Comments

1
An author called Gregg Easterbrook (brother of a pretty famous federal circuit court judge) writes a weekly column on ESPN on the NFL but always incorporates his take on current events. I think he nails it and calls out both the media and government for essentially ruing this woman's life:

Here, from an initial news report, is the phrase that chills me about the Petraeus affair: "Administration and congressional officials identified the woman as Paula Broadwell."

Petraeus needed to resign. But why did someone in government release the name of his paramour, along with copious details of her life? Broadwell is not accused of any crime. Petraeus was the one whose poor judgment threatened the public, not she. Petraeus could have quietly submitted a resignation letter. Instead every salacious detail is out -- and not from the National Enquirer, from Congress or the White House.

He goes on making some excellent points about the issue about midway through the page here:

http://espn.go.com/espn/playbook/story/_/i…
2
You misspelled Petraeus.
3
Also be prepared for the Mark Driscoll's of the world shaming Petraeus' wife for "letting herself go."
4
Umm, does anyone else notice the Blogtown awkwardness created by this piece and Mssr. Humphrey's latest post?
5
What are Petraeus' outsized achievements again? He got us out of Iraq (that place that still has all those bombings, and is still not a great example of democracy and tolerance); and he really took over in Afghanistan, huh.

He's mostly just a media darling.
6
Last evening C-SPAN ran one of Broadwell's book tour talks from earlier this year...give the public what they want?

And today, the scandal's spreading with the info about General Allen. Time for some old soldiers to move to Santa Monica and start dressing like Ralph Furley, I'd say.
7
The head of the CIA who just a few months ago claimed that in the near future the agency will have the ability to spy on you through your TV, was brought down by....spying. Oh sweet irony. On a totally unrelated note, it will be interesting to see if Patraeus ever ends up testifying before the Congressional inquiry into the Benghazi attack now that he's 'retired'. If he does, will he go into what exactly the CIA was doing in Benghazi, why were they running secret prisons there, and what was the CIA's role in arming Syrian militants?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/art…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn_TACkSVLs
8
@ROM - Petraeus had nothing to do with us leaving Iraq. Bradley Manning and Wikileaks are to thank for us leaving Iraq, Petraeus wanted us fighting in Iraq until 2013 and beyond.

As a veteran, I can tell that most men in the military cheat on their wives, and a lot of the couples are swingers. This is especially true in units like mine, where we spent more time traveling than at home. This culture makes Portlanders look like bible thumpers. I personally witnessed Colonels chasing Russian hookers and spending their free time at Chinese strip clubs – so I doubt David’s affair is a legit national security risk. This is just the same trumped up bullshit that the media gets all excited about when someone important fucks someone not important. If this were election time this wouldn’t even be a story.

But hey, at least she was hot. Have you seen the people Congress fucks? Gross!
9
There is an opposite, equally sexist phenomenon (even though it's frequently employed by feminists) in which a woman is a blushing flower with no agency to make a sexual advance whatsoever and has merely been lured into a dark forest of sin by goblin creatures out of Christina Rossetti's poem. In this sense, calling her out for a mistake is actually a progressive tactic because it gives her responsibility, which is the hallmark of adulthood.
10
Well, there can be a fine line between slut shaming and indulging in a celebrity scandal. After all, The Mercury runs a popular column that does the latter.

I admit I enjoy reading details about Broadwell because it's a glimpse into the life of D.C. movers and shakers. But I don't see her as some temptress. Her and Petreaus were only being human.
11
This shouldn't even be news. People fucked, film at 11.

However, what really bugs me is that bump on her otherwise pristine forehead, I can't stop staring at it. Must be hell to have to be around her in person and try not to stare.
12
There's nothing wrong with slut shaming, as long as it's done pan-sexually. They were both involved in presumably monogamous relationships (FA's point notwithstanding), and went outside them with predictable consequences.

Outside of evidence to the contrary, they are BOTH Fucking sluts. Shame away.
13
No, everything is wrong with slut-shaming. Sex is human nature. So is non-monogamous sex. Otherwise you wouldn't see everyone cheating all the time, even with so much at stake as in this case. People need to fucking get over themselves.
14
Sarah, if America didn't have such outdated victorian values, the affair would NOT leave him open to blackmail.
16
A human-rights-abusing, treaty-and-international-law-flouting, mass-murdering war criminal engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship? He must resign forthwith!
17
I think the most embarrassing aspect to Patreaus about the publicity, ought to be the fact that he should have had a hotter babe.
18
Hell, even Monica Lewinsky and Gennifer Flowers weren't all that. What's the point of being rich, powerful and famous, if you still can't get any really hot babes?

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