A General Mess

Last week Retired 4 star General David Patraeus stepped down from his post as director of the Central Intelligence Agency after 14 months. As the details surrounding his ouster began to emerge, it appeared that the truth really is stranger than fiction. Patreus who is married had been having an affair with Paula Broadwell a senior defense official and his biographer. Broadwell is also married.
The affair came to light when Jill Kelley, a social planner who organized events at MacDill Air Force Base began receiving harassing e-mails, she then asked an FBI acquaintance of hers to investigate. Upon further investigation it was discovered that Broadwell was the author of the e-mails, and was apparently jealous of Patraeus relationship with Kelley who co- authored one of his books previously. In a shocking twist, Kelley who is also married was having an extra-marital affair of her own with Afghanistan Marine General John Allen (also married), who was recently nominated to be the new NATO supreme allied commander for Europe. General Allen accumulated 30,000 documents, most are e-mails with Kelley. Adultery is against military law, and General Allans nomination has now been put on hold.
It gets better! The unnamed FBI Agent allegedly sent topless photos of himself to Kelley prior to the investigation, and is now being investigated by the Office of Professional Responsibility, the FBI internal affairs division.
This is a drama of epic proportions almost too surreal to be believable. Upon hearing all of these sloppy details, I thought to myself, there is no way anyone can possibly defend Patraeus or anyone involved.
Of course I was wrong. Pat Robertson, a televangelist of questionable character, and self proclaimed man of God. Went on to say that Patraeus is just a man who could not resist a beautiful woman, who probably threw herself at him. As if his opinion totally clears Patraeus of all wrong doing. This is the same man who condemned Former President Bill Clinton in the midst of the Lewinski scandal, thanking The Republicans for their thorough investigation. There in lies the hypocrisy. People like Pat Robertson who say that they are men of God, yet pick and choose who to condemn based on their political alliances instead of biblical principal, are even more iniquitous than those whose short comings they have chosen to ignore. The bottom line is, no matter what race or political affiliation, men of power feel that they are in control of the universe. They believe that they can get away with anything and everything until they don't any more. Some become fallen heroes like Patraeus and Allen, while others crash and burn in disgrace. But the one thing that they all have in common is the fact that their legacies will all be punctuated by a footnote.

PR