A Day That Will Live In Infamy...

June 12, 1974 a day that will live in infamy. (Well at least in Utah Democrat Party politics.) I know I’m showing my age, but this all has a point. On that day first term U.S. Congressman Allen Howe solicited a Salt Lake City PD decoy prostitute and gave the November 1974 election to a Republican to be named later.
Approximately two years later the powerful Democratic Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee; Wilbur Mills was re-elected AFTER being caught drunk with a stripper, ER, pardon me, exotic dancer.
Florida Republican congressman Mark Foley resigned after sending dirty text messages to an underage congressional page. THIRTY YEARS earlier, Massachusetts Democrat Congressman Gerry Studds had an affair with a page, was finally censured ten years later and was still re-elected for another seven terms AFTER the censure.
Were you angry about any of the above incidents?
When the Allen Howe and Wilbur Mills incidents took place, I remember commenting to a friend of mine, that both of them should have just put someone on their staff. I was a rather cynical teen. That said, I was, and still am angry at the media and Democrats over the different standards applied to Foley versus Studds. Representative Studds was given a standing ovation after his censure, Representative Foley was practically run out of town on a rail.
How many of them were you aware of or are they all just minor footnotes in history?
Today, if your angry about powerful men and their sexual adventures, who are you angrier with; Tiger Woods, Republican Governor Terry Sanford of South Carolina or Democrat Senator Max Baucus of Montana?
Even though Governor Sanford and Senator Baucus used taxpayer funds for their sexual peccadilloes, I’d wager you’re angrier with Tiger. I know I am and I think I know why you may be angrier with Tiger.
We’ve all been betrayed. You can choose to believe the rumors about the media, PGA (Professional Golf Association) officials and Tiger’s sponsors knowing about Tiger’s vices for years. You can also believe they’ve all been complicit in a massive cover up of the real Tiger Woods. But, even if you don’t believe those rumors, Tiger’s image is still something that was carefully crafted beginning with his first appearance on the "Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" so many years ago.
We’re angry because we’ve been duped. We WANTED to believe in this well-spoken, well-mannered man who is an incredible golfer. I think we wanted to believe in this guy with such a stunningingly beautiful wife and the gazillions of dollars we all threw at him when he sold us Nike shirts, Buicks and Gatorade. We may even have lived vicariously in his accomplishments as he shattered the glass ceiling of the racial barriers of golf and became arguably the greatest golfer of all time.
Tiger Woods is still a great golfer. But the public’s admiration and respect was built on a false image. So really, who should we be angrier with, the man who created the false image or those who kept the real Tiger hidden from the public?
Why choose just one, you can be angry with the whole kit and kaboodle.
I wonder how many more Tiger like false images are out there being protected by the media and/or politicians.
UPDATE
Shortly after last weeks edition went to press Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s lawyer announced they will use a justification defense in his trial. Seems this guy was justified in taking down the World Trade Center and