Sorry, Tiger, but this was no non-issue

Tiger Woods finally did something that was disappointing.

His lapses are rare, whether on or off the golf course. He wins tournaments, champions worthy causes and says the right things.

Until last week, that is.

Woods' response to an inappropriate comment by Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman was, well, also inappropriate.

In fact, Woods said nothing. He had his agent, Mark Steinberg, circulate the following statement:

"Tiger and Kelly are friends, and Tiger has a great deal of respect for Kelly. Regardless of the choice of words used, we know unequivocally that there was no ill intent in her comments."

Then came the kicker: "This is a non-issue in our eyes. Case closed."

Sorry, the case was still open.

Let's go back to the beginning. Tilghman said in reference to how young players should deal with Woods' dominance, "Lynch him in a back alley."

We assume Tilghman was attempting humor that turned into a bad joke. It was dumb. It was wrong.

Woods was left with a tough decision: Go easy on a friend or be firm with a member of the media who used "lynch" in an regrettable context.

Woods chose the former, which would have been noble if not at the expense of a greater good.

Better if Woods, a man of multiple colors, would have come out in person instead of through his agent.

Woods could have said, "Kelly and I are friends and I'm sure her comment was meant in jest. However, she said something offensive to a large number of people and has to in some way be held accountable."

Perhaps then the case really could have been closed. Rev. Al Sharpton wouldn't have had the opportunity to exploit, inflame and perpetuate the matter.

Sharpton advocated firing Tilghman even though she personally apologized to Woods and he graciously accepted.

Golf Channel met Sharpton part way. Albeit appearing to pander to the demands of a divisive figure, it acted prudently by suspending Tilghman two weeks.

A TV personality, newspaper columnist, radio host or Internet blogger has to suffer some consequence for terrible taste.

Capital punishment isn't necessary, but some penalty is. A two-week suspension fits.

It must be made clear that blurting jokes to the masses is held to a higher standard than cracking racial, ethnic, religious or sexist jokes to a friend is.

America has come far enough for a man of mixed color, a woman and a Mormon to be viable candidates for president.

But too much hatred remains in the country, as evidenced by the recent vandalism of a Jewish cemetery in Norridge.

One proposal by presumably well-meaning folks is to move on, you know, to a point where a flippant remark on a sports show isn't taken seriously.

The problem with that is not everyone is savvy enough to interpret intent. Too many might think, "Yeah, lynch 'em all."

Sorry, but blacks should never accept the trivialization of lynchings, Jews of the Holocaust, American Indians of their near-extinction, women of the fact they were denied suffrage for too long …

Wackos are still out there intent on inflicting similar atrocities.

Political correctness that condemns social vandalism -- both physical and verbal -- remains necessary.

As far as America has come, we haven't come far enough for the lynch word to be a non-issue.

mimrem@dailyherald.com