Watching the Detectives.

Here's an interesting take on the Petraeus scandal.  Many are upset about Petraeus' betrayal, others are annoyed that the public (and the FBI) would be concerned about Petraeus' personal business.  But apparently the whole investigation began as a favor for Jill Kelley by an unnamed FBI agent.  Kelley had received some strange (and, it would seem, not really threatening--"what do you think you are doing", "take it down a notch") emails, and asked her friend, an FBI agent, to look into it.  The result was an investigation of, first, General Petraeus, and now General Allen (the FBI has uncovered between 20,000 and 30,000 email communications between Allen and Kelley).  Nevertheless, such an investigation was only possible because of the Patriot Act/Warrantless Wire-tap culture of the US national security system.  Normally, such an investigation can only be conducted if there is evidence of a crime committed (or that a crime is about to be committed).  I am not fully aware of the differences between a legal investigation and an intelligence investigation--the analogue of habeas corpus among the intelligence community may be a bit more flexible.  But allowing the investigation of two of the top generals in the US based on a personal favor (with no evidence of a threat, much less a crime) is not flexible.  That's yoga on steroids.