Crocodiles Tears for the Cheetah: Tiger Woods "Private" Life Is Public

One of the biggest social problems in America is celebrity worship.

Now don't get me wrong, I realize there are more pressing problems in the country than the sex life of disgraced golfer Tiger Woods. Personally, I really don't care about him, his wife or his mistress.

What bothers me is the rush to forgive celebrities for indiscretions that would ruin the lives of ordinary Americans.

Tiger Woods was involved in an incident with his wife Elin that brought on the attention of authorities. After initially denying any marital problems, it soon came to light that Tiger had affairs with at least a dozen women.

Woods initially showed no real remorse and only began caring when his marketability as an athlete took a drastic hit. He skirted the truth as long as he could, before he became irreversibly tangled in a web of his own lies.

According to a study done by economists Christopher Knittel and Victor Stango at the University of California by Davis, the scandal might have wiped out $12 billion in shareholder wealth for Tiger's sponsors.

Now some people will obviously ask the question: "Oh, so you're perfect right? Why don't we look into your personal life and judge you?"

Well first of all, I'm not a public figure. As a private citizen, I have a reasonable expectation of privacy that Tiger is not entitled to. Besides, if I made even 1 percent of the money that Tiger does, I would be sure to carefully protect and cultivate my image.

However, let us say that someone like you or I did have an incident like Tiger, here is what would actually happen:

After the car crash, I would probably be taken into custody by the police, regardless of whether or not I instigated the violence. They would book me on various trumped up charges to use as leverage against me later. I might have to pay a few thousand dollars in bail, 10 percent of which I would not get back.

I would not be able to go to "sex rehabilitation" or any other phony therapy to repair my image. My mistresses would leave me and might try to extort money out of me. I would certainly not be able to hide out in a villa, away from the prying eyes of my neighbors. If I'm lucky, I could live with a friend in an apartment for a while.

Assuming all criminal charges got thrown out, I would now be dealing with a civil nightmare. I would now have to pay thousands of dollars for a lawyer to protect my assets in bitter divorce proceedings. Since I committed so many acts of infidelity, I am sure to get destroyed in court.

Meanwhile, I am losing time at work from all the time spent with lawyers and court proceedings. The quality of my work would surely decrease from stress. If the affair or its aftermath spilled over, I might even get fired from work. I would have no references to apply for a new job. I wouldn't have millions of dollars in the bank to draw from.

After I lose in court, I would be responsible for various alimony or even child support payments. I am personally and professionally disgraced. No one will feel sorry for me and no one will tell people who criticizing me that they are jealous and should leave me alone. No religious or political leaders will flock to my side to help with damage control. All but my closest friends might abandon me since I am pretty much a deadbeat now.

Anyway, you get the picture. This would happen to any of us ordinary Joe's if we did what Tiger did. Yet so many of us seem to feel sorry for the man. It is indicative of a mindset where the rich and famous deserve more leeway than everyone else.

Look, I will not get on Michael Phelps for smoking a bong, or any celebrity that once cheated on their spouse. Everyone does something dumb or makes a mistake.

But Tiger Woods has been engaging in this kind of behavior for years. He has pretended to be a squeaky clean role model while continuously deceiving his family, his friends and even his fans.

It is not healthy when society rushes to the defense of a pathological liar who is completely responsible for being in the position he is in now. Wealth and privilege should come with some measure of humility and certainly not with unchecked arrogance.

We feel more sympathy for Tiger Woods than the, down on his luck, homeless guy across the street.

Tiger got himself into the rough. He doesn't deserve our help getting back onto the green.