Dem 50
image description
Ties 2
GOP 48
image description

This Week in Freudenfreude: Here's What a Healthy Father-Son Relationship Looks Like

It is, we must admit, sometimes pretty tough to find a story for this space. We are a politics-focused site, which means the item has to have at least some nominal connection to politics. But the American media is not exactly known for writing uplifting items in general. And when it comes to politics, that is doubly true. We've got a story this week, courtesy of reader D.R. in Tempe, AZ, that's certainly uplifting. Is it political? We're going to argue that it is, if just tangentially.

At the center of this story (or maybe we should say "centre") is Easton Oetting of Alberta. He's 5 years old and he suffers from 8p23.1 duplication syndrome, a rare condition that has left him with mobility issues. He uses a wheelchair most of the time, which creates some challenges when it comes to Halloween costuming.

Young Easton is also a hockey fan. He's Canadian, after all—we're pretty sure that if you're not a hockey fan, they revoke your Canadian citizenship. Anyhow, Easton's fandom, specifically his support for the Edmonton Oilers, served as inspiration for his father D.J., resulting in this rather memorable Halloween getup:

Father and son 
on the ice, with the son's wheelchair built into a mini-Zamboni machine with Oilers logo

The NHL even tweeted out a video of Easton in his costume, describing it as "COSTUME OF THE YEAR."

So, what's the political connection? Well, as we've noted a couple of times this week, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted out a picture of a crass "Paul Pelosi Halloween costume" that was made up of a pair of jockey shorts and a hammer. If we're going to write an item about Halloween costumes being used for evil, then we can certainly balance that out with an item about Halloween costumes being used for good.

On top of that, if we may editorialize for a moment, imagine if Trump Jr. had the good fortune to have a father like D.J. Oetting. Do you really think that Junior would be the "man" he is today, if that were the case? The odds are against it, we'd imagine. (Z)



This item appeared on www.electoral-vote.com. Read it Monday through Friday for political and election news, Saturday for answers to reader's questions, and Sunday for letters from readers.

www.electoral-vote.com                     State polls                     All Senate candidates