In the past few days hundreds of you have given me feedback on my post about Rob Reiner. I’ve learned a lot from the comments section. This post organizes ideas that have come up in discussion.

The day after Rob Reiner was killed by his son, Nick Reiner, a New York Times podcast revisited Rob’s relationship with his own father. Rob had said that even as a young child, he felt his father hated him. When Rob’s brother died, Rob believed his father wished Rob had died instead. Years later, Rob admitted he had not bonded with his own son, Nick, when Nick was young.

Failure to bond with a child is abuse

When there’s shocking gun violence, the media takes an opportunity to debate the balance between the right to bear arms and the right to feel safe. But when there’s shocking family violence, we refuse to talk about the balance between the rights of parents and the rights of children. Read more