Breaking News! Tiger Woods had sexual encounters with women other than his wife. Infidelity is the only thing older than the world’s oldest profession. The sense of surprise and outrage by the press, pundits and politicians is a relative newcomer in the game of “gotcha” in terms of sexual exposures of celebrities In the past, high-government officials got a pass on their private sexual dalliances.

When President Franklin Roosevelt received his mistress at his place in Warm Springs, Georgia, not a whisper appeared in the press. When he died there in Warm Springs with “the other woman” at his side, the silence on the subject was maintained in the press. When Marilyn Monroe frolicked in the White House with President John Kennedy, the Washington Press Corps knew, but didn’t report. Suffice it to say, that such an era of civility, or respect for privacy, has since long gone.  Ironically, you can’t get away with this kind of stuff in America anymore, unless you’re a nobody.

So as ordinary everyday dudes engage in their private anonymous philandering and those in the media announce their hypocritical disdain and disgust for such “unusual” behavior by the world’s number one golfer, here we go with an orgy of recrimination from the holier than thoughs. As for the biblical, “he without sins cast the first stone,” forget about it. The sense of shock and indignation that emanates from some quarters is more a comment on the critics than the criticized. As each announcement of a new Tiger lady emerges the media salivation becomes more palpable.
 
The talk show people justifiably made it their topic of discussion. When the story broke it was the top seven Googled topics of the day and as late as December 5th” Elin moves out” was number 9 on Google.

Unlike the days of John Kennedy, the way it works nowadays is the higher the profile the more likely the ultimate discovery or the disclosure of the indiscretion. And Tiger Woods is at the top of the food chain. Multi-ethnic, recognized and idolized around the world as the greatest golfer ever, in this media driven age complete with 24 hour cable news channels, the internet, blogs, twitter, face book it was just a matter of time before Mr. Wood’s dalliances would be discovered.. The discovery of Tigers sexual trysts was like throwing a bucket of bite-size bloody fish in shark infested waters. And the media is gobbling it up. As Carlos Diaz host for the show Extra explained, we focus on what our viewers are interested in and the Tiger Woods story is being driven by audience interest.

Hearing the shrill outcry from some  quarters, one can’t help from remembering other loud protestations outrage and later seeing that person become the subject of the same or even greater indignation. Senator Larry E. Craig, Republican of Idaho, who claimed it was all about his having a “wide stance” when he was arrested by an undercover police officer in a men’s bathroom at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. The irony was that in his earlier criticism of President Bill Clinton, his denunciation of the President and his choice of words castigating the President on Meet the Press, there was a leering tone to comments.  

“The Senate can Certainly bring about a Senate resolution and it’s a slap on the wrist it’s a, you’re a bad boy bill Clinton you’re a naughty boy. The American people already know that Bill Clinton is a bad boy a naughty boy. I’m going to speak out for the people in my state who in the majority think that Bill Clinton is even a nasty bad naughty boy.”

David Vitter Republican of Louisiana was implicated in a separate case in the Washington area when his phone number turned up in the records of an escort service that the authorities have described as a prostitution ring. Senator Vitter made a public apology for what he called “a very serious sin in my past,” and he was not charged with any crime. He also is running for re-election and is predicted to win. Maybe Tiger should relocate to Louisiana. where they may be more forgiving..

However, both Vitter and his wife had to eat humble pie after jumping on the impeach Clinton bandwagon. Vitter’s wife’s was famous for her quote with which she has yet to follow through on.  In an interview in 2000, Wendy Vitter said she would be “a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary Clinton” if her husband ever cheated on her. In that interview, Wendy Vitter said, “If (David) does something like that, I’m walking away with one thing, and it’s not alimony, trust me.

There seems to be no restraint on the level of detail that otherwise mainstream news operations are reporting on Tiger Woods. The Huffington Post published pictures of the ladies that have come forward including several pictures of the Porn star Holly Sampson. And they quoted one of the girls complementing Tigers sexual prowess indicating that Tiger’s anatomy is in no way reversing the reputation of black men.. It appears the Tabloids are in competition with mainstream newsmedia publications to see who can come up with most detailed info.   

Then there was the ongoing debate between the sex police and the sex addiction therapist. It’s been strongly suggested by these people that the 33 year old Tiger Woods who up until now has been considered obsessive about golf is actually addicted to the most basic human drive after food and drink. Serious discussions are being held on some talk shows on how Tiger can cure his sexual addiction.

If Tiger is a sex addict based on his being involved with ten to twelve ladies, where does that put Wilt Chamberlain with his 20,000. According to Wilt "that equals out to having sex with 1.2 women a day, every day since I was fifteen years old." That means that Wilt could run figure eights around Tiger with nineteen thousand nine hundred and eighty eight girls left to go.   Maybe that will put Tigers paltry record into perspective.

There seemed to be a certain level of gleeful indulgence among some of Tigers critics. Upon further review hidden agendas were revealed. Mary Jo Eustace former wife of Dean McDermott who left her for Tori Spelling was understandably resentful of the worlds number one golfer and first professional sports billionaire being unfaithful to his Swedish former model, and nanny of professional golfer.

However, the one surprising critic who seemed to be harboring particular venom was Keith Olbermann. Regular MSNBC watchers were struck by how much time Olbermann devoted to the Tiger Woods story always with an over the top negative humor angle. His show became the outlet for the daily animated video release made in Taiwan  which depicted what actually took place behind the walls of Tigers Mansion which had a reported sale price of $65 million when purchased by Tiger.  

Keith Olbermann, a card carrying member of SAG, Screen actors Guild, explained to a viewer who asked why he was devoting so much time and criticism to Tiger Woods, that Tiger had shot a Buick commercial in Canada during the SAG strikes after he had  publicly declared that he supported the strike and would not be shooting any commercial until the strike was settled. So apparently this was Keith’s petty payback.      

David Letterman who got the critics all riled up about his twofer, which included possible infidelity and employer harassment did not let his own sexual scandal deter him from doing his stick on Tiger. He opened his Tiger Woods monologue by wishing that Tiger would stop calling him to ask for advice.

"Boy, it looks like that Tiger Woods is having some trouble, huh?" began Letterman, puffing his cheeks out. The funnyman - who knows about "transgressions" - joked that if Woods' situation had happened three months ago, he'd "have material for a year."  

The fellow who found the incriminating evidence of Letterman’s ongoing sexual dalliance with an employee by reading his girlfriend’s diary, was almost forgotten in the rush to denounce letterman’s admitting he’s been getting down  with a member of his staff.

Joe Halderman, the suspended CBS producer, who is charged with trying to blackmail David Letterman should have taken a page out of Gloria Allred’s book on how to legally blackmail or extort an individual.  As opposed to contacting the prominent target on which you have the embarrassing goods simply let it be known you have the hot info and announce that you are about to hold a press conference and wait for the fish to bite with an offer to kill the press conference. Lisa Bloom says her mother hasn’t discussed with her what the deal was but she knows how her Mom operates and she would never cancel that press conference for less than a million.

In the meantime it seems the other girls are telling their stories for various amounts to tabloid outlets. Ashley Dupre better known as the Call girl who led to the resignation of New York Governor Elliot Spitzer, reportedly contacted the New York Post. And expressed disgust at the tell all nature of these Tiger women.  In a text message to the Post “Here you have all these girls accepting gifts, money, trips from Tiger in exchange for sex—all the while knowing he is married. And now they all can't wait to tell their stories in exchange for even more money.” She concludes, “And I was the hooker? At least I kept my mouth shut.”As one commentator remarked “who would have thought that the call girl would turn out to be the one to look up to.”

Howard Bragmon public Relations Consultant appearing on CNN Larry King claims that in announcing his hiatus from golf to try and repair his family and personal situation Tiger is making the wrong move  because its feeding the story and not making the story go away. Conversely a number of observers have said this is the right unselfish move in that Tiger is showing his priorities are in the right place, family first.

The safest bet seems to be the prediction of ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi  who says that when Tiger returns the story  will be captivating and compelling. Really? Considering that Tiger’s appearances on the tour generally generates three times the level of interest in television ratings as when he does not appear, compelling and captivating may be an understatement..

On the business side this is a major blow to the PGA Tour because when Tiger Woods is playing it’s a whole other game. Rich Lerner of the Golf Channel reports that when Tiger came back after knee surgery there were 200 reporters waiting for Tiger at the practice range. He predicts that when Tiger comes back this time  the Thursday practice  round in terms of media coverage will be unprecedented.   

The most ridiculous speculation was that of the business editor of some magazine appearing on ESPN, who suggested Tiger may never come back. Ain’t no way Tiger is going to let this development derail his life long ambition to break Jack Nicklaus’ record.