A few weeks ago, Tiger Woods contracted former Bush White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer to do what he's already done for Mark McGwire and the Bowl Championship Series -- which was what? Make them beloved institutions? Well, not exactly! But neither MCGwire or the BCS has been firebombed by an angry and betrayed public, so, we'll call that a PR win.
However, as Amanda Terkel notes today, Fleischer has "withdrawn" from assisting Woods. Terkel points to this article on Fox News's sports page for the reason why:
Meanwhile, the controversial spin doctor Fleischer, I'm reliably informed, has left Team Tiger. I was told that George W. Bush's first White House press secretary fell on his sword because he felt he was becoming the story. No kidding, Ari.
The reality is that Fleischer had to leave because his very presence gave the impression that Woods was being stage-managed in his return to the public eye.
Fleischer's legacy, whether fairly or not, remains propagating Bush/Cheney myths -- like Saddam Hussein attacked America on Sept. 11, 2001 -- which Americans don't want to hear.
Having him in behind the curtain gave the impression Woods had something to hide, and that words were being fed to him.
Indeed, put yourself in Elin Nordegren's shoes. You've spent the past four months living with the humiliation of your husband's widespread infidelities. He's done his rehab, he's done his apologia, you're contemplating what form the relationship takes from here. Maybe it's cordial, permanent distance. Maybe it's reconciliation. But whatever it is, it has to be founded on a promise that your husband is going to stop having sex with every woman that crosses his path.
And then you wake up one morning and he's being repped by Fleischer, the person you hire when you want to keep right on lying, forever and ever and ever. What's a lady to think?
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