Yeah, Howard is my father when he was younger. And by is I mean *IS*. My dad is a Jewish engineer who lived with his mother until he got married in his thirties. He was also, taking into account all the pictures of strange women in his photo album and if what my grandmother has told me is true, a big old slut. And guess what? He grew out of it. He married the right girl, moved away from his Mom (but not too far, so that he could check on her and make sure she wasn't lonely), and became an absolutely devoted husband and father. Seriously, I don't know anyone with a better father than mine. What remains of his jackass younger days is a love of off-color jokes.

So long story short: I think Howard is no more near a repulsive creature than my daddy, and I believe he can be better than he was. People change and grow up.