Wellfleet

Personally I find it curious how the longer the show goes on, and the more money Boob accumulates, the closer they become to mainstream culture. For kids whose access to the Big Bad Internet was once severely-limited or outright-blocked, they're certainly all over it now.

For sure. According to the Social Security website, Sophia has been moving steadily-upward. #7 in 2008, #4 in 2009 and #1 in 2011, 2012 and 2013. No data in yet for 2014. High school and college classes graduating in the early 2020s are going to be chockfull of Sophias, Olivias, Emmas, Madisons and Isabellas. Maybe by that time, "Freds" and "Ethels" will be making a comeback on the list too...

I remember that - it was over 50 years ago. Summer of 1964. I was 8 and watching my first Presidential conventions with my Dad on TV - Johnson v Goldwater. Back when conventions still meant something. Now they're more like coronations. Wow, that was a long time ago.

OK, thanks - that's what I thought. When you said he'd been blackballed since losing the US bid, I wondered "From what?" Couldn't imagine that he'd have kept trying after that.

Cool, I did not know that little fact about twins. My maternal grandmother's first babies were twin boys. I wish I could tell her that was unusual. GEML, I continue to be surprised at all the various fields in which you have knowledge. Seriously, you should try out for Jeopardy. I'd love to see a female kick some beehind on that show. :>)

What did he attempt politically after the US Senate bid? I've just been assuming he went right from that to TLC. Were there other runs he couldn't pull off?

My father's mantra. If I had a dollar bill for every time I heard: "Only rich people can afford to buy crap. Because they're the only ones who can afford to replace their crap every year..." It really isn't an intelligent way to shop, and works in so few situations. Buying a car used is one of the only ways I can think of where it can be smarter than buying new. I wonder if the whole "buy-used-save-the-difference" concept is part of that all-important seminar that made Boob a wheelin'-dealin' mogul?

When Josie was first released from the hospital in Little Rock and had breathing difficulties one of the first nights, Me-chelle wasn't the person who picked up the phone for 911. She handed that off to Jill, who spoke to the operator and explained the situation. When James [?] fell into the orchestra pit at some event, Me-chelle milled around with other family members, blathering and taking photos with her phone. Someone else dealt with actually helping James. If Josie's recent seizure had started with Me-chelle nearby, she would have yelled out for Jana to come and handle it. In instances where most mothers become lionesses, Me-chelle doesn't know how to respond. It's not even that she becomes hysterical and loses her head. No, she's quite calm but seems almost "removed" from the situation. She doesn't see what others see, doesn't sense the seriousness. She is, IMO, clearly emotionally-disturbed to some extent. Except for actually gestating, giving birth and nursing, as a mother she's less than useless.

But it does provides Me-chelle with yet another look-at-me moment. "Hey, I'm the mother of a young child experiencing a seizure..."

And isn't the quake an ideal opportunity for all those trained-up Alert boys to spring into action? Guess I better not hold my breath though, huh?

I've wondered about this too and agree. I also strongly suspect that for the Duggars, not attending to a "real" church also means not having to support a real church. No tithing or weekly collections, so they keep their money. No helping with projects, etc so they keep their time and energy. Everything they do is about them and for them.

How about Pickles Seewald? Works for a boy or a girl...

Trust your gut reaction, wanderwoman. No one should ever feel reticent about NOT using Facebook. One of my cousins' husbands works for the Secret Service. Not the sexy Presidential protective detail stuff - he's in check fraud, like Tom Hanks' character in Catch Me If You Can. Anyway he says that Facebook, purely on the basis of its super-massive size, is "virtually" - LOL - irresistible to hackers and it's just a matter of time before some kind of monumentally-nasty event will occur. Told us enough that I never joined Facebook, and never will. PS - I should add my cousin-in-law says the same thing about Twitter, Instagram etc. All the really REALLY big social media.

I think Josie has also been fawned over and encouraged much more than Jordyn, which would be one possible reason why Josie speaks more and usually better than her older sibling.

I sincerely hope this will happen for Josh. But at the same time I sincerely doubt it will. I wish I could be positive about it, but I just don't think he's up for the immense amount of work involved. And I also think he's going to have to deal with parents who talk it down at every opportunity. Maybe very openly, maybe more subtly - but I think it will happen. Boob especially - he can't have any of his sons getting ahead of him in any way.

I so agree. Not impressed at all when I heard that was what Josh was moving to Washington to do. It seems like every other working person in the city is connected in some way with a lobbying organization.

Yes indeed. If the Duggars actually do have a professional, trained publicist - something I'm inclining to doubt more and more - he or she totally dropped the ball on this one...

While I'm not at all knowledgeable about seizures - and have no idea how often a crew is on the property either - I'd guess that it's likely that Josie could have seized when there was no TLC staff around. The last seizure I remember hearing about was one that occurred not all that long after the whole family returned to the TTH from Little Rock, after Josie's final discharge from the hospital. While Boob & Me-chelle were travelling somewhere. Is it common for a child to go from having seizures as a young baby, to not having any at all, for years before another one occurs? Seriously asking - no idea.

My point exactly. What Josh is doing is done by lots of people every year, with and without families. It is not a unique accomplishment. But he seems to be killing himself at it, in large part because he's starting at such a disadvantage. His "homeschooling" - by a basically overwhelmed [maybe just lazy] mother who never really valued education or thought it would matter in the lives of her children, was a joke. And he might even be killing himself just to earn a marginal number of credits - no degree in sight - at East Bumble Bleep College.

So right - although at least Jessa isn't copying Jill's little profile-photo-with-chalkboard weekly updates. Oy...

Well, by the look of him, if Josh is taking online classes, it's taking every last ounce of energy he has. He looks exactly like I'd expect someone to look if he was getting half as much sleep as he needed. And at this point, if I were him, I'd most definitely be questioning the so-called education I'd received at the hands of my short-sighted, know-it-all parents.

Someone probably did ask that question, but as we know the Duggars don't take the tough ones. There may be a clue there as to why Boob didn't last long in politics as well.

Yes, coming to Washington had to have been serious culture shock for Josh in many ways. Being surrounded by complete strangers who don't necessarily share his beliefs and attitudes, for the first time in his life at 25. So many people who know so much more than he does, and hearing these people speak easily about many concepts he's never even heard of before. Not being a "major presence" in the room - again maybe for the first time in his life. Having grown up in such a narrow closed-off world must have made Washington even scarier for him than it would be for most young 20-somethings starting new jobs there.

Absolutely. In addition to the Like reaction button for posts, we need one for Barf-Ick-Creepy and one for Laughed Out Loud.

No kidding! OMG, look at the feet on that child! Maybe they put shoes on him because none of the booties they've been given were big enough?