Did John McCain just threaten to beat up Glenn Beck for what he said about his daughter?

Well, not really. But sort of, in an oblique way.

Let us explain. Beck's instantly infamous reaction to Meghan McCain's PSA for skin cancer (the sight of her bare skin caused him to mime vomiting for about five minutes straight) drew a swift and fierce response from both McCain and her mother, Cindy. On Thursday's "John King USA," CNN's John King asked John McCain what he thought of the whole fracas.

"I now think I can relate more closely to Harry Truman who took some umbrage at a critic that criticized his daughter's singing," McCain said. "...I don't think I should dignify that kind of behavior with a comment."

A seemingly dispassionate reaction. But as John King put it, if "you're a student of history and you got the Truman reference," McCain's comments can be seen in a rather angrier light. The senator was referring to the 1950 letter that Truman wrote to Washington Post critic

Paul Hume after the latter wrote a famously acerbic review of his daughter Margaret's singing.

"Some day, I hope to meet you," Truman wrote. "When that happens, you will need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes and perhaps a supporter below." So...watch out, Glenn Beck! John McCain wants to give you a new nose!

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