# Is Tiger Woods 19 times as patriotic as Newt? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 11, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247 "2011-03-11T01:49:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/1 "2011-03-11T01:49:05Z")
Tiger reportedly had 19 mistresses (although various tabloids have the number as high as 120). Should a man as patriotic and hard-working as that be our next President? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/2 "2011-03-11T01:55:00Z")
We have the new pantheon of American heroes: Washington, Lincoln, and Wilt Chamberlain. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/3 "2011-03-11T02:23:43Z")
So are y’all saying that Charlie Sheen is just being ultra-patriotic? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/4 "2011-03-11T02:26:57Z")
> [@brocks](#): > > Tiger reportedly had 19 mistresses (although various tabloids have the number as high as 120). > > Should a man as patriotic and hard-working as that be our next President? Newt had 3 wives and had relationships with women when he was married.. So the ratio is more like 6 to 1. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/5 "2011-03-11T10:10:22Z")
He only had two affairs (that we know about) making the ratio 9.5:1. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/6 "2011-03-11T11:10:27Z")
Excuse me, language clarification… do y’all count any woman a married man sleeps with as “a mistress” (other than his wife)? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/7 "2011-03-11T11:38:21Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Excuse me, language clarification… do y’all count any woman a married man sleeps with as “a mistress” (other than his wife)? > > Thanks! Only if there’s an ongoing relationship between the two. I don’t think a girl a married man had a one-time fling with could be called his mistress. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/8 "2011-03-11T13:48:35Z")
A politician’s sex life has no impact on his fitness to be President. Wait - is Woods a Democrat, or a Republican? It apparently makes a difference. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/9 "2011-03-11T14:08:39Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > A politician’s sex life has no impact on his fitness to be President. > > Wait - is Woods a Democrat, or a Republican? It apparently makes a difference. > > Regards, > Shodan Well, do you believe that, Shodan? It shouldn’t matter to you what a bunch of dirty hippies think, what matters is what you think. So would you refuse to vote for a politician who had affairs, or would it not matter, or would it simply be one factor among many? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/10 "2011-03-11T16:07:51Z")
Newt Gingrich is indeed a jerk, and he’ DESERVES scorn and mockery for the way he’s treated his previous wives. But he did NOT say that he played around because he was so devoted to his country. That was a stupid, dishonest summary of what he said. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/11 "2011-03-11T16:12:41Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Newt Gingrich is indeed a jerk, and he’ DESERVES scorn and mockery for the way he’s treated his previous wives. > > But he did NOT say that he played around because he was so devoted to his country. That was a stupid, dishonest summary of what he said. How so? Let’s roll the tape: [QUOTE=Newt Gingrich] There’s no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate. [/QUOTE] That sets out a rather straightforward chain of events: I was so patriotic that I worked too hard and then “things happened in my life”. He does try to obfuscate it a bit by shifting to the passive voice, as if he were some sort of innocent bystander while malign forces took control of his body and caused it to do inappropriate things, but that changes neither the fact that he did them or that he is now attributing them to patriotism-motivated excessive hard work. (Edit: I notice that you are disputing the statement “Gingrich fooled around because of his patriotism”, not the statement “Gingrich _said that_ he fooled around because of his patriotism”. Your disputation is, of course, correct. [/EMILY LATELLA] Never mind… [/EMILY LATELLA]) ---
**Author:** ![Heyoka13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Heyoka13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heyoka13)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/12 "2011-03-11T16:13:42Z")
Indeed. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/13 "2011-03-11T16:18:08Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > A politician’s sex life has no impact on his fitness to be President. > > Wait - is Woods a Democrat, or a Republican? It apparently makes a difference. > > Regards, > Shodan I’m sure you’ll be happy to know it doesn’t make a blind bit of difference to me. I don’t think anyone here has actually said Gingich is not fit to be President, based solely on his sex life. I do think people are making fun of him for a statement that sounded very much like he was excusing infidelity on the grounds of how hard he was working on behalf of the country. What’s your feeling about that? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/14 "2011-03-11T16:40:18Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > I don’t think anyone here has actually said Gingich is not fit to be President, based solely on his sex life. No, you are correct - nobody, or at least very few here, think he is unfit to be President based on his sex life. They think he is unfit to be President because he is a Republican. > [@](#): > > I do think people are making fun of him for a statement that sounded very much like he was excusing infidelity on the grounds of how hard he was working on behalf of the country. What’s your feeling about that? My feeling is the same as it has always been. If he were a Democrat, like Clinton was, you would be excusing and minimizing the statement, and (as I implied above) saying that the topic should not be discussed at all, and that a politician’s sex life is private and all that. But Gingrich is a Republican, so you are condemning behavior that you would excuse for anyone else. Perhaps that clears things up. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/15 "2011-03-11T16:47:30Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, you are correct - nobody, or at least very few here, think he is unfit to be President based on his sex life. They think he is unfit to be President because he is a Republican. I don’t think his shitty treatment of women and his risible defense of it as being a result of patriotic fervor makes him unfit to be President, I just think it makes him an asshole deserving of mockery and scorn. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/16 "2011-03-11T16:48:30Z")
To he OP, would Ron Jeremy be the most patriotic man in America? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/17 "2011-03-11T16:49:34Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I don’t think his shitty treatment of women and his risible defense of it as being a result of patriotic fervor makes him unfit to be President, I just think it makes him an asshole deserving of mockery and scorn. Exactly. And if he were a liberal Democrat, and said and did exactly the same things, you would not think that. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/18 "2011-03-11T16:50:18Z")
Why are you so afraid to give an opinion of Gingrich’s excuse, **Shodan**? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/19 "2011-03-11T16:51:18Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Exactly. And if he were a liberal Democrat, and said and did exactly the same things, you would not think that. There has to be a word for this kind of fallacy. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247/20 "2011-03-11T17:18:14Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, you are correct - nobody, or at least very few here, think he is unfit to be President based on his sex life. They think he is unfit to be President because he is a Republican. Well, I think actually, if anyone does think he’s unfit for President, it’s more because he’s Newt Gingrich than simmly being Repubblican. Being Republican is only one element of the whole shiny package. > [@](#): > > My feeling is the same as it has always been. What makes you think that people carry around the content of all your previous posts in their heads? Seems a bit arrogant to me. > [@](#): > > If he were a Democrat, like Clinton was, you would be excusing and minimizing the statement, and (as I implied above) saying that the topic should not be discussed at all, and that a politician’s sex life is private and all that. You know, if you really want to waste your time with a trip down memory lane circa 2000, what you would most likely find is that I would be making fun fo Clinton for having made remarks equally as silly as those of Gingrich. I’m certainly not going to bother to go over that ancient history, though. > [@](#): > > But Gingrich is a Republican, so you are condemning behavior that you would excuse for anyone else. I haven’t condemned a goddamn thing here, and you have no standing to claim that I am excusing behavior of people that have not even come up for discussion. Just as an aside, this penchant you have for incessantly trying to put words in other peoples’s mouth’s is transparent and does your already weak arguments no favors. It really would benefit you to find some other way to express you positions. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tiger-woods-19-times-as-patriotic-as-newt/574247.md?page=2)