It may not be a surprise to some of you, but it was to me, how small-minded Mitt Romney is. For him to suggest that President Obama bought re-election by providing “gifts” to certain portions of the electorate is more than just poor sportsmanship. It’s offensive on multiple levels, and it’s exactly the message the GOP doesn’t want to be putting out right now. It’s no secret that the Obama campaign targeted women, minorities and young people to bring them to the polls. But it’s also no secret that Romney simply didn’t have the ground game to win. And Mr. Romney himself is apparently unable to grasp the fact that minority votes may very well have been bought with ideas, not gifts. Slip of the tongue? Poor choice of words? I think not.
There are small minds, but then there may be deceptive ones. I think most of us still haven’t sorted out this Benghazi business. Now we’re hearing sources say that General Petraeus, as head of the CIA, knew instantly that the U.S. ambassador was killed in a pre-planned al-Qaeda attack on Sept. 11, not by some angry mob. Whom did Petraeus tell? If U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice was given bad information about the Benghazi incident before she talked about it publicly, who gave her that information, and why? Who benefited – and what exactly was the benefit? Nothing seems to compute, so far.
If lipstick’s being put on a pig here, who’s the makeup artist? Perhaps the congressional hearings on all this will clear things up. It’s impossible to come to a conclusion about it, based on what’s out there right now, but there are two choices, neither of them good. Either this thing was handled incompetently -- or flat-out deceptively. Guess we just have to stay tuned.
Showing posts with label petraeus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label petraeus. Show all posts
Friday, November 16, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Casting Call
Some of my Facebook friends and I are currently engaged in a game to see who can successfully cast the inevitable movie about this Petraeus/Broadwell/Kelly/Allen thing. So far, I’ve seen votes for William H. Macy to play Gen. Petraeus and Drew Barrymore for Ms. Broadwell. I might prefer Julianne Moore for Broadwell; having trouble with the Petraeus character.
To us, of course, it’s just a game, but I don’t think there are enough buckets in Hollywood right now to catch all the saliva this drama is generating. Is it a soap opera or a spy thriller? “Homeland,” “The West Wing,” or “Revenge”? Oliver Stone must have his running shoes on for this one already. The story has just about everything you could want for a film treatment.
But I still have doubts whether, at bottom, it isn’t just a four-star soap opera. I really hope that’s all it is. I’m not looking forward to those congressional let’s-get-to-the-bottom-of-this hearings, at which all the sordid details of this incident, if that’s what we can call it, are dredged up.
As I said in earlier posts, I think the Obama administration’s handling of the Benghazi attack in which our ambassador to Libya and others were killed would get a flunking grade in Crisis Communications 101. The election is now over, and so should be the game of political football. That said, the administration still owes the country, and the victims’ families, a full explanation of what happened in Benghazi. I’d rather see the administration lay it out than Congress drag it out, along with the other juicy stuff, titillating as that may be.
Does anyone really believe national security was in jeopardy because of Petraeus and Broadwell? National security really is at stake as we inch closer to the Fiscal Cliff. Fixing that would be a much better use of time in Washington.
To us, of course, it’s just a game, but I don’t think there are enough buckets in Hollywood right now to catch all the saliva this drama is generating. Is it a soap opera or a spy thriller? “Homeland,” “The West Wing,” or “Revenge”? Oliver Stone must have his running shoes on for this one already. The story has just about everything you could want for a film treatment.
But I still have doubts whether, at bottom, it isn’t just a four-star soap opera. I really hope that’s all it is. I’m not looking forward to those congressional let’s-get-to-the-bottom-of-this hearings, at which all the sordid details of this incident, if that’s what we can call it, are dredged up.
As I said in earlier posts, I think the Obama administration’s handling of the Benghazi attack in which our ambassador to Libya and others were killed would get a flunking grade in Crisis Communications 101. The election is now over, and so should be the game of political football. That said, the administration still owes the country, and the victims’ families, a full explanation of what happened in Benghazi. I’d rather see the administration lay it out than Congress drag it out, along with the other juicy stuff, titillating as that may be.
Does anyone really believe national security was in jeopardy because of Petraeus and Broadwell? National security really is at stake as we inch closer to the Fiscal Cliff. Fixing that would be a much better use of time in Washington.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Falling in Love
OK, so stop me if you haven’t heard any of these stories before: Powerful man in highly sensitive government post has an extramarital affair. A biographer falls in love with the subject of the work. A leak occurs; powerful man quits. These things don’t always happen in the same way or in the same order, but the elements are the same.
When he knew that his affair with Paula Broadwell was no longer a secret, Gen. David Petraeus, probably the most respected military leader of the last decade, quit his post at the CIA. The question for me is, how much of his business is our business?
I am a great admirer of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, but I don’t agree that this is necessarily Congress’ business. That said, I do recognize that these kinds of things can be potential security risks, simply by the nature of the commission of an act the individuals involved want to hide. I’ve always believed that what Bill Clinton did with Monica Lewinsky fell into this category; this is very much the same. The FBI has investigated the Petraeus affair, however, and has found no breach of security, at least so far, which would be the trigger for the agency to inform Congress. I think times have changed a little since J. Edgar days!
It’s true that many of the facts haven’t come out yet. For example, Ms. Broadwell gave a speech in which she said the Benghazi attack may have been in retaliation for the CIA holding two terrorism suspects in Libya. How did she know that, and should that have been dribbled out in a speech?
Some Europeans, of course, think we’re getting worked up about very little. A powerful man having an affair is not a news story to them. But our Puritan roots are always exposed by these cases. You would think we’d be less Puritanical as time goes on, not more. It’s ironic that we’re able to “compartmentalize” the religious beliefs of powerful individuals, but we can’t seem to do it with their sexuality.
There are real tragedies here, as both Gen. Petraeus and Ms. Broadwell have families. But beyond those private issues – which should remain so – there is a public tragedy. The country, at least in the short term, is deprived of the talents of two high-achieving individuals. For the moment, Gen. Petraeus’ career and the wealth of knowledge that he brought to his new job are functionally useless. Biographer Broadwell, for her part, is no fawning girl: she is a West Point graduate with an impressive career of her own. The Europeans have something of a point when they say that our reactions to these things are a little out of proportion. And BTW, don’t we have other things to think about in Washington right now, like fiscal cliffs?
But hey, this is America. I’m an American, and if you’re like me, you may be a little conflicted. We’re poised to lap up every sordid detail of this business so we can pass judgment on it – as we wonder whether it’s really our business at all.
When he knew that his affair with Paula Broadwell was no longer a secret, Gen. David Petraeus, probably the most respected military leader of the last decade, quit his post at the CIA. The question for me is, how much of his business is our business?
I am a great admirer of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, but I don’t agree that this is necessarily Congress’ business. That said, I do recognize that these kinds of things can be potential security risks, simply by the nature of the commission of an act the individuals involved want to hide. I’ve always believed that what Bill Clinton did with Monica Lewinsky fell into this category; this is very much the same. The FBI has investigated the Petraeus affair, however, and has found no breach of security, at least so far, which would be the trigger for the agency to inform Congress. I think times have changed a little since J. Edgar days!
It’s true that many of the facts haven’t come out yet. For example, Ms. Broadwell gave a speech in which she said the Benghazi attack may have been in retaliation for the CIA holding two terrorism suspects in Libya. How did she know that, and should that have been dribbled out in a speech?
Some Europeans, of course, think we’re getting worked up about very little. A powerful man having an affair is not a news story to them. But our Puritan roots are always exposed by these cases. You would think we’d be less Puritanical as time goes on, not more. It’s ironic that we’re able to “compartmentalize” the religious beliefs of powerful individuals, but we can’t seem to do it with their sexuality.
There are real tragedies here, as both Gen. Petraeus and Ms. Broadwell have families. But beyond those private issues – which should remain so – there is a public tragedy. The country, at least in the short term, is deprived of the talents of two high-achieving individuals. For the moment, Gen. Petraeus’ career and the wealth of knowledge that he brought to his new job are functionally useless. Biographer Broadwell, for her part, is no fawning girl: she is a West Point graduate with an impressive career of her own. The Europeans have something of a point when they say that our reactions to these things are a little out of proportion. And BTW, don’t we have other things to think about in Washington right now, like fiscal cliffs?
But hey, this is America. I’m an American, and if you’re like me, you may be a little conflicted. We’re poised to lap up every sordid detail of this business so we can pass judgment on it – as we wonder whether it’s really our business at all.
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