If one chooses to be in the public eye, does one voluntarily give up the right to privacy?

Tiger Woods has fallen off of his pedestal. He made a mistake. He will receive a citation for his accident. We move on… or will we? I would certainly understand if he did something more egregious. Allegedly he and his wife had an altercation, he left the house in a huff, ran his car off the road, and received a citation for his mistake. That should be the end of it. If any of us engaged in the same behavior, we should expect the same.

I am already tired of the countless news stories, the talk show discussions, on and on and on. I heard a radio talk show host make the comment that when one goes into the public eye, one willingly gives up the expectation of privacy. Really? I can understand the dialog about Eliot Spitzer resigning as Governor of New York because of his alleged involvement in a high-priced prostitution ring. I don’t want my police officers being found guilty of dealing drugs, firefighters of arson, and…well, you get the picture. But where do we draw the line? I do understand that the right to privacy does NOT mean we should turn a blind eye to domestic violence, the mistreatment of children…

One incident that stands out to me as to the ridiculousness of this was the “Broccoli Debacle” with former President Bush. He admitted he didn’t like broccoli. By the uproar it created, one would have thought he had detonated an atomic bomb. Another thing that stands out – when Michael Jackson passed away, what media outlet first announced it? TMZ. Could that be because they were “staked out” around his place?

So I ask the questions: Where do we draw the line with respect to the right to privacy? Does one give up that right if one chooses to be in the public eye?