Apologists for Petraeus Are Getting It Wrong!

I admire General Petraeus and thought he might even make a good president someday. However, unlike some in the media and the "talking heads" (both on the Left and the Right) who lament about how this shouldn't have caused him to resign, I think he did indeed need to resign. Like those who said the Clinton-Lewinsky thing was no big deal - it was just sex - the apologists for Petraeus are wrong! Those who think this didn't need to be brought to the attention of the President and Congress as soon as it was discovered are wrong! And those who think this didn't threaten national security are wrong!!! This isn't about David Petraeus' personal life. This isn't just about sex. It's not just between he and his wife or he and his Maker. I don't care about that. Those are his problems. This is fundamental to security because an extramarital affair makes someone vulnerable to blackmail. General Petraeus had to know that, yet he did it anyway which also calls into question his judgement. Further, even if he apparently did the right thing by resigning, look at the enormous distraction and disruption this has become and at a time when we can ill afford it. We have a looming fiscal crisis and serious questions about Benghazi that require the government's full attention. In the end, I think we should take comfort in the fact that, had he been threatened with blackmail, General Petraeus' resignation demonstrates that he would have been willing to put country ahead of self in that situation too. Or maybe this has already happened? We automatically assume that the blackmail would come from some hostile foreign country. With all the controversy surrounding this incident and the many questions still to be answered about what really happened in Benghazi, General Petraeus' testimony was and is going to be crucial. Could the blackmailer be closer to home than we think? Could someone or some group have been trying to influence his upcoming testimony and never dreamed he would resign and accept humiliation rather than toe the line? Eventually we will know for sure.

Now General Allen?

"Curiouser and curiouser!" cried Alice.

Attention Liberal Thinkers: Help Me Out Here!

Okay my liberal friends, I need your help. I guess I just don't remember what I learned in the undergraduate degree in Economics that I earned 27 years ago. Exactly how is raising taxes right now going to help the economy? Except for the obvious 100,000 new teachers, how will more money for hiring 100,000 new teachers, help reduce unemployment in the short-term which is when we need it? Will more revenue in the government coffers really be used to pay down the debt or help keep Social Security or Medicare solvent? I'm serious folks! Weigh in and explain it to me. I look forward to hearing what you have to say.