A Tiger By The Tale.

I've noticed - as have many of you, I suppose - how the Left/Mainstream Media has grabbed onto the recent stories of Tiger Woods and his marital problems. On some networks it's the only leade - all Tiger, all the time. I find this curious coming from a group of folks who, just a few years ago, were bemoaning the decline of "serious news", and rending garments and gnashing teeth over the rise of "infotainment".

I know part of this is the sensationalism. Woods is a star and, let's face it, sex sells. But I think that only explains a part of the obsessive focus. The Woods story is a great distraction for the public, and I think The Left/Mainstream Media want the public distracted right now.

The Left/Mainstream Media know that when they highlight things such as the current push to nationalize health care and environmental extremism (cap and trade, Copenhagen meeting), it gets the American public riled up. They remember what happened last August, and don't want a repeat. So with the Senate debating nationalizing health care, and Obama agreeing to draconian measures at the Copenhagen climate talks - two things Americans by and large do not want - keeping John and Suzy Public talking about golf clubs instead of 'triggers' and 'hockey sticks' is, for them, a good thing.

"But Clifford", I hear you say, "I didn't think you believed in conspiracy theories." I don't. I'm not saying this is a conspiracy. We're talking about media personalities here. Their egos wouldn't let them conspire over anything other than, well... themselves. Plus, these folks have such big mouths and inflated senses of self-importance that they couldn't keep any real conspiracy quiet. But I do think there is an unspoken consensus that they need to keep the rubes quiet right now. And Tiger is just the ticket until they can switch the focus to the Holidays.

I also think there is another, more subtle, reason for all of the attention on Tiger Woods' problems. Woods has eschewed racial politics, especially the Jessie Jackson/ Al Sharpton brand of racial identity/victim politics. He has refused to identify himself as black or African-American. And his wife is white. Woods has been a contradiction to the "America is still a racist nation" position of many black leaders and white liberals; and so his fall is, I think sadly, seen by them with some sense of payback.