Dan Quayle praises Osbourne family values

Gaffe-prone former US Vice President Dan Quayle has found a television star whose family values he can finally applaud: Ozzy Osbourne.

‘‘You have to get beyond the sort of dysfunctional aspect,’’ Quayle said at Washington’s National Press Club.

He praised the hit MTV show, which is built around the profanity-filled and bizarre home life of Birmingham-born rocker Osbourne, his wife and two children.

Noting that the offensive words are bleeped out and that the show features two ‘‘loving parents,’’ Quayle said: ‘‘I think there are some very good lessons there that are being transmitted, of not doing drugs, of not doing alcohol.’’

After his speech, Quayle elaborated on the moral value of watching father Osbourne, known for biting the head off a bat on stage, using satanic imagery in his act and abusing drugs and alcohol.

‘‘In a weird way, Ozzy is a great anti-drug promotion. Look at him and how fried his brains are from taking drugs all those years and everyone will say, ‘I don’t want to be like that.’’’