The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

The Other Woman’s Jealousy of the Central Command Liaison Brought About the Downfall of CIA Director Petraeus

Posted on | November 11, 2012 | 26 Comments

The resemblance between the Obama administration’s national security policy and a soap opera is purely coincidental:

The FBI was investigating harassing emails sent by Petraeus biographer and girlfriend Paula Broadwell to a second woman. That probe of Broadwell’s emails revealed the affair between Broadwell and Petraeus. The FBI contacted Petraeus and other intelligence officials, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper asked Petraeus to resign.
A senior U.S. military official identified the second woman as Jill Kelley, 37, who lives in Tampa, Fla., and serves as an unpaid social liaison to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, where the military’s Central Command and Special Operations Command are located.
Staffers for Petraeus said Kelley and her husband were regular guests at events he held at Central Command headquarters. . . .
The military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation, said Kelley had received harassing emails from Broadwell, which led the FBI to examine her email account and eventually discover her relationship with Petraeus.
A former associate of Petraeus confirmed the target of the emails was Kelley, but said there was no affair between the two, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the retired general’s private life. The associate, who has been in touch with Petraeus since his resignation, says Kelley and her husband were longtime friends of Petraeus and wife, Holly.

Keep in mind that Paula Broadwell is a West Point graduate who met Petraeus when she was getting a graduate degree at Harvard and yet — and yet — she was so stupidly jealous that she accidentally destroyed Petraeus’s career because of her irrational (and apparently mistaken) suspicion that the CIA director was also shagging the “social liaison” at CentCom HQ in Tampa.

Remind me of this episode the next time some Ivy League egghead starts asserting the inherent superiority of the meritocratic elite.

Comments

26 Responses to “The Other Woman’s Jealousy of the Central Command Liaison Brought About the Downfall of CIA Director Petraeus”

  1. Bob Belvedere
    November 11th, 2012 @ 7:28 pm

    I will remind you, with much pleasure!

  2. JeffS
    November 11th, 2012 @ 7:28 pm

    In this particular sordid tale of sex and betrayal, there are two interesting aspects concerning the assertion of the inherent superiority of the meritocratic elite:

    1. Broadwell is anything but a superior intellect.

    2. Petraeus may have a superior intellect, but his judgement was clouded by the inferior intellect positioned between his legs, no doubt aid by a large serving of arrogance. The net effect is that he acts like an idiot.

  3. mtranquilnight
    November 11th, 2012 @ 7:28 pm

    RT @smitty_one_each: TOM The Other Woman’s Jealousy of the Central Command Liaison Brought About the Downfall of CIA … http://t.co/XfG

  4. Bob Belvedere
    November 11th, 2012 @ 7:31 pm
  5. Quartermaster
    November 11th, 2012 @ 7:52 pm

    Do you hate RSM that much? I think his statement was rhetorical in nature 🙂

  6. mare
    November 11th, 2012 @ 8:07 pm

    JeffS, what do you base this on? Looking at her biography and accomplishments I disagree.

    1. Broadwell is anything but a superior intellect.

    But did she act like a jealous, silly female…well, yes. Not smart. Patraeus not too smart either.

  7. Kyle Kiernan
    November 11th, 2012 @ 8:17 pm

    Lets not forget Lisa Nowak when we play recall. She was a Naval officer, astronaut, and mission specialist, all requiring serious creds and education. Higher ed certifies special skills and specific knowledge not sensibilitiy and wisdom regardless of what the libs try tp say

  8. slp
    November 11th, 2012 @ 8:17 pm

    This soap opera reminds me of Fatal Attraction.

  9. Bob Belvedere
    November 11th, 2012 @ 8:21 pm

    No, just being selfishness. One of my great pleasures in these dark times is to read Stacy tearing some fool a new one!

  10. Bob Belvedere
    November 11th, 2012 @ 8:22 pm

    It’s certainly starting to…but a really bad imitation cooked-up by Lifetime.

  11. JeffS
    November 11th, 2012 @ 8:25 pm

    I base it on her actions, using the same logic as I did Petraeus, and for the same reasons. Her inferior intellect is different in form only. I didn’t elaborate because Stacy has covered a lot of those basics.

    Which you would have known had you read (and comprehended) his above post.

    I elaborated on Petraeus only because Stacy didn’t. In terms of biography and accomplishments, Petraeus in fact surpasses Broadwell. The only area in which Broadwell appears to surpass Petraeus is in Teh Crazy™.

  12. Sunday Evening Quick Hits | The Lonely Conservative
    November 11th, 2012 @ 8:32 pm

    […] as Gateway Pundit points out, we’ve been here before.Oh well, at least you’re not David Petraeus.Tweetvaso linkgoogle_ad_client = "ca-pub-1395656889568144"; /* 300×250, created 8/11/08 */ […]

  13. Angel
    November 11th, 2012 @ 8:34 pm

    She did not destroy his career. He destroyed his own career by his dishonorable behavior and they destroyed both their own marriages.

  14. Wombat_socho
    November 11th, 2012 @ 8:39 pm

    Standard Obama MO: if a man is causing you problems, remember – no man, no problem, and if you can remove the man by disclosing some shameful past deeds, so much the better.

  15. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    November 11th, 2012 @ 10:11 pm

    Hmmmm. Who could you be referring to?

  16. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    November 11th, 2012 @ 10:12 pm

    She is definitely above average in smarts (you don’t get into West Point being a dumb ass intellectually). But emotional and common sense measurement of intelligence? I am thinking she is below average.

  17. Bob Belvedere
    November 11th, 2012 @ 10:40 pm

    I couldn’t possibly guess, but for some reason the song, ‘Chicago, Chicago, that toddling town…’ is in my head.

  18. JeffS
    November 11th, 2012 @ 11:17 pm

    And then there’s this:

    Did Petraeus mistress reveal secret CIA prison?

    Her biography is impressive, but she ought to know what OPSEC is all about.

    Banging Teh Crazy™ is no way to go through life, Petraeus.

  19. Charles
    November 11th, 2012 @ 11:33 pm

    How do we know that Kelley was suspected by Broadwell of being involved with Petraeus and not, let’s say, with Broadwell’s husband?

    It seems to me that if Kelley was involved with Petraeus, she would go to him for help, not to the FBI. That would also explain the Dad loves Mom driveway decoration.

    If the beef between the two women was unrelated to Petraeus, that might explain why the intelligence committees weren’t notified. They are only informed abut counter-intelligence investigations. The judiciary committees have jurisdiction over other FBI criminal investigations, and probably don’t get briefings about most investigations..

  20. AngelaTC
    November 12th, 2012 @ 1:04 am

    My theory, based on absolutely nothing, is that the female friend talked Patreus into dumping the mistress, perhaps telling him that if it continued, said friend would talk to Mrs. P about the whole nasty business. General P came to his senses, ditched the mistress, who did not relish going quietly. Maybe they should have put her on the kill list, or one of those secret prisons. Heck, they could have just put her in custody, claimed national security interests, and held her indefinitely.

  21. garymrosen
    November 12th, 2012 @ 1:31 am

    From LC’s story:

    “the Justice Department informed James Clapper of the results of the investigation on election night”

    … as soon as they saw “270” go up next to Obama’s name.

  22. Adjoran
    November 12th, 2012 @ 2:32 am

    That’s really immaterial. Whatever the reason, Broadwell began harassing Kelley to the extent she felt it necessary to call the law.

    The discovery of Petraeus’ misconduct was incidental to that investigation.

    The FBI signals that Congress wasn’t notified because no breach of classified information was detected, but an adulterous affair involving a flag officer/DCI is a breach of security in itself. It was an FBI whistle-blower, apparently upset by the coverup for political gain, who notified Congress.

  23. K-Bob
    November 12th, 2012 @ 5:43 am

    Ooh. Triple entendre.

  24. K-Bob
    November 12th, 2012 @ 5:45 am

    The song, “I Can’t Quit You” comes to mind.

  25. DYSPEPSIA GENERATION » Blog Archive » ‘The resemblance between the Obama administration’s national security policy and a soap opera is purely coincidental’
    November 12th, 2012 @ 9:55 am

    […] The Other McCain has some fun with the Petraeus affair (no pun intended). Keep in mind that Paula Broadwell is a West Point graduate who met Petraeus when she was getting a graduate degree at Harvard and yet — and yet — she was so stupidly jealous that she accidentally destroyed Petraeus’s career because of her irrational (and apparently mistaken) suspicion that the CIA director was also shagging the “social liaison” at CentCom HQ in Tampa. […]

  26. Monday Morning Ketch-up: Time to Recycle the Old Soviet Jokes « Nice Deb
    November 12th, 2012 @ 12:04 pm

    […] Other McCain: The Other Woman’s Jealousy of the Central Command Liaison Brought About the Downfall of CIA Direct… The resemblance between the Obama administration’s national security policy and a soap opera is […]