Honor

Fathers can't rely on children to buttress their honor. Still it's always nice to read of a son's willingness to stand by the side (only rhetorically, in two of the three cases below) of a dad under attack. Three recent filial defenses:

''My father is a self made man and I wish to state this up front that he has made a conscious effort to never abuse his influence for personal gain.''

“I feel about my father like any boy does. I love him so much and I ask God to save him and to give him more life.”

"My dad is a man of enormous intelligence, experience and integrity. I wouldn't be here if I didn't think he'd make a great president."

So say Bilal Musharraf about father and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf; Omar Bin Laden, who walked away from his dad's craziness to pursue his [much more benign] own, including the current hunt along with wife No. 3 for wife No. 4 ("younger woman for make baby"); and Craig Romney explaining one of dad's sort of, like maybe, slightly unclear positions.

** Children often attack the father to define themselves, but as they grown they find instead they have to defend dad because they are turning into him. **