Somehow this strikes me as a reaction to the realization of unrequited love by individuals drawn blindly into a whirlwind of unsolicited idol-worship. Such unctuous expressions of disgust carry the hollow ringof chagrined banter by persons perhaps tormented not by the fact that they were victimized by Tiger's folly, but instead by their own. The gleaming, yet fragile glass house in which these individuals would argue Woods has resided, was not totally a design of his own. It was a Temple constructed around him with the overzealous aid of the millions who worship All Things Tiger. Its destruction was an anti-climactic rude awakening that represents itself like a form of post-partum depression afflicting those who participated in the birth of a false image.
To be clear, this is in no way a condoning of Woods' admitted "transgressions," the nature of which seem to indicate some level of pathology, and serves as a legitimate rationale for questioning his motive for getting married in the first place. Nevertheless, my question is simple: with half of all marriages in America ending in divorce, in many cases due to infidelity, whose is truly at fault for becoming so enraptured by the flawless excellence of Woods the golfer that they would accept the myth that any man, including the peerless Tiger Woods, is without human flaws?
Meanwhile, a note on the justifiably aggrieved wife. Although there is great empathy here for her predicament, I've come to accept that there has been some erosion in the level of sympathy I'm able to muster for Elin. I've obviously never been a scorned woman, nor do I harbor the slightest desire to blame the victim. Nevertheless I do need help in understanding why, in this enlightened age, with all that a woman of her station in life has at her disposal to legally handle an adulterous husband, the handle she allegedly chose for hers was attached to a 9-iron.
In light of this, it should be safe to assume that it's appropriate to ask: Where's the umbrage? Indeed, there's an odd ring to the almost deafening silence on this one. A near-ubiquitous silence that would probably be less prevalent were the situation reversed. After all, it's certainly not a stretch to assume that were Woods the one chasing Elin with a 9 -- millimeter,perhaps -- after having just bloodied her, he'd still be languishing up in the O.J. Suite swapping golf stories with The Juice. That said however, I'm certainly not prepared to accept any premise that his wife's reportedly violent response, if true, provides an avenue of vindication for Tiger's tawdry narcissism, nor should it elicit for him, an ounce of sympathy. It's simply being pointed out that Tiger is not the only one who should be up for a day of reckoning.
A tale of two men
According to Shakespeare: "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." Meanwhile, the great Robert Frost long ago reminded us -- through "Nothing Gold Can Stay" -- of the limits of purity in nature. If their observations are correct, and I suspect they are, then what would be truly surprising in the whole Woods saga, would be the extent to which these revelations come as a surprise at all. It's not as if falls from grace by other iconic figures with purified reputations haven't been witnessed before.
Flashback to 1976, when the twice born-again Carter's attendant papal-like persona was the ingredient perhaps most desired by a nation whose psyche was in need of a good post-Watergate-era cleansing. When, during his campaign that year, he forthrightly told Americans "I will never tell a lie," Carter put the finishing touches on his claim of both political and personal purity and set a minimum standard with regard to expectations.
Presumably, Carter wasn't lying when he made his "lust in my heart" statement during a 1976 interview with Playboy magazine. Yet, the mere fact that someone of such professed moral clarity as Carter would experience lust for someone other than his wife -- even if that lust was ignored -- seemed for some, an impious violation of his own reverent standards. Carter endured a fair amount of backlash for his revelation including charges of moral hypocrisy.
Now, flash forward to the new millennium and the uncertainty of the past decade's post-911 environment of terror alerts and shoe bombers along with widespread post-Katrina awareness of overall government incompetence. In contrast to this unstable environment, the Tiger Woods persona, rooted almost exclusively in his mastery of the sport of golf, reflected an example of rock-solid certitude and sure-fire inevitability of results. It was a welcomed, albeit temporary, escape from an uncertain norm into a clearer world of programmed excellence that was beyond fun to watch.
Out of all this, one gets the sense that for millions, it was divine intervention on behalf of Woods that was responsible for the pleasure they derived through witnessing his freakish exploits in the world of professional golf. Tiger Woods was the Chosen Truth; as such, of course his soul is pure.
In this case, if there is a thin parallel to be drawn between former president Jimmy Carter and Tiger Woods, it is that both men at some point have been cast as deceptive and even hypocritical for -- in their own way -- establishing and holding extraordinarily high standards. In essence, they both faced consequences for staying out of trouble for so long before getting into trouble. It is in this way, that they are part of the same group photo.
It's the picture of one guy with a pristine image who fought for his country, raised peanuts for a while, became President, and along the way, apparently never cheated on his wife yet nevertheless eventually faced being discredited for being upfront about his human frailties -- in this case -- his thoughts about lust for women other than his wife.
It's also of another guy whose extreme personal likability and savant-like golf skills combined to spawn an image that eventually mutated into a cult of personality. But once it's revealed that behind that personality lay just another mortal soul which happens to be plagued by an out-of-control libido, he finds his otherwise wholesome image completely de-legitimized and himself now conveyed as all smoke and mirrors.
Since at its core it's not all that complex, zeroing in on the tragic aspects of the Tiger Woods saga is fairly easy. Finding its ultimate moral however? Now that's another story.
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