We can all agree that the director of the CIA having an affair is not a great idea, since it could leave our security chief open to blackmail and security breaches.

But you know what we can't agree on? That the whole thing is the fault of the woman involved—Patricia Broadwell. To quote Jordan Baker, "It takes two to make an accident."

New York Times columnist Frank Bruni has a great piece about "the siren" today that you should definitely read. Take it away:

Why else would a man of such outward discipline and outsize achievement risk so much? The temptress must have been devious. The temptation must have been epic.

That was the tired tone of some of the initial coverage of, and reaction to, the affair between David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell, which had many people claiming surprise where there wasn’t cause for any, reverting to cliches that should be retired and indulging in a sexism we like to think we’ve moved past.

Broadwell has just 13 percent body fat, according to a recent measurement. Did you know that? Did you need to? It came up nonetheless. And like so much else about her — her long-ago coronation as homecoming queen, her six-minute mile — it was presented not merely as a matter of accomplishment, but as something a bit titillating, perhaps a part of the trap she laid.

Read the whole thing here.