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Yeah, this isn’t market-related.  But it is ethics and morals related.

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.

Personal sins that do not involve public hypocrisy do not require public confessions and are none of the public’s business.

But public hypocrisy is an entirely different matter.  When a President of The United States stands at the podium and pounds his fist saying “I did not have sex with that woman“, casting a person who he just got a blow job from as a common, ordinary hooker through his tone of voice and public persona, knowing full well that she saw things through a different lens, he has committed a public sin.  That is no longer a private matter.

This includes non-denial denials by you Tiger.

Like this one:

This is a private matter and I want to keep it that way. Although I understand there is curiosity, the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible.

I don’t give a damn who you screw.  That’s between you, your wife, your children and whoever else you might be sleeping with.

But I do very much care about rank hypocrisy among and by public figures.  Indeed, I call them out on it all the time, and you’re not exempt from that scrutiny, so here’s your 30 seconds of Ticker fame – whether you like it or not.

This sort of bullshit is part and parcel of why we’re in this economic mess.  No, you’re not responsible for the subprime meltdown or the McBurgerFlipper who lied about his or her income to buy a $500,000 house.

But the fact that people like you demand the right to a double-standard, Tiger, and often get it is a big part of the problem. That McBurgerFlipper takes some comfort in his lying about his income because “big people” lie all the time about their so-called “private life” – in public – that is, to others – and say that it is no big deal.

I say it is a big deal and that we the people of this nation have to stop putting up with it.

If you don’t want your private life exposed then stop trading on and exploiting it.  Stop trying to make yourself anything other than a golfer – a damn good golfer.  Stop plastering yourself across the television screens and advertisements of America with the implicit claim that you’re a “great guy” and a “great American with a great, clean family.”

Keep to the links, and we’ll come watch if we want to see you play. 

But as soon as you stick your head up and start strutting around as a role model for other people to follow, whether through advertisement, public appearance or otherwise you will get called on your hypocrisy, and with damn good cause.

You’ll also see people like me decide that I’ll never buy anything from or spend any money with any of the companies on your sponsor list until and unless they toss your ass in the trashcan, which is where I believe it belongs.  That list includes Accenture, AT&T, Electronic Arts, Gatorade, Gillette, Nike, Tag Heuer, Upper Deck and the PGA.

That, Tiger, is a promise, and one that I will keep, unlike the vows you took with regard to fidelity toward Elin and your children.

We Americans have a right to demand better from those who desire our business, and this American does.

‘Nuff said.