http://www.nationalreview.com/node/417397/print A human tragedy, &c.
By Jay Nordlinger — April 24, 2015
This is a shocking headline: “Ex-CIA chief will be sentenced for leaking military secrets.” You almost have to read it a second time, to grasp it.
The article begins, “Former CIA Director David Petraeus, whose career was destroyed by an extramarital affair with his biographer, was expected to be sentenced Thursday in federal court in Charlotte for giving her classified material while she was working on the book.”
The word “tragedy” is probably overused (like many words). But the Petraeus story is a tragedy almost Greek in its scope. I believe he is, on balance, a good or great man who had a moral breakdown, not true to his nature.
Do you remember when MoveOn.org, the left-wing group, labeled Petraeus “General Betray Us”? It was in 2007. Those words have a creepy ring now (to me).
Anyway, Petraeus has a lot of living to do, in or out of jail — and it will probably be out. I write these words before his sentence is announced.
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