Patterico's Pontifications

11/9/2012

Petraeus Resigns; Will Not Testify — Or So the Democrats Think . . .

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 6:18 pm



Apparently he had an affair with his biographer.

The woman with whom Gen. David Petraeus was having an affair is Paula Broadwell, the author of a recent hagiographic book about him, All In: The Education of General David Petraeus.

Petraeus resigned as CIA director on Friday, citing the affair. In a letter to his staff, Petraeus wrote:

“Yesterday afternoon, I went to the White House and asked the President to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position as D/CIA. After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours.”

Sources tell me that President Obama, who has been getting along with Petraeus very well in the past couple years, agonized for 24 hours over the letter of resignation before accepting it.

I think the guy spelled “milliseconds” wrong. Here’s why this claim is so hard to buy:

Really?

Petraeus is slated to testify about what happened with Benghazi. He’s one guy conservatives might trust in all this, and he says he wants to testify. Meanwhile, Obama stalls and covers his butt. Then, less than a week before Petraeus is supposed to testify, this?

Nah. Sorry. I don’t buy that O was agonizing.

Subpoena him. If the Senate doesn’t let it happen, do it in the House.

Subpoena him.

UPDATE: Ace:

When Did Obama Know About Petraeus’ Affair?

Did he know about it months ago, which seems likely?

Did he tell Petraeus to resign after the election?

If Petraeus had to resign because he was compromised, he was compromised months ago.

Did Obama leave a compromised head of the CIA in place to avoid some difficult politics?

Petraeus’ testimony about this — not the affair, but Obama’s knowledge of it and offers to resign — is now required.

I haven’t had much time to think about all of this, but I was suspicious the second I first heard about this.

423 Responses to “Petraeus Resigns; Will Not Testify — Or So the Democrats Think . . .”

  1. Ding.

    Patterico (8b3905)

  2. Can a house subpoena override the official secrets act?

    EPWJ (c5f1fc)

  3. We don’t have an Official Secrets Act

    narciso (ee31f1)

  4. He should be fired, in any case. As well as all responsible for his screenings and clearances.

    And I don’t know that his “resignation” grants him or anybody else any immunity.

    (I have more comments. I know the Japanese word for self-disembowelment. I’m looking for self-eunechism.)

    nk (875f57)

  5. disemballing?

    happyfeet (6a0438)

  6. seppuku, is the term you are looking for.

    narciso (ee31f1)

  7. As well as all responsible for his screenings and clearances.

    And I don’t know that his “resignation” grants him or anybody else any immunity.

    So if I grant someone a security clearance and they later have an affair, I should lose my job?

    ——-

    I agree that Petraus obviously should testify.

    Dustin (73fead)

  8. George W. Bush did it again.

    mg (31009b)

  9. “I know the Japanese word for self-disembowelment. I’m looking for self-eunechism.” — nk

    “disemballing?” — happyfeet

    OK, now that’s good.

    Patterico (8b3905)

  10. How long was this covered up? How long did Obama know about the affair and that Petraeus was going to resign? How long did they keep a compromised official at the head of the CIA to prevent it from harming their election chances?

    NJRob (fe68e7)

  11. Heh! Still … kogan kiri?

    nk (875f57)

  12. You know, after the Philly wards with 98% participation, it’s like I don’t trust this administration.

    Simon Jester (343612)

  13. Sorry, narciso, missed your comment.

    Seppuku is self-disembowlment. I knew that, along with hara-kiri, the cruder phrase.

    Looking for “honorably castrate myself”.

    nk (875f57)

  14. I don’t see why he wouldn’t testify. He was in charge at the time.

    So, he was in Afghanistan, she comes and spends lots of time with him on the book.

    Not a good thing, but they are both grown adults, no 20 yo interns involved. But you can’t be subject to blackmail in such a position- others think maybe this was going to be held against him in one way or another and that is why this is happening now.

    How and why do as many facts need to come out as they do? Why did her name need to become public, especially if she has a family.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  15. 14 – The facts your looking for, you will never see.

    mg (31009b)

  16. So if I grant someone a security clearance and they later have an affair, I should lose my job?

    If you are still responsible for their security clearance. A security clearance is an ongoing thing, or at least I thought it was.

    nk (875f57)

  17. Worst President in my lifetime. Most corrupt, and inept administration in my lifetime.

    Makes me miss George W? Hell, I miss Richard Nixon.

    SPQR (768505)

  18. fawning videographer—-fawning biographer
    Rielle Hunter———–Paula Broadwell
    John Edwards————David Petraeus

    elissa (a394d7)

  19. Didn’t I say bizarre? Why the dirty details?

    When you hear a dirty truth, look for a dirty lie, and an even dirtier truth.

    nk (875f57)

  20. MD–she is under investigation by the FBI for internet and email irregularities. That is why it came out now and why her name is out there.

    elissa (a394d7)

  21. Thanks, elissa

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  22. Yes, that parallel occurred to me, elissa,

    narciso (ee31f1)

  23. Comment by MD in Philly — 11/9/2012 @ 6:48 pm

    Adultery is a felony under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

    And he may not have wanted to lose his wife, along with his pension and veterans’ benefits.

    So, yeah, he was blackmailable.

    nk (875f57)

  24. He’s retired from the military, but still very reckless

    narciso (ee31f1)

  25. Here is the NYPost article about “that woman” with pictures and a little info about the FBI investigation.

    http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/cia_director_david_petraeus_quits_JXe5FayUNE7fWDyHLfdgJJ

    elissa (a394d7)

  26. Now we know why the dog didn’t bark in the night.

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  27. He should testify… his last act as a patriot.

    Colonel Haiku (247462)

  28. Please help, narciso, what is the timeline? I thought this happened when he was still CinC in Afghanistan?

    nk (875f57)

  29. Sorry,the Benghazi timeline,

    narciso (ee31f1)

  30. “I know the Japanese word for self-disembowelment. I’m looking for self-eunechism.” — nk

    “de-beaning”…

    Colonel Haiku (247462)

  31. I’ma going to go now and let all you gents sort this out.

    elissa (a394d7)

  32. The real questions is when did the affair start. Some say it started before he was vetted for CIA. If so, did he report it during the vetting?

    If he did, then one wonders why he was approved, why he took the job, and/or why they made the affair public now. This seems unlikely as there would be no reason for Petraeus to sit still for it.

    If he did not, he is in real trouble even now and he should have been fired the moment it was found out. If that didn’t happen, and it was used to make him play dumb over Benghazi, there are any number of crimes involved on both sides of that blackmail.

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  33. autodefenistration.

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  34. Ralph Peters: “Timing is just too perfect.” “Just as the administration claimed it was purely coincidence that our Benghazi consulate was attacked on the anniversary of September 11th. Now it’s purely coincidence that this affair — extra-marital affair — surfaces right after the election, not before, but right after, but before the intelligence chiefs go to Capitol Hill to get grilled. As an old intelligence analyst, Neil, the way I read this — I could be totally wrong, this is my interpretation — is that the administration was unhappy with Petraeus not playing ball 100% on their party-line story. I think it’s getting cold feet about testifying under oath on their party-line story. And I suspect that these tough Chicago guys knew about this affair for a while, held it in their back pocket until they needed to play the card.”

    SPQR (768505)

  35. autoexsackination

    Colonel Haiku (247462)

  36. Sorry, elissa, I was looking for Japanese. It’s not my fault these guys kept on with English like I doan noes it.

    Kogan-kiri still leads.

    nk (875f57)

  37. begelding

    Colonel Haiku (247462)

  38. self de-vigorization

    Colonel Haiku (247462)

  39. autosissification

    Colonel Haiku (247462)

  40. From NBCnews–
    The biographer for resigning CIA Director David Petraeus is under FBI investigation for improperly trying to access his email and possibly gaining access to classified information, law enforcement officials told NBC News on Friday.

    The law enforcement officials said they do not believe the FBI investigation will result in any criminal charges. They also stressed that Petraeus is not under investigation.

    So the justice department of Eric Holder is involved. But no criminal charges are expected. Looks more like harrassment. Clearly somebody who didn’t care about this before, now wants Petraeus gone at this particular time and knew how to make it happen

    elissa (a394d7)

  41. autobecow

    Colonel Haiku (247462)

  42. Comment by SPQR — 11/9/2012 @ 7:21 pm

    Which in the end means that Petraeus never should have been a general in the first place, because he lacked two necessary ingredients.

    nk (875f57)

  43. 去勢

    Colonel Haiku (247462)

  44. Alright guys, I’ll come back in the game:

    Did Petreaus appear before a steering committee?
    Did he wonder what would be the capon of his career?

    nk (875f57)

  45. You know how you sometimes walk by a place–and there’s a little whiff, an aroma in the air? And I’m not talking ‘choom” although out here in Coastal California you can frequently smell that.

    I’m talking about the smell you get when you drive up I-5 and pass the Harris Ranch. You know–the smell of bull shit? You can smell it 5 miles before you get there.

    And I’m thinking you get the same smell coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Only you can smell it all the way out in California (well not in Brentwood, and the Bay Area).

    Comanche Voter (29e1a6)

  46. “Adultery is a felony under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.”

    Only if the adultery causes “…prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces or was of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.”

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  47. Jiko kyosei.

    Thanks Colonel.

    nk (875f57)

  48. Adultery is a felony under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

    Now that you mention it, I remember that. But I find it hard to believe with the general state of society that this is enforced as often as it happens. And apparently the CIC doesn’t fall under the rules of the code.

    But a blackmail threat works only as long as the secret is concealed.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  49. Anyway, quite the scandal. Nothing like having a spy chief who is blackmailable as all get-out.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  50. autobeliberaling

    Colonel Haiku (247462)

  51. Thank you, Dave, I should have said “punishable”.

    nk (875f57)

  52. Comment by Dave Surls
    Thanks Dave

    nk- back in college there was some poor guy who attempted such a procedure on himself. I guess he had some sexuality related issues (don’t know exactly) and he thought castration would be a help, but no surgeon would do it. So…he went to the med library and got some books…had the call the ambulance mid-procedure.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  53. As DCI, Petaeus was retired from the US Army and not under the UCMJ.

    SPQR (768505)

  54. Though I think it happened while still a general.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  55. The broad he was supposedly banging:

    “Petraeus’ biographer, Paula Broadwell, is under FBI investigation for improperly trying to access his email and possibly gaining access to classified information, law enforcement officials told NBC News on Friday. She is the author of Petraeus’ biography, “All In.” Broadwell had extensive access to Petraeus in Afghanistan and has given numerous television interviews speaking about him.”–ABC

    Jesus Christ Almighty. And, we had this idiot in charge of the CIA???

    What was he planning on doing for an encore, having a homosexual tryst with Julian Assange?

    No wonder we can’t crush a bunch of ragtag terrorists. We’re ruled by guys with no brains AND no judgement.

    I hope none of this is true…but, I fear it is.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  56. I remember that story, MD, not as dimly as I would wish. (I was running a newstand at the time.)

    He thought his sexual desires sinful?

    nk (875f57)

  57. Ok, you guys. Recess from deballing, and let’s go “All In”.

    nk (875f57)

  58. Hard to give more than one meaning to “in”,
    But for “all” I find four.

    nk (875f57)

  59. ‘Thank you, Dave, I should have said “punishable”.’

    You are welcome, sir.

    For people who don’t know, adultery in the military is only an issue if it causes headaches for the military.

    They don’t care about adultery per se, they do care if the adultery disrupts their ability to fight wars, and stuff like that.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  60. Comment by nk — 11/9/2012 @ 7:55 pm
    I don’t know. I mean, if he was a pedophile it would almost be reasonable.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  61. But he CHOOSES not to testify. So the proprietor here is right on about a subpoena. What’s next vis a vis Benghazi? Mysterious plane crashes, suicides?

    calypso louis farrakhan (8aff52)

  62. If he testifies to anything during his CIA directorship, it will be in “executive session”. Secret.

    So let’s forget that.

    Hmm. Is Leahy still in the Senate?

    nk (875f57)

  63. Yes he is, along with Rockefeller, who leaked Administration strategies to every rival country who would listen

    narciso (ee31f1)

  64. Nothing about this smells right.

    JD (ac62a1)

  65. His wife wrote the letter for him, is my best guess.

    Nobody else would want to be that mean to him.

    nk (875f57)

  66. And for him to take it.

    nk (875f57)

  67. The scientific term for a complete deballing is ‘bilateral orchidectomy’. The first word is Latin, and its meaning is obvious. The second word signifies the cutting (‘tom’ – as in tomography and microtome) out (‘ec’ – another form of ‘ex’) of the testicles (orchis, plural orchides, is the Greek word for ‘testicle’ – the flower is named after the organ – apparently the Greeks thought the shape of the bulb more interesting than the beauty of the flower).

    By the way, the most TMI e-mail I have ever received, by a large margin, was from a professor I used to know a few months before he died of cancer, in which he mentioned having to have a bilateral orchidectomy as part of his treatment.

    Since Petraeus was scheduled to ‘testify’ next week, I hope it’s just a coincidence that the Latin word for ‘testicle’ and ‘witness’ is the same: testis (plural testes). This apparently goes back to an ancient form of treaty-making where men would show that they really trusted each other by grasping each other’s testicles while swearing an oath of eternal friendship. Apparently one Hebrew word has the same two meanings, and there are some obscure passages in the Old Testament in which someone makes a promise while placing his hand “under the thigh” of another man. It’s easy to see why the meaning of the phrase would have been obscured by euphemism – the practice is way too gay for the OT.

    Is there a prize for the most pedantic comment of the month?

    Dr. Weevil (47927d)

  68. A little scrambled eggs on the hat, and some conservatives get weak in the knees; go figure. The man was always a bureaucrat rather than a soldier. Between COIN and rules of engagement that got good men and women killed pointlessly and his current blatant attempt to avoid testifying under oath about Benghazi he has done nothing to earn anyone’s respect and much to merit scorn .Petraeus should be subpoenaed, period. 4 public servants are dead, this Plumed Knight’s feelings and Obama’s “Legacy” be damned.This departure stinks to high heaven. Between the snake oil of COIN and the insane rules of engagement, good riddance. No idea what supposed conservatives ever saw in this uniformed charlatan with Ivy degrees.If he refuses to testify, then lock his behind in the brig for contempt. These questions have to be answered. Does he think he’s in the mob or something?

    Obama’s 2nd term is off to a smashing start. Like Gallagher at a farmer’s market.

    Bugg (c8b43a)

  69. Dr. Weevil, you remind me of somebody.

    nk (875f57)

  70. Comment by Dr. Weevil — 11/9/2012 @ 9:01 pm

    If so: YOU WIN!!!

    Jcw46 (f23062)

  71. Michael walsh over at pjmedia.com has interesting thoughts about the whole stinking affair -david and bathsheeba

    calypso louis farrakhan (a80db9)

  72. Easy, Bugg. He’s a Ranger. And he’s got the full (paratrooper’s) wings. Combat Action. Expert Inafantryman. Bronze Star with Valor. Four stars.

    You don’t get those things as a community organizer.

    He wants to serve his country. Which makes me say “bizarre”.

    nk (875f57)

  73. He can take the Fifth Amendment because he violated the law when he let his mistress/biographer have access to top secret, CIA communications.

    AZ Bob (1c9631)

  74. This has nothing involving Benghazi but everything with violating the rules of the CIA.

    AZ Bob (1c9631)

  75. “This apparently goes back to an ancient form of treaty-making where men would show that they really trusted each other by grasping each other’s testicles while swearing an oath of eternal friendship.”

    I think I can make do with just shaking hands.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  76. I think that’s idiots using homonyms as synonyms. Old Testament? New Testament?

    nk (875f57)

  77. Petraeus fell on sword . . . so to speak.

    Icy (99c961)

  78. “fell on his sword”. Joke fail.

    Icy (99c961)

  79. Fell on his phallus, Icy?

    nk (875f57)

  80. Fell on his phallus, Icy?

    nk (875f57)

  81. ________________________________________________

    This has nothing involving Benghazi but everything with violating the rules of the CIA.

    What? That Petraeus wasn’t sexy enough? That he wasn’t into S&M with his mistress? After all, the CIA has been sponsoring booths at Gay Pride events in DC over the past many years, and Obama’s America is well on its way to becoming the world’s biggest Banana Republic.

    Mark (8087c8)

  82. I really don’t get any part of this. I go to my gut instinct that his wife is making him crawl.

    That’s what wives are for, after all. For what government will not do.

    nk (875f57)

  83. I don’t know what sort of monthly pension you get as a four star. But if you’re screwing your autobiographer you still get it. Navy regs spell it out in more detail.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  84. Not only doe you have to ask why now, after the election but before he testifies, but why such a blatant move? They must REALLY fear what he might say.

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  85. Subpoena him. If the Senate doesn’t let it happen, do it in the House.

    I have been thinking about this all day, and I think he may be playing a sophisticated game. The only thing that makes sense to me is that his affair was discovered, and he decided to make his exit extracting the most political damage to his boss that he could. So he quit after the election, like a gentleman, and before he could testify. But oh noes, they subpoenaed me!

    He will now be “forced” to testify as to the truth.

    Patricia (be0117)

  86. But what would make a four star general humiliate himself in public like this? When he is the most secret person on Earth as DCI?

    nk (875f57)

  87. “By the pricking of my thumbs,
    Something wicked this way comes.”

    Ag80 (b2c81f)

  88. He can be forced to testify, but his testimony will be in executive session and sealed for the next hundred years.

    nk (875f57)

  89. He has no choice, nk. Either he lies to the committee or the affair is public. If the FBI knew, the WH knew. It was a sword hanging over his head forever.

    Patricia (be0117)

  90. Of course, Patricia. That’s what troubles me. That he was not gone long ago, even if it never became known.

    nk (875f57)

  91. I think I could write something trite, maybe suitable for a made for TV movie.

    A good man does one thing bad, that will hurt somebody he loves. Bad people use it to exploit him. He stands it for a while and then says, “Publish and perish”.

    nk (875f57)

  92. I would think that Valerie Jarrett and Bath House Barry despise Petraeus for the same reasons they hate all other straight, white, male, (presumably conservative) military officers.

    DV1252x (207be4)

  93. A good man does …

    A good man answers the call if that’s what he signed up to do.

    I can’t speak for those who didn’t sign up.

    As for anyone else’s Dago ass I can’t speak. But as for me I detect a threat and whatever platform I’m skippering goes nose on. Saving my own ass is better and more cheaply done off the taxpayer dime. I would not ask the taxpayer to subsidize my worthless butt.

    Although I must admit there have been a couple of times when I could have used the taxpayer to pony up for a see-gar and maybe some new rubber after I smoked the tires in celebration.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  94. nk, it eats at me that no one answered the call when it came.

    I don’t know how Doherty and Woods filled out their voter registration cards. I don’t care.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  95. “Did Obama leave a compromised head of the CIA in place to avoid some difficult politics?”

    They knew about it months ago, if Ron Kessler’s article is correct, and they left him in place anyway, and kept it under wraps until after the election.

    http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/petraeus-resigns-cia-affair/2012/11/09/id/463573

    If it’s all true, Petraeus is an absolute swine, and the POTUS and everyone else connected with this administration needs to be impeached pronto.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  96. It makes me wonder if the WH was blackmailing him to keep silent about Benghazi. And he decided that it wasn’t worth it anymore. Things that make you go, “Hmmmmmmmmmmm”!

    peedoffamerican (204ab7)

  97. if Ron Kessler’s article is correct, …
    If it’s all true…

    Dude, we’ve had our differences. But I hope it’s not all true.

    Which at this juncture is kinda like saying you don’t believe in Santa Claus.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  98. He won’t testify no matter what. the next time might be a bullet and not a forced resignation.

    Jcw46 (f23062)

  99. I realize I’m mixing my metaphors. Which in the great scheme of things just doesn’t seem to add up to the sin o’ sins. So sue me.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  100. General- Was she any good? What was her favorite position? Was she a moaner or a screamer? The questions the American people would ask. Stupid f—s.

    mg (31009b)

  101. I would trust ticks on my body before I would ever trust a general.
    Unless, of course, it was Gen. George S Patton.

    mg (31009b)

  102. obama should hire Si Robertson to replace patraeus.

    mg (31009b)

  103. Let us be patient and learn more about this situation before jumping to conclusions as some of us are wont to do here. For now I think he has the done the most honorable thing under the circumstances, by judging himself in the matter. We wins points for that in my book. Sad to see him end it all this way.

    The Emperor (9ae02a)

  104. 104- Be patient, for what, the brown shirts to set foot on my property. You think his actions are honorable, Your view is typical feel good b.s. Grow some hair on those shaved nuts, comrade.

    mg (31009b)

  105. Cut military spending and divide it up amongst us. I will take my share in ammo. I will protect my family, thank you. United Citizens with arms. U.C.A.

    mg (31009b)

  106. @mg. Oh I do have some hair. Lots of it, bro.

    The Emperor (fc6588)

  107. 107- In a ponytail?

    mg (31009b)

  108. You are perverted. Not gonna argue with you. You sound like a wingnut. You are part of what is wrong with the GOP.

    The Emperor (64f3a1)

  109. I am not gop. I am unenrolled. You could not pay me to be in either party. Perverted no, sarcastic, yes.

    mg (31009b)

  110. Then we have more in common than we know. Sorry about the pervert part.

    The Emperor (09061e)

  111. “I know the Japanese word for self-disembowelment. I’m looking for self-eunechism.” — nk

    Chazdebonerizing?

    Jim Denney (58bd2a)

  112. I’ll go with Haiku’s jiko kyosei, Jim. A California blog without native Japanese commenters. Damn that Earl Warren.

    nk (875f57)

  113. Some ado is made that the FBI “spied” on Petraeus and the woman. My understanding is that the FBI has the primary responsibility for counter-espionage. Also, for security clearances including the military.

    (I was contacted by the FBI, one time, about a soldier looking to be placed in a sensitive position. She was the girlfriend of the son of one of my tenants. They were that thorough.)

    nk (875f57)

  114. One of the articles mentioned above notes that he was nicknamed “King David” over in Iraq/Afghanistan. Ironic.

    Speculation abounds- had Petraeus kept this secret and it was exposed? Was in known by Obama and co and they hired him anyway- so he was compromised to do the will of the one from the start? [Was he hired at the threat of exposing it???]

    Was the affair a terrible “but limited” mistake that had to eventually take its toll, or something that once started continued (as at least one story suggests)?

    Is the acknowledgement and resignation a path to be honest or a ploy to be secretive?

    No suicides allowed, real or staged.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  115. Is the acknowledgement and resignation a path to be honest or a ploy to be secretive?

    Petraues is a brilliant strategist and no shrinking violet. [throws arms up in air in pure bewilderment]

    nk (875f57)

  116. “Let us be patient…”

    …and wait for our alleged POTUS to invoke “executive privilege”.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  117. On the timing: It’s entirely plausible that he would, by his own choice, wait until after the election in order to spare the administration embarrassment. As for making the the announcement when he did — during the Friday “news dump” at the start of what is for many people a three-day weekend, and a few days before his scheduled testimony on Benghazi — this is where one has to wonder about who in the administration may have contacted him and said “Hey, we know about you and your mistress; do you want to tell the American people, or do you want it to ‘leak’ out?”

    Icy (99c961)

  118. Like more than a few have said “All In” reads more like glowing fiction from a fangirl….or something a teenage girl would’ve penned to the pages of Tiger Beat than an actual biography.

    It’s quite possible they have been carrying on an affair for more than a few years now, ever since they were both in the middle east so I doubt lots of folks in the military & intelligence circles didn’t know this was going on before Petraeus took over as head honcho & CIA & how potentially damaging & compromising a position this could end up being.

    My instinct tells me he was outed by the Obama administration (who no doubt knew well beforehand of the affair) hoping a resignation would keep him from testifying.

    Affair or no affair, I doubt Petraeus would go in front of Congress & obfuscate & lie. If anything the buck would probably be passed farther up the line.

    Interestingly enough there’s now talk of Hillary Clinton resigning also, because she’s tired or wants to focus on family or something.

    John Difool (4251ee)

  119. And, now the lies start to flow…

    “Government officials said that the F.B.I. began an investigation into a “potential criminal matter” several months ago that was not focused on Mr. Petraeus. In the course of their inquiry into whether a computer used by Mr. Petraeus had been compromised, agents discovered evidence of the relationship as well as other security concerns. About two weeks ago, F.B.I. agents met with Mr. Petraeus to discuss the investigation…”

    “…The revelation of a secret inquiry into the head of the nation’s premier spy agency raised urgent questions about Mr. Petraeus’s 14-month tenure at the C.I.A. and the decision by Mr. Obama to elevate him to head the agency after leading the country’s war effort in Afghanistan. White House officials said they did not know about the affair until this week, when Mr. Petraeus informed them.”–NYT

    Yeah, right. The FBI is investigating a matter that involves an extra-marital affair that the HEAD of the CIA is involved in, as well as “other security concerns”, but they don’t notify the POTUS????

    Spare me.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  120. This is Paula:
    A dual major in systems engineering and political geography, Paula ran cross-country and track, and competed in the high jump. She earned 12 varsity letters. “West Point was an intense and empowering experience. Everything is about performance. It fueled my passion for competition and developed my foundation for understanding the entire instrument of military power and its employment.”

    Participating in a summer cadet exchange program in Israel solidified Paula’s desire to work in international, and foreign affairs. Graduating number one in physical fitness in West Point’s Class of 1995, a class whose size numbers 1015 with 87% men, and a passion for international travel and intelligence firmly cemented, Paula selected Military Intelligence Corps. She chose an initial posting to Korea to serve as a platoon leader on the DMZ.

    Assignments of increasing responsibility followed in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. They included the command of an International Defense Intelligence Agency Document Exploitation Unit in Bosnia and as a senior intelligence and security officer for the largest Military Police Battalion in the Army based in Mannheim, Germany. All of which served to spark an interest in covert military operations.

    I find this whole thing bizarre and more than anything very sad.

    elissa (c3c631)

  121. Supposedly this affair ended in Sep. of 2011 shortly before or just after Petraeus took over as CIA head & it was Broadwell who ended it. Petraeus then continued to send thousands of e-mails her way from Langley still persuing her.

    Why would a woman who ended an affair have the desire to gain access to the top-spooks e-mails at the CIA later on? Blackmail?

    Could the woman who once wrote a very glowing biography of her lover now want access to the thousands of steamy e-mails in order to get new material for a tell-all book & cash out?

    Trying to get the head guy’s e-mails at the CIA could certainly get you a long vacation stay at one of our nations finest federal prisons. In the old days you may have become the victim of an unfortunate accident or it may have gotten you disappeared completely.

    Or could it be, just be that maybe Putin the boys got their hooks into her?

    John Difool (4251ee)

  122. Apologies–I intended to add the link for the quote in my comment above. It’s a much longer article and there’s also a pic of her with her husband and babies.

    http://www.porcelainonsteel.com/2010/03/honored-role-part-15-paula-broadwell-arc-of-a-driver/

    elissa (c3c631)

  123. Paula sounds incredibly impressive.

    She and Gen Petraeus have made a serious mistake, but I appreciate their incredible service to the cause of freedom and hope this painful chapter of their lives can be resolved honorably.

    Dustin (73fead)

  124. This is Petraeus:

    A lowlife scumbag, who not only cheats on his own wife (creating a big old security breach in the process), but screws a married woman, young enough to be his daughter, who just so happens to have two young children.

    What a stand-up guy.

    How do high ranking government officials provide “extraordinary service” (as our liar-in-chief put it) to United states citizens, like Paula Broadwell’s husband?

    By boning their wives behind their backs, of course.

    This is all assuming that the media reports are correct, of course.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  125. Don’t know if it was mentioned above, but anyone else finding it funny that Broadwell’s book was title ” All In ” ?

    John Difool (4251ee)

  126. “Paula sounds incredibly impressive”

    She’s one step below a cockroach, if you ask me.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  127. Mid-way thru this Benghazi thing, I kept thinking how strange it was that Petraeus wasn’t issuing any statements. He was held fast, by the short n’curlies…

    Colonel Haiku (8d61ec)

  128. Everything is about performance. It fueled my passion for competition…”

    It should be noted that it’s very heady stuff to be the one woman powerful enough to topple one of the most respected and powerful men in the country. He very literally sacrificed everything for her: reputation, respect, family, his own conscience.

    What is it with middle aged/older men so desperate to be the young bucks they once were and so desperate they believe the flattery as gospel?

    Dana (292dcf)

  129. Think of how Broadwell’s husband must feel.

    He’s forced, at the point of a gun, to pay Petraeus’ salary, and Petraeus is screwing his wife on the sly. That’s what the guy gets for his tax money.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  130. Yeah, right. The FBI is investigating a matter that involves an extra-marital affair that the HEAD of the CIA is involved in, as well as “other security concerns”, but they don’t notify the POTUS????
    Comment by Dave Surls — 11/10/2012 @ 6:55 am

    — One mustn’t bother the King with trivialities, you know.

    Icy (99c961)

  131. 彼は決断を下した
    影響が大きかった
    彼は今、引き返すことができません

    Colonel Haiku (8d61ec)

  132. regrets had a few
    but decision had a plus
    could now hit high notes

    Colonel Haiku (8d61ec)

  133. Dave Surls–in my experience it takes two to tango so to speak. Yes Petraeus is a powerful man and she is a beautiful younger woman. But Paula also is exceptionally driven, and exceptionally intelligent. She also appears to be exceptionally used to getting what she aims for. In no way am I condoning what occurred between them. But your painting of the general as some ancient lech taking advantage of a delicate young flower ain’t cuttin’ it with me.

    elissa (c3c631)

  134. I have read in several different major outlets that the White House made the determination that Petraeus will not testify. No where do I see where he himself says he will not do so.

    The possibility that Mrs. Petraeus was just informed of the affair this week, would make it understandable that Petraeus himself may not be up to the task. Imagine a bomb of horrific proportion has just exploded in their private lives. Neither may be up to anything other than shell-shocked numbness.

    Dana (292dcf)

  135. What is it with middle aged/older men so desperate to be the young bucks they once were and so desperate they believe the flattery as gospel?
    Comment by Dana — 11/10/2012 @ 7:50 am

    — Uh, um, I don’t know. Wh-wh-what are you asking me for, anyway? I d-d-d-don’t know nuthin’!

    Gee, is it warm in here? Sure feels warm to me. S-s-somebody should open a window or something, ’cause it’s getting downright uncomfortable.

    Icy (99c961)

  136. SEC bureaucrats spending all day watching porn on their computers. Secret Service agents whoring and debauching overseas. CIA director resigns over affair. Why do we have so much difficulty finding men of integrity to fill govt posts? I guess it’s always been like this, but sheesh!

    gp (5a38d9)

  137. he had it in him
    a BIG Karaoke star
    A-Ha “Take On Me”

    Colonel Haiku (8d61ec)

  138. Dave Surls,

    Women are so much more conniving and sharper than men in these matters. Petraeus may be a man of historical impressiveness and power, but at the end of the day, he was no match for a woman who knew her real power. Never undersell the woman, first and foremost.

    Dana (292dcf)

  139. Agreed elissa,

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/09/gen-david-petraeus-s-resignation-fuels-conspiracy-theories.html

    no he doesn’t consider why his sources were so ready to counter the ‘narrative’

    narciso (ee31f1)

  140. Slick Willie was one exception to “F*ckin’ He Gets For The F*ckin’ He Got” rule…

    Colonel Haiku (8d61ec)

  141. It does take two to tango, but for his part — out in the field with an attractive, physically fit woman 20 years his junior that is literally hanging on his every word . . .

    Icy (99c961)

  142. Usually, when there is trouble over a woman it starts with the woman.

    nk (875f57)

  143. Best Case Scenario: Dude’s in teh brig peelin’ potatoes for a long, long time…

    Colonel Haiku (8d61ec)

  144. Yer right, Icy… what could he do?

    Well, son… he could’ve prayed…

    Colonel Haiku (8d61ec)

  145. “But your painting of the general as some ancient lech taking advantage of a delicate young flower ain’t cuttin’ it with me.”

    That’s not the picture I painted at all.

    Like I said…she’s lower than a cockroach.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  146. I think going to what goes on between a man and a woman in noncupatory.

    The issue is a compromised CIA Director, the people who put him there when he was compromised, and the disgraceful manner his resignation was handled.

    nk (875f57)

  147. How should his resignation been handled, nk? And whose decision was it to handle it the way it was?

    Dana (292dcf)

  148. Yer right, Icy… what could he do?
    Well, son… he could’ve prayed…
    Comment by Colonel Haiku — 11/10/2012 @ 8:05 am

    — Only explaining the temptation, Colonel; not justifying his capitulation to it.

    Icy (99c961)

  149. 132.彼は決断を下した
    影響が大きかった
    彼は今、引き返すことができません

    Comment by Colonel Haiku — 11/10/2012 @ 7:52 am

    Nihongu ga umai.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  150. I know that, Icy, I was just funnin’ witcha…

    Colonel Haiku (8d61ec)

  151. Undeniably consider that that you stated. Your favorite justification appeared to be on the net the easiest thing to keep in mind of. I say to you, I certainly get irked at the same time as people consider issues that they just do not understand about. You managed to hit the nail upon the highest and also outlined out the whole thing without having side-effects , other folks can take a signal. Will likely be again to get more. Thanks

    fuar mankeni (7234d6)

  152. 彼らの鞘に刀を保つ…

    Colonel Haiku (8d61ec)

  153. hittin’ teh highest nail…yes!

    Colonel Haiku (8d61ec)

  154. The adultery thing should not have been in his resignation letter, Dana. That is the bizarre thing for me. And then, it should not have been published.

    It makes me go back to “a dirty truth hides a dirtier lie and an even dirtier truth”. (Speaking as an old cynical lawyer.)

    nk (875f57)

  155. It doesn’t help that Mrs. Petraeus looks like her husband in a wig. Just sayin’.

    [I denounce AND condemn meself.]

    Icy (99c961)

  156. ______________________________________________

    SEC bureaucrats spending all day watching porn on their computers. Secret Service agents whoring and debauching overseas. CIA director resigns over affair.

    But at least the current Secretary of the Treasury (who’s also head of the IRS) has a spotless record for not cheating on his tax returns. Uh, oops. Strike that.

    Actually, with crap like ObamaCare now looming over the horizon, and with the USA becoming more and more like Greece-Lite, dishonesty and dumbed-down ethics should become a national pastime.

    Incidentally, here’s the way that a liberal website views the whole matter about Petraeus. Their take: How horrible (ha ha, chuckle, chuckle) that a Republican no longer is a viable future candidate for his party. But at least he did a noble thing for a noble, wonderful president. And although Petraeus may be full of non-conservative biases, that still — yeech — doesn’t make him a lovely liberal.

    politicususa.com, November 9: Petraeus’s name has long been a favorite to toss around in Republican circles. Most recently, there was speculation surrounding whether or not Mitt Romney would select him as his running mate. Some Republicans viewed him as a future presidential candidate, despite the fact that the General has referred to himself as a moderate Rockefeller Republican.

    Instead of dragging the president into his personal mess, Gen. Petraeus did the honorable thing and resigned.

    A long career in public service has come to an abrupt end, and the Republican dreams of a political savior arriving from the military are dead and gone.

    Mark (8087c8)

  157. The adultery thing was in the letter to dispel the notion that he was only resigning to avoid testifying about Benghazi.

    Icy (99c961)

  158. Forgive me, Haiku, if I do not try to interpret your Kanji characters. I have enough trouble reading English at 150% magnification. Anyway, the damn things can have four or five different meanings and pronunciations depending on context. 😉

    nk (875f57)

  159. Instead of dragging the president into his personal mess, Gen. Petraeus did the honorable thing and resigned.

    I sure don’t remember the Democrats saying this when Clinton was the president dragging us into his personal mess…. would not the honorable thing to do have been to resign as well? Or does this little admonition only work one way?

    Dana (292dcf)

  160. The adultery thing was in the letter to dispel the notion that he was only resigning to avoid testifying about Benghazi.

    That doesn’t make sense, Icy, because he can still be subpoenaed to testify. And surely he and the President know that.

    Dana (292dcf)

  161. “Petraeus may be a man of historical impressiveness and power…”

    Yeah, and he may also be an irresponsible little prick, who does whatever he pleases, without the slightest regard for the effect his actions have on the people around him.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  162. nk… #132…

    he made decision
    ramifications were large
    he can’t turn back now

    Colonel Haiku (8d61ec)

  163. What was it about “embedded journalist” did teh General not understand?

    Colonel Haiku (8d61ec)

  164. and #153… “keep teh swords in their scabbards”…

    Colonel Haiku (8d61ec)

  165. ==That doesn’t make sense, Icy, because he can still be subpoenaed to testify. And surely he and the President know that==

    When it comes to the Benghazi testimony part there are people on other blogs who are deeply worried about the General’s immediate personal safety and even his life. Remember we have both the Clintons and the Obama White House involved in this one.

    elissa (c3c631)

  166. was it actually a threesome w/ Vernon Loeb thrown in? if it was, that WAS certainly “The Education of…”

    Colonel Haiku (8d61ec)

  167. not embedded IN teh journalist, General!… D’OH!

    Colonel Haiku (8d61ec)

  168. Intelligence community insiders say Petraeus was felled by an increasing sensitivity in the Obama administration to extramarital dalliances, stemming from recent cases in which officials at various levels have seen their careers scuttled for similar personal misconduct.

    I’m seeing this narrative being pushed this morning. Nothing to do with Benghazi, drones or the investigation into the email accounts and Broadwell’s attempts to access them.

    I would think they could be a little more creative than this. After all, the public still has to buy it.

    Dana (292dcf)

  169. _____________________________________________

    Nihongu ga umai.

    Speaking of which, I wonder if Japan is becoming one of the few slices of the industrialized world that is not quite as socially, culturally corrupted by the increasingly amoral trends of today. I’ve read that single motherhood in some northern European societies is reaching levels now common in urban America (while still not so ridiculous in Japan), and I know that crime in predominantly Euro-demographic Argentina is startlingly high.

    I was browsing a blog of a Canadian living in Japan a few weeks ago, and he mentioned about missing his native country. But he also said tongue-in-cheek that if he ever returned to Canada he’d no longer have to put up with the nuisance of accidentally leaving his wallet out in public and being irked to find it had been taken by a stranger and set aside for safekeeping in a lost-and-found location.

    Even more in this era of ObamaLand, we’re — as the saying goes — slouching towards Gomorrah.

    breitbart.com, November 9: The new 007 adventure “Skyfall” features a curious exchange between James Bond and the villain du jour. Javier Bardem is Silva, a former agent gone bad, and he’s trying to unnerve Bond (Daniel Craig) during an interrogation shortly after their initial meeting.

    Silva feels Bond’s leg in a seductive fashion, to which Craig’s Bond eventually replies, “‘What makes you think this is my first time?”

    Now, we’re seeing press accounts where Craig is asked if Bond is gay, could be gay, etc. Craig offers a flat “no,” but that won’t stop more media outlets from asking the question.

    ^ Sheesh. The public can’t even get the lexicon down correct. Not gay. Bisexual. The “B” in “GLBT.” As the current occupant of the White House reportedly is.

    Mark (8087c8)

  170. another journalist who’s a few fries short of teh Happy Meal, Narciso!

    Colonel Haiku (8d61ec)

  171. Well, Dana–
    I guess we won’t know what to believe or what to make of it until Susan Rice (or some other illogical and hapless person from the admin) appears on all the Sunday shows tomorrow morning armed with a script and immutable talking points!

    elissa (c3c631)

  172. 168. I would think they could be a little more creative than this. After all, the public still has to buy it.

    Comment by Dana — 11/10/2012 @ 8:48 am

    After the last election, Dana, I’d forgive the administration if they’re convinced the public will buy anything.

    I’ve been brought around to that position myself.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  173. _____________________________________________

    was it actually a threesome w/ Vernon Loeb thrown in?

    I’m always interested in human nature, that of others and my own. Ever since the Clinton/Monica mess of the 1990s, I find I’ve become increasingly jaded or more desensitized about scandal. And that’s in spite of my being of the right. IOW, if I’m becoming dumbed down, imagine what is happening to the populace in general. That’s why if news ever leaked out about, for example, Obama getting Monica-ized by a male White House intern, I’d be far less phased by that today than in the past. I can easily imagine a future where such a report would make me shrug and laugh.

    As each days goes by, I understand more and more the meaning behind the phrase “slouching towards Gomorrah.”

    Mark (8087c8)

  174. elissa, Steve57,

    There is now only one political question that needs be answered for any topic: what position will put the most money into the pockets of Democrats.

    The answer to that question will tell you the way things will go.

    Yes, I have lost faith in this nation.

    Pious Agnostic (2c3220)

  175. The adultery thing was in the letter to dispel the notion that he was only resigning to avoid testifying about Benghazi.

    That doesn’t make sense, Icy, because he can still be subpoenaed to testify. And surely he and the President know that.

    Comment by Dana — 11/10/2012 @ 8:36 am
    __________________________________________________

    It makes sense if after he testifies his integrity & honesty can be called into question because he carried on a sordid affair while in two top sensitive positions for a number of years.

    Make him look like a loose-cannon so to speak.

    John Difool (4251ee)

  176. On Twitter this morning, someone uncovered an astonishing letter written to the New York Times Magazine’s Ethicist column and published on July 13, 2012. Here’s the letter.

    My wife is having an affair with a government executive. His role is to manage a project whose progress is seen worldwide as a demonstration of American leadership. (This might seem hyperbolic, but it is not an exaggeration.) I have met with him on several occasions, and he has been gracious. (I doubt if he is aware of my knowledge.) I have watched the affair intensify over the last year, and I have also benefited from his generosity. He is engaged in work that I am passionate about and is absolutely the right person for the job. I strongly feel that exposing the affair will create a major distraction that would adversely impact the success of an important effort. My issue: Should I acknowledge this affair and finally force closure? Should I suffer in silence for the next year or two for a project I feel must succeed? Should I be “true to my heart” and walk away from the entire miserable situation and put the episode behind me? NAME WITHHELD

    http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/11/10/a-strange-twist-in-the-petraeus-story/

    Colonel Haiku (8d61ec)

  177. Just a reminder friends—Almost everyone who frequents this blog imherently and with good reason distrusts the national media to be honest brokers and to do their jobs as impartial and curious investigators. We know they push memes that they like and block memes that they don’t like and that they are googly-eyed and at the beck and call to report anything the WH tells them or leaks to them. We know that sex coupled with power is a shiny object that always “sells” and intrigues people who otherwise might be looking at policy or other failures, etc. So let’s not forget all that as the stories and “details” emerge over the next few days and weeks to take all eyes off Benghazi. K?

    elissa (c3c631)

  178. Right, elissa, the foregoing may serve as an explanation why certain ‘narratives’ were adopted, over the truth, the revised Timeline by the Pentagon, the sweeping up of further AAS officials, are more significant,

    narciso (ee31f1)

  179. “When it comes to the Benghazi testimony part there are people on other blogs who are deeply worried about the General’s immediate personal safety and even his life. Remember we have both the Clintons and the Obama White House involved in this one.”

    – elissa

    Hahahahaha…

    REMEMBER VINCENT FOSTER!!!??!??!?!?!?!

    Leviticus (1aca67)

  180. Why, Elissa! It’s as if you don’t trust the DNC-MSM Alliance. They know what is best, after all. !

    Simon Jester (39e340)

  181. Oh, wait. The MSM says it isn’t biased. Good enough for the country!

    Simon Jester (39e340)

  182. Do you think the good General’s life is in danger, Simon? I don’t.

    Leviticus (1aca67)

  183. Now, we’re seeing press accounts where Craig is asked if Bond is gay, could be gay, etc.

    What a ridiculous question. James Bond is British. Of course he’s gay.

    nk (875f57)

  184. Hahahahahaha… nk wins.

    Leviticus (1aca67)

  185. Subpoena Petraeus, definitely, but don’t count on any voluntary heroics from him, Petraeus’ wife works in the Obama administration. You have to essentially get him over the barrel, make him realize you’re not going to let up and force him to tell the truth. Petraeus is not a patriot, never has been, never will.

    Mary (63bd86)

  186. Good to see you in a good humor, Leviticus.

    nk (875f57)

  187. It’s a beautiful day here, nk – cloudy, stormy, and cold. It’s been like 75 degrees for the past 3 months – the beauty’s in the contrast.

    Leviticus (1aca67)

  188. Where you at now? In school I mean. Going for trial practice at all?

    nk (875f57)

  189. I don’t believe that a subpoena will be necessary for Petraeus. There are special rules for the CIA in Congress. Please correct me in any respect. I do know that the CIA’s budget is passed is strict secrecy, for one fact.

    nk (875f57)

  190. Some wag observed about Charlotte, N.C. that its name should be changed from Queen City to Ho City, what with Reille Hunter, the Maynard lady and now dear Paula.

    calypso louis farrakhan (8d16be)

  191. The adultery thing was in the letter to dispel the notion that he was only resigning to avoid testifying about Benghazi.
    That doesn’t make sense, Icy, because he can still be subpoenaed to testify. And surely he and the President know that.
    Comment by Dana — 11/10/2012 @ 8:36 am

    — I’m not saying that he is resigning in order to avoid testifying. What I am saying is that he stated the reason for his resignation, at least in part, as a means of dispelling the notion that he was only resigning to avoid answering questions about Benghazi.

    Icy (99c961)

  192. Neither Sandy nor Obama’s reelection were enough to take the public’s eye off Benghazi so the administration just threw out another SQUIRREL! They also allowed the Senate two days to view relevant Benghazi documents while they KNEW the Senate was not in town. Things that make you go HUMMMMM.

    TexasMom2012 (cee89f)

  193. Wow, Col Haiku.

    What was the advice proffered?

    SarahW (b0e533)

  194. “Where you at now? In school I mean. Going for trial practice at all?”

    – nk

    Halfway through my second year. UNM has a really good combined Evidence/Trial Practice course that I’m going to take next year (coupled with mandatory clinic work). I’ll take the NPRE in the spring. This semester has been dominated by a mandatory case note for the law review (re: partisan gerrymandering in state legislative redistricting) – much more academic than 1L year. I’m also tutoring Crim Law, which has been alternatively fun/frustrating.

    Leviticus (1aca67)

  195. Don’t expose the affair in any high-profile way. It would be different if this man’s project was promoting some (contextually hypocritical) family-values platform, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. The only motive for exposing the relationship would be to humiliate him and your wife, and that’s never a good reason for doing anything. This is between you and your spouse. You should tell her you want to separate, just as you would if she were sleeping with the mailman. The idea of “suffering in silence” for the good of the project is illogical. How would the quiet divorce of this man’s mistress hurt an international leadership initiative? He’d probably be relieved.

    The fact that you’re willing to accept your wife’s infidelity for some greater political good is beyond honorable. In fact, it’s so over-the-top honorable that I’m not sure I believe your motives are real. Part of me wonders why you’re even posing this question, particularly in a column that is printed in The New York Times.

    Your dilemma is intriguing, but I don’t see how it’s ambiguous. Your wife is having an affair with a person you happen to respect. Why would that last detail change the way you respond to her cheating? Do you admire this man so much that you haven’t asked your wife why she keeps having sex with him? I halfway suspect you’re writing this letter because you want specific people to read this column and deduce who is involved and what’s really going on behind closed doors (without actually addressing the conflict in person). That’s not ethical, either.

    Dana (292dcf)

  196. *MPRE

    Leviticus (1aca67)

  197. SarahW,

    I’m using an ipad and don’t know how to link yet, but that is the ethicist’s response.

    Dana (292dcf)

  198. I thought the affair was mentioned explicitly for deliberate distraction.

    Usually “personal reasons” will suffice to spare innocent parties humiliation, and in this instance the humiliation of his wife of nearly 40 years.

    It’s like a little clue; I explain it as either his own minimizing of the real issue; which is a successful security breach branding him as not just inviting blackmail or compromised information, but some actual security breach; or as a demand placed upon him, your basic “Hey, Squirrel!!!”technique, to draw attention away from a security breach that might sully the King and his administration. I read yesterday that Obamas people were saying that Obama only just learned of the security breach (cough:: affair) and plan for P.’s resignation the Wednesday following the election.

    I can’t decide which is worse – Obama as last-to-know being shielded from this information for weeks or them lying about what Obama knew and when.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  199. KT McFarland, FOX NEWS contributor and former Dep. Asst. SecDef, Public Affairs said the vetting of Gen. Petraeus for Director CIA would have turned up an overdue library book. She said there’s no way Obama and his WH Administration didn’t know about the affair prior to the appointment.

    Certainly Obama knew about the affair and appointed Petraeus DCIA anyway, then used the threat of exposure to blackmail Petrraeus into going along with the Benghazi cover-up. At first Petraeus went along with the Administration’s fairy tale, but as the story fell apart and subsequent events revealed to Petraeus that he and the CIA were being set-up for the role of designated patsies, he had not honorable choice but to resign rather than lie to Congress under oath.

    So, Petraeus first protected his Agency. He made the strong public statement that it wasn’t anyone in CIA that prevented military help from coming to the aid of the Benghazi victims. Which of course pointed the finger straight at the White House.

    Petraeus then resigned and allowed news of the affair to go public. Now the Administration is attempting to pretend nothing was previously known about the affair (when a great many people knew), and moreover that the resignation on the eve of Petraeus’ Congressional testimony is just an untimely coincidence.

    McFarland says that doesn’t pass the smell test. It isn’t possible to conceal an affair given the thorough vetting a Director of CIA gets, and she’s been in enough National Security positions to know what she’s talking about.

    ropelight (8f0c1d)

  200. _____________________________________________

    James Bond is British. Of course he’s gay.

    Or in the infamous words of a famous TV character from the 1970s: “England is a fag country.”

    BTW, the actor who plays James Bond is reportedly bisexual, so it’s sort of a case of art imitating life. And why people in our increasingly liberal culture (such as throughout the media) avoid using the word “bisexual” is puzzling to me. Daniel Craig should have been asked about whether the Bond character was bi, not gay. But that would go against the liberal meme of “sexuality is analogous to race or ethnicity, and it’s not a matter of free will!”

    The specter of a goofball movie may seem off-topic, but it all goes hand-in-hand with the world of Obama, Benghazi, Petraeus, marital affairs, murdered ambassadors, Greece-like economics, and an I’m-okay-you’re-okay culture.

    Mark (8087c8)

  201. This was the “ethicist’s” reply SarahW-

    Don’t expose the affair in any high-profile way. It would be different if this man’s project was promoting some (contextually hypocritical) family-values platform, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. The only motive for exposing the relationship would be to humiliate him and your wife, and that’s never a good reason for doing anything. This is between you and your spouse. You should tell her you want to separate, just as you would if she were sleeping with the mailman. The idea of “suffering in silence” for the good of the project is illogical. How would the quiet divorce of this man’s mistress hurt an international leadership initiative? He’d probably be relieved.

    The fact that you’re willing to accept your wife’s infidelity for some greater political good is beyond honorable. In fact, it’s so over-the-top honorable that I’m not sure I believe your motives are real. Part of me wonders why you’re even posing this question, particularly in a column that is printed in The New York Times.

    Your dilemma is intriguing, but I don’t see how it’s ambiguous. Your wife is having an affair with a person you happen to respect. Why would that last detail change the way you respond to her cheating? Do you admire this man so much that you haven’t asked your wife why she keeps having sex with him? I halfway suspect you’re writing this letter because you want specific people to read this column and deduce who is involved and what’s really going on behind closed doors (without actually addressing the conflict in person). That’s not ethical, either.

    NYT? You tell me this was not a “plant” letter and a shot across the bow to someone from someone. And not necessarily whom you might guess.

    elissa (c3c631)

  202. 181.“When it comes to the Benghazi testimony part there are people on other blogs who are deeply worried about the General’s immediate personal safety and even his life. Remember we have both the Clintons and the Obama White House involved in this one.”

    – elissa

    Hahahahaha…

    REMEMBER VINCENT FOSTER!!!??!??!?!?!?!

    Comment by Leviticus — 11/10/2012 @ 9:36 am

    Leviticus, I’m trying to cut you some slack. But I don’t see what you’re finding so amusing.

    The deal is when someone on the tippy point of the spear needs an assist, Big Navy comes running. That’s always been the deal. It’s how we get people to crawl out to the end of the spear. You may not notice, but SEALs go out on missions with essentially nothing more than swim trunks and a knife. We noticed; we couldn’t land Marines if nobody was willing to do a hydrographic survey. Potentially under fire, if they’re not sneaky enough

    Let’s cut to the chase. Panetta comes out with thye “Panetta rule.” He says you don’t put people in harm’s way unless you know what’s going on.

    That’s not how we roll. We’ve been putting people in harm’s way without knowing what’s going on since we evictedt King George.

    About the only advice we give people when we land them in some godroresaken hell hole we know nothing about is “try not to laugh.”

    It’s gonna suck. That’s the one thing you can be sure of. I realize it’s November, but an anniversary just past. October 1944. Leyte Gulf.

    That had to suck. Pilots making bombing runs while unarmed, just so they could draw fire away the attackers who had weapons. Bouncing off sharks for a couple of days after you get sunk.

    Aluminum if it does nothing else well at least burns hot. You, Leviticus, and the rest of the taxpayers gave me aluminum ships. Still I said ok.

    I think I’m not out of line to suggest I deserve answers.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  203. SarahW–sorry for the dup. I didn’t see Dana’s comment.

    elissa (c3c631)

  204. Good answer by the ethicist. Very good, actually.

    I tend to be laconic so I would have just said, “Kick the ibtch out the door and then go and cry that you were not man enough to keep her”.

    nk (875f57)

  205. Dana – You have my ipad sympathies. I love the thing but there is a learning curve to thumb typing. I usually just copy paste links.

    The “ethicist” is wrong. The ethical action is a public divorce, and a named correspondent, let the chips fall.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  206. Either that or end of the affair and complete reconciliation.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  207. Steve57,

    I don’t know what you’re getting at with that comment. I’m laughing at the idea that Petraeus is in danger of being killed “because the Clintons and the Obamas are involved.”

    Leviticus (1aca67)

  208. ___________________________________________

    Obama as last-to-know being shielded from this information for weeks or them lying about what Obama knew and when.

    Given that Obama comes from the school of Chicago politics, it’s naive to assume he doesn’t know exactly where all the bodies are buried. However, since he does have squalid aspects of his own past (ie, fairly believable accounts of his being a member of a Chicago bath house), he may wince a bit more when dishing the dirt on others, or using that as a strategy.

    Mark (8087c8)

  209. Sarah and Dana–So do you believe the cuckholded “hubby” actually wrote the letter to the NYT ethicist? I don’t.

    elissa (c3c631)

  210. I agree with elissa. And with the ethicist’s suspicions.

    nk (875f57)

  211. Because of the timing, “personal reasons” will not suffice in this case.

    Icy (99c961)

  212. Mark, everyone in Britain is bisexual. Its a fad.

    SPQR (768505)

  213. I think the “letter” to the NYT in July was absolutely about the General and Paula situation, though. Don’t you nk?

    elissa (c3c631)

  214. Comment by elissa — 11/10/2012 @ 9:20 am
    A very good reminder (Michael Crichton would be proud of you).
    Even if some/much is true, maybe not all of it. For example, in my mind an affair in the past is very different than an ongoing situation where Petraeus is alleged to be sending many emails daily trying to “win her back”, or whatever. In the first case a very regrettable mistake with major consequences, in the second case we’re talking Captain Queeg-like messed up.

    Comment by Dana — 11/10/2012 @ 8:00 am
    One reading of the story of Samson and Delilah and you wonder just how stupid a man can be. In fact, I think the most advertised “gentleman’s club” in Philly is called “Delilah’s Den” or some such.
    OTOH, it does also reveal the powerful desire of a man for female affirmation, and how powerful that affirmation is, very much to be preferred in the person of a spouse.

    At this point we don’t know if Petraeus was so distracted by this that he flubbed Benghazi, or if Petraeus knows too much and doesn’t want to go along and is being discredited…or somewhere in between.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  215. elissa, who knows. I don’t know if she’s the bunny boiler type and would do it herself, or if some third party in the know, from colleague, underling, or spy might have ulterior motives and try to put out some clues via the Times. But he might have.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  216. Sarah and Dana–So do you believe the cuckholded “hubby” actually wrote the letter to the NYT ethicist? I don’t.

    No, I don’t either. Cuckholded hubs tend to want to beat the crap out of the other man and then be torn in anguish by the wife they loved and yet betrayed them. I doubt that a betrayed husband’s reaction is to sit down and thoughtfully wonder what the NYT thinks he should do and then compose such an inquiry.

    Dana (292dcf)

  217. would have turned up an overdue library book.
    Comment by ropelight — 11/10/2012 @ 10:33 am

    Who knew that a mistake in 5th grade would have been the downfall of my career…

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  218. I have watched the affair intensify over the last year, and I have also benefited from his generosity. He is engaged in work that I am passionate about and is absolutely the right person for the job. I strongly feel that exposing the affair will create a major distraction that would adversely impact the success of an important effort. My issue: Should I acknowledge this affair and finally force closure? Should I suffer in silence for the next year or two for a project I feel must succeed? Should I be “true to my heart” and walk away from the entire miserable situation and put the episode behind me?

    From the “letter”… it appears to me the “husband” does not believe his wounded marriage to be of the utmost importance – that is a serious problem from the get-go. The interloper into his marriage is “passionate about his work” and he (hub) is concerned that exposing it might adversely impact the success of an important effort. I call bullshit.

    1) He confronts his wife in private
    2) Then, based on her response, they decide to either call it quits or start pushing the ginormous big rock of forgiveness and restoration uphill. Together.
    3) If the marriage and its restoration is the main focus of both, there is no need nor room to expend the emotional reserves toward publicly naming the other man. (Of course, life being what it is, it will naturally come out any way).

    Dana (292dcf)

  219. _____________________________________________

    The fact that you’re willing to accept your wife’s infidelity for some greater political good is beyond honorable

    Yea, right. Oh, sure. But the “political good” had better be a liberal one. A male version of a Hillary Clinton is spectacular, but a male version of the jilted spouse of, say, a Newt Gingrich? Horrible! Spill the beans on your trampy wife!

    That letter to the New York Times, the reply they gave to it, and now Petraeus and the controversy swirling around him, combined with the stereotypically cruddy-leftwing nature of the current White House read like a bad plot out of Hollywood.

    Mark (8087c8)

  220. One reading of the story of Samson and Delilah and you wonder just how stupid a man can be.

    MD, see David and Bathsheba. If it’s not the man’s vanity and ego driving the bus, it’s sheer lust. Reining in those passions is really a man’s full time job, it would seem. 🙂

    Dana (292dcf)

  221. 205. “cut you some slack”

    As are we all.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  222. I can see hubs being conflicted and rather spineless and passive aggressive. It happens. But other actors or motives are possible. don’t know much about the man beyond his name, so its hard for me to judge.

    The ethicist rather fell down on the job, though.If the immoral adulterous conduct makes the leader subject to harsher consequences, that’s because that conduct interferes with the national good. Good (in the case of Petraeus, the national security. He shouldn’t be in his job.

    What is, is. To hide it because you don’t want to harm his image, standing, or the standing of the program he is associated with, or in the second instance have gratitude for his favors or indirect benefits flowing from the affair, in the first place means hiding information that others should have, and have RIGHT NOW, and in the second instance makes you the lowest kind of weasel pimp of a husband imaginable.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  223. Cuckholded hubs tend to want to beat the crap out of the other man
    Comment by Dana — 11/10/2012 @ 10:50 am

    True, but not every hubby has a wife who went to West Point and succumbed to an affair overseas with a legendary 4 star general. Still, it would be strange for the hubby to do such a thing, unless for whatever reasons he really couldn’t confront.

    Some underling trying to “out” the situation sounds possible.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  224. 222. Must be doubling up on DHEA supplements.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  225. ==I doubt that a betrayed husband’s reaction is to sit down and thoughtfully wonder what the NYT thinks he should do and then compose such an inquiry==

    Heh, Dana. In fact, to carry it a step further I don’t believe any honest “ethicist” would have even printed that letter with the suspicions he indicated he had about the writer’s intent– and without changing significant identifying details. Those rather specific details of the man’s “importance” seemed really critical for someone to get out there. But—I suppose if the publisher or managing editor or someone big at the NYT handed the “ethicist” this letter and said, “here, I want you to publish this”, that’s another matter.

    elissa (c3c631)

  226. I keep thinking of Wallis Simpson’s husband essentially pimping her out to dear Edward.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  227. To hide it because you don’t want to harm his image, standing, or the standing of the program he is associated with, or in the second instance have gratitude for his favors or indirect benefits flowing from the affair, in the first place means hiding information that others should have, and have RIGHT NOW, and in the second instance makes you the lowest kind of weasel pimp of a husband imaginable.

    And if he were this kind of man weenie, a strong, ambitious and attractive woman would most certainly be attracted to an equally powerful man. Except that what appeared as powerful and strong man was exposed as simply a man struggling to curtail his passions. And unable to do so.

    Dana (292dcf)

  228. Who knew that a mistake in 5th grade would have been the downfall of my career…

    Comment by MD in Philly

    li’l Suzy Wilson… I’m so sorry for those cooties I shamelessly gave you a dose of in Miss Crabtree’s class!

    Colonel Haiku (1535bc)

  229. Obama knew for many months about this issue and waited until after the election to ask for Petraeus to resign.

    A lot of conspiracy theories can be spun from that but at a minimum once again Obama put his reelection prospects over the welfare of the nation’s most important institutions.

    SPQR (768505)

  230. Comment by Dana — 11/10/2012 @ 10:58 am

    Your point is correct, but for David it was a “one time” gross failure (at least until the pregnancy came along and the cover-up ensued).. Samson repeatedly ignored evidence that should have told him not to trust his lover.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  231. But—I suppose if the publisher or managing editor or someone big at the NYT handed the “ethicist” this letter and said, “here, I want you to publish this”, that’s another matter.

    Yes. And that may well be what occurred.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  232. Um, the NYT has an ethics column?

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  233. Every person who serves this president ends up with a scarlet letter and a ruined reputation. The Lucky “0” Guy brings bad luck and ruinous karma to all around him.

    Colonel Haiku (1535bc)

  234. MD in Philly — 11/10/2012 @ 11:06 am

    And of the quality one would expect.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  235. “Obama knew for many months about this issue and waited until after the election to ask for Petraeus to resign.

    A lot of conspiracy theories can be spun from that but at a minimum once again Obama put his reelection prospects over the welfare of the nation’s most important institutions.”

    – SPQR

    I think that is actually a very good point and a very important takeaway.

    Leviticus (1aca67)

  236. One perspective is that Obama thinks his being the president is the best thing that can happen to the US, so what does it matter what it takes to keep him there.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  237. Obama thinks his being president is the most important thing for the welfare of the country.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  238. “Obama knew for many months about this issue and waited until after the election to ask for Petraeus to resign.

    A lot of conspiracy theories can be spun from that but at a minimum once again Obama put his reelection prospects over the welfare of the nation’s most important institutions.”

    Of this there is no doubt.

    JD (ac62a1)

  239. “Samson repeatedly ignored evidence that should have told him not to trust his lover.”

    – MD in Philly

    She spoke so fine/God know she spoke so fair/that Samson said Delilah youkincutoff my hair

    You can shave my head/Clean as my hand/then my strength come natural as any otha man

    Oh if I had my way
    Oh if I had my way
    Oh if I had my way
    Lord, I would tear this ole buildin down

    Leviticus (1aca67)

  240. I don’t think that it was the cutting off of Samson’s hair that made him too weak to fight off the Philistine soldiers — it was some thing(s) he and Delilah did during the night.

    nk (875f57)

  241. Who says Obama asked Petraeus to resign?

    ropelight (8f0c1d)

  242. Leviticus, you have undiscovered depths. Here’s a decent performance of the song, everybody. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhRJK6W7Oic

    nk (875f57)

  243. She’s one step below a cockroach, if you ask me.

    Comment by Dave Surls — 11/10/2012

    Let he who has no sin cast the first stone, sir.

    These people made a terrible error in judgment and lapse of morality, and should be ashamed. They are also impressive defenders of America’s freedom.

    Audie Murphy”s life story is not one of perfect private life decisions. But he is a venerated soldier. We need passionate, and strong defenders of this country. Some of them screw up in their private lives, and I still really respect them anyway.

    The very best NCO I ever served under way back when was a complete jerk. Yet when my unit lost its platoon sergeant and platoon leader, he was the one who stood up to the plate and led. Do I care that he’s a jerk? I almost appreciate that he’s a jerk, in a strange way.

    Dustin (73fead)

  244. “The collapse of the dazzling career of CIA Director David H. Petraeus was triggered when a woman with whom he was having an affair sent threatening e-mails to another woman close to him, according to three senior law enforcement officials with knowledge of the episode.

    The recipient of the e-mails was so frightened that she went to the FBI for protection and help tracking down the sender, according to the officials. The FBI investigation traced the threats to Paula Broadwell, a former military officer and Petraeus biographer, and uncovered explicit e-mails between Broadwell and Petraeus, the officials said.

    When Petraeus’s name first surfaced, FBI investigators were concerned that the CIA director’s personal e-mail account had been hacked and security had been breached. But the sexual nature of the e-mails led them to conclude that Petraeus and Broadwell were engaged in an affair, the officials said.

    GALLERY
    Gen. David Petraeus: The retired four-star Army general who commanded forces in Iraq and Afghanistan has resigned from the head of the CIA, citing an extramarital affair.
    The identity of the woman who received the e-mails was not disclosed and the nature of her relationship with Petraeus is unknown. The law enforcement officials said the e-mails indicated that Broadwell perceived the other woman as a threat to her relationship with Petraeus.

    Attempts to reach Broadwell and her relatives have been unsuccessful and she has not made a public statement since she was linked with Petraeus on Friday.

    All three senior officials who described the impetus for the investigation spoke on condition their names be withheld because aspects of the inquiry are ongoing.

    Petraeus, a retired four-star Army general who was once seen as a potential presidential candidate, said on Friday that he was resigning as CIA chief because he had been involved in an extramarital affair. He has been married for 37 years and has two children. Broadwell is married and has two children.

    In an e-mail message sent to a longtime friend on Friday night, Petraeus expressed regret for letting down his family — and the nation. The friend, who described the contents of the message on the condition of anonymity, said Petraeus conveyed profound remorse in the message.

    “He was deeply sorry for the pain he has caused his family,” the friend said. “He also noted how much he loved his job at the agency. He said he really relished the intellectual challenge there.”

    The timing of the resignation has caused a controversy, with members of Congress and others questioning why the disclosure was not made until after Tuesday’s election. Some have also complained that the FBI did not notify the White House and senior members of Congress earlier that the CIA director was under investigation.

    The law enforcement officials did not provide an exact time line for the investigation, but they said that the inquiry started at least several weeks ago. They said investigators thought they were dealing with a routine harassment case until they discovered the e-mails were traced to a private e-mail account belonging to Petraeus.

    The initial concern was that someone had broken into the CIA director’s e-mail account, leading to concerns about potential security breaches, according to the officials. As the investigation proceeded and more e-mails emerged, along with Broadwell’s role, FBI investigators realized they had uncovered an affair between Petraeus and Broadwell, the officials said.

    The investigators first interviewed Petraeus about two weeks ago, the officials said. Petraeus was told at the time that no criminal charges would be forthcoming and the idea of him resigning was not raised, the officials said.

    One of the law enforcement officials said Justice Department officials were unclear on what steps to take next because they had determined that there had been no crime and no breach of security.

    It was not until Tuesday that the Justice Department notified James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, that compromising material about Petraeus had been uncovered as part of an investigation, according to a senior intelligence official. Clapper then spoke with Petraeus and told him to resign.

    “Director Clapper learned of the situation from the FBI on Tuesday evening around 5 p.m.,” the intelligence official said. “In subsequent conversations with Director Petraeus, Director Clapper advised Director Petraeus to resign.”

    The official declined to say whether Petraeus had considered resigning at that point, but he said it was quickly clear to Clapper that stepping down was “the right thing to do” for Petraeus.

    The official said that Clapper has been fully briefed on all aspects of the FBI investigation and has not called for the DNI or CIA to conduct a follow-on probe or damage assessment — indicating that Clapper does not see the case as a security threat.

    “There are no investigations beyond” that initiated by the FBI, the intelligence official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

    The official also would not address why the DNI and others weren’t notified of the FBI investigation — and its link to Petraeus — earlier.

    “This is a very personal matter, not a matter of intelligence,” the official said. “There are protocols for this. I would imagine things have to cross a certain threshold before they are reportable.”

    Clapper told the White House late on Wednesday and no action was taken until Thursday morning, when Obama was informed. Petraeus came to the White House later on Thursday and offered his resignation. The president accepted it on Friday.”

    Rajiv Chandrasekaran contributed to this report.

    The Emperor (64f3a1)

  245. Definitely consider that which you stated. Your favorite justification appeared to be on the internet the simplest factor to bear in mind of. I say to you, I definitely get irked at the same time as people consider concerns that they plainly don’t recognize about. You managed to hit the nail upon the highest and outlined out the entire thing without having side-effects , folks can take a signal. Will likely be again to get more. Thanks

    mejores vinos ribera del duero (be7c2c)

  246. Let he who has no sin cast the first stone, sir.

    I agree, Dustin. There is nothing more frail than human nature, and where passions of the heart are concerned, we all must be on guard – no matter how honorable and steadfast of character one might be.

    With that, I am so saddened by the wreckage of this that two families must deal with

    Dana (292dcf)

  247. One perspective is that Obama thinks his being the president is the best thing that can happen to the US, so what does it matter what it takes to keep him there.

    MD, I suspect this is the opinion of much of the country, and its institutions.

    I went to a memorial service for a friend today, and among those gathered was a woman who wore a large, gaudy piece of jewelry, “OBAMA” picked out in diamonds (or a reasonable facsimile thereof).

    Nothing is sacred to these people, except Obama.

    Pious Agnostic (2c3220)

  248. Another spammer who makes more sense than the trolls.

    SPQR (768505)

  249. A security breach is a security breach, though.

    It’s really not the affair. There have been affairs of CIA directors that didn’t trigger any investigation (though they weren’t secret from the CIA).

    I’ve read differing characterizations who was emailing whom, and even what triggered the investigation, but it was the FBI that triggered monitoring of the email account, and the FBI first began by attempting to deal with this:

    [it] was triggered when a woman whom he was having an affair with sent threatening e-mails to another woman close to him, according to three senior law enforcement officials with knowledge of the episode.

    I have read elsewhere that Pet. sent scores of emails in pursuit of Broadmoor after she ended the affair, and also that a specific email in Ps gmail seemed to trigger monitoring of P’s gmail account activity, because they thought P was alluding to some sort of internal govt. corruption.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  250. So who is that woman, anyway? His wife? Another rival?

    SarahW (b0e533)

  251. nk,

    The only version I had heard was the Reverend Gary Davis version, but I really like that Grateful Dead version. They look like they’re having a blast.

    Leviticus (1aca67)

  252. I am so saddened by the wreckage of this that two families must deal with

    Comment by Dana — 11/10/2012

    Me too.

    A security breach is a security breach, though.

    I’m a sap, so I didn’t focus on that, but Sarah is right, of course. These people have access to secrets that must remain secret, else Americans will die. It’s as simple as that, and they did fail to live their lives according to that fact. We expect more of our best officers.

    Dustin (73fead)

  253. Dana, I see you just quoted from the same WaPo article.

    Broadmoor sent scarey emails to another chick close to Petraeus. She got in touch with the FBI. If it were his wife, I think we would know that already, but an alicia-Pain-style email might have resulted in her calling in the FBI instead of confronting her husband, I suppose. Or perhaps he denied all and the email thus became scarier.

    But I am wondering if there isn’t another woman close to P. that got the emails.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  254. With that, I am so saddened by the wreckage of this that two families must deal withi

    Eh… Apparently my ipad learning curve includes sentence construction.

    Dana (292dcf)

  255. Thanks for the additional info. More to come before all is said and done.

    Never heard that song before nk, Leviticus. I wonder why we never sang it in church.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  256. Leviticus, I thought I was pretty clear about what it was I was about.

    There are certain things I don’t joke about. Benghazhi now ranks with Mogadishu amongst themto pick a couple of examples you may have heard of.

    The election’s over. Hopefully Stepnanie Cutter has been put away, Fine. I still want answers.

    Pick any aircaft carrier you want. I could have walked down to the mess deck and have gotten the volunteers Panetta claims just aren’t there.

    The Panetta “rule:”

    “But — but the basic principle here — basic principle is that you don’t deploy forces into harm’s way without knowing what’s going on

    I seriously doubt, Leviticus, you grasp just how much harm has been done.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  257. It appears the General was involved with more than one woman in this affair. Though this is based on speculations.

    The Emperor (453a1d)

  258. The Grateful Dead were always better live. 😉 Sigh. Jimmy Hendrix is dead, Stevie Ray Vaughn is dead, Jerry Garcia is dead, and I don’t feel all that good either.

    nk (875f57)

  259. Petraeus does have a daughter, one possible recipient of icky mail.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  260. So, one story has P. sending emails trying to get Broadmoor back, and another says Broadmoor was sending emails to someone else to scare her away from P (to keep him to herself)? That doesn’t make sense and I say we didn’t need to know this other stuff. B’s kids didn’t need to hear about this at school Monday.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  261. Pillow talk can be deadly.

    And, it wouldn’t be unusual for a lover to be jealous of someone else moving in on their turf – even if they had been the one to let their paramour go.

    Dana (292dcf)

  262. “I seriously doubt, Leviticus, you grasp just how much harm has been done.”

    – Steve57

    I share your doubt. I don’t think Petraeus’ affair has anything to do with whatever harm I fail to grasp, though.

    Leviticus (1aca67)

  263. SarahW,

    The NYT says the other person receiving the emails from Broadmor was not a relative of Ptraeus.

    Dana (292dcf)

  264. Comment by nk — 11/10/2012 @ 12:04 pm
    Wasn’t there a song about that by Joe Cocker?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSpP_2-m8EA

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  265. 263.Pillow talk can be deadly.

    Comment by Dana — 11/10/2012 @ 12:05 pm

    Especially when it’s a honey trap. And given the fieldcraft exemplified by our intelligence services of late I wouldn’t put it past our now former director of the CIA to have **** the bed in that regard.

    Who’s up for Columbian hookers all around? The 5 year old down the street will be buying just as soon as he turns 18.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  266. Thanks, MD. Since you like music, and church music, here are the two troparia from the Orthodox Easter mass with translations. The first embed is poor church village, the second is Irene Pappas and Vangelis. http://krites.blogspot.com/2008/04/blog-post_26.html

    nk (875f57)

  267. Would that the NYT have been more interested in stories about people getting killed by Ben Ghazi.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  268. But this sticks out like a sore thumb. “It was not until Tuesday that the Justice Department notified James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, that compromising material about Petraeus had been uncovered as part of an investigation, according to a senior intelligence official. Clapper then spoke with Petraeus and told him to resign.” What was this “compromising material” about? Why was it so bad they thought it necessary for him to resign?

    The Emperor (64f3a1)

  269. *Colombian*

    You’d think after all the years I spent in the Nav I could at least get the classification of hookers right.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  270. Again–everybody please be both consciously picky and circumspect about what you read and accept at face value with respect to the timeline and the investigation. The twists and turns of this story –much of which already feels contradictory and “off”–follow a well known pattern of disinformation which also often seems “off” for good reason.

    elissa (c3c631)

  271. Vangelis. ohh, Chariots of Fire,got to go, watch later, Blk Copters

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  272. The fact that he probably violated the law with regard to allowing a non-CIA whore access to the CIA email, means that Petraeus will be able to take the Fifth Amendment before any House hearing into Benghazi.

    The White House and FBI knew about this affair as early as Sept., 2011. Why didn’t they force him out then?

    Because this is the blackmail they need to keep him quiet on Benghazi.

    The Dems know how to play hardball.

    AZ Bob (1c9631)

  273. The reason he can take the Fifth is that any inquiry into Benghazi could lead to his policy regarding communications, i.e. opening the door to question him about letting the woman into the email system.

    Brilliant!

    AZ Bob (1c9631)

  274. On advice of my counsel, I invoke the Fifth Amendment.

    AZ Bob (1c9631)

  275. elissa @273, I’m not taking anything at face value.

    I’ve got a finely tuned sense of, “They’re lying their ass off.”

    Did I mention I used to work for the gub’mint?

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  276. The Dems know how to play hardball.

    Comment by AZ Bob — 11/10/2012 @ 12:22 pm

    Just ask a Thai pross.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  277. That was just a general caution flag public service announcement Steve. It was certainly not directed at you!

    elissa (c3c631)

  278. Dana, thanks. (re:NYT “not a relative info). I suppose it might not have been necessarily a romantic rival, (perceived or real.)

    The timeline could matter. If Petraeus was double-dealing the double-dealer Broadmoor, maybe that’s when she sent scary mail and cut off P, and he began pursuit. I think I read somewhere that the inquiry was triggered in the spring but I have also read no one will say exactly when this investigation began.

    The NYT letter from Mid July this year emphasized the ongoing and intensifying nature of the affair, not its end.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  279. “They’re lying their ass off.”

    Well, yes. WTF was going on? I want to know.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  280. _____________________________________________

    The folks responsible for the raid on the American consulate and the killing of Ambassador Stevens in Benghazi — and who are presumably still at large — must be laughing their heads off at matters like this. They must be getting their cheap jollies at the way this society has allowed itself to become so Banana Republic-ish.

    They have to be perceptive enough to sense that leftists like Obama and Company — drone strikes and Navy seals knocking off bin Laden in Pakistan barely withstanding — create an opening that is ripe for tricky, lousy, dishonest opportunists.

    Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela (of 60% Euro ancestry, 40% indigenous) is rife with crime, and so is Cristina Kirchner’s Argentina (of 98% Euro ancestry). The UK, which is less demographically diverse than the USA, has its own “d’oh” type statistics. And, of course, Mexico is Mexico. Different in each way but also similar in another: There’s no shortage of I’m-okay-you’re-okay politics and ethos in all of them.

    Beyond common street criminals, I’d imagine that terrorists behave in a like-minded manner towards perceived weaknesses in a society. Even more so when — gosh, darn — videos posted to Youtube are so insulting and rude to certain religions.

    telegraph.co.uk, July 2009: Analysis of figures from the European Commission showed a 77 per cent increase in murders, robberies, assaults and sexual offences in the UK since Labour came to power.

    The total number of violent offences recorded compared to population is higher than any other country in Europe, as well as America, Canada, Australia and South Africa.

    Opposition leaders said the disclosures were a “damning indictment” of the Government’s failure to tackle deep-rooted social problems.

    The figures combined crime statistics for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

    The UK had a greater number of murders in 2007 than any other EU country – 927 – and at a relative rate higher than most western European neighbours, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain. It also recorded the fifth highest robbery rate in the EU, and the highest absolute number of burglaries, with double the number of offences recorded in Germany and France. Overall, 5.4 million crimes were recorded in the UK in 2007 – more than 10 a minute – second only to Sweden.

    Liberalism means never having to say you’re sorry.

    Mark (8087c8)

  281. 275. Because this is the blackmail they need to keep him quiet on Benghazi.

    The Dems know how to play hardball.

    Comment by AZ Bob — 11/10/2012 @ 12:22 pm

    I’ve analyzed the Secret Service’s diffuculty and arrived at a solution.

    Here it is.

    They’ve hung out with politicians so long they think they’re one of them.

    Boys and girls. Pay. Your. Hookers.

    It’ll bite you in the azzzz if you don’t.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  282. 280.That was just a general caution flag public service announcement Steve. It was certainly not directed at you!

    Comment by elissa — 11/10/2012 @ 12:29 pm

    Perhaps not. I was just taking the weekend to go a bit crazy.

    Then get back to work. But not so hard I’d exceed the “salary limit” and subject myself to “econimic patriotism” for exceeding the the salary limit per the Obamabots.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  283. Go figure.

    But there are still several unanswered questions surrounding the circumstances of the F.B.I. investigation and about the affair between Mr. Petraeus and Ms. Broadwell, officials said Saturday.

    It is not clear yet, for instance, when Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. or Robert S. Mueller III, the director of the F.B.I., became aware that the F.B.I.’s investigation into Ms. Broadwell’s e-mails had run across Mr. Petraeus.

    Tracy Schmaler, a spokeswoman for Mr. Holder, declined to comment Saturday on when he was informed about or authorized the surveillance of Mr. Petraeus’s e-mails.

    elissa (c3c631)

  284. Well, I haven’t peeked at Broadmoors prolific tweeting and facebooking, but if woman number 2 is alluded to at some pt, with broad hints, I wouldn’t be surprised.

    Not sure I want to look, though.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  285. BroadWELL I mean

    SarahW (b0e533)

  286. Some men are just weak, selfish and blind when it comes to understanding love and marriage.

    mg (31009b)

  287. How many more Mr. general ? How many more?

    mg (31009b)

  288. The world’s best journalist:

    http://legalinsurrection.com/

    Read ’em and weep Obots.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  289. Florida goes Obama.

    The Emperor (453a1d)

  290. Florida? You mean the state where one county reported a 146% voter turnout? Hard to believe that went to Obama.

    Chuck Bartowski (ad7249)

  291. Is there a less gracious victor than a leftist?

    JD (ac62a1)

  292. “Leviticus, you have undiscovered depths.”

    Agreed. If Leviticus is a Deadhead…it follows that he must be okay.

    “Let he who has no sin cast the first stone, sir.”

    I didn’t throw a rock at her, I just said she’s lower than a cockroach.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  293. Not a Deadhead, just a blues dilettante. Sorry…

    Leviticus (1aca67)

  294. It goes both ways; the victor should be gracious in victory and the defeated should well…suck it in! 🙂

    The Emperor (e1814e)

  295. We need classier trolls.

    Simon Jester (11bfc1)

  296. Why is it when Petraeus was working with Bush the left called him “Betray-us” now he’s their Saint in Shining Armor and shouldn’t resign … I’m so tired and SICK of the left’s duplicitous B.S.

    Chris (115a2c)

  297. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/paula-broadwell-david-petraeus-alleged-mistress-embedded-year/story?id=17689419#.UJ7WjoVye2w

    Still don’t know what to make of Broadwell. Her stint with black ops and other bio-details fit less with bunny boiler, than honeytrapper or spy.

    This affair seems to have begun before Petraeus was appointed to his CIA post. I can’t think that no one knew/cared about it.

    The simple story I suppose is more likely to be true – hottish accomplished chick spends time with aging- recent-brush-with-prostate-cancer-and-mortality alpha male in need of a little manhood boosting, YOLO &c.

    But he just seems ripe for the picking. She seems like just the sort of gal recruited for such work. Pre-compromised CIA guy is easier to control?

    SarahW (b0e533)

  298. Worst President in my lifetime. Most corrupt, and inept administration in my lifetime.

    Makes me miss George W? Hell, I miss Richard Nixon.

    Could not agree with you more and I miss Truman and FDR!!

    Chris (115a2c)

  299. “Not a Deadhead”

    Shame on you!

    😉

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  300. “Or so Democrats think” –

    OK, now, remember: President Choom and his like-minded buddies in law school probably spent many long nights looking for legal ways to “sock it to the man” once The Movement finally got one-of-theirs ensconced in the high realms of power.

    I wouldn’t be AT ALL surprised to find that a civilian cannot be compelled to give {some type of} testimony which would be REQUIRED of him if he were employed by (pick one) the federal government / the military.

    Just sayin’.

    A_Nonny_Mouse (0e4f37)

  301. “Worst President in my lifetime.”

    I was around for JFK, LBJ and Jimmah…so, I’ve seen worse, or just as bad.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  302. It goes both ways; the victor should be gracious in victory

    Let us know when you plan on following your own standard. Nevermind. We know from your prior asshattery that you do not bother adhering to the rules you would have others follow.

    JD (ac62a1)

  303. “Not a Deadhead”

    Shame on you!

    Comment by Dave Surls

    Q: What did one Deadhead concert-goer say to teh other Deadhead concert-goer when the drugs wore off?

    A: “This music sucks…”

    Colonel Haiku (29ad88)

  304. Oh I am gracious enough. I don’t think you would be this gracious if the roles were reversed.

    The Emperor (03864d)

  305. Patraeus isn’t any sharper than Barney Fife.

    mg (31009b)

  306. deadheads used to be obnoxious now there just arthritic.

    mg (31009b)

  307. John Podhoretz writes in Commentary…
    “UPDATE TO THIS ITEM: The editor of the New York Times Magazine said this afternoon that “the column is NOT about the Petraeus affair, based on our factchecking.” So interesting it may be, but it has nothing to do with David Petraeus’s resignation.”

    Colonel Haiku (29ad88)

  308. 310-they’re

    mg (31009b)

  309. Play the video I linked, Haiku. That performance is faultless.

    nk (875f57)

  310. ____________________________________________

    I was around for JFK, LBJ and Jimmah…so, I’ve seen worse, or just as bad.

    The guy now in the White House is far worse, certainly from a purely symbolic standpoint. The ones you cite at least didn’t come with a background as overtly disreputable and radical, as intertwined with “goddamn America” sentiment, as Obama’s. The nation hit the rock bottom with him, and there’s no turning back.

    Mark (8087c8)

  311. 302. Makes me miss George W? Hell, I miss Richard Nixon.

    Could not agree with you more and I miss Truman and FDR!!

    Comment by Chris — 11/10/2012 @ 2:45 pm

    I’m waxing quite fond of Judas Iscariot right about now.

    Just kidding, Holy Jesus.

    Hey, here’s fun fact, kidzz.

    This weekend’s deal is the New Caustille short sword.

    Get ’em while they’re hot.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  312. And I am paralytic, not arthritic. Yet. 😉

    nk (875f57)

  313. “not arthritic. Yet”

    Me neither.

    And, I reckon the emphysema and high blood pressure will probably kill me before I even get to experience the joy of arthritis.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  314. “The guy now in the White House is far worse, certainly from a purely symbolic standpoint.”

    Mebbe so, but Libya/Benghazi ain’t a patch on Bay of Pigs/Cuban Missle Crisis.

    Or their little soiree in Vietnam.

    All other things being equal…I’d rather have Obambi.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  315. arthritis sucks, big time.

    mg (31009b)

  316. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzspsovNvII

    Chapter – It’s Free Swipe Yo EBT (Explicit)

    Now, this is the kind of babe I can keep in Drambuie and Vanilla Ice cream. As long as the rest of you guys are paying. I’m done being a sucker.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  317. 308. On an earlier thread, before going into timeout, youse said you ‘couldn’t wait to laugh at’ us.

    Laugh, you’ve earned it.

    Now about Down Low deserving grace, ESAD.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  318. I reckon the emphysema and high blood pressure will probably kill me before I even get to experience the joy of arthritis.

    All the guys I knew who flew fighters said the same thing about fighters. At least the ones who were good at it. They lived to experience the joy of arthritis.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  319. “Q: What did one Deadhead concert-goer say to teh other Deadhead concert-goer when the drugs wore off?”

    What a long, strange trip it’s been.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  320. I reckon the emphysema and high blood pressure will probably kill me before I even get to experience the joy of arthritis.

    This thread seems to be petering out, at least gettting kind of limp, so let’s talk about stopping smoking. I was two packs a day. My psychologist told me, “Don’t stop. Set a goal. To thirty, to twenty, to ten, to five. And then, who cares?” It worked.

    nk (875f57)

  321. @gary. Yes I did say that but I did not. Ok, I did. Just a little.

    The Emperor (fc6588)

  322. Good job

    happyfeet (6d5c2c)

  323. “arthritis sucks, big time.”

    I’ll bet it does.

    Pain hurts!

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  324. Play the video I linked, Haiku. That performance is faultless.

    Comment by nk

    Not saying Jerry Garcia wasn’t an extremely talented guitarist, nk… do enjoy some of their songs. But I can never get the image of their fans dancing in place like stoned Hare Krishnas out of my head… kinda ruins teh whole thing for me.

    Colonel Haiku (29ad88)

  325. ‘He’s one guy conservatives might trust in all this.’

    His wife presumably trusted him. That went well.

    Likely more shoes to drop. Still, tragic and humiliating for his family.

    @68- A little harsh but there may be some validity to aspects of your perspective. He may have begun to believe his own press clippings in the bubble but the tick-tock will be telling if it all ever goes public. If the affair was ongoing while he was at Langley, security was jeopardized, could have been handled internally and never seen the light of day for decades- if ever. If it began and ended before then, that adds another venue in the mix and it should have been run to ground during vetting for confirmation in closed door H&S Intelligence Committee hearings. Was she the only one– or just one of many over the years that was discovered. Seems somebody at Langley wasn’t happy w/him and tipped an outside agency to sort rumor from fact and revelation led to resignation.

    A loss of good talent and a sour way to end a fine career. What they eventually uncover will fate biographer Broadwell to history as a general groupie, another Kay Summersby of sorts or just a sort of Christine Keeler.

    Regardless, there’s no reason why the General can’t be called to testify. And he should.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  326. “I was two packs a day.”

    Same here. But, through hard work and determination, and iron willpower…I’ve managed to improve that to THREE packs a day.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  327. 330.I’ve managed to improve that to THREE packs a day.

    Comment by Dave Surls — 11/10/2012 @ 3:55 pm

    That’s the spirit.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  328. and there are many supremely talented bands around… Los Lobos… Chris Hillman and the Desert Rose Band… Emmylou Harris’s band… any version of Steely Dan… any band that backs David Bowie… etc… etc…

    Colonel Haiku (29ad88)

  329. @gary. Yes I did say that but I did not. Ok, I did.

    Failure to live up to the standards you demand of others, is one of your many not at all endearing characteristics. Actually, failure to live up is way understated. You aggressively do what you demand others not do. You accuse others of doing things they are not doing, while doing them yourself.

    JD (185efa)

  330. “I was two packs a day.”

    I was close. Chiantix and Happyfeet and an iron will helped me get to 0. Though I was craving one Wednesday AM.

    JD (185efa)

  331. It bothers my chauvinistic streak to no end that the best slide guitarist is Bonnie Rait. Stevie Ray Vaugn cover. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mylo0piAgc

    nk (875f57)

  332. You are not making any sense, jd. Honestly speaking… I have not required of you any standards here in this regard. You started by saying something about folks not being gracious in victory. You set the standard. I just said the defeated should show more sportmanship in defeat and basically suck it in. That was my rebuttal.

    The Emperor (03864d)

  333. Smoking is a nasty habit…but, it ain’t as nasty as sleeping with other men’s wives.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  334. @Dave surls. Two questions for you. 1. Are you a married man? 2. Have you ever cheated on your wife since your marriage?

    The Emperor (890cff)

  335. Though I was craving one Wednesday AM.

    Comment by JD — 11/10/2012 @ 4:04 pm

    One? Who cares?

    I live in a sea of doctors, I have eight in the family, besides all that I pay. One prescribed Chantix, another Welbutrin. I listened to the one who said “If you care all that much about stopping smoking that you will put those chemicals in your brain, you don’t need them”.

    The craving will always be lurking there. Nicotine is more addictive than heroin some say. But you’re young, compared to me, and your chances are good.

    nk (875f57)

  336. Get lost, chimperor. This was a damn good thread before you came in. JD, put the chimp in limbo.

    nk (875f57)

  337. ___________________________________________

    Mebbe so, but Libya/Benghazi ain’t a patch on Bay of Pigs/Cuban Missle Crisis.

    Circumstances right now aren’t as perilous as what JFK faced, but I was referring not to specific challenges confronting a president (eg, Carter and the hostages in Iran), but to how he handles them. The peanut farmer was (and is) full of blame-America-first sentiment — which made his judgment very unreliable in the 1970s — but Obama takes that to a whole different level.

    I can’t envision Kennedy, Johnson or even Carter bowing like a house servant in front of foreign leaders and dignitaries. But I can easily see Obama doing that, and, in fact, that’s exactly what he’s done, both smugly and defiantly.

    I’d be far more nervous today if Iran were a nuclear superpower similar to the former Soviet Union of decades ago.

    Mark (8087c8)

  338. Hush idiot. You accused people of dragging kids into a discussion when they had objectively not done so, yet you had attacked children yourself previously. You accused people of not being gracious in defeat, when you announced in advance you would be a poor winner, and then proceeded to be a bad winner, as you had claimed you would. In short, when you accuse people of bad behavior, it is generally untrue, and is generally conduct you yourself have participated in. Hypocrite and projection fall way short.

    JD (185efa)

  339. I never attacked children, jd. Not minors. Adults? Sure. Like Romney’s boy who said he wanted to take a swing at the president of the USA! That I don’t regret. But little kids? Never. Get your facts right.

    The Emperor (fc6588)

  340. I don’t see Kennedy or Johnson dismantling the military to become a world also-ran.
    And I don’t see Carter purposefully going the Cloward-Piven route.

    So I do think we have the worsty worst (as feets would say).

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  341. I freakin’ love Bonnie Raitt.

    Leviticus (17b7a5)

  342. 336. I just said the defeated should show more sportmanship in defeat and basically suck it in. That was my rebuttal.

    Comment by The Emperor — 11/10/2012 @ 4:07 pm

    Suck it in?!?!

    Homey don’t play that. I’ll suck it up, though. I am curious though:

    One of the things the decider-in-chief has to do is decide whether he’s going to bring this country together across all its diversity or let it drift apart. Look at how much stronger the American military is because it is less racist, less sexist and less homophobic and we’re just looking for people who can do the job.

    That’d be Billy Jeff.

    Ok, you won an election. Now what? This is the internet; I can’t really show you where “here” is but after four years of this clown I’ve had it to here being told I’m racist for not buying what this ass maggot is selling.

    But OK, you won the argument. So who are you going to get to sub for me?

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  343. And you are being the hypocrite here by pretending you wouldn’t have gloated and triumphed and rubbed it on our faces had Romney won. At least I would have expected you too. It’s natural, people who win deserve their moment of glorying and the losers deserve to sit in a quiet corner and eat their humble pie. Losing sucks. It is the way of the world. Don’t take it out on me, bro.

    The Emperor (3db71b)

  344. I never attacked children, jd.

    Lie. You smeared Palin’s children. Enough about you. Your nonsense is intended to distract from topics.

    I apologize to the others that were engaged in a discussion. I should ignore that lying twit.

    JD (185efa)

  345. @Steve. my mistake. I meant suck it up. I don’t usually use that expression.

    The Emperor (3db71b)

  346. “Dave surls. Two questions for you. 1. Are you a married man? 2. Have you ever cheated on your wife since your marriage?”

    Me and the missus are divorced, we’re STILL a couple, and I’ve never cheated on her since the day we married. Not when we were married. Not after we (stupidly) got divorced.

    We’re about to get re-married…and it’ll be the same deal.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  347. Congrats on the remarriage, Dave!

    Dustin (73fead)

  348. I am a hypocrite because you believe I would have done something in the future. As opposed to your having done what you are again projecting onto others. You ain’t my bro.

    JD (185efa)

  349. That is a big lie, jd. I never smeared palin’s kids except when it was referenced in a thread. Even then I did not “smear” her kids. You cannot just be making these bold false assertions without being called out on it. Get the proofs or apologise.

    The Emperor (3db71b)

  350. This site is better when Mr. Surls is around. Just sayin’.

    Leviticus (17b7a5)

  351. 335 – nk- Duane Allman.

    mg (31009b)

  352. It’s always going to be a matter of opinion, but IMO, Barack Obama is a bad president, but not nearly as bad as JFK/LBJ, and about the same as Carter (or Slick Willy).

    And none of those guys are even CLOSE to being as bad as Roosevelt II.

    Also, the situation we’re in now isn’t nearly as bad as things were in the 1930s/40s (real, real bad), or the 1960s (bad).

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  353. @Dave. Good on you. I am glad to hear that you guys are patching things up. I am really happy for you. I asked you that question because I thought you were condemning the General. Jesus said ” he that has no sin let him cast the first stone “. Looks like you are qualified to cast that stone on a cheating General. But I know that is not your intention.

    The Emperor (fc6588)

  354. Chimperor @347, you miss the point. What name haven’t you called me? You didn’t need to show the SEALs all kinds of respect, but some would have been nice.

    It wasn’t just four years. I’ve had decades of lectures about how the best and the brightest don’t sign up for military service.

    Got it, chimperor. Good and loud. Message recieved and understood. I was a fool. So now what? What’s your next move?

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  355. You ain’t my bro.

    Comment by JD — 11/10/2012 @ 4:48 pm

    I stand corrected.

    The Emperor (fc6588)

  356. You cannot just be making these bold false assertions without being called out on it. Get the proofs or apologise.

    You have absolutely zero self-awareness, emperor. You’ve called people liars here, and when asked for proof refused to show any or offer an apology.

    I’d tell you to stick it where the sun don’t shine, but your head is blocking the path.

    Chuck Bartowski (ad7249)

  357. Acoustic slide, from either the funniest guitar player or the best guitar-playing comedian (you need to listen closely to the lyrics on #2):

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PH2fQMXCHk&feature=relmfu

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  358. Raitt is a good un, but she learned – literally – from the guy in the purple shirt and cowboy hat…

    http://youtu.be/Ns9jGWiF8d0

    Colonel Haiku (1fbcd1)

  359. and Duane Allman was fantabulous… saw him back in’71.

    Colonel Haiku (1fbcd1)

  360. @Steve. Don’t know what you are talking about. Don’t remember calling you names here. Its not my style. And as for winning the argument I derive no personal joy in your pain. I just want things to be ok for everyone. And I believe this president is going to do well by everyone. My gut tells me that the next four years will be great for everyone. This victory belongs to all. You will see.

    The Emperor (03864d)

  361. “My gut tells me that the next four years will be great for everyone.

    – The Emperor

    Um. No.

    Leviticus (17b7a5)

  362. The Emperor, you have no credibility – you pissed it away with dishonest trolling long ago.

    And your belief that Obama will suddenly develop skills he has never shown is hilariously stupid.

    Like all your comments, really.

    SPQR (768505)

  363. And I believe this president is going to do well by everyone. My gut tells me that the next four years will be great for everyone. This victory belongs to all. You will see.

    Unicorns shlt fairy dust and Magical Pegasus toot skittles

    JD (185efa)

  364. LOL@lovie.

    Anyone looking for slide guitar would do well to dial up a little Elmore James.

    Here’s The Sky is Crying

    carlitos (49ef9f)

  365. @leviticus. That is why it is a gut feeling. And I am hardly wrong with my predictions. It’s like a gift.

    The Emperor (03864d)

  366. What we are actually looking at is another recession.

    And probably one that is of historic proportions given that we’ve had no recovery from the last one.

    SPQR (768505)

  367. “Congrats on the remarriage, Dave!”

    Thanks. We never should have gotten divorced in the first place. Dumb move.

    Anyway, we HAVE to get married, because even though she’s 55 and I’m 59…we have yet another child that we have to raise (we inherited him because his parents can’t take care of themselves, much less take care of a kid).

    So, this is kind of a shotgun wedding thing.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  368. A shotgun wedding because of a grandchild? That’s unique.

    SPQR (768505)

  369. and Dust my Broom.

    carlitos (49ef9f)

  370. Chimperor, I expect the Axelrodian tactics. But when you figure out they’re not working, what then?

    @Steve. Don’t know what you are talking about. Don’t remember calling you names here.

    I’m sure of it. Far be it for you to venture to guess if I’ve been called a racist once or twice for opposing the re-election of Barack Obama.

    I expect you to tell me to my face I didn’t see what I saw. I expect you to tell me to my face I didn’t hear what I just head.

    It’s not working.

    Now what?

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  371. @Dave. You have my respects. I am really inspired by this. Wow.

    The Emperor (03864d)

  372. Just so everyone knows, the optical mouse on my laptop is really screwing up.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  373. 363 – Colonel, same here. St.Paul 1971.

    mg (31009b)

  374. @SPQR. Have faith. Believe and things will work for everyone’s good. Nothing is impossible. There will not be a recession. The economy will roar back to new life. Employment will go up. Things will get better. Believe.

    The Emperor (fc6588)

  375. The Emperor, you really are an idiot.

    SPQR (768505)

  376. I derive no personal joy in your pain.

    Dude, I am in no pain. I’m not going to explain what kinds of pain like SERE I was willing to endure on your behalf.

    You’re welcome very much.

    Because, let’s face facts. You didn’t ask me.

    Still. I’m not coming around for a second helping of this s***burger. So I ask you , what’s plan B?

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  377. Yes, because increased taxes and implementation
    Of oturdocare will be so positive for job prospects. Pay no mind to all those cascading job layoffs. Obama is the greatest potus evah. Lovie should just bioya,mf.

    calypso louis farrakhan (c3e31b)

  378. emperor – I hope your still believing when your wheelbarrow full of money is used as paper, to start your furniture on fire, to stay warm.

    mg (31009b)

  379. SPQR. You can mock all you like. My prophecy will come to pass and you will be the idiot for thinking you know anything. All your knowledge means nothing if all it taught you is pessimism and unbelief. 4 years from now Obama will be so popular for fixing the economy and his great leadership in the world that a Democrat will be elected president after him. Just like Bush senior after Ronald Reagan. Just watch and see…

    The Emperor (3db71b)

  380. 384 – who – christie

    mg (31009b)

  381. The Emperor, your prediction is idiotic. Obama has no skills at the presidency itself, he’s demonstrating no ability to work with Congress – even his own party, and he’s demonstrated no understanding of the economy. What was it that Obama can or will do that he failed to do for the last four years? Instead, Ben Bernanke has pumped so much inflationary faux money into the system, and Obama has pumped so much deficit into the Federal budget, that the snap is going to be very ugly.

    Your fantasy life is ridiculous nonsense.

    Obama will be known in history as a very incompetent President.

    SPQR (768505)

  382. Nearly two-thirds of the Federal debt is being bought by the Federal Reserve with funny money.

    How long do twits like The Emperor think this can go on?

    Look at this chart from the Fed which shows that in just the last year the Federal Reserve bought almost a trillion dollars in Federal bonds. All with printed up money.

    Does anyone know what financial catastrophe looks like? It looks like that damn chart.

    SPQR (768505)

  383. Because he’s a fool or a knave, the evidence suggests the latter.

    narciso (ee31f1)

  384. His wife presumably trusted him. That went well.

    Likely more shoes to drop. Still, tragic and humiliating for his family.

    @68- A little harsh but there may be some validity to aspects of your perspective. He may have begun to believe his own press clippings in the bubble but the tick-tock will be telling if it all ever goes public. If the affair was ongoing while he was at Langley, security was jeopardized, could have been handled internally and never seen the light of day for decades- if ever. If it began and ended before then, that adds another venue in the mix and it should have been run to ground during vetting for confirmation in closed door H&S Intelligence Committee hearings. Was she the only one– or just one of many over the years that was discovered. Seems somebody at Langley wasn’t happy w/him and tipped an outside agency to sort rumor from fact and revelation led to resignation.

    DCSCA,

    Remind me: you favored the Clinton impeachment, yes? Not because of the obstruction of justice or perjury, but because his affair meant he was not trustworthy and subjected him to blackmail?

    That was your view, right?

    Patterico (8b3905)

  385. Those standards only apply to Rethuglikkkans, Patterico. Because of hypocrisy.

    JD (185efa)

  386. “The guy now in the White House is far worse, certainly from a purely symbolic standpoint.”

    Mebbe so, but Libya/Benghazi ain’t a patch on Bay of Pigs/Cuban Missle Crisis.

    Or their little soiree in Vietnam.

    All other things being equal…I’d rather have Obambi.

    Comment by Dave Surls — 11/10/2012 @ 3:36 pm

    Congrats, dude, you’ve got Obama.

    Oh, I’ve done you the favor of highlighting all the crap on your list I didn’t vote for.

    Again. You’re welcome.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  387. Great Britain will soon be able to deploy one group of 7,000-8,000 soldiers somewhere in the world, and no more.
    I guess they think the world is a safer place.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9667102/Max-Hastings-Farewell-to-our-warrior-nation.html

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  388. Petraeus won’t be testifying and now Hillary has also declined citing her travel schedlule to Australia preventing her from doing so. Next?

    Dana (292dcf)

  389. “Congrats, dude, you’ve got Obama.”

    Like I said, I’d rather have him than JFK/LBJ or (God forbid) Roosevelt II.

    Though, I don’t think it merits congratulations.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  390. On Stossel earlier tonite, two of his guests said that the GOP had problems with blacks because of the last 70 years of voter suppression, not supporting civil rights blah, blah, blah, and Stossel agreed with them. Guess those dumbasses don’t know that it was Ike that sent federal troops to Arkansas to enforce desegregation, that it was repubs that supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964, while all of those stalwarts of the dems like Al Gore Sr voted against it. Oh and also, that it was repubs that were registering black voters in the south and sometimes being killed for it. ANDDDDD that MLK Jr was a registered Republican. How stoopid can these people be? Oh wait, they were Libertarians.

    Ease up on the Emperor please. Her gut feeling is right in that we will not have another recession in the next four years! If you see the links that I posted here https://patterico.com/2012/11/09/l-a-weekly-story-on-swatting-gets-links/#comment-1107500 , it won’t be a recession, because it’s gonna be an all out f$cking depression!

    peedoffamerican (204ab7)

  391. Good luck, Dave.

    There’s so many things to say about women, but thousands of poets have already done it.

    nk (875f57)

  392. Also the companies that are already announcing layoffs and hiring freezes because of Odumbocare.

    http://www.theblaze.com/stories/how-many-businesses-have-announced-closings-or-lay-offs-since-obama-won-a-second-term/

    peedoffamerican (204ab7)

  393. And like the last fours years have been a picnic. Actual unemployment rate as it stands right now is nearly 16%. Gas and diesel prices have doubled. Food prices have gone up by 2 and one half times or 250% Maxwell House Coffee that I was drinking, the amount in the container has been decreased by 20% while also increasing in price by 250% Yeah, if things go about the same in the next four years as they have in the past four, I’m gonna have to learn to eat grass from the lawn and boil bark from the trees for my coffee. And during that time, my pay, after I was finally recalled from layoff after 1.5 years, was raised 4%. Of course I make less cause they cut back on hours, and the only reason the job cam back is because two RUSSIAN billionaire brothers bought the company. Yeah, thanks alot you sorry ass excuse of a dumber than dirt POS President. And thanks to all of you dumbasses that voted not for four more years of the same crap, but for four more years of even worse sh!t coming down the pike.

    peedoffamerican (204ab7)

  394. Yeah, if things go about the same in the next four years as they have in the past four, I’m gonna have to learn to eat grass from the lawn and boil bark from the trees for my coffee.

    peedoffamerican, it’s gonna take more than four years to turn this country into North Korea.

    So there is that.

    Now, maybe it’ll seem odd to some of you that I’m commenting in the 5 a.m. hour. (Texas time).

    The answer is easy. East peasy, Preezy.

    It’s hunting season, and I’ve got a freezer to fill.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  395. Eas*t* peasy, Preezy

    Just so ya’ll know, I shoot better than I write.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  396. 399-400, Happy Hunting.

    mg (31009b)

  397. Ditto. When you come back, I’m curious about your shooting iron. Texas. I’m guessing .270?

    nk (875f57)

  398. @spqr. Being without faith must be so depressing and dark for you. I am sorry I do not share your pessimism. We will only wait and see.

    The Emperor (fc6588)

  399. 264. “I seriously doubt, Leviticus, you grasp just how much harm has been done.”

    – Steve57

    I share your doubt. I don’t think Petraeus’ affair has anything to do with whatever harm I fail to grasp, though.

    Comment by Leviticus — 11/10/2012 @ 12:08 pm

    No, Petraeus’ affair had nothing to do with what I’m going off about.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  400. Thanks, mg. I didn’t get anything.

    402. Ditto. When you come back, I’m curious about your shooting iron. Texas. I’m guessing .270?

    Comment by nk — 11/11/2012 @ 5:13 am

    You’ve got good eyes. It is a .270.

    A Remington 721. I inherited from my Uncle.

    At least it is when I can use a rifle. I was hunting an Army Corps of Engineers lake this morning and I was carrying a bow.

    Carrying being the operative term since the hogs were not cooperating.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  401. In case nobody’s aware of the fact, often times when the Army owns a lake they own the land around the lake.

    The last thing I need right about now is some dumb ass piping up about me claiming to be hunting while walking on water.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  402. Comment by Icy — 11/10/2012 @ 6:29 am

    who in the administration may have contacted him and said “Hey, we know about you and your mistress; do you want to tell the American people, or do you want it to ‘leak’ out?”

    James R. Clapper, the Director of National Inteligence. He is notified about this whole thing by the FBI at about 5 PM on Election Day.

    The FBI, I think, claims they were just told by the Justice Department. We need more specific details about who.

    I think the affair is portrayed to him as something that was just discovered when the FBI went through his GMail account, which he had given them permission to search. It is possible Clapper only heard of it on Election Day then – his immediate action may be only bcause he takes direction easily, maybe.

    Anyway, later that night, while Barack Obama is in Chicago watching the Election returns, Clapper meets with Petreaus and urges him to resign. He meets again with him the next day, Wednesday.

    Late Wednesday, while Barack Obama is on a plane heading back to Washington from Chicago Clapper informs the national security staff that David Petreaus has had an affair and wants to resign from the CIA.

    Nobody calls the president.

    The next morning, right before the morning briefing, or some other meeting, as he is getting ready to discuss or contemplate Cabinet changes, President Barack Obama is informed.

    David Petreaus meets with the president that afternoon and offers to resign, but Obama tells him he wants to sleep over it, a practice he apparently follows with all important difficult decisions, like the decision to go ahead with the raid on the house in Pakistan where Osama bin Laden was believed to be living.

    On Friday morning, Barack Obama calls David Petraeus and accepts his resignation. Only now are the Congressional intelligence committees informed.

    The White House makes the decision to postpone the announcement until after the daily press briefing, but this is reported on MSNBC and Press Secretary Jay Carney avoids answering questions, saying Petraeus should speak for himself. he doesn’t get a chance to – Clapper releases a statement about “Dave’s decision to step down” some minutes before the CIA makes the announcement.

    Sammy Finkelman (d2951c)

  403. Texas was the hint. The .270 would be the all around cartridge for the ranges, terrain and game.

    (BTW, I have absolutely no eco-freak objections to hunting feral hogs for food, regardless of other comments I have made about sport hunting. Although, when I was in Louisiana, I met folks who would “adopt” feral hogs by spraypainting bright red PET on both sides of them.)

    nk (875f57)

  404. Comment by John Difool — 11/10/2012 @ 6:38 am

    Hillary Clinton resigning also, because she’s tired or wants to focus on family or something.

    Hillary Clinton has actually spoken in public (to a reporter) abut being on a tightrope, and wanting to get off, but she has indicated that Benghazi might cause her to stay awhile longer.

    Sammy Finkelman (d2951c)

  405. Comment by SarahW — 11/10/2012 @ 11:57 am

    But I am wondering if there isn’t another woman close to P. that got the emails.

    This is where I have a lot of questions.

    David Petreaus has not confessed to more than one affair.

    We don’t know that it is even plausible that he had an affair with this third woman (the other two being his wife and Paual Broadwell)

    I see a possible set-up here.

    Who ignited Paula Broadwell’s suspicions? And another thing, was anybody’s e-mail spoofed by anyone at any point?

    Sammy Finkelman (d2951c)

  406. And one thing is reasonably sure – Somebody lied to Ronald Kessler of Newsmax.

    His story says that Paula Broadwell broke off the affair at the time he became CIA Director in September 2011. This is not consistent with other stories.

    This gets the question of who was pursuing whom wrong. Kessler says that David Petreaus was pursuing Paula after she broke off the affair. Nobody else says that – they say she visited him at the CIA. More important:

    If she harrassed someone, she must have been besotted with him and worried that he wasn’t interested in her. So how did this start?

    There another claim that appears nowhere else – that there was a mistaken suspicion of corruption (which for all we know may actually have happened, except I doubt it was a mistake)

    Kessler says nothing about Paula harassing anyway, or being accused of harassment.

    So it’s very important, what’s the truth about how this whole investigation began.

    I think it’s very possible somebody wanted a legitimate way to get into David Petreaus’ e-mail.

    Sammy Finkelman (d2951c)

  407. And we know the Chinese have hacked into Google’s GMail. (We are talking only his non-official GMail account)

    Suppose they found out about the affair? They’d have a problem: How to use this information.

    Anyway it’s important, that Newsmax/Kessler gets the question of who was pursuing whom wrong. Kessler says that David Petreaus was pursuing Paula after she broke off the affair.

    Yet if she harrassed someone, she must have been besotted with him and worried that he wasn’t interested in her.

    So it’s very important, what’s the truth about how this whole investigation began.

    Now we know, or I suspect anyway, that there are Saudi moles (maybe they are Chinese moles or maybe both countries are working together) in the CIA who were responsible for the sooper sekrit bad intelligence about what happened in Benghazi.

    It pretty much has to be moles, nobody is really that stupid. A cover story, as someone said here, has to be plausible and this one really wasn’t. Plausible maybe that it’s honest work, if you don’t dwell on it, but not an actually plausible conclusion for someone to have.

    These moles obviously would have wanted to get rid of David Petreaus. There was indeed some pushback:

    Petraeus’s Quieter Style at C.I.A. Leaves Void on Libya Furor – Saturday, November 3, 2012 New York Times front page

    Mr. Petraeus, who turns 60 next week, has had to learn that C.I.A. officers will not automatically defer to his judgments, as military subordinates often did. “The attitude at the agency is, ‘You may be the director, but I’m the Thailand analyst,’ ” said one C.I.A. veteran.

    (By the way, if you wanted to leak a wrong story, you would leak it to NewsMax – and in particular the Saudis would anyway, since Newsmax and the Western Journalism Center got started pursuing the Vincent Foster story, so they’d want to further discredit Newsmax.)

    Sammy Finkelman (d2951c)

  408. Sammy, the target of Broadwell’s mean email(s) has been identified as a State Dept. liason Jill Kelley of Tampa, FL.

    I found pictures of her is one of her kids school-project photobooks. It features a shot of General Petraeus with Kelley’s kids.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  409. When Did Obama Know About Petraeus’ Affair?

    Thursday morning, November 8. 2012, when it was sprung on it.

    Obama could not have engineered this whole thing.

    In the first place, he is not that Machiavellian, I don;t think.

    In the second place, he doesn’t need to. A president has a right to fire the CIA Director any time (Gerald Ford did) and right now woud be a perfectly plauasible timeto do so without offering any explanation. He could also offer a ton of simpler explanations and doesn’t need to d all this. Unlike President Clinton with the FBI Director, he doesn’t legally need to have “cause” to fire him.

    Somebody at lower rank, or a cabal, would have a need to cook this whole thing up.

    Barack Obama is the only person in the U,S, government who had no motive to create this scandal.

    There are a lot of

    Sammy Finkelman (d2951c)

  410. I see there’s another thread – what do we know about Jill Kelley’s connection with David Petraeus?

    Sammy Finkelman (d2951c)

  411. Although, when I was in Louisiana, I met folks who would “adopt” feral hogs by spraypainting bright red PET on both sides of them.

    Serious?

    The last time I was in Louisiana I came away convinced there was no such thing as Sasquatch because if there was they’d have a cajun recipe for one.

    Now you’re telling me the folks down there are tagging the hogs so the hunters don’t get them (I wasn’t after the hides, just the bacon).

    I’m getting seriously bummed.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  412. Again, how does getting some tail = not testifying?

    I would really like someone to explain that to me.

    Steve57 (7a880e)

  413. DCSCA,

    Remind me: you favored the Clinton impeachment, yes? Not because of the obstruction of justice or perjury, but because his affair meant he was not trustworthy and subjected him to blackmail?

    That was your view, right?

    Patterico (8b3905)

  414. Finkleman, your comment makes no sense at all. There are plenty of speculative theories about why Obama would delay firing Petraeus until after the election and plenty of theories about why it was to his advantage to use the threat of exposure or the actual exposure to discredit Petraeus’ account of Benghazi.

    Your offhand rejection of any such with the naive acceptance of the idea that Obama knew nothing of the investigation until after the election strains all credibility.

    Just bizarre. Your motivations for these weird comments escape me.

    SPQR (768505)

  415. “When Did Obama Know About Petraeus’ Affair?”

    “Thursday morning, November 8. 2012, when it was sprung on it.”

    I believe that about as much as I believe in the tooth fairy.

    Dave Surls (46b08c)

  416. “never let a crisis go to waste”.

    A compromised CIA chief is something like a bit of a crisis.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  417. Comment by SPQR — 11/12/2012 @ 8:41 am

    There are plenty of speculative theories about why Obama would delay firing Petraeus until after the election

    But he wouldn’t need such a comoplicated excuse. Only people without the actual power to fire him would need such an excuse.

    and plenty of theories about why it was to his advantage to use the threat of exposure or the actual exposure to discredit Petraeus’ account of Benghazi.

    This assumes of course he supports what he knows is a lie. Let’s say so, if he thought Petraeus was blackmailable, he’d keep him on. Otherwise he has no hold on him.

    It’s people who didn’t want him to testify at all, who wanted him gone.

    Your offhand rejection of any such with the naive acceptance of the idea that Obama knew nothing of the investigation until after the election strains all credibility.

    that’s waht makes sense to me. I assume that Obama does not deliberatly want moles. If he did, why would he not have arranged to fail to get bin Laden?

    Just bizarre. Your motivations for these weird comments escape me.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)


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