November 9, 2012

Petraeus's woman: his biographer!

What does it say about a man that he falls for the woman who cranks out the PR about what a swell guy he is?

It's so... John Edwards and Rielle Hunter.

The man falls in love with... himself!

122 comments:

Matt said...

Oh! So this is just hype to build up book sales then?

campy said...

Obama is in love with his autobiographer.

Michael K said...

Well, Jack Welch married the woman who interviewed him for Business Week of Harvard Business Review.

Flattery goes a long way with old guys like me.

Michael K said...

"of" is supposed to be or.

edutcher said...

This assumes all this adultery is for real. The object of the exercise seems to be getting him out of testifying.

As I say, a little too Joan Collins for credibility.

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...

Obama Administration: Support our cover story, General, or we'll reveal your affair.

Petraeus (doing the only thing that grabs power back from blackmailers): I am resigning due to an affair.

Democrat Senate: Oh, OK. You don't have to testify now.

So, Republican House of Representatives, time to do your duty.

This should get interesting.

And sorry Ann, it's not about the affair, or any salacious details about it. That's just another bright shiny object.

How about not being their useful idiot, for once.

chickelit said...

The entire Washington Press Corpse is in love with Barack Obama.

woof said...

The FBI is investigating if she had access to classified information either accidentally or intentionally.

bagoh20 said...

Good one, Campy.

Meade said...

"And sorry Ann, it's not about the affair, or any salacious details about it."

What makes you so sure the affair wasn't a setup?

Ron said...

You'll rue this post when Meade writes the Althouse bio...

rhhardin said...

The man falls for the woman who is satisfied with him, if his wife isn't.

chickelit said...

What does it say about a blogger that falls for the commenter who cranks out the comments about what a swell person he/she is?

[ducks]

edutcher said...

You get the impression Choom's people think everybody's as stupid as the people who voted for him.

chickelit said...

Oops, Ron got there first.

Synova said...

The fallacy is that men and women can be friends and that frequently meeting with someone attractive to you and talking about your hopes and dreams while they listen avidly isn't a really, profoundly, stupid idea.

bagoh20 said...

Having an affair does not make people comparable
Hunter is no Broadwell, and Edwards is certainly no Petraeus. I doubt that Edwards ever did anything honorable in his whole despicable life.

Ann Althouse said...

"You'll rue this post when Meade writes the Althouse bio..."

Meade's chances of writing a book are close to nil.

My first husband was a writer. And I maxed out long ago on books about me. If you only knew!

Farmer said...

Synova said...
The fallacy is that men and women can be friends and that frequently meeting with someone attractive to you and talking about your hopes and dreams while they listen avidly isn't a really, profoundly, stupid idea.


Holy crap. I'm afraid you're not speaking a universal truth; you're saying something really disturbing about yourself.

Meade said...

"Meade's chances of writing a book are close to nil."

True, but I am taking notes.

Anonymous said...

What everybody is missing is the part about her accessing classified information. If he let her do that for a roll in the hay then he should resign. It's unacceptable.

Anonymous said...

I suspect that the normal "powerful man has affair" polarity is reversed here.

She seduces him in order to get access and become famous.

FBI investigates access

Director resigns

PS: She's a West Point Grad and knows better...

Meade said...

"It's unacceptable."

And inappropriate?

Ann Althouse said...

If only I could get him to write a book. I want him to write a book about himself. If you folks could help me get him to do it, it would be wonderful. I don't want anything for myself. I decline interviews (and am lambasted for being an egotist for refusing to accept the attention).

ricpic said...

What Synova said was thoughtful and possibly based on hard experience. That's all it says about her, Farmer.

chickelit said...

If you folks could help me get him to do it, it would be wonderful.

Don't you mean marvelous?

Dante said...

Holy crap. I'm afraid you're not speaking a universal truth; you're saying something really disturbing about yourself.

My Dad once said that men and women can't be friends. There is always some sexual tension, on one side or the other.

I think that makes sense. Men and women have been evolving separately for millions of years.

And I'll be clear, while as I get older I can see distinctions between men and women (hell, the election should tell you that), I still don't get it.

tom faranda said...

Am I the only one who finds the biography title "All In ..." amusing?

bagoh20 said...

"Blogger Hunting and Trapping - A field guide for beginners".

Anonymous said...

Meade said...

"It's unacceptable."

And inappropriate?

11/9/12 6:46 PM
__________________________

Playing grab-ass while married is inappropriate. Allowing unauthorized access to classified material while heading the CIA is unacceptable.

Meade said...

"My Dad once said that men and women can't be friends. There is always some sexual tension, on one side or the other."

Something tells me David and Holly Petraeus have probably been just friends for a long time.

Dante said...

Meade,

Do not be selfish. Your amazing wife ( =) ) loves you deeply, and wants you to express your philosophy.

You can write your thoughts down, and have them published posthumously, and even under a pseudonym.

It will make your wife happy to see you taking your creative energy and opening up the wealth of your experiences and observations to others. She sees it. While she may want to share you with the world, this is the decent compromise.

I hope you got endless cuddles and other things for taking your time in painting that house!

chickelit said...

"Blogger Hunting and Trapping - A field guide for beginners"


"How To Meade Women"

Ann Althouse said...

"endless cuddles"... is that what men want? Who knew!

Dante said...

Something tells me David and Holly Petraeus have probably been just friends for a long time.

Are they friends, or just married?

When love fades, and the basis for the relationship erodes, what is left.

Perhaps a one side affair, which was the point my dad was making.

Meade said...

Nice try, Dante. Thanks. And yes - I milked the house painting job. Still am.

edutcher said...

Meade said...

And sorry Ann, it's not about the affair, or any salacious details about it.

What makes you so sure the affair wasn't a setup?


In old KGB, such women were known as swallows.

Meade's chances of writing a book are close to nil.

True, but I am taking notes.


Hmmm,

Live And Let Blog

The Blog That Came In From The Cold

Blogfinger

Thunderblog

From Bloggress With Love

It could be a series, but who plays the heroine, Neutrality Galore?

Dante said...

"endless cuddles"... is that what men want? Who knew!

That's what I want, and don't get.

OK, let's change that, to endless libidinal bliss.

Anonymous said...

Meade said...

"My Dad once said that men and women can't be friends. There is always some sexual tension, on one side or the other."

Something tells me David and Holly Petraeus have probably been just friends for a long time.

11/9/12 6:57 PM
--------------------------------

I think you could be friends with Babara Mikulski, Janet Reno, or Neapolitano. I think Ann would agree;-)

Anonymous said...

Blogger Ann Althouse said...

"endless cuddles"... is that what men want? Who knew!
______________________________

I think that should be 'post-coital endless cuddles'.

Synova said...

ricpic and Farmer... it's actually being aware enough of reality to *avoid* hard experience, even though my entire life society has told me that I can have a husband and a best buddy who's a man, at the same time and that a man can be good friends with a woman he's not married to.

Of course a person can be friendly and amiable and have a social relationship with someone of the opposite sex that they are attracted to. You can grab lunch with a co-worker or work on a project... whatever. You don't have to be enemies.

But tread lightly if you ever feel tempted to confide or seek emotional support and comfort... because that's what *friends* do.

Unless he's gay. Why do you think women love gay men so much?

Saying... oh, wow, Synova has a problem, an abberation, it's super easy to have good male friends with sexy asses who listen to your troubles when you're down and it only turns out bad if you've got something wrong with you.

The divorce rate in our society ought to be a clue.

Mary Beth said...

It's very appealing when someone is interested in everything about you.

Meade said...

No, Lars - I could not be friends with Babara Mikulski, Janet Reno, or Neapolitano.

Nor would I want to be just friends.

Anonymous said...

I want him to write a book about himself. If you folks could help me get him to do it, it would be wonderful.

Apropos of nothing, Meade, why don't you take a stab at an autobiography? You never know, you might please somebody or other no end.

Irene said...

edutcher said:

"In old KGB, such women were known as swallows."

Monica Lewinsky swallowed?

Peter Hoh said...

The man falls in love with... himself!

Bingo!

jimbino said...

News to you Ann, but having sex has nothing to do with falling in love!

Sex, love, friendship, cohabitation, marriage and breeding are independent things. Each of them has always existed alone and in various combinations with the others.

Did you convert to Roman Catholicism when I wasn't looking?

Dante said...

Attempt 2:

"Nice try, Dante. Thanks. And yes - I milked the house painting job. Still am"

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain... Time to die.

[Blade runner, of course]

See, this meme is alive, and here. Helping people to understand. And helping people to live on, and add value to future generations.

Anonymous said...

Synova at 6:40 is precisely right. If you think it can't apply to you, you are lying to yourself, and you might want to examine your emotions and thoughts to find out why.

Oh, who am I kidding? You are not going to make such an examination until the damage is done. Go ahead, you crazy kids, you deserve some joy out of life!

caplight45 said...

I thought for Meade it was endless bike rides. Who knew it was cuddles?

Meade said...

"Meade, why don't you take a stab at an autobiography?"

I will. Give me 30 years. Everything I do, I do slowly.
(Except for the one thing I do very fast.)

Meade said...

Cap: Endless bike rides are cuddles.

Anonymous said...

Synova, I agree with you. If you want a confidante that you can spill your heart out to and you have a husband or significant other, choose a person who is the same sex as yourself.

Peter Hoh said...

Meade: What makes you so sure the affair wasn't a setup?

If so, it was set up by then-senator Obama in 2006.


William said...

I wouldn't want to share the intimate details of my life with Erica Jong or Nora Ephron. I wonder if any of their husbands made them sign non disclosure agreements.....As sex scandals go, this one's not particularly salacious. The background political details are far more prurient.

Trashhauler said...

Once he came clean to the President and the FBI, there remained zero chance that blackmail was a possibility.

I have no doubt in my military mind that he had an affair. I also have no doubt that his resignation was not caused by the affair.

Now, when he testifies before Congress about Benghazi, he can take the Fifth or, like Hillary before him, fail to recall all of the events. And the 2016 candidate field has been reduced by one.

caplight45 said...

Synova said...
The fallacy is that men and women can be friends and that frequently meeting with someone attractive to you and talking about your hopes and dreams while they listen avidly isn't a really, profoundly, stupid idea."

Syanova is correct. You may not want to believe it, you may not want that fact to constrain your behavior and you may enjoy playing with fire. By Syanova is correct.

So you have an older man near the end of his career, spends months and years away from his wife, lives in the adrenalin rich atmosphere of a war zone who spends a year with a beautiful ambitious woman who listens to his deepest inner thoughts. Bake at 350 for an hour and stick a fork in it.



Lydia said...

Something tells me David and Holly Petraeus have probably been just friends for a long time.

Kinda creepy thing to say, Meade.

Dante said...

Peter:

If so, it was set up by then-senator Obama in 2006.

You don't get it, do you? The new world order is that if you do ANYTHING that meets the eye of the beholder as plausible, it can be offered up as the Raison d'être.

That happens when the press is willing to turn a blind eye. Like the attacks on 9/11, it's obvious this is retribution for saying the CIA gave no orders to stand down. So someone else did.

It's also the proof to anyone paying attention that the CIA did not give the orders, but followed them.

And it's further proof the press is going to try to cover this up.

Trashhauler said...

And if everyone in Washington City resigned because they had an affair, the place would be nigh on a ghost town.

edutcher said...

Irene said...

In old KGB, such women were known as swallows.

Monica Lewinsky swallowed?


Only if she's Russian.

Kelly said...

That's so John Edwards? I would say that is so Washington DC.

If Petraeus was still in the army, adultery is a court marshaling offense. However, he wasn't running for office, you could say it was a personal mistake.

So what's the real story I wonder?

Meade said...

Santa Ana said...
"Kinda creepy thing to say, Meade."

I'm a big creep. Haven't you heard?

Hagar said...

Let's don't jump to concussions here. No more than has been published, we do not know if it has been if Petraeus did a Sanford, or they had a couple of drinks and got stupid on one occasion.

Also, this being Washington, D.C., let us be wary what does get leaked until these hearings are over with, at least.

Trashhauler said...

Adultery while on active duty is not automatically a crime under the UCMJ. It only becomes so when it threatens good order and discipline, as it might if it were with another Service member or another Service member's spouse. Since she was a civilian not under his command, presumably acting on her own free will, there was probably no cause for disciplinary action.

Had it been discovered back then, it could have been cause for the President to relieve him of command, for loss of confidence, but no UCMJ action.

Meade said...

"As sex scandals go, this one's not particularly salacious. The background political details are far more prurient."

Exactly.

And maybe the affair itself was not a setup but it's not impossible that it was information the Obama people had on file when Obama tapped Petraeus for the CIA job.

Peter Hoh said...

Meade, I think you're onto something. This might explain why Roberts had a sudden change of heart and ruled in favor of Obamacare.

Anonymous said...

She was purportedly attempting to get or actually had access to his sensitive email account. Not substantiated.

Trashhauler said...

Meade wrote:

"And maybe the affair itself was not a setup but it's not impossible that it was information the Obama people had on file when Obama tapped Petraeus for the CIA job."

Very possibly the latter or they sicced the FBI on him and got the goods. There must be something else - maybe letters - that made him cop to adultery. If he had merely cited personal reasons or a desire to be with his family more, then every reporter would have been searching for the real reason. Now, the MSM can mention it, remark on how sad it is, and forget it, in consideration of his and his wife's privacy, dontcha know.

Rabel said...

I feel obliged to jump in in defense of the lady in question.

I haven't seen anything remotely like evidence or an admission that she is the affairee.

One unsourced report from Slate parroted by other outlets.

Is everybody jumping the gun?

Meade said...

Peter, yes - perhaps Elena Kagan was having an affair with Inga, Inga tried to get access to Elena Kagan's sensitive email account, and John Roberts changed his position on Obamacare because he is a constitutional conservative and he sees himself as uniquely entrusted with the custodianship of the Court’s legitimacy, reputation, and stature. So he did what he had to do to keep the lid on the Inga and Elena scandal.

caplight45 said...

Watching Piers Morgan on the Petraeus
stuff and I am surprised to hear Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon reporter, saying that the idea Obama had no idea of this before the election strains the imagination or some expression like that. Then she said that it raises issues of what other things were being hidden in the days before the election.

Even Piers Morgan expressed incredulity quite openly. I wonder if now that they got him elected some of the gloves will come off? Not a prediction just musing.

Also the question is more freely being raised about how any President could not be informed the FBI is investigating his CIA director.

A former CIA "operative" on the show says he knows four other DCIAs who had affairs and it never blew their careers. Keeps saying something else is going on.

Barbara Starr thinks Gen. P is just falling on his sword to spare his family the drip, drip, drip of Washington media and politics.

Paul Bremmer, former Ambassador to Iraq is next. Should be interesting. interesting.

Anonymous said...

Meade, Elena Kagan is the wrong sex. Not likely .

Peter Hoh said...

Any proof that it was Ms. Broadwell?

Whoever runs PaulaBroadwell.com decided to take the site offline. Her role in an affair would seem to explain this action.

Meade said...

Well, who would know better than you what sex she is, Inga?

Protest too much much?

Trashhauler said...

Inga wrote:

"She was purportedly attempting to get or actually had access to his sensitive email account. Not substantiated."

Emails from 2008? Not likely relevant, especially after he told the President and the FBI. Any potential access would have ceased long ago.

Most likely just more Chicago politics.

caplight45 said...

Trashhauler said...
"And if everyone in Washington City resigned because they had an affair, the place would be nigh on a ghost town."

That would definitely be a step in the right direction.

el polacko said...

ooooh!! did they have oral or anal ?!? enquiring minds want to know !!!!
ACK! looks like the TMZ celebrity "news" culture has completely taken over.
either this has to do with benghazi or this is just salacious nonsense.

Meade said...

Besides, it's the internet. How would any of us know you're really an Inga and not in fact an Irving?

Matt Sablan said...

... The title is really All In? My God, the world -- I can no longer parody it.

Anonymous said...

Meade, I have not had relations with that woman.

Revenant said...

Or, more likely, she fell for HIM because of his biography and he fell for her because she's cute and has boobs.

edutcher said...

If he/she/it did have relations with Kagan, the first time she sat on Oop's face would kill him/her/it.

The Genius Savant said...

All I will say is at least he had some *real* accomplishments that benefited us all before his downfall, unlike to whom you compare him, John Edwards.

Anonymous said...

Edutcher you really are a swine.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Peter Hoh said...
Meade: What makes you so sure the affair wasn't a setup?

Peter Hoh: If so, it was set up by then-senator Obama in 2006.


If only all conspiracy theories could be dealt with so quickly.

DADvocate said...

She was cranking out more than PR. She must have seen something in him she liked, and wanted him in her.

David said...

"The man falls in love with... himself!"

That's not new information with respect to Petraeus.

So what was the "unrelated investigation" of Petraeus about? The one that lead to BroadBroad.

DADvocate said...

Meade: How would any of us know you're really an Inga and not in fact an Irving?

Melvin Udall: I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability.

Inga's a woman.

David said...

The White House is saying it was "surprised" by this when Petraeus came to resign.

That is a total crock--or an admission or incompetence.

FBI had to tell the White House what the investigation was about. "Had to" in the sense that it's their policy.

So someone high up in the WH knew about this. Therefore either (1) Obama knew or (2) WH procedures did not result in Obama knowing about this very important matter.

Which is worse?

Dante said...

Edutcher you really are a swine.

Inga, you are a whore.

Anonymous said...

How would YOU know Dante?

Dante said...

Meade, I have not had relations with that woman.

No, he had a relationship. Relations would have required Hillary.

Look, Inga, you are the equivalent of a prostitute that doesn't want to give out, but wants to be paid.

Prostitutes are better, at least most of them.

Dante said...

How would YOU know Dante?

No offense to most women, but that's the game. The guy gives. The woman gives sex.

You just want it from the government, or dare I say it? From Obama. And the million faceless men that have to pay for you.

I have paid for it in the legal way: dinners, movies, drinks, etc. Though I think drinks is becoming illegal.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Dante said...
No offense to most women, but that's the game. The guy gives. The woman gives sex.


I'm sure you genuinely believe that most women wouldn't find this offensive.

Anonymous said...

Dante, FYI, I worked since. Was 15 years old, in my twenties I became a nurse then worked until a year ago. All those years I paid taxes, so you are full of shit.

Anonymous said...

And Dante, if a woman gives you sex for merely taking her out to dinner she's a dumbass.

Maybe she used You for sex, maybe she likes 6 foot tall birds with yellow feathers.

bleh said...

I don't understand why he had to resign. The blackmail rationale doesn't make sense, since he's publicly admitted the affair. So what is it?

Dante said...

Dante, FYI, I worked since. Was 15 years old, in my twenties I became a nurse then worked until a year ago. All those years I paid taxes, so you are full of shit.

Oh, great. That gives you the authority to tell everyone else how to live their lives. There is a thing called "charity."

The predominate sense I get from you is that you feel you could not have been successful without government. I'll be clear: if I felt that government could raise up people, the country, I would not have an issue with the taxes.

But all I see is waste. All I see is pandering for votes, using other people's labor.

David said...

Reporter Kessler of Newsmax, who broke the story, has another piece that, if true, puts all in a very sinister light. He says WH knew for a long time, deliberately held off until after the election. Broadwell broke off the affair "shortly" after P was appointed to CIA. P pursued her with "thousands" of emails thereafter.

The investigators had email references to sex under a desk. There were rumors of the affair.

FBI investigators are "outraged" that Obama left him in place for political reasons.

This raises the possibility that Obama knew of the affair when he appointed Petraeus. Consider the implications of that.

http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/petraeus-resigns-cia-affair/2012/11/09/id/463573

Dante said...

"No offense to most women, but that's the game. The guy gives. The woman gives sex."

I'm sure you genuinely believe that most women wouldn't find this offensive.

In this new world, I'm certain that offensiveness trumps truth, you know. Don't be a weasel.

Frankly, the distraction from this truth has caused a lot of problems. Somewhere, it no longer was who is going to be a good provider, it became something else. And with illegitimacy at 41%, maybe you are right, reasonable man. It takes an Obamao, who can take from the producers and give to Julia.

Dante said...

And Dante, if a woman gives you sex for merely taking her out to dinner she's a dumbass.

Sweetheart, I never paid for it. (Until I got married!!!!)

Barry Dauphin said...

Without further details, it is ridiculous to compare Patraeus to Edwards. I realize that it sounds cute to do so, but is quite lazy.

Hagar said...

The "affair," if any would have come up one way or another when Petraeus was being vetted for the CIA job, and even if it was considered over and done with and not a problem, it would, or at least should, have been noted in the vetting report to both the White House and the Congressional intelligence committees.

So, yeah, Congress is going to have a field day with this. The backbenchers are going to want to know if the leaderships knew and passed on it, and if so why, and in any case, "What the heck just happened here?"

Freeman Hunt said...

The fallacy is that men and women can be friends and that frequently meeting with someone attractive to you and talking about your hopes and dreams while they listen avidly isn't a really, profoundly, stupid idea.

Just reposting what Synova wrote here because it's true, as others have pointed out, and could save somebody a lot of trouble in life.

Freeman Hunt said...

You don't get to have affairs full of embarassing artifacts, like thousands of emails, with that level of security clearance. It's a big deal.

I wonder if that story you linked is right, David. That would be shocking.

Steve Koch said...

The affair is not important, it is just a distraction. The key topic is Benghazi.

Hagar said...

Freeman,
At this point, just file everything for reference if anything more than administration leaks come out.

Methadras said...

Well, at least she's hot. What else is there to say? I've seen his wife, god bless her.

Rob said...

Her book is titled All In. Too much information!

bleh said...

Hate to blame Obama for this, because it really isn't his fault - if there's no Benghazi angle, that is - but everything he touches turns to shit. One of the most admired men in America joins the administration, then resigns in disgrace.

Everything he touches turns to shit.

Lucien said...

Fred Kaplan's piece over at Slate says the biographer had been embedded with the general.

Talk about burying the lede.

Peter Hoh said...

As an occasional listener to Hugh Hewitt, I know that using gmail or yahoo or AOL is helping to fund liberal causes. And those commie companies can filter and scan your email. Real Americans get their email through Reagan.com.

So it should come as no surprise that Petraeus was brought down because of gmail.

rhhardin said...

Tim Blair speculates on movie casting for the story.

[P]ut Newt Gingrich in a wig and you’ve got the perfect Mrs Petraeus.

Clyde said...

And the book's title?

All In.

Really!

sakredkow said...

This can't help her writing career. I wouldn't trust anything she wrote now.

Sydney said...

Strange thing about the biography. The cover says it is written "by Paula Broadwell with Vernon Loeb." If she were a real biographer wouldn't she be able to write a biography without any help? That's the kind of byline you see in "autobiographies" by people who can't write. What's the story there? Was she his mistress before she got the book contract or after?

jfxgillis said...

Don't forget Jack Welch and Suzy Wetlaufer.

Strelnikov said...

Unlike Hunter, this paramour doesn't look like she's been rode hard and put up wet. So that's something.

Strelnikov said...

And his relationship with "Vernon Loeb"? Some things are best left unknown.

miss j said...

Major differences:
1. John Edwards met Ms. Hunter in a bar and later hired her to tag along his campaign as his "videographer."

2. John Edwards had no special requirement to avoid "conduct unbecoming..."

Revenant said...

I'm sure you genuinely believe that most women wouldn't find this offensive.

The truth hurts. :)