The media is exhausting every angle and absurdity. The Week has "The 7 strangest details of the David Petraeus Affair" including that "Kelley's twin sister dated a governor" and that the New York Times Magazine Ethicist Chuck Klosterman "did not counsel Scott Broadwell - maybe." Apparently the Times ethicist wrote about a reader seeking advice of how to deal with a spouse cheating on him with a high-ranking "government executive" who sounds a lot like Petraeus. The Times says the writer wasn't Scott Broadwell — Klosterman himself isn't sure — "which begs the question: What other top-level government official is having a Petraeus-style affair?" The Week inquires.
The New Republic has an interesting twist in Noam Scheiber's "Paula Broadwell, a Hanger-On in King Petraeus's Court". It's all about how meritocracy gone awry is the culprit. Maybe this is a bit over-thought. I doubt being among the best and brightest would have helped entice the nation's top spy to stray if she'd been unattractive or plain. It's no coincidence that the women involved are beauties in great shape.
There's also the Daily Beast's Ken Sepkowitz writing "Doctors as Doormats in the David Petraeus Scandal" about the physician husbands of Broadwell and Kelley.
And in a lonely category of media commentary comes The Daily Beast's Allison Yarrow's, "A Scarlet Letter - the Monica Lewinsky-ing of Paula Broadwell." For those with short memories, Monica Lewinsky was the woman President Bill Clinton had an affair with while he was chief executive after lying to the American public - and to wife Hillary - about it. Notes Yarrow: "The more things change: one of the world’s most powerful men stepped out on his marriage, yet much of the public attention and opprobrium has focused on the far-less-powerful woman who was drawn to him..."
That many in the media and other onlookers see the women involved as mata-haris from which strong, decent men are being lured into illicit sex (or inappropriate flirtations) is hardly surprising. That's how we as a society view the "other woman" - she's trash while the man involved is somehow suckered in.
But it takes two to tango. And there's a simple way to avoid the "traps" of these beautiful, often obsessive women. It's sad to have to tell spies and generals this - they should know better after all. But when these black-widow spiders try to lure you in bed (and I'm oh-so sure they must be doing the luring - right?), be flattered but just say "no".
Try it sometime, men. It works.
Posted by Fannie Flono
Jennifer Flowers tried to say no Fannie and guess what happened to her as did Juanita Broaddrick who said no and none the less was raped by your hero Bill Clinton and along with that came a black eye. If that is not enough for you Fannie here are some more women that tried to day no --- Eileen Wellstone, Elizabeth Ward, Sandar Allen James and Kathleen Wiley all of who were forced into sexual encounter with the same classy guy that spoke at the DNC here in Charlotte.
ReplyDeleteSpot on Skippy....
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing coming from the left about "the war on women", when its biggest jerk, Bill Clinton is still highly revered.
The Rev Jesse Jackson and his son, Jesse Jr, approve of this message.
ReplyDeleteSkippy said it all. I'll only add that Monica Lewinsky was hardly a "mata hari who lured a strong decent man into illicit sex". Lewinsky was a young intern taken advantage of by a serial abuser of women and a sociopath. And any father worth his salt would have punched Bill Clinton in the mouth on national television.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the Observer would love to keep this as a "sex scandal" when the truth is that Broadwell disclosed that the Benghazi attack was an attempt to storm the secret CIA prison where two Libyans were being held. Could it be the CIA was questioning (torturing) the Libyans in an attempt to recover the 20,000 shoulder-fire missiles that NATO lost?
ReplyDeleteFannie and other Obama worshippers are praying and spinning as fast as they can to keep this as a "sex scandal".
Oh and Fannie when are you going to follow Peter's lead and actually respond to the comments people post?
Skippy, Wiley Coyote, Unknown, kantstanzya, Garth Vader - I guess y'all didn't get the memo. Barack Obama is God, Bill Clinton is the archangel Gabriel, and anyone who disagrees with them in any way, shape or form is the embodiment of evil.
ReplyDeleteI love how the media grabs a story, then either buries it or runs it into the ground based on whether or not it casts the Democrat Party in a positive light or not, and then blames the rest of us (as in, "we are a nation of voyeurs. So this...is a train wreck we can't stop watching or talking about."
Yeah, it's all the people's fault. I've only spent 10 minutes talking about this with other people, and have only read about 10% of the stories written about it. I know I'm not the only one that has only spent a little bit of time on this. I'm trying keep up with the facts about the case as it relates to America's security. Who flirted with who, who testified in who's divorce hearings, hanging around people's houses, etc. - that's the media, not the "nation of voyeurs."
Everything OK, Fannie? It's got to be freezing cold up there on that mile-high horse.
Fannie,
ReplyDeleteTime to retire. Your arsenal of rhetoric that passes for reporting is more outdated than those calvary horses your annoited one cited in the debate.
If the people have become voyeuristic, it's because that's what they've been taught by the leftist media and entertainment industry.
The media has consistently chosen to spend 1,000 times more reporting on a sex scandal than on the real terrorist attack that killed four Americans! Reality TV keeps breeding in dark corners despite the fact that everyone knows there is nothing "real" about it. We get force-fed everything Kardashian to the point that it's impossible to stand in a grocery checkout line without seeing one of all of them on the cover of at least one magazine!
Then, at the end of the day, you wonder why newspapers have lost so much of their readership? Journalism is dead. You've all become the National Enquirer and the paperazzi.
One thing we can still count on is that any column you write will be a divisive one. Either get a new script, or a rocking chair.
Good article Fannie. There's a huge double standard when it comes to these kind of affairs.
ReplyDeleteAnd please don't let the Angry Old White Men Brigade (and their faithful spouses) get you down. They don't subscribe to the paper anyway, seeing as how they view it as a liberal rag and all it's professional staff as willing conspirators in a vast plot to destroy America. And they're really, really ticked off about the election, their usual histrionics magnified by their debilitating disappointment that the scary black man won again.
They listen to AM conservative talk radio all day, watch FOX News all evening, and spend all night sweating through fevered dreams of persecution from all those media types who just won't jump on the righteous, right-wing express. They wake up angry and seethe their way through the day.
They're actually the minority, thank God, and they're freeloading off the Observer online as a way to annonymously vent their pent-up anger. Nobody who actually pays attention pays them any mind.
Keep doing what you do and thank you from the sane half of the population. It's the only way to hold off the barbarians at our gate.
Monica DID NOT have a affair with Bill. A affair would mean some kind of relationship took place. We all know that what took place WAS NOT a relationship.
ReplyDeleteGrow up .
It seems as if some of these commenters did not fully read the opinion piece. I normally disagree with Fannie Flono and her left of center ideals; however, in the case I would agree with her position. Contrary to the above commenters, she is placing equal blame on the women and men involved in these scandals including Bill Clinton.
ReplyDelete