Dangerous Liaisons
To call the Petraeus affair, as you do on your cover, "a system failure at the highest levels of national security" is an overstatement ["Spyfall," Nov. 26]. This was an unfortunate, inappropriate, messy thing for two consenting adults to engage in, and while it certainly had serious repercussions for the individuals and their families, by no means does it appear to have done any harm to national security--certainly nothing like the damage caused by the Rosenbergs toward the end of World War II or by Aldrich Ames' sellout of U.S. agents working in the Soviet Union. Your cover smacks of hyperbole, not of responsible journalism.
Don Minow, TUCSON, ARIZ.
This is about the director of the CIA getting caught with his pants down and, worse, not being smart enough to understand how e-mail works. Petraeus' judgment was alarmingly poor.
ironyman2, ON TIME.COM
Himmler's Family
This article was a shock to see but only because I was not expecting it ["10 Questions for Katrin Himmler," Nov. 26]. As a Jew, history teacher and veteran, I study that period in history, and I teach it to my students, all at-risk inner-city kids, so they can understand a very dark time on our planet. Thank you, Katrin, for speaking up. My family prays for you.
Craig M. Bozorth, MIAMI
Presidential Election
Re "Voting with the 1%" [Nov. 19]: I don't often agree with Joel Stein, but one line in his article rang so very true: "No one expects free stuff as much as superrich people."
Kern Tilley, MANTECA, CALIF.
THE CONVERSATION
'Had Paula Broadwell run for Senate in North Carolina,'
tweeted @RussOnPolitics in reference to TIME's Nov. 26 cover story on David Petraeus, "her scandal would've rivaled John Edwards'." Many readers as well as pundits were intrigued by Barton Gellman's detailed account of events, including such new nuggets as Broadwell's eyeing of a Senate run as a Republican in North Carolina and her attempt to secure for Petraeus' 60th birthday a private workout with Lance Armstrong. After Gellman reported that Broadwell told several people at a conference that Petraeus had talked her out of running for office, Amy Davidson at the New Yorker noted, "If that sounds close to a fantasy, so does her flying around Afghanistan with the general, and that happened."
Person of the Year?
As TIME's editors prepare to choose the Person of the Year, we want your input on who has had the most influence on the news in 2012--for better or for worse. To cast your ballot, go to time.com/poy starting Nov. 26. Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. E.T. on Dec. 12, and the people's choice for Person of the Year will be announced on TIME.com on Dec. 14.
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