WBD?

It's that time again! What time? That time ....

Creating an instant tradition, the Dads-Space folks announced they are seeking The World's Best Dad in what sounds like a competition that has been around for a while. Surprisingly, some of the contest details are a bit fuzzy. For example, the standards for entry are unstated, prizes are undetermined, and ceremony date unstated. However, the general idea to create a real contest — rather than just pretend a celebrity represents something other than himself — out of what otherwise makes for a barroom argument (if among males) or coffee or cocktail klatsch (should the arbiters of best dad be female) is laudable.

So, what actually makes for the WBD? Could it be someone like Mike Mone, who dragged his lawyer son into some pro bono work fighting for the unwinnable situation of trying to unite an Uzbeki father with his son by bringing the two to Ireland? The father of a 6-year-old he hasn't seen thanks to his captivity, Oybek Jamoldinivich Jabbarov, was kept at Guantanamo first without strong evidence he had done something wrong and now because there is nowhere to send him since his home country is likely to torture him.

Jabbarov would be an unlikely WBD, but it is certain that he represents something about fatherhood.

Also unlikely is Thai Major General Khattiya, who has threatened to bomb his daughter if she is unlucky enough to end up among the wrong group protesting the government. Still, there is certainly something to be said for a father who worries about his daughter, warns his daughter, provides her with a loving home, but lets her stand for something he is opposed to. As Khattiya said, "I lit a joss stick and told my wife, who passed away four years ago, that the nation was more important than a daughter. I can reproduce another child but the country cannot be reproduced."

Mone, Jabbarov, Khattiya or maybe even Ludwig? Which one represents the best dadding the world can aspire to? Ludwig, of course, has proposed sick days for SAHDs based on recent experience tending to his two sick kids and then suffering through the sickness they passed on to him.

Each one an interesting choice. And there are others. With no rules or standards or surety about what it all means make sure to get your vote in now.