A Public Official vs. A Public Figure

Oh, I am so disappointed that Tiger is a Cheetah...

(I'm also really disappointed that I wasn't smart enough or creative enough to come up with that headline before someone else.)

I go back and forth on this one.

Before you think I might have lost my morals and my mind, let me be clear -- anyone who cheats is a dog. A double-devil, dirty dog. A slimy, scum-of-the-earth, not worthy-of-breadscraps dog.

Here's where I'm unclear: We didn't elect him to anything. If Nike wants to give him a b'jillion dollars to represent their company and he does something (anything!) to violate that contract, well ... that's between him and Nike. If people throw tons of money to attend golf tournaments where he will play or have his name attached, I'm pretty sure the contract is ironclad and there's no clause that regulates his sex life.

Tiger is not a public official. He does not solicit public funds and he does not receive millions of dollars to run for office. He receives millions of dollars for running an empire where he is expected to play golf in an exceptional manner. Sure, he's also expected to be a role model -- something I'm sure none of us would sign up to be.

The saddest part of the aftermath is money will change hands. Tiger and his wife may renegotiate their pre-nup, mid-nup, post-nup contract. Any sponsorship contract he signs in the future is likely to have a strong "character" clause. Everyone will cast a little shadow of doubt with possible dubious behavior.

You can throw all the money around that you want. There's nothing like a wife chasing your car down the street with a golf club in her hand, bashing in the windshield and wishing (for a second) it was your head.

Sisterhood

In the media blitz and subsequent judgement of Elizabeth Edwards' choice to write and speak of her husband's betrayal, an important point was lost in the criticism: women should not do that to other women.I've watched a couple of interviews and I've read an excerpt of the book, Resilience. We can all debate whether she should have left him -- probably not considering her health situation and their young children. We can argue about this possibly being a public flogging of him -- probably so; it is her story to tell.The puzzler (among many) is why would a woman intentionally do this to another woman? If she wanted a meaningless sexual encounter with a public figure, she could've targeted a single man. If she was longing for a husband, hearth and children, why seek that by destroying what another woman has spent decades building and nurturing?
A lot of the content is too sappy for me. The affair part is a stabbing reminder that a man she thought she knew took his clothes off for a woman with no respect for herself or the sisterhood of women.