Here is why this case has political consequences: Benghazi. The Øbama administration appears possibly to have ignored cries for help and allowed Americans to die in Benghazi, and then covered up the nature of the attack for several weeks after the fact by claiming the attack was an unorganized, spontaneous reaction to the emergence of an anti-Muhammed film. *** Mitt Romney COULD have turned this into a bigger campaign issue that it was. But as it remains, the issue of possible Øbama malfeasance is so potentially explosive that it COULD become a focus of contemplated IMPEACHMENT proceedings. *** And now, the man who OUGHT to know everything there is to know about Benghazi is SUDDENLY prevented from testifying to Congress. Question: WHAT was so critically important about this affair, which broke no laws, that breaking the story -- and breaking Petraeus himself -- couldn't have waited a few days, until after he testified before Congress? *** SOMETHING about this story SMELLS...

It's a shame. A highly successful guy like Petraus who has led mostly an exemplary life, who is a good man and credit to this country by any meaningful measure, is brought down by succumbing to a craving that is bulit in to us humans at a biological level. No, it's not a shame, it's absolutely RIDICULOUS. After thousands of years of this going on we, as a spiecies, continue to ignore (more like absolutely refuse to deal with in an intelligent and straightforward manner) 2 basic facts: 1) We all want sex, of one kind or another, more or less frequently, depending on the individual, 2) We all get tired of having sex with the same partner, year in and year out, so we (overtly or covertly..to get some military jargon in here), at some point, seek out another person to have "new" sex with. We need to just face this fact about ourselves and stop deluding ourselves that we, who either haven't done it (yet) or have but haven't gotten caught, are somehow higher and mightier than a guy like Petraus,a guy that 90% of the people on the planet could not measure up to. I GUARANTEE you this...99% of all the hetero males on this planet, and especially the married ones, would hop into bed with this woman in a second IF 1) they had the OPPORTUNITY and 2) they thought they could get away with it. The other 1%...fibbers!! I mean, not to be flippant, but it's like marijuana and alcohol in a way, since people are 100% going to use it and do it, why "criminaize" ad punish people for it. I think if we modified marriage a bit, and allowed for something "strange" every now and then (withing certain guidelines), people would be able to get this stuff out of their system, and many more marriages, AND CAREERS, would survive. (And I know all about the national security implications for certain occupations...I'm talking generally here)

I think the FBI agent who notified Eric Cantor's office needs to be fired for going way outside his chain of command. The investigation determined that there were no security implications and this was nothing more than a human tragedy - there is no reason for the rest of the world to know about it. Imagine where we would be today if FDR's affair with Lucy Mercer were a disqualifier?

When it comes to infidelity, there are two types of people. Those that do it and those that don't have a tempting opportunity to do it.

HolderJustice (tm) knew late summer that the head of the CIA was vulnerable to blackmail and under investigation and Obama wasn't told? Nope, not buying it.

I think it is the Republicans who knew about this & chose not to tell the Congressional Committees. Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) confirmed Sunday he first learned of the affair several months ago from a friend who knows Kelley. Reichert told House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who put Kelley in touch with FBI Director Robert Mueller. Cantor’s staff didn’t immediately tell the House Intelligence Committee or other House leaders because they didn’t know whether the information was credible, Fox News reported. Retired U.S. Army Col. Steve Boylan, Petraeus’ former spokesman, said the general is kicking himself for his atrocious lack of judgment. “He hugely regrets what happened,” Boylan told ABC News. “He pretty much threw away the best job he ever had and put his family through something just too hard to describe.”

This is the most succinct and precise summary of the story so far, and I thank the author.  Conspiracy theorists want to make it into a "Watergate" type of story (hello, Rudy Giuliani), but I never felt it had that kind of smoking gun.  The trouble is, in this paranoid time, many people just cannot believe the simple truth that even a great man can lose his way  and destroy his own life's work.  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  Oh, and that "impatient" low-level FBI agent has a lot to learn, and he needs to be disciplined severely.

I don't believe that Clapper, Mueller, Holder, and Obama were not notified of the Petraeus investigation in its early stages. After all, this was General Petraeus, CIA Director, not Private Joe Schmoe, Military Policeman. I also don't believe 'officials' who said that the timing of notifications had nothing to do with the election. Of course public knowledge prior to the election would have been politically disadvantageous to Obama. He appointed Petraeus. This whole thing doesn't pass the smell test, just as the 'Fast and Furious' and 'Benghazi' scandals. How important must situations be to warrant notifying the previously mentioned top officials in this administration?

Absolutely - high level Democrats were notified long before 11/6/12.