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Bobby Brown is a terrible father.

It may be too late for Brown to grow up, turn his life around, and be the father that his daughter, Bobbi Kristina, seriously deserves.

Perhaps I’m expecting too much of Bobby Brown, former husband of Whitney Houston, drug user and alcoholic. But if Brown has any dignity left and love for Bobbi Kristina, he’ll use his time in jail over the next eight weeks to re-evaluate his relationship with his daughter and reflect on his own life and emerge from behind bars as a devoted father.

He’s got nothing but time.

Brown was recently arrested for DUI – his third DUI arrest – and given 55 days in jail and four years probation. He has until March 29 to turn himself in to authorities and he must also complete an 18-month alcohol treatment program.

He was charged in October with DUI and driving on a suspended license because Brown’s license had been suspended as a result of his previous DUI conviction in 2012.

What a knucklehead. Brown was driving drunk and with a suspended license. What did he think would happen?

Bobby Brown will never be a role model for black men. And as disgusted as I am with Brown, I’m still rooting for him. Why? Because I don’t want Bobbi Kristina to travel down the same toxic path as her parents — although she’s already exhibiting some troubling behavior.

Last month, Bobbi Kristina was spotted in Atlanta walking with a friend and passing what appeared to be marijuana joint. Friends of Bobbi Kristina are reportedly worried that she’s relying on drugs to cope with her mother’s death. Whitney Houston died last year after taking drugs and drinking alcohol.

Bobbi Kristina Brown is also boycotting her grandmother’s tell-all book. Cissy Houston has written “Remembering Whitney,” a book about her daughter and says it’s an honest look at Whitney Houston’s life. But Bobbi Kristina says the book is “disrespectful” and has asked her fans not to read.

Meanwhile, her father, Bobby, is 44 years old and is no closer today to becoming a rational adult than he was five years ago.

If Bobby Brown is searching for a role model, he only needs to look to President Barack Obama, a father of two daughters who takes his responsibility as a black father seriously.

“He goes home for dinner every night; he is a present and involved father,” Valerie Jarrett, a White House Senior Adviser, said in an interview. Or Brown could listen to stories about “real fathers” on “The Tom Joyner Morning Show.”

Perhaps what Bobbi Kristina really needs is some distance between Brown and his destructive behavior, which, sadly, seems to be a family trend. Bobbi Kristina needs help – the kind of help a real father could provide. Unfortunately, her father, Bobby Brown, is an addict and needs help, too.

I don’t know what the future holds for Bobby and Kristina, but I do believe that Bobbi Kristina could have a chance at a normal life if only her father would just learn to grow up and be a responsible man.

I’m hopeful – but I’m not holding my breath.

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