Is this a story? I dunno. I'm doing an awful lot of scandal stories. Eh, it's interesting.
So was there an affair? Let's look at the evidence.
For one thing, he denies it. That's not a good sign.
For another thing:
Yeahhh... pretty cute in a soft librarian way. That's not a good sign either.
Third, she's Rumanian. I don't know anything about Rumanians but it sounds sexy so that's not good either.
Then there are the emails themselves, which are just gilding the lily at this point.
ZitatIn the emails Cretu called the Bronx. N.Y.-born Powell “the love of her life” and left a clear impression she was writing about the twilight of a romance, TheSmokingGun.com reported Thursday.
In response to the website’s questions, the former four-star general issued a statement insisting he has not been unfaithful to his wife, Alma.
“This was a friendship that electronically became very personal and then back to normal,” Powell told the website.
“She sent photos on a regular basis. Lots of family photos with her nieces, who she adores, family reunions, formal business sessions, her wedding and some bathing suit photo ... Never anything improper,” Powell said.
Oh just so Colin Powell knows: A significant number of foreign diplomats are officially spies, and every diplomat not officially a spy is also actually a spy, in as much as their job is to gather intelligence for their country, and also, when ordered to, to act as spies as their country may require.
So good work, Colin. There's no problem whatsoever with a secret love affair with a foreign diplomat.
This idiot's reputation has been shrinking since I first heard of him. Never has a man been so praised for so little. Until Barack Obama, obviously. Maybe Ryan Leaf before him.
Okay, here's the takeaway: There is no such thing as electronic privacy. It doesn't exist. It never did, and anyone who thought it did was living in a fool's paradise. Anytime a hacker takes an interest in you he can unspool your life for the world.
People have to stop saying anything of interest in emails and go to the telephone. Written material should be mailed. Who knows, for romantic ventures, perhaps the old-world feel of the paper letter will take on the feel of something stealthy, exciting, and ancient.
If you want some substance, AllahPundit has now covered the Benghazi story, discussing the oft-floated theory that the fairly large CIA presence there was involved in weapons transfers to the Syrian rebels.