Audio: Bad Dad’s Father’s Day Message

Can you imagine talking about the worst 10 minutes of your life on a radio show broadcast across America? It’s your first-ever interview on the subject, and the radio host is, as a Texan would say, smart as a tree full of owls. She skillfully takes you through the twists and turns of your public humiliation.

The host for Here & Now, broadcast on 175 National Public Radio stations, is sweet enough about it, but the subject is painful. At one point, she stops the tape and asks you to stop rocking in your chair because the microphone is picking up the squeaking. Nerves! Nope, this ain’t easy.

Then she surprises you and asks if you have a Father’s Day message for America?

That’s what happened to me today. Me! Dave Lieber, a Texas newspaper columnist. Of all people. I’m a Bad Dad. At least, that’s the title of my new book, a true-story mystery thriller about what happens when the worst moments of your life go viral … and then the police come looking for you.

Watchdog Nation founder Dave Lieber

Yes, my story is about something that happened to me. But I wrote Bad Dad because it’s something that could happen to you, too. Anyone can have a bad moment; and in a world filled with cell phone cameras, the worst 10 minutes of your life can get shared with the world. It happens every day.

 

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Can you hear Dave Lieber’s chair squeaking? Listen to the radio interview here.

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A few years back, when my youngest son was 11 years old, I took him for breakfast one morning at McDonalds. He wanted to leave before I was done, and we got into an argument. He kept at it, pushing those worn-out parenting buttons of mine. I threatened: if he didn’t settle down, he was going to walk home, a 15-minute stroll across the street into our subdivision. He’d learn his lesson. But he didn’t believe me.

Well, believe it, son. Moments later, I was driving off, and he was standing in the parking lot, crying and bewildered.

When I returned minutes later, police were waiting for me. Someone had called 911. I was arrested and charged with two felony counts of abandonment and endangerment by a police department I had aggressively investigated for a dozen years in my column for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Then the story went viral, around the world and back. TV news, radio talk shows, blogs and newspaper stories. Everybody had an opinion about whether I was a bad dad or a good dad. (Read Chapter One of Bad Dad here.)

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Talking about your worst moment: Listen to the radio interview here.

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So here I am, my first interview celebrating the national debut of Bad Dad book, a couple of days before Father’s Day.

Radio host Monica Brady-Myerov asks:

Q. “What’s your big take-away from this?”

Me: “This story is really not about me. It’s about everybody else. Because what I see is that anything that happens on any day that goes wrong in your life suddenly can go viral. Everybody has a camera these days. And it’s just a hop, skip and a jump away from you doing something like yelling at your child or spanking them. Someone pulls out an iPhone camera, films it. Next thing you know, Fox News is knocking on your door, as they were with me.”

Q. Dave, since this is your first interview ever, and I mean since this incident took place in 2008, is there anything else you wanted to say or you’ve reflected on that you always wished you could have said to the media but haven’t had the opportunity?

A. … To the audience, I just want to say that I know that many people listening to me are relating because they have children that just push their buttons and sometimes they just want to explode. Just think about me. And remember that it’s better to take a deep breath and step away and calm yourself, or else you’re going to end up writing a book called Bad Dad, or Bad Mom, like me.

Remember: Deep breaths, Dads (and Moms). Happy Fathers Day!

Author Dave Lieber preps his youngest son recently for Dave's daughter's wedding.

Read the touching story of the wedding here.

Read Chapter One of Bad Dad book here.

Read Here & Now’s story about the interview.

Bad Dad book by Dave Lieber betting great reviews

Buy Bad Dad at BadDadBook.com. Bad Dad is also available as an e-book.

Watch the video book trailer below.