# Wait, what? Petraeus steps down, citing affair? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 9, 2012, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522 "2012-11-09T20:46:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/1 "2012-11-09T20:46:44Z")
[What the hell is going on here](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/10/us/citing-affair-petraeus-resigns-as-cia-director.html?hp&_r=0)? Let’s speculate wildly about this, because this makes my spidey sense tingle. It seems very bizarre to me that he’s saying, with no ostensible provocation, “Oh, so I had an affair. Better quit now.” ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/2 "2012-11-09T20:48:30Z")
He’d been dishonest. We can’t have the CIA being linked with dishonesty now, can we? ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/3 "2012-11-09T20:50:03Z")
Either he was being blackmailed, or a journalist was getting ready to break the story. I’m sure all the dirt will come out soon. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/4 "2012-11-09T20:50:13Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > [What the hell is going on here](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/10/us/citing-affair-petraeus-resigns-as-cia-director.html?hp&_r=0)? > > Let’s speculate wildly about this, because this makes my spidey sense tingle. It seems very bizarre to me that he’s saying, with no ostensible provocation, “Oh, so I had an affair. Better quit now.” He knew it was going to get ugly and bailed. Happens all the time. My bet is that “the other woman” was going to go public, probably in a very embarrassing way. Some folks hang in and weather the storm, others say “to hell with this,” take the gun out of the opposition’s hands and go home. Can’t say as I blame him. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/5 "2012-11-09T20:52:08Z")
Well, there is the idea that peccadilloes can serve as leverage in blackmail. Perhaps by putting it right out there, he’s avoiding the possibility of being blackmailed even knowing it means the end of his career. Or maybe his wife threatened to cut him off (cut something off?) if he didn’t own up when he resigned. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/6 "2012-11-09T20:53:16Z")
Hmm, yeah, that’s probably it. The other woman was probably planning to be a complete cunt about it, so he nipped it in the bud. I wanted something fishier though. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/7 "2012-11-09T20:54:25Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > He knew it was going to get ugly and bailed. Happens all the time. That’s my take. It was going to get out, and better for him to get it over with now. Particularly since, as the article mentions, he’s in a bad position as someone with access to a lot of classified info. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/8 "2012-11-09T20:55:12Z")
It will be interesting to see if this started to surface before the election and he waited until now to go public. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/9 "2012-11-09T20:57:42Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Hmm, yeah, that’s probably it. The other woman was probably planning to be a complete cunt about it, so he nipped it in the bud. I wanted something fishier though. Given the epithet you used, the adjective “fishier” just about had me on the floor. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/10 "2012-11-09T20:58:40Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Hmm, yeah, that’s probably it. The other woman was probably planning to be a complete cunt about it, so he nipped it in the bud. I wanted something fishier though. You want fishy? Petraeus was scheduled to go before a closed house committee testifying about what actually happened at Benghazi. Now he won’t have to. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/11 "2012-11-09T21:00:29Z")
> [@Eutychus](#): > > You want fishy? Petraeus was scheduled to go before a closed house committee testifying about what actually happened at Benghazi. Now he won’t have to. How do you figure? They can still call him in if they want to regardless. I’m standing with the cunt hypothesis. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/12 "2012-11-09T21:01:44Z")
In anycase, not sure we need a guy who can’t keep his own extra-marital affairs on the down low in charge of our covert intelligence organization. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/13 "2012-11-09T21:02:14Z")
I knew it was only a matter of time before the Benghazi conspiracy theorists spun this. Sad to see a staff member doing it. “OMG! Petraeus was having an affair with Michelle! That’s why Obama let all those CIA agents die!” You read it here first. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/14 "2012-11-09T21:05:39Z")
> [@Eutychus](#): > > You want fishy? Petraeus was scheduled to go before a closed house committee testifying about what actually happened at Benghazi. Now he won’t have to. Predictably, Fox News “experts” are alleging this is part of the alleged cover-up. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/15 "2012-11-09T21:06:22Z")
> [@Eutychus](#): > > You want fishy? Petraeus was scheduled to go before a closed house committee testifying about what actually happened at Benghazi. Now he won’t have to. There we go! Now this is the kind of theory I can run with. > [@TonySinclair](#): > > Predictably, Fox News “experts” are alleging this is part of the alleged cover-up. Wait, are you serious? Hard to know with Fox News. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/16 "2012-11-09T21:12:19Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Wait, are you serious? Hard to know with Fox News. After Tuesday night’s Fox meltdown, it would be obvious to anyone by now. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/17 "2012-11-09T21:13:51Z")
OK seriously. I know that the lack of character and integrity should be my main concern here. But I can’t help thinking: Shouldn’t the head of the CIA be either skilled enough to not get caught, or smart enough to know that getting caught is inevitable?!? ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/18 "2012-11-09T21:17:43Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > OK seriously. I know that the lack of character and integrity should be my main concern here. But I can’t help thinking: Shouldn’t the head of the CIA be either skilled enough to not get caught, or smart enough to know that getting caught is inevitable?!? As cited above, if the other woman went cra-cra, there’s not much he could have done about it. This is why extramarital affairs are a bad thing. You pays your money, you takes your chance. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/19 "2012-11-09T21:21:44Z")
Sounds like a political move. Or the other woman is a boy. ---
**Author:** ![PacifistPorcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PacifistPorcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PacifistPorcupine)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522/20 "2012-11-09T21:23:56Z")
I’m rewatching the West Wing and one of the episodes on season 1 is about dumping stories you don’t want talked about on Friday afternoon. Late Friday, before a 3 day weekend is a good way for lots of people to not notice. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wait-what-petraeus-steps-down-citing-affair/640522.md?page=2)