So interesting. In your analogy, I observed the assumption of malicious intent, i.e. they intended to shoot a man, and so any explanation they gave is meaningless.

Your assumption may be true, I don't know for sure. But in general I subscribe to "Never ascribe to malice what can be ascribed to stupidity :)" - it's seemed to ring true most of the time. There are obvious exceptions in the political arena, of course.

Regardless of whether you believe malice was in here or not, being more transparent could indeed have allowed them to lower the temperature before it reached fever pitch. And now, it's kinda too late.