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Monday, November 19, 2012
News / Opinion Lucci gives Petraeus and Broadwell a soap opera-style makeover
Posted By Joanne Spataro on Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 3:29 PM
The real-life scandal of Gen. David Petraeus' affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell got a soap opera makeover on Thursday night's The Colbert Report. Susan Lucci, star of the now-defunct soap opera "All My Children," appeared on the Comedy Central show to add to an already complicated storyline. Complete with cheesy camera close-ups, Lucci said Petraeus developed amnesia and couldn't remember he was pregnant with the child of his evil twin, who was in a coma - and her lover. She also fake slapped Colbert in her mock defense of Petraeus.
While Lucci was only playing pretend, a real person came close to making excuses for the retired four-star general. Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee (D-Calif.), went on Meet the Press on Sunday to talk about the handling of the Sept. 11 attacks in Benghazi, Libya and Petraeus' testimony in private congressional hearings on Friday. The most eyebrow-raising moment came when Feinstein defended Petraeus for having an affair with Broadwell. When host David Gregory asked for her personal impressions of Petraeus, who stepped down as director of the CIA because of the affair, Feinstein had this to say:
"Whether you're a private or a four-star, coming back into civilian society is difficult. Here's a man, and you see Time magazine, and you see the medals he has. You see the stars. One day, he takes all of that off. He's in a plain blue suit like this. He looks no different from you or you or you. He looks a bit different from us. Having said that, there's - there's no entourage. There's no driver. He gives an order at the CIA. There's discussion. There's flak. People don't like this. And then he goes home to wash dishes. It is a major adjustment. I think we need to look at this transitioning of people. I think we need to look at our tours. Now this is not an excuse."
Although Feinstein said this wasn't an excuse for him having an extramartial affair with Broadwell, it sure sounded like one. She painted Petraeus as a bored house husband who was looking for excitement in his dull life. Maybe he should have started watching soap operas instead of making his own drama with Broadwell.
Watch the full Colbert video here.
Read the full Meet the Press episode transcript here.
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