I’m not sure I agree with that Rod. Would you really not say “I think my Dad is wrong” if he publicly said the Holocaust never happened? What if your dad said blacks are subhuman and deserve to be slaves? I mean saying, “I love my father unconditionally and we disagree on the facts and I think he’s mistaken” seems to me to be the more honorable course of action.

I’ve thought about this quite a bit actually. After all I spent a year defending my mom in public when pretty much the entire Democratic Party and most of the media establishment was denouncing her. In response to certain statements, I said on a few occassions, “I don’t agree with everything my mom says….blah, blah, blah” but stuck to my guns defending her on the big issues and against the big lies. My mom completely understood where I was coming from and it never bothered her. It seems to me that you want to raise kids of good character and if that means their conscience causes them to disagree with you, there are ways they can say that without renouncing you. I understand what you’re saying, but it seems to me that at some point truth — both the moral and factual kinds — needs to be acknowlegded. I wouldn’t think less of the Meeropol kids saying, “my parents were well-intentioned but mistaken.” I’d admire them for that.