I fail to see a problem with what they are wearing. Is it now questionable to wear a bikini?

B: I’m not saying that. The daughter is wearing clam shells. It’s like not even a bikini. DS

Brian on January 25, 2010 at 2:46 pm

Umm, yeah, if you are on vacation somewhere like in Hawaii. It’s really not a big deal at all. I have a really good picture of myself and my two sons on vacation…. and they are shirtless!…. god forbid

S: Is one of ’em wearing just a clam shell over his penis? DS

sharon on January 25, 2010 at 2:48 pm

I see no problem. Remember many of us dads forget how the world sees our daughters. In our eyes they are still wearing our shoes and shuffling around the house with them on 🙂

Mike B on January 25, 2010 at 2:55 pm

As a father of three late teenaged daughters, I can imagine a scenario in wich I would pose in a similar picture (a Hawian vacation as mentioned above comes to mind) but, I would never makeit public, especially when running as a conservative for public office.

GaryC on January 25, 2010 at 2:59 pm

I suppose it shows just how decadent our society has become. I have daughters who are five and six and we are already teaching them that should be changing in their rooms and not running around the house unless they’re dressed. Granted I’m their father but I still want to teach them modesty. Anyway, I’m a Christian and my wife and I would never allow our daughters to be like that in our own home, much less in public because the bible teaches against it.

Brian F on January 25, 2010 at 3:05 pm

I have two young children and don’t see the problem. How are the clam shells that different from any other bikini top?

James on January 25, 2010 at 3:19 pm

At least he didn’t let them out of the house like that.

Bob on January 25, 2010 at 3:20 pm

And I would bet that that photo wasn’t published but was taken off one of the girl’s Facebook pages.

Bob on January 25, 2010 at 3:27 pm

Debbie, you are 100% completely WRONG! The women who work at the Honolulu Hooters wear much much more than that! 🙂

Fred Taub on January 25, 2010 at 3:35 pm

that pic is a bit odd for a father of teen girls… i have a teen daughter and yes, i could see a family pic of us in hawaii on the beach with my daughter in a bikini. however, this indoor pic was not impromptu and i would think his girls have t-shirts for covering-up when appropriate???

this is a tough call… and his expression is a bit odd in the pic while posing with scantily-clad daughters. or am i reading to much into it?

hmmm…

howardroark on January 25, 2010 at 3:35 pm

How old is this photo? They’re hot, they like to show off, so what is the problem? Girls will be girls. Are you implying that Brown is enjoying the pose in more than a fatherly way?

F: Nope. DS

fedupinlaandwantstoleave on January 25, 2010 at 3:36 pm

They’re over 18. Enuff said.

fedupinlaandwantstoleave on January 25, 2010 at 3:36 pm

It was a photo taken at a birthday party for his mother. The party had a Hawaiian theme. It was taken in his home. I fail to see this is creepy or anything else. As it was a family gathering in their own home.

Enough Said. I was sick of this last week with smeck…. Wish we did not have to rehash it here

Sheri on January 25, 2010 at 3:47 pm

I’m really working here trying to come up with a reason I wouldn’t pose with my daughter wearing a bikini…but I can’t, because I have. I’m neither insane nor a bad father and I’m quite proud of my daughters accomplishments. I’m sure Sen Brown is too. Neither of his daughters have political aspirations as far as I know…..even then,who cares,teenage girls wear bikinis.

Now, if I was looking for something to hammer someone with, yeah, I might resort to questioning someone’s motives for doing so.

Robert Johns on January 25, 2010 at 3:51 pm

Hey fedupinlaandwantstoleave, it’s not about the daughters, it’s about the father. I’m sad you don’t get it, but Debbie is right.

Fred Taub on January 25, 2010 at 3:59 pm

its 5 degrees in detroit so i gotta give debbie a pass on this one

drew299 on January 25, 2010 at 4:00 pm

“its 5 degrees in detroit so i gotta give debbie a pass on this one”

It was almost 20 below here in Alaska this morning! And no, I’m not a Sarah Palin groupie. 🙂

Brian F on January 25, 2010 at 4:06 pm

Give them a couple of years and they will be like Kerry’s olive smuggling daughter. Politicians and celebrities kids are like PK (preachers kids and policemans kids)they rebel harder against images projected from their parents, mostly conservative kids because of peer presure from liberals kids who are allowed to do anything they want and Hollywood sensationalizes this behavior as “cool”.

duane on January 25, 2010 at 4:27 pm

In Europe you have the teenage girls on the beach topless even with dad around and that MUST be disconcerting. I’ll bet these outfits were the girls silly idea and dad was bothered by it but didn’t want to make a scene on mom’s birthday. ‘GO PUT ON SOMETHING DECENT YOUNG LADY!’ and ruin the party and embarass them.

poetcomic1 on January 25, 2010 at 4:32 pm

I’d expect my daughters to dress up modestly for a picture with me. I’m not a prude but I don’t want them to think the only way they’ll get noticed is if they put on as little as possible.

NormanF on January 25, 2010 at 4:33 pm

How did a picture like this get out of the family photo album and onto the internet????

Would I allow my daughters to dress like this at a party for their GRANDMOTHER? Ummmm, NO!!!!! But no matter how they’re dressed, photos that are released into the public domain should be chosen with more discretion. Where were they? On a Facebook page (probably…)

DG in GA on January 25, 2010 at 4:43 pm

1. Why smudge on Brown? He may not be perfect but this pickup driving former Col. is the best thing to happen to American politics since Big Billy denied having sex with “that woman.”

2. The photo looks like they are on vacation, its halloween, or went to a luau party; if this is how they hang out at home on a Tuesday night, that would be officially weird.

3. Martha Coakley was already measuring the drapes on her Senate office when Brown showed pure American leadership and courage, whatever his imperfections, the man struck a blow for liberty and I will stand with him.

Absurdi on January 25, 2010 at 5:17 pm

As if a father has any say in what a daughter wears.

pat on January 25, 2010 at 5:25 pm

No guy who reads this column is going to agree with you about Sen. Brown’s younger daughter — your comments right below her picture. But there’s no question that his actions are inappropriate, and reflect poor judgment.

First, if he was in politics at all when this was taken, in the State Senate, he should have realized that this kind of thing opened him to comment, such as Glenn Beck’s inappropriate comment.

I think that some older men who do these kinds of things are beginning to feel their age, and resort to gimmicks like this to make it appear to others and to themselves that they aren’t really getting that old — middle age crisis — that they can relate to the youth.

Also, given the fact that his daughters are both on their way to becoming professionals, this kind of thing suggests that civilized ideas of morality are becoming more and more rare even among young people from relatively conservative backgrounds, who are on their way to professional careers.

Pictures like this pander to the reduction of culture and public discourse to sexual terms, and this reductionism has already invaded and taken over the humanities and social sciences.

We are losing the culture war.

Little Al on January 25, 2010 at 5:53 pm

…apparently Ayla is a starting player on the Boston College women’s basketball team as it makes a run for the NCAA tournament:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-01-24/senator-svengali/
….so she can probably take care of herself.

….and I have to say that I am more generally displeased with McCain and HIS daughter (and second wife)……

Nick Fury on January 25, 2010 at 6:35 pm

debbie

this is not the victorian era anymore andh its’ “morals”

Bob S. on January 25, 2010 at 6:49 pm

What? You want them to wear a burqa? I call this a “no harm, no foul” situation.

Rhymes With Right on January 25, 2010 at 7:22 pm

I am not going over the top on this one. On a scale of 1-10 about things to worry about with Mr. Brown, this barely goes over a 2. If there is nothing more than this out there, I am not going to lose any sleep. Also, those two girls are either adults or close to it, so we are not dealing with a JonBenet Ramsey situation. I will take a pass on getting upset on this one.

Worry01 on January 25, 2010 at 7:35 pm

Actually, I don’t believe my 14 yr. old daughter would be seen dead with me while dressed like that. I know she wouldn’t be dressed that way dead…. the point is she is way too modest to wear something that revealing. And yes she is very good looking I have been told so by many people. I think it was more of a mistake to let the picture get onto the web.

Jim on January 25, 2010 at 7:45 pm

Debbie, I had a whole different take then it hit me. I was gonna disagree but Hulk Hogan and his daughter. Hogan applies sunscreen on his daughter. Eeewwww. The Horror, The Horror……

http://www.fadedyouthblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/hulk-hogan-sunscreen-brookeapply.jpg

“if she weren’t flat-chested–wouldn’t cover much” But who’s counting??….Meow

CaliforniaScreaming on January 25, 2010 at 8:16 pm

THIS SHOULD HAVE stayed a private pic.

The burqa is one extreme of exploiting women. This is the other…

Debbie’s right the clam shells would be a real problem if that woman’s breasts had any volume. They don’t, so there isn’t a chance for real scandal. However, the shorter one showing us that provocative area just above Venus and below the navel, is the real reason why this pic NEVER SHOULD HAVE made it to the internet.

Unless, you’re made more of stone, than flesh…

Then again, nothing is special to a slut.

Certainly not God’s will, not God’s plan…

Anyways, c’mon girls… save something for your future husbands!

The Canadien on January 25, 2010 at 8:30 pm

If Brown had been sent these pics while in Afghanistan would he have been court-martialed?

Parents have to choose their battles. Has Brown’s mom commented on Cosmo yet?

Pinandpuller on January 25, 2010 at 8:56 pm

it all seems very innocent to me. A father posing with his two lovely daughters for a family picture. I like the clam shell bikini top…very classy.

chuck on January 25, 2010 at 9:26 pm

I don’t see any problems here. One of them needs to eat at a buffet sometime soon.

I think you’re making too much fuss over this one. Besides, if her chest was bigger, she probably wouldn’t wear the clam bra.

Squirrel3D on January 25, 2010 at 9:35 pm

Oh, come on… it was for a family party. I think the older girl is fully covered on the two important Chest “issues” and the other looks better covered than 13 year olds I see on most any Florida beach with their families.

Times and clothing standards have changed since the 1950’s Debbie. Sorry to say.

I am more concerned on how this dude is going to vote in the Senate, quite frankly, rather than how his daughters pose.

Sewsalot on January 25, 2010 at 10:11 pm

Um, I, uh, …would hope not.

Based on what you said, and some additional material I found (and posted as comments to your articles on him) I think he is a bit on the strange side. But then, no stranger than the head of my undergrad physics department, who, with his wife and baby daughter, posed nude for our college yearbook one year; and yes, it was a centerfold. (He’s Dutch, or Danish, as I recall – which doesn’t make it any less strange, just more consistent, for him anyway).

Jackasses to the Left of us, and Rinos to the right, and getting worse every year. I think we may be in for a rough next few years, and that’s my optimistic assessment.

yonason on January 25, 2010 at 10:13 pm

There are two levels of questionableness here. First: are the suits themselves appropriate? Sure, for party girls putting themselves on post-yourself sites. Or celebs. Not for the daughters of a newly-elected putatively conservative senator. Whether they are seashells or rayon is insignificant. Second: should their father have been in it with them, and given that he was, should it have become public? No way. No gray area here. Not modest. Bad self-governance. Not appropriate for any father, in the public eye or no. We all have great hopes for Brown. I hope his years-ago posing, the peculiar comment about his daughters being “available”, and now this picture showing them off in substantial dishabille are all off-moments and not precursors of some funny “body thing” he might have going on. I’m looking for good solid conservative votes out of him, not more bon mots about his little girls. Keep them dressed and out of the frame.

Dernon Ruton on January 25, 2010 at 10:27 pm

Wow. It is clear that a number of you do not live in Hawaii. Those suits are parodies. I suggest many of you would be shocked to see what girls and boys on the beach or surfing really do wear. Even conservatives. Maybe some of you should watch the Travel Channel a bit more. Sharia sucks.

pat on January 25, 2010 at 10:52 pm

OK, I’m ambivalent about this. This oldest daughter, is it spelled Ayla?, is 21 and the former American Idol contestant. I think she also played basketball in college. So she’s well into adulthood and comfortable in the spotlight. Honestly, except that it’s clamshells (and I think it’s manufactured that way), it’s pretty standard stuff for Malibu or Hawai’i or South Beach. But then again, I’m thinking, “Hey Scott, I’m checking out your daughters and they’re smokin’ hot,” and that’s pretty creepy. For him and me. But on the other hand, why should it just be Democrats with smokin’ hot bodies? I’d write more but I gotta take a cold shower.

gmartinz on January 25, 2010 at 11:37 pm

I don’t think its right for a father to pose with his daughters like this at all. They are practically naked.
I don’t think decent parents approve of that kind of dress for their young daughters either. It’s immodest to say the least.

Chana on January 26, 2010 at 12:51 am

it isn’t the bikini that is the problem. it is that he is their father. This is incestuous exhibitionism. I would also like to criticize other “fathers” that do this to their daughters. I understand that your daughters do like it… and it makes Daddy feel like the Alpha Male he might feel he never was, but there is something incestuous about it. I agree Debbie. you are not being a prude. there is something that needs to be ironed out here. I don’t think he is sleeping with his daughters… but this is inappropriate. People might say this is no big deal, but only because our culture does the father, daughter kinky social pose too often. it needs to stop. I understand that a lot of fathers do this… and this is why we need to say it isn’t cool. forgivable… yes. I understand our culture thinks this isn’t weird, but it is very brave of you Debbie to say something

Noah David Simon on January 26, 2010 at 1:37 am

the movie Chinatown just came to mind. Noah Cross

Noah David Simon on January 26, 2010 at 2:28 am

If it’s a family occasion, you pose with your children. His just happen to be attractive young ladies. However, that is a photo that should be kept within the family. As a nation, we haven’t adjusted to digital cameras/photos very well, so yes it is somewhat like indiscreet photos taken of a Miss Calif., bad judgement. Let’s forgive and move on.

Alain41 on January 26, 2010 at 7:47 am

I do not have a problem with this at all. It was a theme party not a church function. I think the girls look cute in their outfits. I do not see anything slutty about them at all. The LAST thing we need to do is cast aspersions at Brown even before he gets to take his seat, the Dems are doing enough of that already…
I have a teenage daughter and I know that there are battles to be fought and things to let go. Just let this one go.

Joe in DC on January 26, 2010 at 7:49 am

The picture looks fine.

I’m not sure Sen. Brown should have clowned around so much during his acceptance speech, but the picture is rather harmless.

Let’s just hope that the daughters do their father proud and don’t mess up like Sarah Palin’s kid.

Gotta keep things in perspective.

There is NO Santa Claus on January 26, 2010 at 7:56 am

At first glance without any background information to go along with the photo, a person’s natural reaction would be creepy and suspect. Knowing that it was at a party for their grandmother eases that perception. Obviously, the entire family is not stuck on restrictive puritian values.

People want to blame the father and say he is twisted or not conservative enough to ALLOW his daughters to dress this way at a family themed party. That would be hypocritical at best, since at 22 he posed for Cosmo. The picture was taken before he became Senator of MA, although he was in the legislative branch for the state.

The problem people need to ask themselves is: Are you such a prude and conservative that you deem it nessesary that your Senator have no life, and fun with his own family?
Do you think that as a public servant, every action you take is going to be crticized at length so avoid all possible situations because someone out there is not going to approve?
What exactly is the problem? Is it that he is in the picture? or is it that the daughter is wearing clam shells? If it were a standard bikini top would people still be upset?

I for one could care less about the photo, I personally think its a great shot of a “normal” down to earth dad and his two daughters having a fun time at a party for his mother…Too bad others will find this nafarious and incesteous…Basically if you have a problem with this photo than you should have a huge problem with the Cosmo photo…If that is the case than NO person is going to be the a PERFECT candidate for you.

perception of truth on January 26, 2010 at 9:17 am

Do prudes realize that if the country goes down the tubes they go down with it?

tanstaafl (jw) on January 26, 2010 at 9:41 am

Well Debbie, I admit you were 100% right about Sarah Palin from the start—that “conservatives” were swallowing a camel in accepting her leaving her young Downs child for politics (besides the Bristol Palin pregnancy and her own lack of knowledge on basics). I didn’t want to believe that back then in 08.

Well here we are again…and I doubt that Scott Brown is such a bad father as you seem to infer from such things as this photo. I really don’t see it as anything worth noting…and the comment he made about them in his speech was edgy, but it was not over the line. I thought he was sharing his victory with his family.

What I AM concerned about…is whether Brown’s politics are real and from conviction. I keep on looking for another Reagan to arise from somewhere…who is a real conservative, who speaks well and looks good…who can do what Brown did in Mass on a national scale. I don’t see any prospects already there. So I hope this time you are wrong about the man who drives the pick up…but I that doesn’t mean that you are!

BB on January 26, 2010 at 11:26 am

We have two young daughters and have been teaching them about modesty since they were toddlers. Even if social norms have changed, what is right and wrong hasn’t. Should we bring back temple prostitutes and gladiator games? They were perfectly acceptable at one time as well.

A father shouldn’t be proud of his daughters advertising themselves like this. Ick.

keepingthefaith on January 26, 2010 at 11:27 am

I personally wouldn’t feel comfortable with my daughters dressed like that, but I don’t have a problem with Scott Brown allowing his daughters to dress that way.
They’re his daughters, not mine. I’m kind of a strict parent, others are not. To each their own.

David on January 26, 2010 at 11:38 am