NOTE: The holiday season starts this month. With that come family gatherings and the chance of political conversations over the dining room table. Sometimes those don’t go well. This commentary documents one son’s loss of the dad he knew to conservative media.
My dad’s been my hero for a long time.
I don’t think that’s out of the ordinary for someone that was fortunate enough to grow up with loving parents. But, still- it’s something I cherished. A relationship I knew plenty of others weren’t lucky enough to have. He taught me how to always listen to what folks have to say, and never be afraid to ask for advice, because everyone has something they can teach you. He was always positive, and even when we didn’t agree on things, we always got along.
My dad has led an interesting life. He’s a Vietnam veteran, and in the 1960s, he was a staunch Democrat. Vociferously anti-war after he was discharged, he became an activist- even ending up on one of J. Edgar Hoover’s COINTELPRO lists. He was also a mover and shaker of some note in the Iowa Democratic Party, a staunch Eugene McCarthy and Bobby Kennedy supporter who never got over the “backdoor, smoke and cigar filled room” way that Humphrey badgered his way to the nomination in ‘68.
View the complete October 4 commentary from the Daily Kos on the AlterNet website here.