Carelessness and the pole

Peter King defends his critique of two Fathers of the Year:

FATHER’S DAY LEFTOVER. From Tim Novak of Pittsburgh: “Your Larry King and Donald Trump comments aside, I hope you are not classifying all divorced men as poor fathers. I would be very disappointed, if you were.”

I am classifying two men with a total of 10 marriages as highly, highly questionable choices as Fathers of the Fear. I understand divorce happens. But don’t tell me if you’re divorced six times, as King was, you could qualify as a father of the year. Part of fatherhood is staying around. One divorce, I can see it. Two, well, starting to go over the line. Six? Gimme a break.

It does bring to mind the Oscar Wilde quote about losing more than one parent, doesn’t it? My theories about fatherhood are inchoate, but I believe Chris Rock has the right of it when it comes to daughters. While I have no lack of respect for dancers of any sort and have probably been acquainted with more than is the norm, I nevertheless think his fathering imperative is a wise one.

“You’ve got to keep them off that pole!”

In any event, Donald Trump and Larry King should not even be mentioned in the same sentence as fathers of repute, unless the adjective preceding the last word is “ill”.