cmr2014

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I think that she wrote it. It's stuffed full of Gothard-speak: "My heart is to share . . ." "He is wise financially -- saving money for the future and purposing not to go into debt." "One example of his heart to help others . . ." "Joshua is a loving and patient man, striving to be a blessing . . .: One thing that sets it apart of the obligatory birthday messages, is that I think she actually gives a shit about Josh. She probably spent months, rather than minutes, putting it together. Perhaps someone in the law office (or David Waller?) did some proof-reading, but it's very much her voice.

I was wondering this, too. I think we've all assumed that Jeremy got some kind of free ride on tuition based on all the other freebies he's gotten, but I wonder if he's burning through a settlement from JB. If Jill and Derick used her settlement money to fund law school, that seems reasonable to me, since it will allow Derick to support his family. With Jeremy, I see this all as a vanity project, and if they're spending Jinger's money, I think it's a shame. I could, of course, be very wrong about this, and there may be a great future in being a suck-up in this particular religious sect.

I agree. I think it could go either way with the Lost Girls. I agree that the strict Gothardism seems to have slipped since the JSlaves got married, so I don't think there's as much tattling as their once was, and they may not be as suspicious of one another as the older siblings. They've only had each other their whole lives, so they may be very close, or they may be thrilled to get away from one another when they finally can.

That really is sad. The exclamation points are very sad. Josh goes camping! Josh repairs bicycles! He comes up with creative ways to make money! I don't even have words for the printed signature with the heart over the "i."

Honestly, it doesn't surprise me. The whole Gothard schtick was to have a huge mob of children and then to pit the children against each other specifically to prevent them from banding together. Gothardism specifically discourages peer friendships and cooperation among siblings in order for the parents to maintain complete control. I don't see any evidence that any of the older siblings intentionally interact. Even Jessa and Jinger who were supposedly "besties," hardly seem to interact at all. I think that the Howlers are closer, and I think that Joy and Austin spend time with them occassionally, and I think that the Lost Girls may be close. I also think that Derick was under the impression that the Duggars were a large, loving, Jesus-y family, and the actual dynamics of the family were a big shock to him. While they may contact each other occassionally, it's so very far from what he expected that he sees the very little contact that they do have as virtually no contact at all.

By "a substantial percentage," I assume you mean "all." Jill and Derick might have gotten their share without threatening to go back to court, but the rest would be deposited directly into "Duggar Enterprises."

I'm always sorry to hear of another Duggar baby; it makes me feel churlish to say so, but I am. There are more than enough Duggars on the Earth as it is, and none of these people really appears to "have a heart for children." They're not having another baby because they want to love and nurture another unique individual, they're breeding another Jesus-bot because their cult-leaders have told them that that's what they have to do. Babies and toddlers are cute, but they're going to grow up, and they're going to become not-cute adults with receding hairlines, and deeply bigoted beliefs.

Actually, I think that this is a good thing. I think that ALL of the Duggars are under pressure to use ALL of their siblings (and nieces and nephews) in their weddings. JB and J'chelle's single accomplishment in life is in producing so VERY MANY of them, and their entire lives have been spent displaying how VERY MANY there are of them. Weddings are a perfect opportunity to have photos of long rows of bridesmaids and groomsmen and huge gaggles of little flower girls and ring bearers. JB and J'chelle live for that sort of thing, and I commend Jer and Hannah for having at least some of their own preferences take precedent at their own wedding.

Why isn't she packing? Aren't they supposed to be moving any day? I think she's procrastinating. The move date is getting close, and she really hates change, and she's just collecting the "witticisms" or her very ordinary children rather than focusing on the actual task at hand.

I know that this is a fundie thing, but I find it odd that conservative people are willing to change the name of an important holiday just to prove that they are better than the rest of us, and the only people who truly "get" the meaning of Easter. They are the ones who completely flip out when people prefer to be called "African-Americans" or "women" instead of "girls," etc.

I agree. I think that this is going to be a real problem. Jill has very little experience in dealing with the structure of work and school. She's had Derick to help with getting Izzy off the school for the past two years. Jill had a horrible time with Izzy when he was a newborn, and while I think that she's less encumbered by her earlier expectations of what marriage and motherhood would be like, I think she's still pretty fragile. I think that having Derick gone every day while she's expected to get the kids ready for school, and take them to school, and care for a newborn, and have dinner on the table and the house clean when Derick gets home is just going to be too much. Derick is going to be starting a new job -- which is hugely stressful under any circumstances, and it's really his first job in a very long time. I don't think Derick is especially lazy, but he's had a lot of flexibility in his schedule for a long time, and I don't think that junior associates at law firms just take off whenever they see fit.

That was my immediate thought, too. What looks to her 20 something eyes like a fun surprise by her romantic new husband is the first salvo in a life where she will never get to choose a restaurant, or a vacation destination, or much of anything. She might get to choose the brand if dish soap they use, clothes for the family, and the names of a couple of the younger children . . .

I wonder if they have discovered Downton Abbey recently. It seems like it might be an approved option. Victorian social rules, especially gender roles, are rigidly enforced on that show. There's very little sex, and the limited sex outside of marriage has consequences: Ethel becomes destitute and is forced into prostitution; Edith is forced to give up her daughter and the fallout wreaks havoc on two families; the single gay character is a villain who is mercilessly maligned until he eventually attempts suicide. Plus, all the women wear skirts, and everything is lovely on the surface -- it couldn't be more fundie-friendly.

Jed! didn't "find" God. He has been smothered by God-talk since he first opened his eyes. He has also been monitored 24/7 to prevent him from doing anything out of line. His brothers and sisters were charged with reporting back any transgression, or any hint of non-conforming words or behaviors. He might have "thought" about touching a girl (or himself), but not much more. Katie, on the other hand, might be more interesting (although it doesn't appear to be the case). She chose to go down the fundie path. She has managed to become a full-blown, super-conservative fundie while retaining what appears to be a close and loving relationship with her gay brother. As a convert, she might become even more crazy than her in-laws, but she could also tire of the whole thing and drift back to more mainstream thought.

If I recall correctly, this was one of the major selling points to Gothardism as part of his sure fire plan to prevent rebellious teens. The "no friends" isn't just our perception, but an actual part of the belief system. Friends would provide someone to talk to who isn't a parent, or a sibling and, of course, kids are trained to tattle immediately any time they hear anything out of line. There was that guy who did the blog posts about his reminiscences about his interactions with Josh as a teen and he mentioned telling Josh about abuse he had suffered, and the first thing Josh did was go and tattle to the abuser. Josh is a criminal and an asshole, but I doubt any of his siblings would have behaved differently.

This was what I thought, too. He was such an entitled little prick, and he'd been raised to think that girls were of no importance, so I thought he simply felt like he could do whatever he wanted to those girls. I still lean toward thinking he's more of a sociopath and a sadist than a pedophile, but we keep hearing more and more things like "everyone at Big Sandy knew to keep their kids away from Josh," so I'm probably wrong again.

I agree. 1. They can watch someone else swim for 20 minutes and then learn everything there is to know. 2. Swimming lessons would require that the kids be out of her immediate sphere of influence for an hour a week. God only knows the "pro-Satan" message the swim instructor at the Y could impart in that time. 3. I don't think any of them really associate swimming with fun. Swimming in a lot of clothing isn't fun, and I would consider it dangerous (I wouldn't let a kid in my care swim fully clothed unless I knew he was a strong swimmer). I also think that Jill is 100% lying. I don't believe for 1 second that JB would pay for swimming lessons or that J'chelle would allow them to swim in anything close to normal swimming attire.

Exactly! Why is she "grading" his workbook? She has exactly one student. Why isn't she sitting with him and going over his work?

I think it was probably expected of him to post a video. It's not great, but I'll give him some credit for not re-shooting until they got a good take. All of the Duggars appear to lack empathy. The boys also had virtually no contact with women and girls outside their immediate family, and only limited contact with the women and girls within their family. I can't entirely fault him for being unable to read what appears to us to be obvious distress. I will also give him some credit for largely removing his family from SM. While I'm never particularly happy to hear that another Duggar baby is on the way, they've done a pretty good job of keeping their own personal business to themselves.

It's nice to see the kids in clean pajamas. Too bad it's a one-off for a photo op. It would be nice to think that Jessa gives her kids a bath every night, then dresses them in their clean (ridiculous Bible verse) pajamas, and then tucks them into bed between clean sheets. Unfortunately, though, we know that none of those things happen.

It's my understanding that the judge receives a sentencing report that is based on a number of things -- including a statement from a mental health professional about Josh's mental health an likelihood of recidivism. Does the defense counsel receive a copy of that report? If so, I could see them wanting to prepare some sort of rebuttal to any conclusion that implies that Josh is a hopeless pervert and will re-offend.

I don't think it's awful to have them all in there -- if it's just for sleeping, and they have a playroom. It's going to be problematic for Izzy, though, to have to deal with the nighttime wakings of a baby when he has to be up in the morning for school. Jill, of course, has no frame of reference for that, and she does have a frame of reference for just stacking all children of the same gender into a single bedroom until it's well past stuffed. It might make sense to keep the small bedroom as a baby/toddler room, and let Izzy move into the bigger room. Sam can graduate to the "big boy" room when he starts school. I really hope that this is the last baby for them, but I think Jill will keep agitating until they have at least one girl.

She's carrying her around because there is literally no place for her to lay down. The house is absolutely filthy. Why does she insist on posting these photos? Is she incapable of learning from the past? Does she think that some nice retired homemaker is going to see this and come over and do the work for her because Jesus? Thank God they're moving into a bigger house so she can have more space to fill with old diapers and unwashed laundry.

Her makeup looks good, too.