Amazing Stuff!

I write novels, to be specific, police procedurals, currently about one third through the third (The Absence of Death) in which I have a prominent CIA official, who cheats on his wife, and does lots of other not-so-nice stuff.  But I would never have taken the sex bit in my novel as far as the current Petraeus scandal goes, now also starring General John Allen. As one columnist wrote it's in the territory of a trashy novel.  Perhaps I'm too prissy when I come up with my plots but I always try to keep some semblance of reality when I write.  It would appear that I've been hanging around with the wrong crowd and have no clue what the rich and powerful actually do in their spare time. Sex under the desk--how very uncomfortable, although I did once take a nap under my desk when I worked for GE. Perhaps the answer to the long-discussed literary conundrum is now answered. Does life imitate art or does art imitate life?  At least in this scandal, life has the upper hand. (I did want to publicly note that I have something similar in my third novel, and have had for many months, so when I finally finish, get published, and subsequently accused of stealing my plot, I can say with proof that I was there first!)

But back to the scandal.  As a novelist here is how I think it played out, and why:

Jill Kelly, the woman, connected with both Allen and Petraeus and the shirtless FBI agent, is not just a shameless flirt who thinks marriage vows don't count, she's mainly a user. Perhaps a Kardashian want-to-be. Apparently, she and her husband are similar to that couple that crashed the White House party two years ago. They're social climbers who follow the rich and powerful (in this case the powerful), and as climbers they've needed to spend lots more money than they have.  They're millions of dollars in debt and shortly to lose both their home and professional building as both are under foreclosure. I suggest she became the "social hostess" for the Tampa military facility strictly for the power and money it might bring to her and her family. That her husband went along with it (surely he knows how much money he makes) means he is part of the scam and not an innocent victim.

Paula Broadwell, the woman connected with Petraeus, is not an innocent either but I suspect that she loves him, and was not just seeking entrance to the world of powerful people. (I also believe that Jill Kelly did play footsie under the table with Petraeus but not for love.) The pictures of Paula with Petraeus and the speeches she's made about him say it all--completely gone on the man. That doesn't excuse her behavior, however.  She dressed provocatively whenever she was in his company, for a reason.  Women, particularly those of us who have worked in the professions, know the dress code. We don't show cleavage where we work (not unless we're looking for a certain type of attention) and we don't open the second button of our shirts.  (Let me point out that the previous statement has nothing to do with the old saw that women who dress provocatively deserve what they get--too often men (and some women) say this about women who are raped.)  One has nothing to do with the other.  I often dress provocatively when going out socially, but not in a business setting.

Scott Broadwell, Paula's husband, is rumored to have sent a question to the New York Times ethics column in the summer asking if he should expose the affair of his wife with a highly placed government official?  This is still rumor and not yet proven, but I remember the question very well (because it was so strange) and thought, as did the columnist answering the question, that perhaps the questioner was trying to expose his wife and her lover without doing it directly.  If so, he may have been the person who precipitated the breakup of Broadwell and Petreaeus. But more on that later. He's a bit of a wimp, I think, but I do feel for him. It's humiliating to have your wife exposed in public. The children are too young yet to feel the shame and certainly too young to have written the message in chalk in front of the Broadwell home (Dad "hearts" Mom).

David Petraeus has never been a hero to me. I read enough about him as a military leader to disagree vehemently with how he's conducted the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (and the huge numbers of deaths he precipitated along the way).  I know from many articles written by those who worked with him that he was chasing his four stars by self-promotion. I should also note that he did marry the daughter of Superintendent of West Point.  (His self promotion is for one of my more political blogs. I'd post some of the critiques here about his inadequacies but there are far too many of them. Write me if you'd like to know more.)  As an aside, I particularly find amusing the comments about his wife Holly's looks vs. those of Paula Broadwell considering that Petraeus looks like a homely hick farmer. And that haircut! Reminds me a bit of Hitler's combover.

Back to the scandal--I can't imagine anyone with half a brain in this day thinking he can play in cyberspace and not get caught.  And this is the man chosen to head our spy agency? More important, I find it difficult to believe that his affair started after he left the army and after he joined the CIA. The dates conveniently let him off the hook for any criminal activity.  If he began the affair while he was in the army, he broke the military code of conduct in two ways:  first he committed adultery, a criminal offense in the army, and second, he had a relationship with a subordinate (Paula Broadwell is an army reservist). And if he began the affair before he joined the CIA, he may have lied when vetted about his personal life. Lying to a federal officer under oath is a criminal offense--talk to Martha Stewart if you don't believe me.

The Shirtless FBI Agent.  He'll be out of the FBI very soon, and if not will any of us trust the agency again--if we do now. He acted as Jill Kelly's lapdog. Also, to quote Rachel Maddow. If the FBI were to investigate harassing emails, they'd have to set up an office next to her house.  But that part of the story will be vetted in Congress.

Holly Petraeus is the only innocent here, although apparently she's doing the wifely thing and blaming herself. David Petreaeus didn't deserve your loyalty Holly, so stop blaming yourself.  Life is short. Take half his pension and enjoy yourself!

Yes, I am totally gobsmacked by this story but then so apparently is all America, with I suspect all of Europe laughing at us.