So Do we care about golf? Or just about sex and silliness?

Walking through a Target this week, glancing at the magazines and tabloids displayed near the check out aisles, I caught a partial glimpse of America.

Lined up like wanted posters, the magazine covers feature Tiger Woods, but in reality, they are a reflection of this silly country of ours.

Sex, betrayal, mistresses and promises of more mistresses - the Woods saga is the Grand Slam of salaciousness.

Can't say I'm not intrigued at least a little. But then I see our president sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, and it's hard to get really worked up over a story about one more sports star with a wandering eye.

Millions of Americans beg to differ, of course.

War and health care bills are really tough to understand, after all. They are just so, uh, complicated.

It's much easier and a lot more fun to obsess over the private lives of the rich and famous, especially when it involves tearing down a celebrity.

That's what the supermarket rags and celebrity Web sites do so well. They lead the race to the bottom, while the mainstream media awkwardly surf in their wake.

You could make the case that Internet and tabloid reports about Woods' transgressions cater to a national mentality that can't tell the difference between a reality show and real life.

But the media establishment contributes to the nonsense, too. When a ridiculous, publicity-seeking couple crashed a White House state dinner recently, the mainstream media helped craft what should have been a one-day story into a 10-day-long conspiracy scenario.

Anything to distract from what's actually important to the country.

Stupid is as stupid does. We get the media we deserve.

In some ways, given the climate of the times, it makes perfect sense that the National Enquirer and TMZ.com sometimes seem to be setting America's news agenda.

A silly populace welcomes silly stuff.

With changing attitudes and technology turning everyone into a busybody, the traditional media have become wallflowers at the orgy.

Look at sports writers. For us, a scandal is Boise State or Cincinnati being denied a chance to play for the national football championship. We're old-fashioned that way.

Don't ask this sports writer to assess the damage done to Tiger Woods' image. Too much time is spent worrying about an athlete's persona. It's character that should count.

Before anybody waxes too piously on the subject of what's going to happen to Woods' reputation, they should consider the pearl of wisdom provided by Charles Barkley on radio the other day.

By image, he said, "What people mean is, can the guy sell product."

As long as Woods can, presumably all is well. How's that for cynicism?

Taking into account the interest created by Woods' indiscretions, will the celebrity sex cops, with their paid informants, now turn up the heat on other famous athletes?

I don't think so; not nearly to the extent that they've gone after Woods. There is no other sports figure quite like him. None approaches him as a cross-cultural icon.

For now, Tiger's near peers needn't worry. The exploitation of Woods' dirty little secrets - and the cashing in on America's appetite for sensational nonsense - is a growth industry.

More than ever, silly sells.

Bob Molinaro, (757) 446-2373, bob.molinaro@pilotonline.com