Mark Levin vs. Glenn Beck: Was Scott Brown’s joke about his daughters inappropriate?

Two clips for you, one via the Right Scoop from this morning’s radio show and the other via Mediaite from tonight’s GB on Fox. When I saw the first one, I figured he simply stumbled onto the topic while riffing and it went from there; Mediaite was outrageously outraged by the “dead intern” comment, but whatever. It was a joke. To open tonight’s Fox show with the same material, though? Right out of the chute, the day after Brown delivered the biggest Republican victory since 2004? I don’t get it. Neither does Mark Levin, who’s been known to criticize Beck before:

You know, the really ignorant thing about criticizing Brown is that in kidding around with his girls, it actually shows he is a good family man. Ask any guy who is a father of girls: doing something deliberately to provoke the “oh daddy!” squirm of embarrassment from the teenage daughters is something only a father with a good, comfortable relationship does (and he never misses a chance to do so).

If smearing Brown was a joke, I don’t think it was very funny. It’s very weird.

Yeah, I had the same reaction about Brown being a good family man. What he said last night was embarrassing, but deliberately so, and his daughters seemed to take it with good humor. It was a sweet moment, however unorthodox. Sounds like the whole clan has a healthy appetite for busting on each other, in fact. From today’s Time interview:

First of all, I have a wife and kids, and they keep me very grounded, and I’ve always had that balance. Just like with [his daughter] Ayla when she was on American Idol. Gail [Huff, his wife, a local television reporter in Washington] and I would always notice when she was getting a little too full of herself. My family regularly says, “You know, Dad, do you want us to enlarge the door and open up the double doors so you can come in?” So I have a good check and balance system. We all do as family members, kind of keep an eye on each other.

Meredith Vieira asked him about the “they’re available” crack at the end of this morning’s “Today” interview too. I’m embedding that below the Beck clips; watch it and judge for yourself if Levin isn’t right. As for Beck’s knock on Brown for posing nude in Cosmo, fair enough, I guess, but that’s an odd critique coming from a guy who’s been very candid about his own considerably more checkered past. Yeah, yeah, I know — TV pundits shouldn’t be held to the same standard as U.S. Senators, especially those that describe themselves as “rodeo clowns,” but if Beck can overcome past mistakes to be taken seriously by millions of voters, why can’t Brown? Why even mention it?

Oh, and by the way: It worked.

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