It's recently been brought to my attention that my father, Nick Clooney, has been running for Congress from the 4th District of Kentucky. Although he told me, I didn't really believe him until I started reading all the stories about myself in the paper.

It seems the best way to campaign against my father is to go after me. The head of the Kentucky 4th District GOP, Marcus Carey, is quoted in the Enquirer as saying that because of me, my father and I will "go down with my ship" - a reference to a film I made called The Perfect Storm.

I have two quick thoughts. First, it's probably not the best idea to use an actual event where six fishermen lost their lives as a lighthearted metaphor to hammer away at yours truly. For future insults, let me see if I can help.

It should go something like this: Batman and his father are gonna be taught The Facts of Life about Kentucky politics. The Peacemaker and his old man have been campaigning From Dusk Till Dawn to prove that a deficit that's Out of Sight can hurt your paycheck. O Brother, next they'll tell us that it would be Intolerable Cruelty to send patients away if they can't afford services in the E.R.

See? No references to any actual event where people died, yet filled with vim and vigor and a little zest. So, Mr. Carey, you have that one.

The second point I want to make is this: My father has dedicated 50 years to living and working in your community. Anyone who knows him (and that's a lot of Kentuckians) knows that he is his own man and always has been. Politically, my father and I certainly disagree on some issues. But what we don't disagree on is this: We should be judged as a country by how we take care of those who can't take care of themselves. Senior citizens, veterans, the poor, the uninsured ... this list goes on.

After 50 years, my father has earned the right to be judged on his own merits, and they are many; on his own political beliefs, and they are well-documented; and on his own strength of character, which is unquestionable.

Nick Clooney is a grown man and he can take his own hits ... but it'll be One Fine Day before he should take mine too.

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George Clooney, formerly of Augusta, Ky., is Nick Clooney's son and was president of the Augusta Independent High School Science Club in 1978-79.

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