going to give that "line" of "attack" any credence, especially since it is an attack on one of their own.

[LisaM]

9. I do remember the whole Access Hollywood thing, and let's hope this isn't the same.

However, what you've stated above - very elegantly, I might add - is unfortunately a likely way this will all play out. I hope the posse here that's calling for Woodward's head reads what you posted.

[Glamrock]

10. You are right and wrong brother....

It's all about Comrade Combover. He knew the danger and told us it was a "hoax". This asshole has full responsibility. Period.

However, the fact that a journalist sat on this info so he could sell a book while 10's of thousands died? Yeah man. Woodward should be taken to the woodshed. Especially since the asshole had tapes of the orange asshole saying exactly how dangerous this thing is.

Like you, I don't want the focus veering off the orange asshole. But, Woodward is guilty and has the blood of thousands on his hands with this....

IMHO.....

[AnotherMother4Peace]

11. and Trump will be the victim..... nt

[cwydro]

12. Seems to be the agenda of several here.

Curious.

[AnotherMother4Peace]

19. An immediate condemnation of Woodward, w/the obligatory swipe at Trump - curious.

[stillcool]

24. you'd think it was

a big secret that Trump is a liar, and a con-man. No one knew before Bob Woodward put it in writing.

[MontanaMama]

13. That's all I heard on NPR just now

while driving to work. I was yelling at the radio....that didn't do any good, btw.

[bigtree]

15. and to think

...just yesterday you were querying me if Biden or his campaign would respond to Woodward's timing.

here: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=14048142

Today it's all concern about whether the media will run with this.

Pick a position.

[GusBob]

17. Clearly, given the noise

Clearly given the noise, you would agree that this is an issue of journalistic ethics that should be discussed?

I remember the Access Hollywood tapes, what I remember is all the noise covered up Obama's announcement about Russian Interference

[EndlessWire]

18. Yes

The attention span of the public is about a week and a half. That's why one distraction doesn't last long, and Trump needs to constantly invent another whoop de do.

I don't think this news would have meant a hill of beans difference to anyone. It is better used close to the election. We HAVE to win this election. If Trump wins because he manipulates the EC better than we do, then the USA is GONE. Might as well rename us Trumplandia.

People are not sitting around questioning why Jarod came back and suddenly FEMA was appropriating shipments of PPEs that people had managed to buy. Those were meant for hospital workers and those at greatest risk for catching the virus, but no one is outraged about it. This isn't mentioned anymore. The moment has passed, they got away with it, and it doesn't seem to matter that Trump et al deprived SOMEONE, somewhere, of the right to at least try to avoid the virus.

This is because the news is filled daily with outrageous info about what the tyrant has said and done today, and little about last week is remembered.

So, IMO, the closer to the election this came out, the better it is for our side. Sure, we have a bit to go, but timing IS everything. Your analysis of how the blame shift will occur is spot on and illustrative of how clever someone really is about how human nature works.

We have to stick together and VOTE these subhumans out of office. If we want to blame someone for a death in the family from COVID, blame the lack of management, the mismanagement, the absolute obstruction and roadblocks that the Trump Regime threw up in order to use the pandemic to his advantage.

I believe he tried to weaponize it against us in his favor for the election. Too bad for him that he was stupid, and we have a reporter with good timing to release it now.

[JustAnotherGen]

20. That's why I refuse to denigrate Bob Woodward

The person who needed to ACT and act fast was Woodward.

And if Mr. Woodward HAD tipped us off - they would be tied up in the courts to get the book published.

[Montelimar]

27. The ONE person who needed to act

and demonstrate character is the fat fucking piece of shit in the white house.

[JustAnotherGen]

28. Amen - #heknew

And at the end of the day - Trump failed to launch a Federal Response.

Don't forget - Mike Pence knew too.

[Paladin]

21. It's already happening on Wonkette.com, a liberal site.

Snarly column about how (all in large-case) BOB bears significant blame for this whole clusterfuck.

Eyes on the prize, people: this is trump's circus, and trump's alone.

[Greybnk48]

22. Oh Bullshit! There are a raft of other Republicans who knew too, besides Woodward.

They need to be dragged with Trump.

Chris Cuomo said in yesterday in his monologue. There were lots of other Republicans that knew (they had to) what Trump knew on Feb. 7th that could have saved tens of thousands of lives. They're all culpable too, on down the ticket. House and Senate, along with President Psychopath.

[Drunken Irishman]

26. Drag Trump. Then worry about the others.

[lagomorph777]

23. That's not at all what I'm weeing on CNN and MSNBC.

It's all about Trump's malfeasance.

[2naSalit]

25. Only Thursday and we're already there.

Took about 30 minutes.

[maxrandb]

32. Bullshit! That's like saying

"By Monday, the story will be Hardware Stores shouldn't sell box cutters to Muslims".

We can walk and chew gum at the same time.

It's perfectly fine to hold Donnie Shit for Brains responsible and accountable for his own words, while also holding human beings accountable to their responsibility to humanity.