SNL: Mark Sanford, John Edwards, John Ensign, and Tiger Woods

Saturday Night Live used Tiger Woods' extramarital messes as an opportunity to remind people of the infidelities of Republicans Mark Sanford and John Ensign, as well as John Edwards' love child.

The notion that there's some sort of double standard in play when it comes to the coverage of the scandals, possibly racial, is ridiculous.

Why are tabloids and news outlets obsessing over Tiger Woods' adultery?

It sells. Woods is an extremely popular personality. The media are giving the people what they want.

Furthermore, it appears that Woods has a very deep well from which to draw when it comes to lurid details about his affairs. Obviously, a number of his partners are very willing to share.

I don't see any double standard in the coverage.

There's no comparison between Woods' popularity and that of Mark Sanford or John Ensign. Given that John Edwards was the Democrats' vice presidential nominee in 2004 and that he was a serious presidential candidate in 2008, his screwing around and having a child with his mistress probably should have received more coverage in the mainstream media than it did.

Nonetheless, I think the coverage is commensurate with the individual's popularity overall.

I don't think the question here is whether the media are treating Woods fairly compared to his unfaithful brethren. I think the question is whether the mainstream media should be spending so much time on tabloid trash in the first place.

Woods is a huge celebrity. He's reckless. He's unfaithful. All fuel for tabloid reporting.

I think the coverage of the Woods scandal reveals just how far the mainstream media have strayed from reporting hard news.

Their bottom line is getting the public to buy what they're selling. The media don't mind jumping into bed with Tiger.