Tiger Woods Deserves Your Scrutiny

[Better Believe It]

Tiger Woods Deserves Your Scrutiny
By Dave Zirin
November 30, 2009

Today, Tiger Woods, the famous, wealthy and most PR-conscious athlete on earth, finally finds himself subject to scrutiny. But, similar to Clinton's scandal, his scandal has more to do with his personal life than more substantive issues. The media has staked out his Isleworth home for round-the-clock coverage about a bizarre "car accident" this past week involving his wife, a fire hydrant and a golf club. The questions being posed are as breathless as they are weightless: "Were Tiger's facial lacerations the result of the car crash, or an attack from his wife, Elin?" "Is this about the rumored 'other woman' in New York City?" "Did Elin Woods smash the rear of his car with a golf club to rescue Tiger, or was she smashing up the car as he pulled away?" One last question: Who the hell cares? Granted, there is a "man bites dog" aspect to this story. In Woods's roughly fourteen years in the public eye, he has never even been caught littering. His image has been cemented as a man of ungodly intensity.

As the saying goes, behind every great fortune is a great crime. Following his car "accident," Woods's agent says it's unclear whether he will attend his foundation's Chevron World Challenge Golf Tournament. In 2008 Chevron entered a five-year relationship with Tiger Woods's foundation under the guise of philanthropy. But if Woods had a shred of social conscience, this partnership never would have existed. Lawsuits have been issued against Chevron for dumping toxic waste all over the planet. Alaska, Canada, Brazil, Angola and California have all accused Chevron of dumping. Even worse, Chevron has a partnership with Burma's ruling military junta on the country's Yadana gas pipeline project, the single greatest source of revenue for the military, estimated at nearly $5 billion since 2000.

Then there is Dubai, site of the first Tiger Woods-designed golf course. Located at the southern coast of the Persian Gulf, Dubai has been a symbol of economic excess and, most recently, economic collapse. It has been called an "adult Disneyland"--complete with indoor ski resorts and unspeakable human rights violations. As Johann Hari wrote in the Independent, it is a city that has been built over the past thirty years by slave labor. Paid foreign laborers work in more than 100-degree heat for less than $3 a day. Dubai also has a reputation as ground zero of the global sex trade. The project cost $100 million, and Woods said nary a word about his benefactor's practices. This is business as usual for Woods who would sooner swallow a five-iron than take anything resembling a political stand.

Now that Woods appears to have been involved in a domestic dispute, the media are wondering if there is "another Tiger." They are desperate to pillory the man for his personal problems. It would be more appropriate if they took this opportunity to scrutinize him for the right reasons. Woods has every right to keep his personal problems personal. But when he makes deals that benefit dictatorships and unaccountable corporations, all in the name of his billion-dollar brand, he deserves no privacy.

Read the full article at:

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091214/zirin

- Now this article makes some sense. Now I hope we don't get more responses about whether or not Tiger Woods is really Black, why does Tiger go out with white women and other such b.s. irrelevant borderline racist posts. And I sure as hell don't support right wing articles that only or mainly go after Tiger Woods because he is Black. I don't care one bit about his private life. That's not my business. I do care about his political stands. That's everyones business. -

[SpiralHawk]

1. "Where is Tiger's birth certificate?" - Republicon Homelanders

"This is, um, like, so really important and stuff. We need to know. Like totally urgently."

- Republicon Homelanders

[Starckers]

18. Well

" But, similar to Clinton's scandal, his scandal has more
to do with his personal life than more substantive issues.
" 

Clinton was breaking the law that he had signed himself.   It
wasn't personal but illegal sexual harassment. 

[bullwinkle428]

19. Uhhhh...welcome to DU, Ken "Starckers" Starr?

:think:

[SpiralHawk]

21. Dude, were you wearing wide-stance Republicon diapers when you typed that?

Because it sure smacks of the usual craptastic wide-stance republicon diaper-sex Pharisee values

[saltpoint]

2. I don't give a hot piss about Tiger Woods, his money, his golf course

designs, or anything else.

His sex life is none of my business.

[Swamp Rat]

3. Idols are built up to be knocked down.

Someday, even Mt. Rushmore will be demolished, reduced to small rocks and dust.

[NightWatcher]

7. I cant wait till Rushmore falls down

hoka hey, if I could help the cause I would.
Idols to old white guys on Native Lands, nice.

[saltpoint]

8. With any luck at all, when it does finally fall down, the whole thing

will come crashing down on the heads of a visiting Republican Congressional ad hoc group that would ideally include John Boehner, Mean Jean Schmidt, Michele Bachmann, Virginia Foxx, Steve Buyer, Mike Pence, and several others.

[Swamp Rat]

11. Maybe we should build a really nice golf course at the base of the mountain, and

supply it with all the things republicans like: guns, bibles, slot machines and roulette tables, a spa and a bar tended by young boys....

[saltpoint]

13. There'd have to be a tax cut kiosk or none of them would show!

:hi:

[Swamp Rat]

16. Put that at the links admission gate/portal, and they could be lured in very easily.

:hi:

"Come on in, right-thinkin' Amurakins!1 The last one to the 911 hole is a commie liebrul!1"

[saltpoint]

17. LOL. Wait -- isn't that John Boehner there with the hat and green tie?

The skin looked brownish-orangy, so I naturally assumed that was Congressman Boehner.

[snake in the grass]

29. What a great idea!

[mikita]

4. I'd have to say there are

a few more topics that might deserve a BIT more scrutiny....

such as government whitewash of 9/11, endless wars, Wall Street Welfare.....

you get the idea ....

[WeDidIt]

5. Reading The Nation articles you've been posting

has convinced me The Nation has become an irrelevant rag.

Thanks, I won't waste my time on them any more.

[burning rain]

28. Oh, come on.

If you discount that Stalinoid fuckwit Alexander Cockburn, the Hollywood airheads The Nation panders to because they contribute beaucoup bucks, and the frequent lameness of Calvin Trillin's rhymes, it's largely a good read.

[nickinSTL]

6. Am I the only one who doesn't care about Tiger Woods

or his personal life?

I mean, really, I don't care.

Don't much care about his political views, either, unless he's making them public and planning to run for office or get involved politics in some other public manner.

Otherwise, his political views are also none of my business, and I don't care.

[Cirque du So-What]

9. K & R

I realize that lots of people are in the throes of 'Tiger burnout,' but this article addresses an issue that has been lost in the sauce of tawdry scandal: the Dubai business. I have tuned out the 'news' about his affairs to the best of my ability; a search will reveal that I haven't contributed so much as a single post to that ongoing kerfuffle. The indifference to slave labor, however, is astounding - and I'm not singling out Tiger Woods by any means. All individuals & corporations who have done business with Dubai - giving them quarter as they built the world's most self-indulgent playground for the ultra-rich on the face of the earth - need to publicly perform acts of contrition for enabling slave labor, the sex trade & other atrocities.

K'ed & R'ed - not because it's more dirt on Tiger Woods, but because it draws attention to the decadence & degradation associated with Dubai World.

[iamjoy]

10. Yes, It Matters

I really don't care if Tiger Woods has been screwing around or not. That's a private matter. Here's what annoys me - his procrastination and avoidance of police. Would a non-celebrity citizen have that right? If he is involved in a domestic dispute that turned physical that is not a private matter - regardless of any desire by one party to "protect" another.

[paulsby]

25. rubbish

i've addressed this before. he was in a minor accident, and his only legal responsibility to the police is to provide driver's license info, registration info and insurance info

PER-I-OD

i've investigated crashes like this, and that's ALL the police can compel out of a driver (except in certain circumstances, like driver causes serious bodily injury to OTHER person, then in some cases we can do mandatory blood draws against the driver's will, but i digress)

also, while a crime of domestic violence is not a personal matter, it IS the right of any DV victim NOT to talk to the police.

trust me, i've dealt with TONS of victims who refuse to cooperate.

[951-Riverside]

12. I want to know if he's swinging a maglite or a pen light n/t

[HipChick]

14. Is he running for office? If not, there a few thousand celebrites that need to make a stand

over products they endorse..why single Tiger out?

[Fire1]

15. In the words of Whoopi Goldberg, "Tiger Woods is not

putting any food on my table....." IOW, no. He does not deserve any scrutiny and won't get any from me.

[Edweird]

20. His political stance is none of your business either. That's why voting booths have curtains.

If he ever decides to run for any kind of office, then it's your business. Till then he's a private citizen.

[defendandprotect]

22. Agree, these considerations have to be made more widely known . . . but also

remember he also played the patriarchal game when he was asked about women being

allowed into a tournament at males only club ... !! Trust I remember the circumstances

fairly well?

I think also having it made known now that he's paying off at least three mistresses --

$1 million each -- and that there may be 5 or 6 of them -- is going to separate him from

the average person.

Who might also be wondering why someone who seems to be able to lay $55 million on the

table to get his wife to stay with him another two years is even still playing golf?

Would seem that from here out all of his appearances should be for charity only???

While I hope he and his family find peace -- either alone or together -- it's rather obvious

that most of the concerns in this case are about corporate support continuing -- Nike --

and that his image as a "role model" can go on -- with the bucks continuing to roll in -- !!!

As they say -- "Sports builds character" ---

Don't believe it!!

[HipChick]

24. all of that has been tabloid sources , nothing directly from him or an attorney

[defendandprotect]

27. Unfortunately, if Woods could deny it, he isn't doing that.... in fact, he's

acknowledged mistakes --

Granted he's not saying if it's 1 mistake or 9 --

We don't really know about the accident, either --

whether he was under influence of prescription drugs -- two of them? --

or whether he was drinking as his wife seems to have related to the police?

I don't think his wife would have left on tabloid "rumors" . . .

[blues90]

23. I really wish these people would get no attention at all .

All this does is create the idea that someone stands high above everyone else and really who cares, how does it in reality affect your life?

A family and friends affect your life and it's about time that idols drop off the charts and soon it would not be news at all.

If Tiger screwed around with 20 women who cares, it does not affect me in any way at all. But it sure sells magazines and gives the news something to distract with.

Who are these celebs , some sort of gauge of morals , not at all , they are idols , imaginary perfection until they fall.

[neshanic still]

26. "...ground zero of the global sex trade." And Tiger did not get a discount?

[hughee99]

31. Maybe he was whooping it up with the Big Dog over there.

I'm sure they can both afford to pay full price.

[jakefrep]

30. Like we need any more celebrities spouting ill-informed opinions

on issues they and their fans don't understand.

[Fleshdancer]

32. I think people work real hard to justify their appreciation for juicy gossip

Can we all just be honest about this and acknowledge that this story is still being talked about because it's so over the top ridiculous at this point? We're up to what, 10 mistresses now? I don't care if you're black, white, democratic, republican, religious, atheist, or whatever. 10 mistresses for a man with a wife and two young kids is crazy enough to be talked about.

Do I care? I don't think caring is the right word, but I do feel bad for his wife because this must be extremely painful and embarrassing to her. I hope she didn't kick his ass over it though because domestic violence is disgusting.

I wouldn't mind just one question being answered after all this: Why get married? Is it because he's just not meant to be monogamous but was so in love with Elin and felt pressured by society to be her husband? Is it pure ego? Did he simply want to have his cake and eat it too? Was he bored? Is it a self-esteem thing?

I just wonder why some people who shouldn't get married end up doing it.

[Kalyke]

33. I don't think he deserves privacy for either.

Who would have thought that a man who breaks the most intimate of vows with someone he allegedly loves would also make deals that benefit dictatorships and unaccountable corporations? :eyes:

Basically, the man isn't to be trusted, personally or professionally.