Did Paula Broadwell's Husband Write A Letter To New York Times About Petraeus Affair?

[Bozita]

Did Paula Broadwell's Husband Write A Letter To New York Times About Petraeus Affair?
The Huffington Post | By Stephanie Marcus
Posted: 11/10/2012 12:25 pm EST Updated: 11/10/2012 12:39 pm EST


Paula Broadwell's husband, Scott, is rumored to have written a letter to the NYT about his wife's affair with Gen. David Petraeus.

An anonymous letter that ran in the New York Times' "Ethicist" advice column on July 13 has sparked speculation that Paula Broadwell's husband, Scott, knew about her affair with former CIA director Gen. David Petraeus.

The reader, whose name was withheld, wrote to the column's author, Chuck Klosterman, for advice about his wife's affair with a "government executive," whose "role is to manage a project whose progress is seen worldwide as a demonstration of American leadership." The reader explained that he has watched the affair intensify over the last year, but added that he respected his wife's lover and believed he was the right man for the high-powered job he held.

His problem was that he believed that exposing the affair would "create a major distraction that would adversely impact the success of an important effort." He asked if he should acknowledge the affair, or suffer in silence to ensure the project he was passionate about succeeded.


more...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/10/paula-broadwells-husband-wrote-letter-nyt-affair-david-petraeus_n_2109455.html

[ann---]

1. That doesn't sound anything

like what an intelligent man who has been cheated on would write.

[jberryhill]

2. Or was it a third party aware of the situation...

...or a Times writer.

Funny how people assume an anonymous letter would have had to have come from the husband.

And also funny how people don't get the joke at the end about doing it IN ORDER to get it into the New York Times - in a piece that...ran in the New York Times.

[Skinner]

3. Here is the letter:

MY WIFE'S LOVER

My wife is having an affair with a government executive. His role is to manage a project whose progress is seen worldwide as a demonstration of American leadership. (This might seem hyperbolic, but it is not an exaggeration.) I have met with him on several occasions, and he has been gracious. (I doubt if he is aware of my knowledge.) I have watched the affair intensify over the last year, and I have also benefited from his generosity. He is engaged in work that I am passionate about and is absolutely the right person for the job. I strongly feel that exposing the affair will create a major distraction that would adversely impact the success of an important effort. My issue: Should I acknowledge this affair and finally force closure? Should I suffer in silence for the next year or two for a project I feel must succeed? Should I be “true to my heart” and walk away from the entire miserable situation and put the episode behind me? NAME WITHHELD

Don’t expose the affair in any high-profile way. It would be different if this man’s project was promoting some (contextually hypocritical) family-values platform, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. The only motive for exposing the relationship would be to humiliate him and your wife, and that’s never a good reason for doing anything. This is between you and your spouse. You should tell her you want to separate, just as you would if she were sleeping with the mailman. The idea of “suffering in silence” for the good of the project is illogical. How would the quiet divorce of this man’s mistress hurt an international leadership initiative? He’d probably be relieved.

The fact that you’re willing to accept your wife’s infidelity for some greater political good is beyond honorable. In fact, it’s so over-the-top honorable that I’m not sure I believe your motives are real. Part of me wonders why you’re even posing this question, particularly in a column that is printed in The New York Times.

Your dilemma is intriguing, but I don’t see how it’s ambiguous. Your wife is having an affair with a person you happen to respect. Why would that last detail change the way you respond to her cheating? Do you admire this man so much that you haven’t asked your wife why she keeps having sex with him? I halfway suspect you’re writing this letter because you want specific people to read this column and deduce who is involved and what’s really going on behind closed doors (without actually addressing the conflict in person). That’s not ethical, either.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/magazine/a-message-from-beyond.html

[HereSince1628]

4. Great advice...protecting a creep boinking his biographer is great for the country

Objectively the evidence is THERE, right?

Just look at the unemployment numbers since July.

What's been revealed is yet another example of the connection between American leadership and the capacity to unzip.

[demhottie]

5. Wow!