Some fun and a quick thought for the weekend.
Today's Congressional hearings with David Petraeus, former head of the CIA, were a Rorschach test: conspiratorial minded Republicans heard what they wanted to hear about a non-scandal and non-coverup in Libya; other more reasonable folks heard a story about a chaotic, kinetic, and (then) developing attack on the U.S. Consulate/CIA listening station that was--and is--still being sorted out.
The Petraeus-Paula Broadwell-Jill Kelley scandal is like a bad Lifetime TV movie. There is sex, betrayal, high society living, greed, debt, wannabe celebrities, and powerful people. I believe in Occam's razor where the simplest explanation is usually the most correct one. I am also a fan of a good conspiracy theory. As much as the Tea Party GOP would like it to be, the Petraeus imbroglio is not about Obama, blackmail, or a cover-up regarding Libya.
This whole matter will eventually be exposed as a twisted tale of sex, alpha male indulgence, suburban debauchery, and Tampa's underground swinger and sex party scene.
Some data points:
1. Jilly Kelley was an informal "social liaison" (a position which does not exist, and few have heard of) to Central Command and the Joint Special Operations Command in Tampa. She relished this role and was given special perks and access including hanging out with some of the country's most elite warriors and their superstar leaders like Petraeus. Kelley even parachuted with members of the United States Special Forces as part of an "outreach" program to the local Tampa community.
2. The emails between Jill Kelley and General John Allen have been described as phone sex--extremely lurid and titillating. This relationship had been going on for some time.
3. Kelley and her husband were socialites who also had a thing for military types. They ran up significant debts through a cancer "charity." In reality, the charity was used to finance these private parties and to maintain the appearance that Kelley and her husband were rich socialites. Kelley came from a relatively modest background. However, she was able to cultivate and maintain the interest of powerful men such as Petreaus and Allen. How was this possible? What was she offering them?
4. Kelly's charity appears to be a slush fund. This conclusion leads to some obvious questions. Were those monies used to finance off the books activities for generals and the special ops community? Kelley was also an informal go between and "ambassador" to several Middle Eastern countries. What else was she coordinating (or used as a courier and coordinator for)? What were these activities? Sex, drugs, semi-official covert operations, secretive diplomatic matters, etc.?
5. Jill Kelley was the focal point and nexus of the relationship between Petreaus, General Allen, and other figures in this still emerging scandal. Paula Broadwell, Petreaus' mistress, and the "shirtless" FBI agent, were also part of the Tampa social scene and had connections to Kelley.
6. Tampa is known for its sex clubs and swinger's parties. Undoubtedly, many of these clubs and parties cater to the large number of military personnel in the area. Every subculture has its own hierarchy. The top brass would have their own preferred clubs. The special operations soldiers likely had venues which they prefer and attend more than others.
7. In all, my instincts tell me that the real scandal and anxiety for Petreaus and all parties involved is that the "debauched" underground sex subculture of the military brass, generally (they are powerful folks; powerful folks tend to enjoy a certain "variety" in their sex lives) and of the Joint Special Operative Command in Tampa, specifically will be exposed to the public.
8. Some questions remain, however. Was the shirtless FBI agent part of Kelley's party scene? Did he want Jill Kelley to invite him to the private sex parties which she in theory coordinated, hosted, or was aware of? If other folks connect the dots in what is obviously a far more lurid and interesting story than has been revealed so far, will the media go with the story? Or will they be under pressure to hush up a scandal that would reveal the sexual habits of America's most feted generals and superhero-like soldiers?
20 comments:
You can probably scratch the 'Shirtless FBI Agent'. Seems that was a widely sent 'joke e-mail', not specifically for Kelley. [but we'll see, eh?]
But 'Oh Yes' on the rest. I still think Broadwell is a Domme and Petraeus is a boot licking sexual submissive.
@Nebris. We shall see. You know folks like us be crazy.
The whole damn lurid narrative is so obviously governed by Dick-Logic! laugh
@SA. Ain't it? Nothing more complicated than that.
CdV: what's more complicated than Dick-Logic? It rules the world!
(or, the apter word: "complicating")
The real story here (or one of the real stories) is how a private citizen (Kelly) can use the FBI as a private detective agency, because of some annoying emails from a woman saying "stay away from my man!"
If you or I receive threatening emails, harassment, can we call the FBI and have them jump on the case? Of course not. After one of the blog hosts essays on gun control, some truly disturbing, psychotic responses were posted. Any luck having the FBI trace the IP and take action?
And was it Kelly who called 911 to complain about journalists on her lawn? LIke she expects a swat team to show up?
- Buddy H,
Yes, the Kelley stuff is the real story here. The first time I saw the picture of her and her sister with the Petraeuses at one their parties my jaw hit the floor. That scene had decadence and star-f*cking written all over it. I think this is all just another chapter in the continuing saga of the uselessness of our self-appointed elite and their misplaced sense of entitlement.
So that's why the Rs had their convention there.
If you or I receive threatening emails, harassment, can we call the FBI and have them jump on the case? Of course not. – Anon/Buddy H.
@ Anon/Buddy H, I concur with you. I’ve had my personal experience with the CIA and FBI. They are both pieces of sh!t agencies. Personally, I believe that they should both be abolished by congress due to their unabridged propensity for corruption. F*^k both of these alphabet adorned, criminal agencies!
So that's why the Rs had their convention there.
bears repeating...,
Since entertainment is the opiate of the masses in America the Obama Administration is banking on the sex scandal to keep the focus off the blowback in Benghazi.
How did Broadwell get classified documents on her hard drive? Petraeus says he was not the source.
“Now, I don't know if a lot of you heard this, but the CIA annex had actually, had taken a couple of Libyan militia members prisoner and they think that the attack on the consulate was an effort to try to get these prisoners back. So that's still being vetted." – Broadwell 10/26/12
Was this statement a figment of Broadwell’s imagination, or did she glean that information from classified documents?
[President Barack Obama stripped the CIA of its power to take prisoners through an executive order signed soon after his inauguration in January 2009. It put an end to the controversial network of secret jails that operated under the administration of President George W Bush.]
"Any suggestion that the agency is still in the detention business is uninformed and baseless," agency spokesman Preston Golson said.
However: “In an interview with ABC News in August, Glen Doherty, a 42-year-old former Navy SEAL who worked as a contractor with the State Department, said he personally went into the field to track down so-called MANPADS, shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, and destroy them. After the fall of Muammar Qaddafi, the State Department launched a mission to round up thousands of MANPADS that may have been looted from military installations across the country. U.S. officials previously told ABC News they were concerned the MANPADS could fall into the hands of terrorists, creating a threat to commercial airliners.” – Yahoo
It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that Doherty and company were capturing and interrogating militants to find these MANPADS. I doubt that Ambassador Stevens would leave the relative safety of Tripoli and travel to the dangerous Benghazi (on 9/11) unless there was some extremely important business which had to be handled there instead of in Tripoli.
"The challenging thing for General Petraeus is that in his new position, he's not allowed to communicate with the press. So he's known all of this – they had correspondence with the CIA station chief in, in Libya. Within 24 hours they kind of knew what was happening." – Broadwell 10/26/12
Congress needs to hear from Broadwell.
I wrote, upthread: "The whole damn lurid narrative is so obviously governed by Dick-Logic! laugh"
All joking aside: the timing of these "revelations" makes it clear that what's going on is a major house-cleaning. Because if J. Edgar Hoover taught the Murrkkan Gubmint anything, it is this: to keep accurate Dirt Files on *everyone* for A.) purposes of blackmail B.) as a kill-switch. We are seeing the kill-switches going off like fireworks for the Second Inaugural Ball:
this
and this
annnnd this
annnnd thisssss
...and the latest Gaza outrage is not unrelated!
Speaking of J Edgar, was he also touched by the tar brush?http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/therootdc/post/was-j-edgar-hoover-black/2011/11/20/gIQAZcu3kN_blog.html
It's like the Roots said yo, in that song "Pussy Galore"
She used to say she want to be a doctor
And couldn't nothin' stop her
From givin' up that cash for tuition
Even if she had to 'shake that ass'
Fucked up her money, ain't accumulate that fast
Lorraine know it's real and sex control, America
Turn the TV on, it's in the open on the regular
Yo, what the freaks in the video for?
Fuck a song, give me a thong and Pussy Galore
You see, life's about marketin' and Pussy Galore
Every time I turn around it's more Pussy Galore
Nations goin' to war for the Pussy Galore
Either the cash, the raw or the Pussy Galore
Yo, gang wars, more Pussy Galore
From the streets to the record store, Pussy Galore
Every time I turn around, it's more Pussy Galore
Either the cash, the raw or the Pussy Galore"
@nomad: I heard that about Jedgar... and I heard it (from my mother) about... (drum roll)... Ike! Neither hypothetical is impossible nor even implausible. I think "Whites" in North America are not quite ready to confront their ancestral woodpiles; a lot more are "passing" than are aware of it. Whites in Northern Europe have a bluish tinge that most blue-eyed Murrkkans are no longer quite able to accomplish! Laugh
@Invisible Man:
I miss the days that one had to dig around in a box under one's uncle's bed to find that precious Playboy full of tan-line-highlighted breasts...! It's amazing that honeytraps are still getting top dollar for such market-saturating commodities...
America is a base of the path society. Indiscriminate lust and hedonism are intrinsic to American culture.
The real issue here however is the foreign policy fiasco in Libya. On that issue Republicans in Congress have no moral authority. John McCain was one of the most vocal supporters of the Libyan insurgents. He knew that there was an Al-Qaeda element amongst those insurgents. Indeed, without the battle-hardened carriers of the Black Flag the Libyan insurgents could not have beaten their way out of a paper bag.
Christopher Stevens became the coordinator of US support for the Libyan insurgents. He knew they were arming Jihadists, just as they are arming them today in Syria. NATO became Al-Qaeda’s air force in Libya. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain and everyone in Congress who voted to fund the war on Libya has the blood of those four Americans on their hands.
If Jihadists carried out the assault in Benghazi, why would they turn on their primary supporter? Did the US turn on them first, as it did Noriega, Hussein, Qaddafi and others the US used to achieve certain objectives?
All of these accusations about a video, taking points, and a sex scandal are just a distraction from the root cause of the Benghazi assault. There are legitimate questions about what and when did the POTUS know about the attack and what orders did he give to whom? Questioning Susan Rice is nothing more than political theater. Where is Wikileaks when we need them?
1. Most Air Force bases have at least one social liaison. They're the people who set up Memorial Day/Veterans' Day events, military discounts for personnel who frequent local businesses, blood drives, etc. They perform a valuable function, by removing the barriers between military and non-military people in the local towns and cities. And in a post-9/11 world, in which non-military people have to hump (I mean, jump) through hoops to walk or drive through a base's gates, their work is needed more than ever to smooth out tensions between the factions.
That being said, Floridian bases have a *bad* reputation re: sexual excess. IME, it's Patrick AFB, not Tyndall, that has the worst reputation, but all of them are known as "party" destinations (yes, all kinds of parties.) Floridian bases use an inordinate amount of antibiotics for curing STDs, they produce an inordinate amount of sex-based criminal charges and there's a reason why the most ornate "Fleet Week" celebrations are held there (Don't believe me? Visit Tampa Bay's Craigslist ads during Fleet Week. You'd think that America's armed forces were designed to be repositories for sex partners.)
My favorite "serving with Floridians" story works like this: at one point in my career, half of my surrounding staff was made up of people who had spent 3-8 years stationed in Florida. The people?
1 guy with nipple piercings. In 4 years of service, he managed to get rid of the 30 pounds of fat that he couldn't be motivated to work off during military basic training. Being unable to lose weight during Basic is like being unable to die from thirst in a desert. He was/is an out bisexual.
1 guy with nipple piercings and a Jacob's Ladder. He was/is a swinger. He's also bisexual.
2 women who used fraudulently accrued sick days to cheat on their husbands. When their husbands complained, my lower-level and upper-level commanders (both veterans of Florida bases) stepped in to "convince" the men to avoid divorce, despite the fact that one of the women was filmed in the act (her video, with her and five other guys, went viral and was seen by at least 10,000 active-duty personnel.)
1 guy who greeted me with a list of available swingers clubs within one hour of my new base. His daughters (17 and 14) were frequent guests at Mr. Jacob's Ladder's house.
1 guy who frequented prostitutes often enough to earn discounts. He was a triple divorcee who badmouthed his former wives for being "closeminded".
1 girl who arrived pregnant (could have been 1 of at least 4 guys, according to her) in Florida, left Florida as a gay-leaning bisexual (lost custody of the child, who was sent to live with her parents.) Her girlfriend tried to get me drunk on three occasions to even the score (she wanted a child, but my workmate refused to introduce her to good enough guys.)
1 ephebophile, literally. The guy collected as much legal 16-17 year old porn as possible (Page Three girls from the U.K., Dutch/German pictorials, etc.)
I'm not saying that this post is a slam funk, but I will say that I wouldn't be surprised in the least if there was a connection. Florida sucks.
@ma. I like slam funk. It feels good ;) More seriously, thanks for sharing the details. I wonder if all of this will come out at some point. What do you think of Kelley's role? Do you think she was involved in some off the books stuff re: her ties to diplomats and running a slush fund?
@Chaunceydevega
When a scandal erupted, remember your ATCQ.
"Industry Rule No. 4080, record company people are shady."
Except replace "record company people", with, "any human being that has ever spent money without working or being married to a working individual.
The fact that she was able to command the respect of generals (not colonels, not majors/commanders, not even chiefs, generals), points to some level of shady dealings. Tyndall, while important, is not a large enough base to require giving a civilian (with no military experience) the level of access that she's been said to have (in comparison, Lackland and Travis AFB have liaisons with more warranted levels of power, to include Kelley's responsibilities buffered with military-derived security levels from prior service, etc.) As is, Kelley's pre-scandal status was as jarring to read as a video vixen's tell-all (the type of book where a woman most famous for being "Girl in Champagne Bubble Bath #3" says that {insert name of elite rapper here} used to let her file his yearly taxes and count his jewelry unsupervised.) I'm not saying that things weren't totally above the counter, I'm just saying that the likelihood of dirt taking place is high (even if the "dirt" in question involves convincing legal-aged Airmen to hang out with older people "and whatever happens, happens.") Incorruptible Pure Pureness only exists in peoples' minds.
P.S.-I remember my workmates...pecadilloes because of their lack of shame, not because of their actions. Military life is used, it's worrying in many ways, so you tend to find plenty of fatalists, libertines and deviants. Hell, *I* have plenty of stories that aren't fit for children's ears! However, I was accustomed to meeting people who needed to be drunk before testing the waters, or who needed to know you for months. I'd never expected to get picked up from an airport by a 40+-year old man, just to have him point out the local FKKs and swingers clubs en route to my new base. It was so surreal, I avoided visiting his home as much as possible.
Post a Comment