Generals and Spies and the White House : Who's Pulling the Strings

There is a lot going on in the United States right now, dear readers...and most of it isn't reassuring for the future of America. (1) The world is watching with embarrassment as General David Petraeus, the most respected General of post- 9/11 America, is dragged through the mud of an extra-marital affair with the woman who wrote his official biography. She seems to have had misgivings about Petraeus' commitment to her because she threatened another friend of the General, who seems to have been just that, a friend. But in the course of investigating the security ramifications of Petraeus' behavior, the friend was found to be in an email relationship, as yet not defined, with General Allen, who was Petraeus' replacement in Afghanistan. Allen had been set to become the NATO Supreme Commander in 2013, but this now is on hold. Woven through this tale of generals and spies is the Benghazi assassination of US Ambassador Chris Stevens, in which General Petraeus played an important part, along with the White House. Dear readers, this is reminiscent of JR and Dallas...but that it is unfolding at the very highest echelons of US military leadership is simply astounding. (2) And, while the world at large is watching the Petraeus saga unfold, the world financial community is watching America face a fiscal cliff that could leave the US in serious financial trouble. This will occur on 1 January unless President Obama and the US Congress find a compromise to settle the fiscal cliff tax rate issue for high income taxpayers and a decision about extending tax cuts for most American workers. While this sounds like child's play on paper, the issues on the table have been framed against a skyrocketing annual budget deficit and national debt caused by President Obama's fiscal and social spending policies (the national debt has gone from $11 to $16 Trillion and is estimated to go to $20 Trillion in his second term). The President and his Democrat Party ran on a goal of taxing the rich to pay for their increasing flow of social entitlements. The Republican Party that controls the House of Representatives, where tax and budget matters must begin under the US Constitution, is vehemently opposed to raising taxes or increasing social programs. The fiscal cliff will probably be avoided, but not completely or in the statesmanlike way of generations past. So, dear readers, my guess is that America will find herself saved from one cliff but standing close to another one. But, more important, what these two situations reflect is an America that cannot seem to live in peace with itself. Partisan party politics override common sense in Washington. Stalemate and petty argument have replaced the real political process. But, until last Friday, Americans held their military in great esteem. The generals and soldiers who wore the flag on their sleeves were the emblem of the rock that is, for them, America. Congress is angry and shocked by the Petraeus affair, vowing to get to the bottom of it. So we can conclude that Congress is probably the objective party in this situation. But Congress is also angry at the President and his White House about security in general and Benghazi and the assassination of the US Libyan ambassador on particulat. Were the generals 'set up' by White House politicians to take the heat away from their own inadequacies in fiscal responsibility, in their inability to manage the Afghan war or Syria or Iran's nuclear program, and above all...Benghazi. Given the 'coming apart at the seams' we are witnessing in Washington, nothing should be considered impossible. It is certain that we are at the beginning of the first act of what will most likely become an American tragedy.