Double standard: Why is Broadwell the villain in Petraeus’s affair?
More complicated is the relationship between Petraeus and Broadwell, if only because of an investigation into questionable e-mails she sent to Kelley, whom she apparently considered a rival. Broadwell is allegedly being investigated for “cyberstalking” and also in regard to classified documents found on her computer. …
Nevertheless, Broadwell’s reputation has been tarnished well beyond the sin for which she has expressed sincere remorse. The married mother of two has been characterized by an increasingly tabloid press as the scarlet woman, the “mistress,” an outdated word that indicts a woman but rarely the man, smirkingly suggestive of “kept-ness.” …
As much as we sympathize with the painful upheaval suffered by the families involved, let’s pause a moment for Broadwell and recall that she was an Army officer, a West Point graduate, an accomplished, yes, ambitious, elite member of the military who, as it turns out, happens to have had a relationship with a man for whom she apparently had strong feelings.
Did she cause others pain? Of course, and for this she is suffering by all accounts. Does she deserve to be pilloried in the public square? Or does she deserve the same second chance any similarly accomplished man would be accorded?
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By all accounts she is not suffering at all. Her husband is a cuckold. Her family supports her. I’m sure if Petraues left his wife for her, she would be thrilled. She doesn’t care about pain she might cause his family.
Blake on November 28, 2012 at 8:05 PM
Because she made him do it.
arnold ziffel on November 28, 2012 at 8:09 PM
Because the FBI apparently found classified material on her home computer?
malclave on November 28, 2012 at 8:09 PM
What makes you say this? The villain in this story must be David Petraus, as we are all ultimately responsible for our own behavior. I am sure Mr. Petraus knows this very well.
alwaysfiredup on November 28, 2012 at 8:14 PM
If we’re all responsible for our own actions, then how is Petraeus the villain?
catmman on November 28, 2012 at 8:17 PM
She was sending threats to a woman she perceived as interested in him. That indicates that she had not gotten over him and was going to continue to pursue him. So, no, she does not care if she causes his or her own family pain.
Blake on November 28, 2012 at 8:19 PM
How is it a double standard to hold woman to the same standard as men?
Oh, right. ‘Equality’…
catmman on November 28, 2012 at 8:20 PM
Always whining about something.
WisCon on November 28, 2012 at 8:22 PM
Not if used correctly, which it isn’t in this case.
OldEnglish on November 28, 2012 at 8:23 PM
What part of “married, mother of two” having sex with a man who is not her husband don’t you understand?
Mitoch55 on November 28, 2012 at 8:25 PM
Because in any relationship between a man and a woman, the woman’s in charge.
LincolntheHun on November 28, 2012 at 8:28 PM
Haven’t you ever been on a job at a romantic locale like Afghanistan or DC and just lost your mind?
arnold ziffel on November 28, 2012 at 8:30 PM
They are both villains. The only time I hear anyone saying Petraeus is innocent is when people complain that people are saying Petraeus is innocent.
Darth Executor on November 28, 2012 at 8:47 PM
No double standard. I think what both of them did was bad.
terryannonline on November 28, 2012 at 8:52 PM
Thread winner.
jix on November 28, 2012 at 8:59 PM
Sounds like Parker slept with a few married men to get where she is
Daemonocracy on November 28, 2012 at 9:34 PM
Could be worse.
a capella on November 28, 2012 at 9:45 PM
I call BS.
look at the “mainstream” views on affairs that comes out of Hollywood and literature.
When the man cheats, he’s evil.
When the women does, it’s always justified by something lacking or caused by the husband.
Like Bridges Of Madison County or whatever it’s called.
There are many more examples.
Ben Hur on November 28, 2012 at 9:48 PM
Simple. The pursuer usually get the blame, and Broadwell appears on the surface to have been the pursuer. If she really wasn’t, well cry me a river and take it up with your darling media – the one that loves to savage female conservatives for having the gall to exist, much less screw around.
drunyan8315 on November 28, 2012 at 9:50 PM
This crap again? They both deserve to be pilloried.
Rocks on November 28, 2012 at 9:56 PM
That weird tango with client #9 comes to mind. And when he and the MSM kicked her out the morning after without so much as a goodbye kiss, that’s when we knew the whore’s price.
Again for the HA’s editors; why are you reading and rebroadcasting a cheap twaddle like KP? Certainly isn’t for her “brilliant ” mind.
AH_C on November 28, 2012 at 10:11 PM
Yeah, cause that is the important question to be answered.
They’re both villains. Happy? The most interesting part of this whole affair is whether it led to Petraeus trying to help cover up Benghazi, or whether the White House tried to use it to get Petraeus to cover it up.
The most pathetic part of the affair is the number of people who completely ignored what happened in Benghazi until there was a sex scandal attached to it.
Which reminds me: did Kathleen Parker write any columns about what happened in Benghazi? Or did she just get interested when Petraeus resigned because he was having an affair?
tom on November 28, 2012 at 10:20 PM
Second chance at what?
sent threatening twit emails to another, similarly accomplished female?
entagor on November 28, 2012 at 10:23 PM