Lies Cost Lives |
10 September 2020 |
Cogito Ergo Non Serviam Bob Woodward has been a feature of American journalism ever since he and his partner Carl Bernstein investigated the Watergate break-in and brought down Richard Nixon. He has a new book out called Rage that covers the Trump administration. He has also released some of the tapes he made of the president (who knew he was being taped) and proves that the president deliberately lied to the American people about the Covid-19 virus. It may not result in Mr. Trump's resignation, but it could push voters away from Mr. Trump, resulting is electoral defeat. On January 28, 2020, National Security Adviser Robert C. O'Brien told Trump,"This will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency. This is going to be the roughest thing you face." His deputy, Matthew Pottinger, said that his contacts in China told him this was going to be like the Spanish Flu of 1918, which killed an estimated 50 million worldwide. On February 7, 2020, the president told Mr. Woodward, "You just breathe the air and that's how it's passed. And so that's a very tricky one. That's a very delicate one. It's also more deadly than even your strenuous flu. This is more deadly, this is five percent versus one percent or less than one percent." So, the president was told how bad it was and knew Covid-19 was far worse than influenza. But on February 10, he said at a New Hampshire rally, "Looks like by April, you know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away." Two weeks later, he tweeted, "The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA . . . . Stock Market starting to look very good to me!" A month after that, on March 25, in a press conference, he said, "This is a very contagious virus. It's incredible. But it's something that we have tremendous control over." That was the same month he told Mr. Woodward, "I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic." In the same conversation on March 19, the president stated, "Just today and, some startling facts came out. It's not just old, older. Young people too, plenty of young people." And as late as the first week of August, Mr. Trump was claiming children are "almost immune" to the virus. One can sympathize with the desire to avoid panic. At the same time, President Pollyanna lulled the nation into a very false sense of security. There are, thanks to the president, people who believe the virus that has already killed 190,000 Americans and 900,000 worldwide is a hoax. It as if Winston Churchill told Londoners that no bombs were falling during the Blitz. Not all of them would be killed, but telling the truth would save lives. Mr. Trump is still trying to manipulate his followers. Three weeks ago, he tweeted "The Bob Woodward book will be a FAKE, as always, just as many of the others have been." Most voters won't read the bood. But Mr. Woodward has released some of the audio tapes. Mr. Trump confessing about his lies will be on the TV, and it will make digital ads for the Biden campaign almost too easy. Mr. Woodward has 18 interviews on tape and covered by his scrupulous notes. At the end of his book, he states that Trump is the "dynamite behind the door." He concludes, "Trump is the wrong man for the job." This journal agrees. © Copyright 2020 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux. |
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