Barack Obama’s biological father left him when he was two years old and, as the presumptive Democratic nominee writes in his first book, it left an un-fillable hole in his life.

Years after his father had died in a car accident, Obama sat down on the red dirt beside his grave and “talked” to him. It is one of the most moving scenes in his first book, Dreams from My Father.

When, on Father’s Day, Obama took aim at deadbeat dads, calling on them not to abandon their children, I was moved. He’s right. There is a crisis of fatherhood in this country and fatherless children commit a disproportionate number of crimes and give birth to an outsized number of out-of-wedlock children. And that restarts the cycle.

Obama deserves credit for departing from liberal platitudes. He realizes that the inner-city doesn’t just need more money, its residents need more love–from fathers who know how to tame boys and  inspire confidence in girls.

But not everyone was happy with Obama’s brave words. Here is a thoughtful criticism of Obama, by an Obama supporter and men’s rights activist.