Petraeus, Gone
Troy Senik, Ed. ·
November 9, 2012 at 9:19pm
This just in from NBC:
Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus has resigned, citing an extra-marital affair, NBC News reported.
"Yesterday afternoon, I went to the White House and asked the President to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position," Petraeus said in his resignation letter. "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."
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Comments:
Jun '12
Re: Petraeus, Gone
I just spoke to Pat Richardson, my go-to guy for news like this.
He says he had zero hint of the affair before this. So it almost certainly wasn't about to leak.
I smell Benghazi. And panic. And a former General running as fast and as far as he can from Ground Zero.
Oct '11
Re: Petraeus, Gone
Divorce papers on the way and the press gets wind of it? That would be one reason to resign this way. I wonder if the affair was with a foreigner. That would certainly be grounds for resignation.
Edited on November 9, 2012 at 9:55pmMay '10
Re: Petraeus, Gone
Please tell me she wasn't a spy. I want to know who this woman is, and fast. This relationship has the potential to not only put agents in the field in harm's way, it could jeopardize our national security. There's no telling what information he revealed to her. This is bad. Very bad. If he is any kind of man, he better start singing like a bird.
Sep '12
Re: Petraeus, Gone
CIA, State, AG, Fed, Treasury. Remember when Nixon told all of the Cabinet to give him letters of resignation, so he could pick which ones to keep. Obama's Cabinet just skipped a step
May '11
Re: Petraeus, Gone
as long as he's forced to testify under oath about Benghazi, why he resigned is immaterial
Mar '11
Re: Petraeus, Gone
MMPadre
did he fall on his sword, or was he pushed? · 6 minutes ago
Bingo.
May '10
Re: Petraeus, Gone
You spelled "annus" with one "n" too many.
The conspiracy-minded teeming masses may speculate that he has lied about having an affair when he didn't actually have one, just to have a convenient reason to get out of Dodge and get clear of the Missus (for whatever reason) at the same time.
Feb '11
Re: Petraeus, Gone
Two quick thoughts. First, will he replace Shirley Tilghman as Princeton's next president? Second, if his story is to be believed, the administration can not use his infidelities to keep him from testifying before Congress n the Benghazi fiasco.
Dec '11
Re: Petraeus, Gone
Troy Senik, Ed.: Why volunteer the fact of the affair? I can only think of two rationales: (1) to preempt a story that was brewing in the press (2) to distract from questions about whether the resignation was related to Benghazi.
I hope I'm wrong, but this just doesn't smell right.
That was my gut reaction as well; this doesn't appear to be a story that would cause a man to step down from one of the most powerful positions in the country. Sad to say, but extramarital activity wasn't able to take down Bill Clinton, let alone a military man held in such high esteem by both political parties.
Did you have to pour salt into an open wound?
Edited on November 10, 2012 at 2:34amAug '10
Re: Petraeus, Gone
So did he have an attack of conscience or was "someone" spying on him?
Re: Petraeus, Gone
Um, is this possibly right? If so, yikes:
You know, when I read that the first time fast, I didn't see the words "an aide to," which gave me about 5 seconds of freak out.
Jul '12
Re: Petraeus, Gone
I was just saying that to a friend of mine. This is fishy
Jun '12
Re: Petraeus, Gone
Matede
I was just saying that to a friend of mine. This is fishy · 2 minutes ago
It's the timing.
If this had happened two months ago, or two months from now, it wouldn't have raised a single eyebrow.
Feb '11
Re: Petraeus, Gone
Troy Senik, Ed.: I wanted to avoid speculation in the main post, but this strikes me as extremely odd. Why volunteer the fact of the affair? I can only think of two rationales: (1) to preempt a story that was brewing in the press (2) to distract from questions about whether the resignation was related to Benghazi.
It's entirely normal for senior officials to hang up their spurs in the transition from a first to a second term. It's not as if Petraeus deciding to go home would have made the entire Washington press corps assume he was having an affair. They would, however, have been asking about Benghazi.
I hope I'm wrong, but this just doesn't smell right. · 13 minutes ago
Troy, one of the reasons I'm thinking this is genuine is that, barring they have a huge blackmail card against him, they are asking Patraeus to throw his wife under the bus if this isn't true. That would be tough to do for anyone. Falling to temptation is easier to understand.
Edited on November 9, 2012 at 10:20pmRe: Petraeus, Gone
Antiphon
Trey, one of the reasons I'm thinking this is genuine is that, barring they have a huge blackmail card against him, they are asking Patraeus to throw his wife under the bus if this isn't true. That would be tough to do for anyone. Falling to temptation is easier to understand. · 0 minutes ago
I'm not calling into question whether there was an affair. I'm simply not going to litigate something that personal and that tragic. I am curious, however, as to whether that's really what's driving the resignation.
Apr '12
Re: Petraeus, Gone
Antiphon
Trey, one of the reasons I'm thinking this is genuine is that, barring they have a huge blackmail card against him, they are asking Patraeus to throw his wife under the bus if this isn't true. That would be tough to do for anyone. Falling to temptation is easier to understand. · 2 minutes ago
And what would it do to his wife if they "found" he'd been running an underaged sex ring? Or that they both had?
I can think of things a lot worse than "resign, claiming an affair" if you want someone gone and have no real morals, plus a cooperative media.
Incredibly simple example format: they nab his computers for Benghazi investigation and "discover" gigs of kiddypr0n.
Edited on November 9, 2012 at 10:22pmMay '10
Re: Petraeus, Gone
Doesn't look like it was a Warren aide. How much you wanna bet it was Huma? Betcha Affleck's alrighty gotta draft of a screenplay. Any shots of them at the Argo premiere?
Edited on November 9, 2012 at 10:28pmMar '11
Re: Petraeus, Gone
Rob Long: Um, is this possibly right? If so, yikes:
You know, when I read that the first time fast, I didn't see the words "an aide to," which gave me about 5 seconds of freak out. · 11 minutes ago
Hilarious
I'm stealing "5 seconds of freak out"
Mar '11
Re: Petraeus, Gone
Antiphon
Trey, one of the reasons I'm thinking this is genuine is that, barring they have a huge blackmail card against him, they are asking Patraeus to throw his wife under the bus if this isn't true. That would be tough to do for anyone. Falling to temptation is easier to understand. · 5 minutes ago
I was just thinking the same thing. It would be quite a mark for Petraeus and his wife to bear. If the reason was concocted, I'd think they'd have been able to come up with an equally believable but more innocuous cover story.
So maybe this is exactly what it appears to be?
Re: Petraeus, Gone
Oh my God. Just imagine if that were the case. Then you bring Anthony Weiner into the story. Scandal combo platter.