Wellfleet

I do plan to read the book. Maybe the language they use in it will connote the "bait-and-switch" scenario you're feeling. But quite honestly, I can't imagine Jen being worried about the idea of Bill backing out of the marriage if he knew she wanted the job at Texas Children's. From what we've been shown of him, that is one besotted husband. I think he'd follow Jen up the north face of Everest...

The only real hope I have left now is that her approach to this interview will backfire - BIG TIME. On her, on Fox and most especially on the Duggars. And that the disapproval, shock, criticism, shame and condemnation of millions will rain down on them all - in Biblical amounts.

In general, most college admissions offices are looking for the applicant's "ability to benefit" from a college education. No one is looking for students to reject, but at the same time no one wants to put an individual into a situation where there's a strong likelihood of failure. While it could never be called a common occurrence, students without official high school diplomas or GEDs have been admitted to my own university when they've proven themselves capable of benefitting from college in other ways. Sometimes they've taken the SAT, ACT, various CLEP exams etc. Sometimes they have documented proof of real-life experience, usually work. We've also admitted students to both undergraduate and graduate art programs based on their creative portfolios alone; students with no undergraduate courses at all have been admitted to MFA programs in particular. In fact, this practice is most common in the creative fields. If you're Beethoven or Ansel Adams, we're not too worried if you have a BA in music composition or a BFA in photographic illustration or fine art photography...

This was my recollection of the timeline too. Bill's back surgery took place October 2014 - shortly before Halloween.

I am looking forward to seeing how "the other side" counters this. CNN and MSNBC have been critical, and there's always the awesome Bill Maher and Jon Stewart, Jon Oliver, Larry Wilmore etc. I haven't heard of any of the mainstream late night guys saying anything yet, but maybe they have. I think I'll go take a look at YouTube...

Maybe this was just a matter of time, but I also had a Duggar dream last night. Jill came to stay with us in my childhood home. She was about 20 and asked the 15-year old or so Me how to operate the vacuum cleaner. That's it. Twas weird...

These two will manage just fine. They could be the anchors on the Olympic blathering team - no kidding. On Jill's wedding special, they yammered away for two hours about how amazing it was that their little girl was all grown-up and they were giving her away, just yesterday she was a sweet, compliant baby, the house will never be the same again yadda yadda. It was incredible that they couldn't think of anything else to say.

The trouble is the Duggars leghumping "fan base" is entirely made up of sheep, totally and completely. Sheep who will most likely believe whatever swill Boob & Me-chelle shovel at them. Let's face it, there isn't a Mensa card or a Phi Beta Kappa key among this crowd - not a single one.

I understand why Boob would like this idea, but I'm not sure how it would benefit TLC. It seems like it would be much better for them, from a PR standpoint, to be shown taking a strong stand and cancelling. As it is, if they don't cancel, I have no idea how they're going to justify sticking with 19 Kids when they cancelled HBB with - literally - hours of the news about Mama June's boyfriend.

For me, no - no chance at all. I believe Boob would do anything to keep the show going. And to prove it, he's doing this interview...

Political smart and academic smart reminds me of a story from Tim Russert's book Big Russ and Me, where he talks about being a new staffer for Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan D-NY, one of the most intellectual politicians in recent history. Highly-educated and erudite, and apparently a pretty wonderful person too. Tim, IIRC, was from a working class family in Buffalo - his dad had been a trash collector - and Tim had a bachelor's from John Carroll Univ and his law degree from Cleveland State. One day he told Sen Moynihan how uncomfortable he was when participating in discussions with other staffers in the office, most of whom were Ivy League graduates like Moynihan. That he felt clueless and entirely out of his element. Sen. Moynihan told him something he'd never forget: "Tim, what they know, you can learn. But what you know, they can never learn..." Needless to say, Tim felt much better after that.

Comments about how rough Washington is always make me tilt my head too. I have 6 college friends who worked there, starting in their late 20s/early 30s - 3 of whom still do, and the only time I've heard any of them use the word "brutal" was when talking about the traffic or the cost of living. For the most part they all loved it, especially all the history, culture and diversity in the area. I think any of those in other cities now would go back in a second. I can see how someone in Josh's situation - no solid education, no erudition, someone who doesn't even read or seem to have much curiosity about the world - would find it tough. But he'd find any large cosmopolitan city difficult, as well as smaller cities.

This video was a hoot! Thanks for posting, from an appreciative Anglophile... :>)

OMG, Nancy Grace would grind Boob and Me-chelle to dust! Now, I'm not much of an NG fan. She's overly dramatic and a bit of a fame monger in her own right. A lawyer friend who works in personal injury law told me once that all trial lawyers are frustrated actors and she's the worst case of that stereotype he's ever seen. But she would be absolutely spot-on perfect for this interview...

Although I wasn't at all clear - and my apologies - my "leave and cleave" comment was really meant for present-day Josh, whose parents are still fielding problems for him. Instead of Josh and Anna speaking to FoxNews, Boob & Me-chelle are.

Not to mention "leave and cleave." What a crock...

I'm guessing the "minder" was probably a staffer from their publisher. Simon & Shuster, was it? Unless they were also filming the booksigning, I doubt TLC paid for someone on their payroll to be there.

But if no one fights these enablers, they win. I say, go ahead and open up a jumbo size can of whoop-ass on 'em! :>)

Yes, I think this is exactly what Boob will say, even if he hasn't hired an attorney. When all is said and done, I bet this interview will look like most of their TLC episodes have looked in the last year or so. The same dreck repeated over and over again by the same two people, no real news, nothing interesting going on - and lasting an hour when it could easily have been accomplished in 15 minutes.

Here's what I'd most like to hear Megan Whoever ask, and it's something I haven't noticed on other posts or online articles. It is the first thing I noticed as odd, then downright weird, about the Duggars, about a year and a half or so into the start of the show. I think the answers to these questions, if JB&M were honest, would explain a lot of other questions the public has about this family. Why are you two here, instead of that 27-year old son of yours? Why isn't he taking responsibility and speaking for himself right now? He's been married for 7 years, has 3-nearly-4 kids, makes 100K a year, lives out of state - and you're still calling the shots in his life? What is up with you people?

Yes, please - and a little drizzle of hot fudge sauce? Oooh, yum. It's DEE-LISH-ISS. Pronounce it as the groom's mother did when she first tasted ouzo in My Big Fat Greek Wedding...

Humor? I suppose so, in the broadest possible sense. Although frankly The Three Stooges have more finesse, and aren't as mean either. The Duggars think it's "funny" to have a clown on stilts at a birthday party for their cousin who is terrified of clowns and has been since she was a toddler. I give a grudging yes to humor. Not a bit of wit, however. To be witty I think you really need to be a reader, and none of them fit that bill.

Easy - he feels superior to them, in every possible way. And completely intimidated by adult men, especially those with any education beyond high school. Biggest - weenie - EVER.

For me, the jury is still out on John David. It could be that he's just really over the whole TV thing - and has been for a long time. But there is a disturbing factor in the mix too. He seems like the type who might have once thought it would be fun to blow up a bullfrog, or whatever those kids were doing in Arachnophobia. I know, I watch too many movies. Anyway, I need more evidence of Good Guyness before I can clear him. Especially now.

I so hope you're right, but I fear you're not. I just can't see Boob, one of the world's biggest weenies, taking a chance like this. I think he knows exactly what's going to go down. And maybe has even anteed-up for the privilege.