Less Fearsome

It's hard to make the case that fathers are completely powerless. But New Yorker writer Ian Frazier makes an interesting point about how times have changed when talking with Downtown (Manhattan) Express:

“Fathers are a joke now, and they didn’t used to be,” said Mr. Frazier. “There aren’t very many grown-ups in the United States. Most people in authority are just grown kids. Look at Bush.” In reference to the Bible, he noted, “Look at God. Back in the day, there were stern fathers who were afraid of God. Now fathers are powerless, and people aren’t afraid of God anymore.”

It's also hard — at least at first glance — to make the case that Senator Obama is a DODO, but Wisconsin Badger dad Greg Gerber killed some pixels with a press release looking for some publicity for his Dads of Daughters Only site so in the interest of dodo solidarity it may be worth noting that Obama is.

Although, he is certainly a dodo (as in "dumb obviously, dumb obviously") like the Reverend Jesse Jackson,who seems upset that his son, Chicago Congressman Jesse Jackson is more relevant to everyone except Fox News. The father is not a part of Senator Obama's inner circle and clearly is hurt by it and occasionally — as in his I'd-like-to-cut-his-nuts-off comment — lashes out for the attention he is missing.

No father is powerless, but, over time, as the younger suggests, they do lose a bit of their fearsomeness. Regarding the reverend's mouth, the congressman said, "Reverend Jackson is my dad, and I'll always love him . . . [but] I thoroughly reject and repudiate his ugly rhetoric. He should keep hope alive and any personal attacks and insults to himself."

Times do change.