Maturing: Back in my 20's there were certain people I just hated, much like the people who now hate Bush. I avoided or ignored any evidence of their humanity and listened to those who fed my hate. Mayor Daley was my Dubbya Bush, and their was plenty to dislike: His questionable decisions as Cook County States Attorney, the police-torture under Commmander Burge that went unchecked, the usual scandals and corruption.

But I hit a low point that looking back on I am now ashamed of. I remember when Daley's teen son was in the news after he and a group of friends he had invited to the mayor's summer home were involved in a fight, resulting in another youth being beaten in the head with a baseball bat by 16 year-old Andrew Buckman. At the time, I have to admit I was dissapointed it was not the Mayor's son who did the beating, I so wanted this horrible incident to hurt Daley. I lost all sense of the humans involved. (for more in this see Eric Zorn's take)

I hope I've evolved since then. This story in today's Sun-Times shows that whatever trouble the Daley son was in as a youth, he's grown into a good man.

Mayor Daley's only son, Patrick, has joined the Army during a time of war.

He reports to active duty as an enlisted soldier in the Army's regular airborne infantry.

His activation date: between Christmas and New Year's. His destination: presumably North Carolina's Ft. Bragg. His final destination? It could lead him to Iraq or Afghanistan within a year.

"He wants to serve his country," said a Sneed source. "He's a patriot. It's just that it's a pretty dangerous time to be doing so. His father is very proud but his mother, Maggie, is nervous as any mother would be. It's a pretty honorable thing to sign up in a time of war."

In an exclusive interview with the Sun-Times, Patrick Daley - who recently graduated with honors from the University of Chicago's MBA program and could have pursued lucrative job offers - told Sneed why he made the decision.

"It's been in the back of my mind for some time," said Patrick Daley, one of Mayor Daley's four children, including Nora, Elizabeth and a second son, Kevin, who died. "I left West Point during my freshman year when I was 18 years old and always remembered their motto, 'Duty, Honor and Country.' But I was so young and not really old enough to understand what it really meant. But I know now.

"I suppose when you're 18 years old - as I was at West Point - you're selfish and I didn't want to devote 10 years to an uncertain future. It took me a while to learn that there's also a virtue in selflessness. And I believe that virtue is to serve your country. And the values of West Point are still with me."