Scandal Fallout - MEGA MERGE

[Nowyn]

Even if he resigned (I doubt he did) he didn't need to be there to do it. As I recall, the house they bought in Arkansas needed a lot of work, but maybe it's done? Do we know if they were even still living in DC? Despite the 9 - 5 thing they tried to portray on the show, it seemed the nature of his job didn't require him to be in an office very often

I don't think they are in TTH or DC. Maybe in their own home at Arkansas, with Anna's family or somewhere else like in one of JB's investment properties. I think they would want to be out of any place that's very connected to them. Press has to be trying to get photos of. But I wouldn't be surprised if they were in TTH. JB and Michelle don't seem like they think what he did was a big deal. And they might feel like family should be together in time like this.

[Toothfairy]

Everything seems to be monitored in the Duggar household -- from phones to televisions to books. Jim-Bob and Michelle always know what they're children are seeing, reading, watching, etc. I don't see how a letter like that could just be put into a random book and forgotten about. If I had written something like that and didn't want anyone to read it, it'd be under lock and key, not folded up into a book. I don't know who I think wrote it, but I do think that by writing it, sticking it in a book, and lending the book out was definitely a cry for help.

is everything monitored. JimChelle are only two people. I'm sure the kids did things and got away with it. Writing about their feelings adds up. Someone said it might've been from a diary. I agree. Didn't someone steal Jinger diary? I don't know if that's the case.

[MisUndrstd]

Josh made it out of DC, they showed on Radar Online the morning that the original story broke at the DC Airport, getting ready to catch a flight somewhere with Anna and the kids, I'm assuming they were flying back to Arkansas.

I would hate to be in the Duggar house right now. I can imagine it is a very intense place at the moment. This is my speculation of what might be happening right now.

*Jim-Bob and Grandma D are working the phone lines.. they are trying to salvage some of their income and talking to lawyers to get some monetary revenge against the tabloids.

* I think Jill/Derick and Jessa/Ben are at the TTH for safety purposes

* Josh/Anna and Mx3 have been moved to an undisclosed location for safety.

* Jana and Jinger are in the kitchen trying to make something that resembles a birthday cake for Jackson, they cry a lot.. (I feel bad for them)

* The Howlers can't go outside so they are told to go to their room and stay out of the way.

* Joy is in holed up in the girls' room with the Lost Girls.. looking lost.

* Michelle has taken to her bed and is grieving, she is grieving for everything she lost in life, her goals of being a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader, all the dreams she has given up to live life according to Jim-Bob. I actually think Michelle will take this the hardest. This will take a toll on her, I see depression and an underlying resentment toward Jim-Bob will emerge. I think she feels as though she is a failure, she didn't protect her daughters' and she realizes now what a mess has been made and how children have been hurt. In my opinion Mama Duggar is really going to go down a rough road.

* JD is talking to security, making sure the parameter is secure, he's still kind of shell-shocked by it all, but he is manning up, he has always lived in the shadow of JB and Josh but now he has taken on the security of his family like a real man.

* Cathy is at Wal-Mart picking up a sheet cake for Jackson, she calls Jill to let her know to tell Jana and Jinger to just relax, she's got the cake covered.

So that is my best guesstimate of what life at the Duggar compound might be like right now.

[Toothfairy]

JB shitting his pants. Michelle might be out of it.

Lots of pray, more brainwashing, and maybe media calls every minute.

Derrick and Ben may be in shock. Jessa and Jill might be feeling bad along with the other girls.

The kids might be confused, scared, and offer forgiveness.

Josh and Anna may be worry some. No job means no money and no show.

[Bethella]

Do we think that Josh made it out of DC? I'm assuming he had to be there to "resign". I dont know that they would want to be with the rest of the family right now.

There were images or video of them at the airport on Thursday or Friday, not sure where they were headed. I wonder if Gothard would open up the JTTH camp in Michigan or Big Sandy for them to use.

[hockeymoo]

I agree with those speculating that it was a political thing and Josh knew it was coming or possibly leaked it himself in order to do damage control his way. I'd specifically look at Huckabee and ask what - or how much - the Duggars are funnelling towards him and who'd want to take him down.

The Duggars are even more invested in politics than they let on - absolute money-hungry and power-obsessed hypocrites who will use their religion to justify the most corrupt and despicable acts.

[HarleyQuinn]

There's no way Josh leaked it himself.

[mollysmom]

Yesterday someone posted video on Twitter of them driving along the road outside the Duggar house. There was a police car sitting outside by the gate. I'm assuming the Duggar clan is thanking God they have a grocery store full of food in the pantry so they can lie low for a while.

twitter.com/ItsSuperRyan/status/601830677726638080/video/1

Yeah no kidding!!!

I bet Michelle ' s sweet little voice ain't so sweet right now.

[calimojo]

Lumping all Christians together is a bad idea. In my definition of Christian, the Duggars are not really Christian. Just because they quote the bible (mostly out of context) and talk constantly about Jesus, does not make them Christian. They are deluded. They have followed false teachings by others, and are not smart enough to realize their error in judgment and faith.

As a Christian, I don't consider fringe elements like the WestBoro Baptist Church Christians, or Steve Anderson and Zsu and so on. They have warped Christianity into something unrecognizable.

Throughout history, the pendulum of Christianity has swung between a liberal and welcoming faith to one of extreme conservatism and fire and brimstone. Perhaps this Duggar ordeal will speed up the pendulum to start to move the other direction.

A faith based life can be very fulfilling and wonderful for many people. Not all people need this or want this, but for those of us who do, I pray that soon we can have more reasonable public Christian figures who will support and encourage free will, equality, peace and justice and acceptance of others who believe or feel differently.

[mollysmom]

Wouldn't be surprised if JB has snuck off with a bottle of scotch.

This just made me laugh SO hard!!!! I can picture him slinking away to his bedroom with some Jack Daniels!!!! Lol

[Toothfairy]

Honestly unless Cathy talks so sense into him I can't see Jill and Derrick pulling away. I hope they distance from JimChelle but Derrick also drunk the koolaid.

[Cleopatra7]

JB shitting his pants. Michelle might be out of it.

Lots of pray, more brainwashing, and maybe media calls every minute.

Derrick and Ben may be in shock. Jessa and Jill might be feeling bad along with the other girls.

The kids might be confused, scared, and offer forgiveness.

Josh and Anna may be worry some. No job means no money and no show.

I honestly think that Michelle will probably the one to take the cancelling of the show the hardest. Even when she became a fundie/quiverfull wife, Michelle never lost her fundamental queen bee/cheerleader nature. She wants to be the center of attention by any means necessary, and as a quiverfull matriarch, she was able to mold tastes and even wield political power, as her transphobic robo-calls. Her power and name recognition probably helped her get over the fact that there wouldn't be anymore babies. Now, her name and her brand is tarnished. Everything she and JB have worked for for the past thirty odd years is gone. While the fundie leghumpers will stick by the Duggars (and it does appear like Josh's past was known in some form in the ATI subculture), the mainstream success is over. She's probably holed up in her room, terrified, while JB is calling his lawyers to see what can be salvaged.

[nomoxian]

If that's the case, then why didn't they do anything about it when they found out? Or did they not know until he had already married Anna? Even then, with a female daughter being in the house, and with him visiting the compound where 1. there are younger females and 2. the people who he abused live TLC SHOULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING AGES AGO.

[Nowyn]

I totally agree with this, and for the other girls as well. For all we know, they were told that what happened was normal and that all boys go through this. Or they may have been told that it wasn't normal, but that it wasn't a big deal since they were still virgins. JB and M are so messed up, we have no idea what they told the girls, but I would bet what they Did NOT tell them is this: "What happened to you should never have happened. You are not responsible for what happened and never to be blamed. We will do whatever we can to help you through this. Your brother has very serious issues and we don't consider him safe. He will not be living here in the future because of HIS actions, not because of you"

I do have a question about the end of your post. Why would Jill in particular feel that if the show gets cancelled it will be her fault? I doubt she was the whistleblower so why would she take on that blame?

I think Jill is in for a rough time. Hopefully Izzy is an easy baby, because Jill still seems to be reeling from the rough labor and dashed expectations. Now of course this has come up and even though I don't believe for one second that these girls received any kind of meaningful help, I do imagine that having to relive this is very hard, especially if they were made to feel guilt and shame over it to begin with.

I wonder if this is why they invented Side Hugs? Maybe prior to the sidehugging, they hugged normally and then were worried that Joshie boy was pressing in a bit too tightly on his developing sisters.

This again is mostly based on my own experiences but also seems to be pretty widespread reaction according to what I have read. We seem to blame ourselves for what happened. I have been in therapy for 5 years and treated by psychiatrists for 10 and even after that I need to remind myself that it wasn't my fault. If I had taken responsibility about what other people think about and do to me, I wouldn't be at this point. Because of the responsibility Jill feels for what happened (wich is most likely case IMO) she will feel responsible for the show being cancelled. It's not most logical thinking or objectively true but seems to be normal for victims. Having heightened sense of blame works that way according to my experience.

I don't know about side hugging. Bateses' seem to hug normally, but JB and Michelle seem to think that what happened was nothing, so why would they chance anything because of that.

[hockeymoo]

There's no way Josh leaked it himself.

If some political rival came to Josh (or tipped off his employer, etc.) and said, "I'm going to tell that you molested your sisters, touch your own kids, and have had buttsex with David Waller," I think that Josh, working as a lobbyist and knowing politics and political tactics, would prepare a statement and have things "leaked" his way so he could control the damage as much as possible.

I think it's a real possibility that there's more dirt on Josh that is even more unbelievable than what we've heard. His response was so swift and polished, which makes me think he was prepared for this.

[onlysaneperson]

But just to play devil's advocate, maybe we're just projecting our own moral compass onto what is essentially a multi-billion dollar industry, making people a lot of money. Maybe the truth is that they considered that problem to be in the past, and it wasn't really anything for them to be concerned with.

[Mrs. Figg]

I think TLC would be dumb if they're not filming all of this. Even if TLC doesn't air it in their network, some other network would pay for the footage of the implosion and it's aftershocks.

ETA: I don't agree that they should be, (what traumatized girl wants her worst moments on film?!) but it's all about the money, money, money.

[colossians3]

I am pretty sure that TLC knew but I don't think they leaked it.

According to Mama June TLC even knew about her involvement with Mark McDaniel and so they definitely knew about Josh's record, especially since the interviews were dated in 2006 when they were already doing a special for Discovery. Both shows were a cash cow for TLC without 19 kids and counting what other show has as high ratings? Little Couple does well but not as well. The network would never do that to themselves by leaking the information.

[LogansMama]

Do we think that Josh made it out of DC? I'm assuming he had to be there to "resign". I dont know that they would want to be with the rest of the family right now.

You're thinking too rationally! Sure, most people would think that you wouldn't want the molester and victims together, but this is the Duggars we're talking about. I think they had the resignation and People statement all taken care long before they went public. That gave them time to get the AR house ready. I'm pretty sure the Duggars have circled the wagons and are having a serious prayerfest right now.

[doggie]

duggers are doing the only thing they are good at and has fixed everything making more duggers.

[bluehydrangea]

I had a thought earlier, kind of in this vein. I can't see TLC knowing about this way, waaaaay back when they had their very first few TV specials. Remember how Josh was the narrator/host for those early shows? That is so creepy to me now, knowing what happened. One would think that if they knew what happened back then, they wouldn't make him the face of the family. I wonder if TLC found out when the Oprah thing happened...that seems like the most likely culprit to me. I could be way off, though.

I think your theory is a good one, although it seems like the show has actually had high viewership lately? So I don't know why they would want to kill it right this second instead of waiting until things really slow down.

[DuggarsTheEndIsNear]

They likely didn't know during the first special. But the investigation happened between specials. They've know.

[MalteseBaby]

The only one I can speculate on with what I consider to be any accuracy is Jim Bob.

I think he's making lists ( maybe just mental lists) and calling in EVERY FAVOR he possibly can... political, legal, illegal, Gothard- related, you name it. The " good old boy" network has just morphed into a weapon against all of us, the public.

I also think he's hired a top notch attorney. I believe he will threaten TLC with legal action if 19Kids is cancelled or if TLC even hints that they don't want to work with the family any time soon.

[Kn22]

I have to agree that it's really strange with how close this family is that Jim Bob is just now holding baby Israel. Just seems odd to me. I also wonder what Jill and Dericks announcement will be that was in the previews for next season(if there is a next season).

[happy atheist]

The board is crazy today.