text: I heard about Leah McLaren from comments in Margaret Wendt's article about Are Today's Dad's really so pathetic? I had to check it out. And I have kept an open mind.  But, reading her (McLaren's) work is like pulling hangnails. She has some good points, but her smugness against dads is quite telling. Her use of slang like 'snowflakes' and 'whevs' ('whatever' in a valley girl dialect?) is instructive. She talks about how much praise to give to children THEN switches to husbands, speaking as though men are like children and women are the adults who have to train their dogs. Her condescension is appalling. 
  
  One reason I am writing here is that Father's Day articles give back-handed insults to men. ("Kids are fat? - Blame dad") Happy Father's Day! Ms. McLaren should follow Janice Fiamengo who mentions the difficult, dirty, dangerous jobs done by men who get no gratitude. Bill Burr quipped "All the mothers with black lung!" And Oprah telling men to "BE BETTER!" a year ago with Ms. Obama.