What help is a public apology?

For who don't follow the news, Tiger Woods apologized today to... whoever was listening I guess, for cheating on his wife. She was not present.  But his mother and about 40 other handpicked PGA dignitaries and associates were there.

Why apologize to the public? to me?  He didn't cheat on me, I am not bound by a solemn vow of marriage to Tiger. He and his wife may have already had some...er, dialog. Maybe he apologized and asked her forgiveness privately. So why apologize to us?  Or is there possibly some effort to salvage his endorsements and name brand and aaaaall that money he is set to loose? I know, I such a cynic.

But there's a trend here. Earlier this week, the CEO of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, apologized to... once again, people. What people? The Japanese government? Perhaps to the families who had people killed in Toyota cars that malfunctioned - fair enough. But also, it seems, to stockholders, and the public.

A quick search of recent public apologies yielded these names and many more:

• Mark Magwire - for using steroids and lying about it when he broke the home run record in 1998(?)
• Kobe Bryant after raping a girl in a hotel
• Janet Jackson after the infamous wardrobe malfunction
• Michael Vick - for his dog fighting/gambling ring
• Virginia lawmakers - for slavery
• Australia to Aborigines for colonization and exploitation of the race.

With the possible exception of Janet Jackson, since her offense was against the public, none of these apologies seem to be meaningful when you get right down to it. Why apologize to the public for hosting dogfights? or using steroids? How can children multiple generations later apologize to descendants of atrocities committed decades or centuries earlier?

Are apologies becoming things that celebrities do to control damage rather than a vehicle for reconciliation? And worse, is the public learning to expect apologies for celebrity malfeasance, as if they did it to us?

And note: only celebrities do this. I don't have to apologize on TV for my sins. So why do famous people do it?

Wouldn't it be better if Tiger came out and said, "I have apologized to my wife and children, and expressed by desire for reconciliation to them. We are working it out. I do not deserve forgiveness from her, but I still hope that she can find it in her heart. I am leaving behind my philandering ways to become a better man, etc. etc."

I think that would go farther to salvaging 1) his marriage 2) his standing in the public's eyes and yes 3) his endorsements.  But was he really sorry? Or just sorry he got caught? Did anyone see sorrow in his eyes? I didn't. Will he do it again.....?