In Friday’s Rewrite segment, msnbc’s Lawrence O’Donnell addressed misconceptions over the David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell affair. The issue isn’t power or sex, O’Donnell said it’s about judgement.
He used the much-analyzed Clinton marriage to shape his argument.
“I think the Clinton marriage works. It works for them. And it does not include sexual exclusivity,” The Last Word host declared. Using the Clintons’ marriage or their understanding of the marriage as an example, O’Donnell delineated the dichotomy between marital fidelity and sexual exclusivity.
“Bill and Hillary Clinton are both smart enough and loyal enough to each other and love each other enough to realize that that sexual exclusivity deviation from the norm – which, by the way, actually is the norm in the real world – was never going to be a big enough problem to end their marriage, because they don’t define marital fidelity as simply sexual exclusivity.” He added, “the Clintons obviously judge marital fidelity to be something much bigger than that. And their judgement has been proven right, about their marriage, anyway.”
O’Donnell argued the lesson from the Petraeus scandal revolves around exhibiting good judgment, especially as a four-star general and CIA director when those roles rely so heavily on it.








