Join the club, Tiger

Apparently all signs point to the fact that another extremely wealthy, well-traveled, powerful married male who had worked hard to portray an image of himself as a family man has been having an affair with a sexy young cocktail waitress.
So what else is new?
In a statement published on his web site Wednesday morning, Tiger Woods said
“I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family.”
But what does Tiger really regret? The indiscretions, or getting caught?
In his statement he then goes on to change the subject, defending his wife and any rumors that domestic violence played any role in his car accident. And then, following in the footsteps of other exposed cheaters in 2009 such as Jon Gosselin and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, he blames the media for their intrusion into his privacy:
“But no matter how intense curiosity about public figures can be, there is an important and deep principle at stake which is the right to some simple, human measure of privacy. I realize there are some who don't share my view on that. But for me, the virtue of privacy is one that must be protected in matters that are intimate and within one's own family. Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn't have to mean public confessions.”
Sorry Tiger, but if you put yourself out there not so much as a professional golfer, but as a man with scores of endorsement deals and a squeaky clean image, you can’t hide behind such statements.
This is especially true in 2009, when almost everyone has a camera phone, and emails, texts, and voice messages can easily be traced and made public. Anyone can go to the Us Weekly web site (usmagazine.com) and listen to a voice mail from Tiger pleading with his mistress, LA cocktail waitress Jaimee Grubbs, “can you please take your name off your phone, my wife may be calling you.” He then urges her to do it “quickly.”
It is this attempt at a cover up that will probably sully his reputation more than the affair itself. In the court of public opinion, does David Letterman score higher for coming out on his own show and publicly admitting to his various dalliances?
Of course far more important than what the public thinks is what the cheated spouses feel about their husbands having illicit affairs. Wives of public figures such as politicians, entertainers, or athletes tend to forgive (but not necessarily forget) such actions.
From Hillary Clinton to Elizabeth Edwards and even as far back as Eleanor Roosevelt, Mamie Eisenhower, or Jackie Kennedy, these women knew their husbands were “fooling around” but stayed with them.
One has to wonder if their expectations of their husband’s fidelity were from the beginning much lower than what most wives expect when they enter a marriage. Is there some tacit understanding consciously or even subconsciously that when you marry a wealthy, powerful man, you get all of the positive perks, such as estates, servants, expensive cars and jewelry, etc. But you may also have to put up with a few, shall we say, indiscretions.
I have watched psychologists on talk shows the past couple of years state that the kind of narcissistic men who achieve power and wealth are also the type of men who feel they are invulnerable to getting caught, that they can get away with almost anything.
However, I think there is another reason that so many rich, famous men cheat. (And I know I may be getting in trouble with this statement.) It is because they can.
That is, I really don’t think that any of my married male friends and relatives are cheating on their wives. BUT I have to wonder if any of them (and I will include myself in this category) had considerable wealth, owned several homes around the world and traveled without our wives (as most politicians, athletes, and entertainers do at one time or another), and had gorgeous women literally throwing themselves at us, what would we do?
I would like to think that I and my friends would remain totally faithful to our wives. But you never know.