I think many people were as surprised as I to learn that adultery, one of the charges in General Sinclair's court martial, is grounds for discharge from the military. In effect a Biblical admonition that has become for most people a question of personal morality is, in the military, grounds for the ending of a career and losing one's income. The only way that stance seems justifiable to me is by recognizing that because military installations are basically sealed-off communities, adultery is a disruptive act that threatens the stable functioning of the entire base and, thus, American security.
My novel STAR TIME addresses adultery in a wider context among highly prominent participants, where there is no imbalance of power between the offending parties or their spouses, who are all powerful in their own rights. Nonetheless, the offending couple finds that their moral choices have consequences as damaging as if their actions had been banned by law or regulation.
Greg Lyall is a TV news producer in Hollywood. Christine Paskins is a local TV reporter. Their love affair is passionate and committed--until he meets the daughter of the TV network's powerful CEO, who can accelerate his career into the stratosphere. Ten years later, when Greg is running the network, he hires Chris, now a nationally known newscaster, to be his network's nightly news anchor, its Diane Sawyer, if you will. The passion that burned so hotly ten years earlier re-ignites with hurtful consequences for both families. Like the general, Greg is put at risk of being toppled from his elevated position, in his case by his outraged father-in-law. Chris's husband is a U.S. senator, who finds much more than his marriage at risk when she begins to investigate a secret government program. Although the lovers understand how hurtful their affair will be to their spouses, their passion burns so hotly, so all-consumingly, that this time they cannot break off and separate. They must face the consequences of their actions. And those consequences, while personal and not institutionalized, can be as harsh as if the penalty for adultery were carved on a stone tablet.
READ MORE: STAR TIME http://www.josephamiel.com/
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