Wellfleet

Dammit. Now I really want to know what Boob did to alienate Holt... I'm not sure I'd go that far, but I do understand what you're saying. Assuming Ben doesn't go along with the "everything is the woman's fault" crud, that is. If he's normal in that regard, I'm very glad she has his love and support right now.

I'm guessing that Boob might have floated Pa Seewald a few bills for doing this. Seriously.

Agree. For me, and lot of others I think, the most baffling thing about the Duggars has always been how they managed to get media - any media - to agree to their edicts regarding publicity - canned questions only etc. Ding ding ding!! Shouldn't this fact have been the very first clue that something was wrong? It's been incredible. Time and time again, the media bowed to their conditions. You can only ask questions on this list. You can only photograph this etc. I was expecting to see curtsies and hear "Your Royal Highness..." after a while. Not at all baffling now, however.

Offering this from my Quotes journal. Don't remember where I first heard it. And I really wish I knew who actually said it, because it deserves to be acknowledged with more than an "anonymous" tag. But anyway. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car...

The husband of a friend of mine, who only knows what's on TLC from what he sees while surfing the dial and stopping long enough to see their commercials, has been calling TLC "The Freak Channel" for a couple of years now. Whenever they started with the couponers and Sex Sent Me to the ER. Except for The Little Couple, I honestly couldn't really challenge him on that. I used to like Who Do You Think You Are in the beginning - not so much anymore. It's slipping into the TLC crapola formula to much for me.

Outstanding article - highly recommend. This guy got it ALL right.

Exactly! When someone is truthfully ashamed about something they never talk about it, except to mental health professionals or law enforcement. They definitely don't bring it up every chance they get on national TV.

The largest part of any pity I feel for Josh is that he has Boob and Me-chelle for parents - and they were neither bright enough nor strong enough to get him - not to mention the girls - the help they all needed. Josh could have become an abuser even if Mother Teresa and Pope Francis had been his parents. The impulse could well be organic, at least to some extent - for all we know right now. So there's that. But even without the interference of the whole Gothard world and all the worst kind of influence it had, I'm guessing Boob and Me-chelle would only have clocked out to be mediocre parents at best. She is all about herself, no matter what. As a youngest child, born to a mother late in life, she was probably not especially wanted, and largely ignored as a young child. Except when she was the typically-adorable baby and pre-schooler, performing and getting laughs from the family and anyone else who'd listen to her. He, IMO, was picked on by neighbor kids and schoolmates alike, primarily for his size. Add to that what sounded like tough economic times for periods, and the intimations of conflicts with his own father - God alone knowing what they were. Plus having a fairly-submissive mother, if Grandma as she is today is any indication. Marrying far too young, with no education and no broader world view, having their own money troubles I'm sure - plus the other factors above, these are not two people who had the best of circumstances going into parenthood. A version of The Perfect Storm - a lot of reasons these two should have no kids, and certainly not as many as they were physically able, which is what they did. They just leaped onto the Gothard train, determined to do it all, throwing the throttle wide open and not caring in the least who wandered onto the track up ahead... Edited for content.

Yep, that probably will be a part of their BS line, if they get the opportunity to forward with the show. I can totally see Boob getting behind this if it keeps the cash rolling in because sadly, you're right. It's about Boob and what he wants. His sense of superiority and entitlement is unparallelled. I can't speak about the days before TLC, but in just about every instance we've ever been shown since, I cannot think of a time when Boob went with something that would be better, or even just more fun, for the kids - over whatever he wanted. Oh, he gets emotional and incredulous about giving a daughter away at her wedding. Please. He abandoned them all a long time ago...

This is perfect. We don't have any Waffle Houses in my area of the country but I am somewhat acquainted with them. I'm a fan of standup comedian Jim Gaffigan who does a whole bit about them. A sampling: "Boy, I thought the IHOP was a dump - until I went into Waffle House. It's like a white trash convention in there. Actually makes the IHOP look international!" "If you've never been to a Waffle House, just imagine a gas station bathroom - that sells waffles..." "Actually I like Waffle House, and not just because watching someone fry an egg while smoking reminds me of my Dad..." "I've seen a gun 5 times in my life. Three of those times have been in a Waffle House!" Mods - if this should be moved to the Prayer Closet, mea culpa - and please do so. I'm just approaching Duggar poisoning right now and thought we desperately needed some comic relief. Many thanks.

I think we need to be saying sometimes people who are abused become abusers. The statement above makes it sounds as though ALL molesters were molested as children themselves. This is not the case. But I do think there was something else going on between Boob and his father. What it was we'll probably never know.

IMO, it depends on who would actually be receiving the money. If the checks still go to Boob I don't think he'll care, and he'd definitely be on board. Little Miss Look-At-Me will probably stamp her feet and holler quite a bit, but she'd have to cope if he makes that decision. If the checks start going to the individuals actually on camera, I don't know what he'd say. As it stands, I suspect Boob runs everyone's life until they leave the TTH to get married, so he'd get the money eventually anyway when the kids signed it over.

I know, right? Whatever happened to that nice Table for 12 family? Bring them back, TLC - if they want to, that is. And pay them big. I loved the parents, the kids were all nice and cute, they seemed very down-to-earth etc. Me-chelle Duggar had all her kids in her house virtually all the time, and with other people taking care of practically all their needs. And didn't have to cope with schools or outside interests. Mrs Table for 12 - what was their name - managed quads or quints or sextuplets, school schedules for 12 kids, dance classes, sports practices, Scouting, church, her household, a little girl with CP, her marriage etc with no staff, no millions and no love offerings. She beats Me-chelle by a mile in my book!

I'm hoping Jen's cancer was their nightmare - and they have both certainly paid their dues in many other respects too.

It could be made up, I suppose. Some would-be screenwriter out there maybe. But darn it, it just SOUNDS so believable, doesn't it? Spot-on perfectly believable. Just like I imagine Me-chelle would talk, overreact etc.

With all that's coming to light, it really seems impossible to imagine there will be any sponsors that will come forward and proudly sponsor the show from this point out. IF the Duggars do want to continue, for whatever reason, and IF TLC decides to move forward as well? I for one would carpet-bomb any organization that did sponsor them with letters, e-mails, phone calls - that's for sure. And I know I'm not alone in that...

My sentiments exactly. Eff 'em. I won't shed Tear One if the network goes down. They had many opportunities to do the right thing and didn't.

Wow. Just - wow. This is truly eye-opening. And validating to me to a certain extent as well. My, what delicate little hothouse flowers Boob & Me-chelle were/are. Also puts a whole new spin on that "Behind the Scene" show with the crew. Complete and utter crap. PS - I hope "Jimmy" was sent to work on the The Little Couple production. Now THAT would be fun!

As teachers we were charged with reporting any case of suspected child abuse - any type - we saw in our classrooms. And I know other professions that work under this policy as well. Yet parents can get away with this? Do nothing? With their own children? It staggers the mind...

Agree. I just can't see how people will ever be able to watch this show again - even without Boob, Me-chelle or Josh - without experiencing bad/uncomfortable feelings. It makes me uneasy to think about it. I believe even the leg-humpers may get an odd taste in their mouths. Before this when things struck me as being off, I could always tell myself, "It's your imagination. It's because you don't like Boob & Me-chelle and their views. You don't know anything for sure. People deserve the benefit of the doubt." Etc etc. But now? There's no way to go back IMO. And personally I don't want to.

Agree. TLC could never make a Frontline-quality documentary of this show and at this point. Unless, that is, they're willing to bring in a Frontline-quality staff to do it. And I'd bet my retirement fund they won't be doing that. I also honestly wonder whether or not Boob wants to continue with the show. I admit my initial reaction was 'Oh boy, I'll bet Boob will do anything to keep that TLC cash rolling in...' But now I'm really wondering if he would. Maybe he would prefer to sink beneath the waves again. I have to say that financially I'm not worried about them. He's a millionaire several times over and probably has, in actuality, much more $ than we think. In the end I think the reasons to end the show will outweigh those to keep it. Maybe Boob will hold a family meeting and for the first time in his life, ASK, rather than TELL, the kids what they want to do.

This theory is making more and more sense to me. Maybe one of them had a heart-to-heart with her MIL? Jill could have been having a bad day, Derick's back at work, Cathy's over at the McMansion helping with Izzy - Jill get the weepies and suddenly everything spills out? Cathy strikes me as the type who would know what to do - and wouldn't be shy about it either. Maybe both the senior Seewalds and the Byrums went to visit Boob & Me-chelle together? OMG - I'd have bought tickets to see the look on Boob's face.

Yes, the decision to do the weekly show was pure Boob, IMO. His greed, his Olympic-size ego and his naivete too.

I think most of us here feel precisely the same, JennyMom. Definitely a case of being-careful-what-you-wish-for. Personally I wanted the Duggars off TV, that's it. If they want to travel the country preaching their message, as heinous as much of it is, that is their prerogative as Americans. But to me, the Duggars on TV were what cigarette advertising on TV was in the late 60s. An incredibly-easy way to reach millions of people including children with a harmful and unhealthy practice. What did we do then? Congress banned tobacco ads on TV. But no, I never wanted this either.

Me too. At least I can still trust my own instincts. For about 8 of the last 10 years I've been telling myself "You know it, you're awful. You're reading all kinds of nastiness into what you see on 19 Kids - you don't even know what it is - and just because you don't like Boob & Me-chelle, their lame homeschooling, their politics, the way they make the girls do work they should be doing instead, yadda yadda..." But something was terribly wrong the whole time. If it looks like a duck...