Farcical plot thickens

Where to begin? Let's start off with a picture:

From left to right, that's Natalie, the "unstable" twin (an adjective that doesn't seem quite fair, all things considered), Petraeus, Jill's husband Dr. Joe Schmoe, Jill herself, and Holly Petraeus. (Note the Michaele Salahi head-tilt employed by Jill-1 and Jill-2. It's de rigueur among ladies who schmooze with the powerful.)

Still can't tell the players without a scorecard? See Andrew Malcolm.

Not pictured: Jill Kelley's three young children and Paula Broadwell's two. Unfortunately for them, their interests don't seem to mesh too well with their moms' pursuit of power, fame, self-gratification, or what ever it is they're going after so aggressively. Tough break for the kids, huh?

It has been reported that:
- Mrs. Kelley has hired some very expensive lawyers.
- General Allen sent her tens of thousands of emails.
- The FBI agent to whom Jill turned when she received threatening emails from Mrs. Broadwell texted the irresistible Mrs. Kelley a shirtless photo of himself.
- Last night, the FBI conducted a four-hour "consensual search" (their term) of Mrs. Broadwell's home. According to reports, all of the agents were wearing shirts.

(Re that penultimate item, I read somewhere that Special Agent Shirtless sent his photo to Mrs. Kelley before she asked him for help with the scary emails. So there's that.)
 
Some commentary:

If you draw a Venn diagram of the Petraeus scandal and stare at the center for 60 seconds, the face of Austin Powers will appear.
— John Hayward (@Doc_0) November 13, 2012

Mark Steyn has an idea for a movie. So does John Hayward:

It’s a pity Blake Edwards isn’t around to film a swinging-Sixties sex comedy about the rapidly expanding Petraeus scandal.  It would have been a great movie, with mistresses shoved into closets, generals diving under desks at the approach of their wives, FBI agents suddenly tearing off their shirts to chase comely female witnesses around the interrogation table, and a climactic moment of hilarity when CIA Director David Petraeus (played by Peter Sellers) realized that every senior officer in the Pentagon was having an affair with at least one of his mistresses. The cast could take a bow amid a shower of balloons and subpoenas.

Read the rest of that. See also Greg Pollowitz on those thousands of emails:

If true, that’s a teen-girl level of emailing. Unbelievable.

We have troops risking their lives and their leaders are screwing around like this? Criminal dereliction of duty maybe?

Lost in the tragi-comic death throes of our corrupt, sinking republic is that little back-story, the burning and bombing of our consulate in Benghazi and the murders of Ambassador Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty, and Tyrone Woods.

Back to Andrew Malcolm, the Broadwell affair has brought another question to light:

Now we learn that in a subsequent Denver speech last month, long after Petraeus has said he broke off the affair, Broadwell told her audience that not many people knew the CIA had been holding two Libyan militia members as prisoners in the Benghazi consulate. Freeing them may have been a reason for the attack.

That information was not public knowledge. The CIA has denied it. But if true, it would be a violation of a 2009 Obama executive order forbidding the agency from detaining people in secret jails. Petraeus was to testify Thursday, but said after his resignation he would not. Committee chairs have suggested he will, under subpoena if necessary.

Stay tuned.

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Many thanks to Mark Steyn for linking in his follow-up post, The Missing Piece of the Puzzle.

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Belated hat tip to Sissy Willis for the photo.

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Many thanks also to Michelle Malkin for the Buzzworthy link.

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Updates on the continuing national farce here.

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