I guess you can’t really blame the media too much for dwelling on the Petraeus affair story. They know that sex sells and the public is always buying. I do reserve the right to roll my eyes at the Fox News Channel, though, for spinning the story in the ridiculous direction of what the President knew and when. The President does have 300 million other people, a struggling economy and a war to think about. What the President knew is of no interest to me. Frankly, I regret knowing what I know about General Petraeus and Paula Broadwell. The same goes for anything related to General John “The Honeydripper” Allen and “honorary consul”-cum-military groupie Jill Kelley. The skeevy, low-rent antics of these careless, self-absorbed people hold no interest for me.
But the intertwining stories are dominating every news outlet and it looks like we’re going to be living with it for some time. But leave me out of it, please. There is nothing more I need to know about General Petraeus “deploying his artillery” with Broadwell under his desk or General Allen’s saucy emails or some randy FBI agent’s shirtless photos. However, it was reported this morning that Paula Broadwell, Petraeus’ paramour, admitted to the FBI that she took “significant amounts” of military documents, including classified material, from secure government buildings to her home, potentially in violation of federal law, so there are elements of the story that have legs. But do I need to hear about it 24/7?
Lack of interest is not the same thing as indifference or tacit "everyone does it" approval, not at all. It’s not my place to make excuses for these people. I’ve been in Holly Petraeus’ shoes. I know the last thing she wants or needs right now is to be told that General Petraeus was a flawed human being and that flawed human beings make mistakes. Spare me. There are plenty of flawed human beings who wouldn’t dream of cheating on their spouses, and only Mrs. Petraeus can determine what defines a “mistake” for her and her family. The same goes for the spouses and children of Broadwell, Allen and Kelley.
I will say, though, that if the man with the most sensitive security job in the country is such easy prey to the distractions of a fawning biographer that he would put himself, not to mention his country, at risk, the CIA and the nation are better off without him. He did it, he’s out, let’s move on. Allen, for his part, has likely lost his opportunity to be appointed to NATO’s top post. So be it. The FBI will continue its investigation and see where it goes. They do not need my input and do not owe me the details.
As to the media, surely there are other stories out there going underreported. How about one on the 68,000 Americans still in harm’s way in Afghanistan while their leaders are playing “find the missile launcher” back home?