I've Got a Secret

Trey Smith

The BIG news that came out of Washington, DC on Friday is that CIA Director David Petraeus tendered his resignation due to a grievous indiscretion. Did he break some law or agency policy? Did he sell secrets to the enemy?

Nope. He decided that he couldn't lead this nation's chief spying agency because he had cheated on his wife.

It might be one thing if his affair had caused a great scandal and Republicans were calling for his head on a platter. At that juncture, either he himself or the President may have decided he needed to fall on his sword to save the administration from turmoil and distraction.

But here's the thing: It seems that almost no one knew about the affair UNTIL he publicly admitted it. While several lawmakers have been calling for his head due to the incident in Benghazi, Libya, no one was calling for his resignation due to an illicit affair that appears to be a well-kept secret.

Besides, what does any of this have to do with being a civil servant? This personal matter should be between Petraeus and his wife. He might be a terrible husband, but being a terrible husband doesn't mean by itself that he is a terrible Director of the CIA.

Government leaders and civil servants aren't saints. They fall prey to the same foibles as the rest of us. If we required our leaders to have spotless moral records, the Oval Office and Congress would be filled with infants and toddlers!

The way this whole situation came about strikes me as extremely fishy. Something altogether different is going on, but, in order not to draw the public's attention to it, Petraeus agreed to proffer this tawdry excuse. I'm certain it will work as intended because Americans just love to feast on sex scandals.