‘Public Figures’ Category
An Open Letter to Tiger Woods
December 18th, 2009
Dear Mr. Woods:
I’ve been unintentionally following your private life, and I wanted to apologize. Based on what I’ve been exposed to, it’s clear that you have your hands full with marital and family challenges. But being that the public at-large has become polarized—choosing to either join the bashing band wagon or to commend you for your womanizing—and also being that I have no shortage of opinion, I wanted to weigh-in.
Firstly, I wanted to applaud your initial silence and “bowing out” of providing a public apology. As a 17-year marketing veteran, I could plainly see the need for crisis management. And if I were your PR consultant, I would have been BEGGING you to issue a public statement and to “control the spin” right from the start. However, as a man, father and husband, I can only say that your silence was respected—and your televised (and largely scripted) apology unnecessary. After all, you just caused potentially irreparable damage to your marriage, and your efforts belong there, fixing it… not giving an apology to people you don’t know and have never met. You are a professional athlete… nothing more. I marvel at your exploits on the golf course, but you don’t owe me an explanation of why you aren’t faithful to your wife. That explanation is due to her, not me, not to your fans, and not to the public.
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Good for you, Jenny Sanford
August 18th, 2009
Jenny Sanford, the wife of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, has remained relatively quiet since her husband’s infidelity became public in June… but her self-esteem seems to be intact. She and her four sons, have moved out of the governor’s mansion.
She has been praised for her reaction to the affair, in contrast to other political spouses in similar situations who put on a brave front in public to stand by their husbands in vain attempt as helping them save their careers… and all I can say is: It’s about time. About time that a politician’s wife stood her ground and didn’t “stand by her man” while sacrificing her own pride and self-esteem… and about time that the media acknowledged that affairs are betrayal.
And that is what bothers me: A politician’s wife is almost expected to sacrifice their self-esteem and their pride for the sake of their husbands’ careers. This situation has played out in a variety of campaigns and with a bevy of politicians, and I don’t understand how these smart, educated, strong women can sell themselves out for someone else’s career—a career they most certainly had a hand in building. Why sell your pride on the auction block in front of the world for all to see? Gov. Eliot Spitzer and his prostitutes, Gary Hart’s notorious fling with Donna Rice, President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, Senator Bob Packwood and his unwanted advances on women, and Representative Mark Foley and his lewd e-mails to House pages… reckless, overconfident, cavalier politicians continue to have affairs and humiliate their significant others, and I feel it will persist until a stand is made.
So, good for you, Ms. Sanford. Nice to see our “leaders” being held accountable for their arrogant indiscretions.
An Open Letter to Barack Obama
June 18th, 2009
I’ve followed Barack Obama’s journey to the White House since he started his real push in 2006. But what has impressed me the most has not only been his qualities as a leader, but also his qualities as a man and human being. So a few weeks ago—knowing that he answers many letters personally every day—I wrote him directly at the White House. In addition to a copy of The Problem with Women… is Men, I enclosed a letter explaining my views/perceptions of his human qualities. And… lo and behold… yesterday I had a few visitors on my site originating from house.gov and whitehouse.gov. So, perhaps my package got through.
Below is the letter I sent.
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