Sew Sumi

Some are saying that this is a Duggar return salvo in response to Famy's continued run of stories she has leaked through Radar. Amy posted simply DO NOT JUDGE on her IG yesterday, now today, this screed (that can also be read as judgment against the LGBT community the way it's written). This also reads strongly Calvinistic with its "angry God." Read "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Johnathan Edwards. It is the sermon that pretty much scared 18th century America into hardcore fundamentalism. Surprise! He was a Puritan! This reeks of Ben's style; Jessa just happened to be the one home to post it, knowing it would get a larger audience during the day. After all, what else does she DO during the day? To me, it reads as hate speech. MMV, of course.

Small correction: they courted for 11 months. Before that, they had a "get to know you" period of maybe 4 months when they would have only seen each other when Ben attended the Church of the Holy Airplane Hangar. I don't think they were allowed to text or have facetime before courtship. Tack on the extra 10 weeks of the engagement, and it's about 17-18 months to the altar. eta: That's not a lot of time, but compare that to Jill and derickdillard "getting to know" each other via Skype, courting, engaged, married, and knocked up inside of about 10 months (late August to about July 1 date of conception...yes, someone did the math).

In Jill-speak, I found this episode (shout with me) LIKE, TOTALLY SURREAL!!!!!111 I guess they had to show Mrs. Joy's diploma after the establishing shot of the shack that she works in. That thing looked like it would cave in at any second. Yikes! Regarding her birth plan, I hope they are close to a hospital; at the rate she's growing, Baby Dilly is going to require a c-section.

Was this the episode with the James montage? Because I wanted to note that Jill was using basic multiplication flash cards with a 13 year old. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't those evil public schools cover multiplication tables in the 3rd...maybe 4th grade at the latest? I've always pegged James as potentially ADHD, and the Duggars have admitted that they have kids with LDs, but have never said which kids or what LDs. That glimpse of the flash cards may have given something away that they didn't want told in their "story."

Interestingly, the year she was 14 was pretty much the entire calendar year of 2008, the first year they shot the series. So no big bucks YET; they were at the very beginning of taping and wouldn't know whether they would be successful or not. I DO wonder if the cameras on her more of the time than the old specials had some sort of effect on her that cause her Come to Jesus moment? I can only imagine the peer pressure; having an older sister like perfect, pious Jill-the-Snitch couldn't have been fun. I bet Jinger felt a lot of guilt from her (and others) growing up. @Darknight, yes. Original Sin. They're pretty much doomed from birth until they're saved. That's a prime tenet of Calvinism, which is the theology Ben was raised in, and seems to be bringing to the young Seewalds' study. Free will? Fuggeddaboutit. Everything Ben's put out there points to him being even more militant than his very militant father. He's the type I'd tell to fuck off if he tried to evangelicize me on the street (because I look so broken or whatever it was that Jinger said...like she really knows what's in people's minds or hearts!). I really hate those "I'm right/you're wrong, I'm better than you" types. Benessa reek of that entitled attitude, and Jinger's interview doesn't give me much hope for her, either.

No. It seems to the knowing observer that no kid from Jackson on down (ie. kids born once the cameras started showing up) were not subjected to the blanket training, or even super strict parenting, that the older ones were subjected to. To be even more specific with timing, let's keep in mind that the Pearls' book didn't come out until 1994. That means if the Duggars got it right away, the infant on the blanket would have been Jinger. Jessa would have been a toddler, also in the prime Pearl "training" range for the "hot stove" trick. They suggested it was better for a child to burn themselves to learn caution, rather than constantly be told "no." Josh has said in older interviews that he wasn't going to be as strict with his kids as his parents were with him. I find this interesting because I don't think MEchelle had her act together until after her breakdown, when Josh would have been about 8. It seems to be that point that they really got strict with the Gothard stuff, even though they had been using it for a few years before then. Of course, Gothard is all about the "obedience" training, as recently exhibited by Anna with Michael.

I'm sorry, but I don't know what kind of guilt trips their parents rammed down their throats to make them feel that they were such grievous sinners. Every.little.thing. is sin to them. I personally could never live a life like that. And why pass out those stupid "Good Person Tests" when you know that you can't even pass it? It reeks of arrogance if the recipient thinks that the person giving them that tract IS a "good" person. Ray Comfort - and his stupid tracts - can all rot in hell.

Sometimes when you are really close to a situation, you lose things like the fact that they don't like being called insular, etc. I think she *knows* it, but doesn't really know how touchy they are when it's brought up in conversation. Why? Because she's never talked about it with them. Amy's not the sharpest tool in the drawer. I can totally see her overlooking this, and I agree, much of this has to do with her recent high on fame. She just got back from filming in Nashville and doing something that's still under wraps in LA. She knew that *something* wasn't totally right; her Instagram began piling up with "I am such a cool individual" posts, in addition to "keep strong" type bible quotes even before the article broke. Once Jessa found it, Deanna came out in Amy's defense. Now THAT is the move I found interesting in all this, because Deanna really didn't have to do anything. But as I said before, there was no war for the fans, who would have sided with the "can never do wrong" Duggars over Cousin Oliver. Amy still has her fans, with no ripples of this reverberating on her social media AT ALL, so this event seems to have totally bypassed the leghumpers.

Why wouldn't she comment about this stuff? It's the truth, and in the scheme of things, pretty harmless information that most of the world already knew about the Duggars. It's the DUGGARS who are butthurt about this; truth hurts. And let's face it, they get touchy anytime references Gothard, or their insular lifestyle, are made. That's not AMY'S fault. That's something that Boob has to deal with, having chosen to lead his family down that path. He is trying to have it both ways by deceiving a portion of the public who still doesn't know about Gothard. Thankfully, this stuff has had very little impact on social media. Very few people are even aware that Amy has said these things, so to be honest, publicly, no harm, no foul. Unfortunately, I imagine she's burned her last bridge with him. As I said on Friday, I hope Mary speaks out here; I think she's the only one who can fix whatever issues arise internally from this.

The press may have come to her. The article from Friday was a lot more detailed, and Deanna posted to social media almost immediately, backing her daughter. They knew the first article was going to be published and when; Amy posted a ton of pre-emptive stuff about being her own woman before the article even ran. Today, Amy posted an old pic of her with Jessa, Jana, and Jinger on IG. Now I know why...more damage control. No social media response from the Duggars today, after they really circled the wagons on Friday against her. I'd say this is the final nail in the coffin, her death knell w/r/t Boob and access to her younger cousins. They may well even try to keep Jana and Joy from her. That will be interesting to see. One thing about the article itself: I wish Famy would give up the 28 year-old virgin act.

Wanderwoman, thank you for sharing sweet Maisie with us. <3

That's how I remember reading it at the time. That person got slammed by the regulars (of which I am no longer one, due precisely to this kind of herd mentality), but in the end appears to have been vindicated. He also posted a picture of his daughters playing in the front yard after a snowstorm, so it dates his residency (IIRC, about four months) to a time that post-dated Smug's residence there. I have no idea how long it took Boob...errrr.....TLC to do the mold abatement/remodeling, but I would wager that this started sometime back in the spring, many months before the engagement was formalized. Shraderfan was long gone by then. As far as the remodel goes, even if Jessa wasn't going to get the place, it made sense to fix up the place for the income. Not to mention, if the engagement didn't come to pass, TLC just had to scrap the scenes of them at the house "checking out the place" before they started working on it. No skin off their teeth, really.

Ben also supposedly changed majors, so I don't know how he could have fulfilled requirements for an AA in 3 semesters. That's because it probably didn't happen. For those keeping score at home, he started out as a business major, but was reported to have changed to Poly Sci last fall. Okey doke...

IIRC, M4 is due July 10th.

I sincerely doubt he got an Associates' degree. He just started school four semesters ago, and as far as we know, did not attend summer school to be able to finish in three semesters, one of which he spent two weeks gallivanting around AR and France on his honeymoon. He *could* be finishing up an associates' this spring, but the wording makes is appear that he got his degree in three semesters. Let's see if he transfers to UofA, which was his original intention. Time will tell, I suppose. Given that he posted more guilt-tripped fire and brimstone stuff about lust today, I have a feeling he's having trouble sexing it up. He has deeper issues to work out, apparently. #BadSexHypothesis lives!

Title: "Michaella and Brandon." I wish Michael would pick one name and stick to it!

Let's back up this train a bit. About a year ago, when the girls were still "writing" that book, they were shown in their bedroom, each working on a laptop. So I beg to differ; they have their own laptops. Jessa obviously upgraded to the pink not long ago; I think that was part of her registry.

They always have followed each other. My edit above notes that many of them probably forgot about Twitter and still follow her there. I forgot to add that I can't tell about Smuggar on twitter, since he blocked me ages ago!

Amy has been posting "character" stuff on her IG the past couple of days. Now it makes sense; it was a pre-emptive strike against this article she knew was coming. Deanna has come out in support. We know what thin skins the Duggars have and that they soon will be crying PERSEKUSHUN!!!!111 A quick perusal of social media reveals that NONE of the Duggars are following her any longer (eta:on IG; all but Jessa still follow Twitter. Maybe they forgot about twitter because they all tend to use IG these days). Jessa posted some passive-aggressive crap on her IG this morning. The Duggars have indeed reverted back into their insular world, just like Famy mentioned. No, it's not new news for anyone who watches them with a critical eye (this group), but if the leghumpers find this, they'll take sides (there is no gray in their worlds). Guess who will be left in the cold? Not the Duggar clan! I worry for Mary. Amy seems to be her favorite, but Boob controls her pursestrings. Will he also keep her from Amy now that she's come out "against" the family? I hope Mary puts her foot down and stops this nonsense coming from Boob's side of the fence.

She looks like a knocked up clown.

Yes, Jordyn was on Jessa's "team," such as it was. I think I've seen Jessa attending to Jordyn or holding her hand exactly one time. See? Jessa did inherit something from her mother after all: the inability to parent.

How on earth does Tori know something I am used to hearing out of Joe Giudice's mouth: "Happy wife, happy life?" My jaw dropped when she said that! LOL

The senior Duggars have also taken pains to make it much harder to leave than to stay. That has to play into their "choice." Especially the fear of isolation from siblings still living at home. :(

Yes, but she had almost four years with Boob before Smuggar was born.

Man, the timelines of these plots were sooo screwed up. Benessa didn't even get engaged until about 10 days after Jill and DerickDillard announced the second coming. Jinger wore that godawful heart/leopard shirt that Jessa wore in some of her engagement pics, so we know that the slumber party happened before 8/14. But wait! Jessa's engaged! But not really. I also think that they did that "inspection" of the Johnson Rd. house long before the engagement. They needed quite some time to eradicate that place of mold (and I also read the accounts on FJ last year; he got blasted for being a troll there, but it looks like he was telling the truth), as well as completely remodel the kitchen. Not a word about how Jill meets DerickDillard at work for lunch and drives him to and from work. He doesn't come home and "smell dinner cooking" unless every meal is in the slow cooker, and I'm sure they're not. Picking him up every day would seem to limit what she can cook, since the trip would mess up cooking times. I suppose she could do all her prep and whip up dinner once they're back home. I think that's how I'd end up doing it to avoid using the slow cooker every.fucking.day. I also noticed the regression in Jordyn's speech. Poor baby. And Josie crawling all over the tables and reaching into the basket of polish before her sisters. Since I saw a picture of her yesterday (Monday...still Tuesday here) crawling all over the table at the TTH, nothing has changed. They really do let her run around like a feral dog, don't they? MEchelle really hates having the spotlight taken away from her, doesn't she? Her insertions into Jessa's bogus "wedding planning" scenes was painful. Great observation as to the psychology behind Jessa putting the bitch on Level Defcon 9. With those parents and a suck-up, tattle-tale sister like Jill right above you, I'd clam up and be a sarcastic bitch, too. I almost pity Ben....then I remember his almost nightly Instagram religious rants and that feeling passes. Boob remains absolutely disgusting. Get out of your daughter's bedroom, you old lech!