A common comment on David Petraeus' current situation is that perhaps he was felled by a combination of being a success junkie, a person who was aware and had cultivated his public image combined with a weird bipartisan deification of General Petraeus among the public.
I do remember The Surge. At that time, there were some who thought its success overrated. By the time of The Surge, the Sunnis and the Shias had pretty much ethnically cleansed themselves from shared neighborhoods.
My conflict with the thought of a Hillary run for the presidency in 2016, is that I wonder if she is persuaded to look in that direction by some reflexive public pressure, and the temptation to believe in her own press.
Barack Obama's incredible victory in 2008 highlighted the fact that an underdog succeeded against The Anointed Candidate. I do remember a lot of pandering HRC did, and some sloppy and wasteful organizing. It reminded me of a lot of Romney hubris this year.
I am also really bothered by political dynasties. The Kennedy's, the Bush's, the Clinton's. That sense of entitlement.
I know Hillary is intelligent, hard-working, and has had to battle public perception from day one. But I think she is tired in that Sec of State Warren Christopher way. She seems unhappy but driven, in the way Nixon was.
Yes, it is way too early to think of 4 years from now, but since some are speculating already, I wanted to say my piece.