Literata

OMG. I'm a Democrat and a Hillary supporter, and I haven't listened to any Ted Nugent since I became aware of his Tea Party wackjobbery. But that clip absolutely makes my day. I've often wondered about the Duggars and music. It wouldn't surprise me if Jinger and Jessa fire up the Taylor Swift when they're out thrift-shopping. And I get kind of a closet-classic-rock-fan vibe from Smuggar.

I had never before noticed MEchelle's bitch-face when she was riding in the front seat with Smuggar as he drove Anna to the midwife's house to have Marcus. Her comment was relatively snarky, too: "Anna, he's going good," referring, I believe, to the care he was taking with his driving. Yes, Anna was being a little irritating, but cut her some slack; she was in some pretty heavy labor (which begs the question: Did they not stop and think that they were likely going to have to drive 50 miles while she was in labor? But anyway...). MEchelle may call Anna her "daughter-in-love," but I don't buy it.

I've probably beaten this to death, but I still don't understand why no major news outlet has chosen to do a deep dive into this bunch, a la the Scientology reports we're seeing more of lately. The Today Show was all about the Duggars for quite some time; it's bizarre to me that no one in that whole organization thought it might be good to expose Gothard and Quiverfull. It's even more curious that that didn't happen after Gothard's fall from grace.

I would imagine she earned special "Gothard points" every time she handled labor and delivery in a way that he and his minions deemed acceptable. I don't think anything about this family has been left to chance with regard to Gothard and Quiverfull; I'm sure there were plenty of meetings in which Boob and MEchelle were coached to behave a certain way because they were representing the movement.

This sums up the way I'm feeling about this whole circus right now. I had been willing to give Boob somewhat of a pass when, after Jubilee died, he took MEchelle to an ob-gyn who told her her childbearing years most likely were over; I was under the impression that perhaps he was ready to move on to another "season" of life and was trying to help MEchelle understand as well. But he proved last night that he's just as delusional as she is, and that the two of them are really, truly not right. As much as I like some of the kids, this whole thing is growing more disturbing by the week, and it probably needs to just stop.

Reasonably sure it's me. One Bates is a Bates. Two or more are Bateses. :)

Yes! I'm very confused. Iz was born April 6. If Jessa is due Nov. 1, she would have been only two months along in this episode. She looks four months pregnant. What's up with this?

Has it struck anyone else that Jessa's dates are not adding up? Israel Dillard was born April 6. As another poster noted in the thread for his birth episode, Jessa's pregnancy was evident toward the end of that episode, when she would have been only two months along. And she was obviously showing on Instagram before early April. What am I missing?

The best line of the whole mess came from Dan: "Pin the tail on the ... baby?" What the hell was MEchelle putting in Josie's hair? I admit to having liked the Pistol Pete stuff. I don't have any illusions, but it's fun to hope that Jill and Derick might actually encourage their kids to go to college. Poor Cathy looked so frail. Bless her heart for giving Derick such a meaningful gift. I am so hoping she and her family are able to have significant influence over that baby. I have never seen such a giant-looking newborn. I had a 9.2-pounder, but I think Israel's length made him look especially huge. I'm even more disgusted than usual with MEchelle. Wonder how long she could possibly go without using the words "I" and "me."

I'm still concerned that she may have been one of Gothard's "chosen ones." And you know that if that occurred, blame likely would have been placed on Jana for "defrauding" him in some way.

If one positive thing comes from this, maybe, just maybe, it will motivate a network to finally do some sort of Dateline-type investigation into this mess. I predict there will be one eventually -- perhaps not of the Duggars specifically, but of Gothardism and, by association, the Duggars. It can't come too soon. Josie's little blue face on that kitchen counter was upsetting. And poor Jana ... my God. What Boob and MEchelle have done to that young woman. She should be working in her first post-college job, maybe moving into a condo or house, going out with her girlfriends, watching "Girls" and "House of Cards," eating convenience-store burritos at 2 a.m. after downing one too many beers, doing yoga, sleeping till noon on weekends ... she'll never get these years back.

No excuses: They should have come home. If they're telling the truth about having been in Chicago, the drive is definitely doable. I travel a lot for work, and If one of my kids had a serious medical situation, you couldn't keep me from heading home immediately. We know MEchelle is checked out, but what about Boob, the "head of the household"? He could have demanded they return right away. And, Jana, you're the best, but you're 25. Getting excited about painting the room you share with seven little sisters is pathetic. The vast majority of people your age are painting rooms in their own houses or apartments.

Discussion of the makeover shoot is in the "Duggars and the Media" thread. You can find some links there. Re: the photo of Iz above, those can't really be his feet! Can they??

The sad thing is, that's all these women know. Most of us have other things in our lives from which we derive some sense of satisfaction and self-esteem. They derive it through procreation; that's all.

I do like Jessa's realistic attitude about her pregnancy, but something tells me Boob and MEchelle are not going to like that she calls her precious blessing a "speck." Speck Seewald. I like it.

He's actually much cuter here than in the Instagram pics, and, wow, he does look much older than he is. I so, so hope Derick doesn't Duggarize 100 percent, and that some faint hope will remain that Iz can be Pistol Pete in 20 years.

We know the girls shop online ... maybe he does, too? But this begs the question: Do the kids who still live at home have their own money? And if so, does Boob control what they're allowed to spend it on? I live in Iowa and the assumption from those outside the state is probably that we're pretty far behind the times, but in Des Moines, we have quite a few retro consignment and resale shops that sell not only clothing, but mid-century modern furnishings, accessories, etc. I imagine the larger cities in Arkansas have similar "trendy" thrift shops; also, stores like Wal-Mart and Target also have reasonably stylish knock-offs. I commend Josiah for his sartorial taste! I think he looks great.

I lost 65 pounds on Weight Watchers in 2013 and have been on maintenance since then, and have kept my weight off. It's a great, easy-to-follow, sensible program. But it really makes me sick that Gothard was promoting it, and that Jana was being made to feel she was heavy. She's clearly anything but. Welcome, Misty! This has been my concern for a long time. I'm wondering, though -- do you think the Duggars' notoriety might have offered Jana ANY degree of protection from Gothard's advances? And I share your concerns about Joy. Ideally, she'd be taught to embrace her curves, but something tells me that's not the case. In light of the Duggars' rigid gender roles, I also worry about her "tomboyishness" and hope she's not being punished for it. I LOVE that she's into weightlifting and doesn't like makeup, but I can see her being packed up to Journey of the Heart anytime now to wring that individualism out of her.

Holy crap. He's a Boob clone. He really is. Hope he grows into those looks. :(

Call me a cynic, but I don't think she was ALLOWED to announce before 12 weeks. Now that the Duggars are working so closely with People, I imagine the editors are mapping out their coverage to achieve maximum bang for the buck -- Duggars appear to be a hot seller for the magazine, and maximum exposure means spreading out Duggar "exclusives" as long as they can. Both weddings, Jill's pregnancy, a Jill and Derick "check-in," a tour of Jessa and Binjermin's home, Jill's delivery, Josiah's courting announcement, Jessa's pregnancy ... at least eight covers or feature stories over several weeks. I don't think anything about timing is left to anyone but Boob and the PR machine.

I cannot get past the fact that this kid is a teenager. His biggest responsibilities should be studying for his next exam and wondering whether his fake ID is good enough not to be confiscated.

Seriously? I missed that. That was really her response? What an insufferable bitch.

My guess is she has epilepsy. Preterm birth is associated with higher risk. I wonder how the Duggars would "spin" a serious, chronic disease. Surely they won't associate it with their own lack of accountability. I find it maddening that MEchelle is insisting she went into labor at 25 weeks because of a gallstone.

You know, I just thought of something -- we've all agreed that Boob is WAY too interested in the deflowerings of his daughters. But I can't recall his having shown any interest in Smuggar's sex life beyond the staged talk (something about Legos, as I recall) the day of the wedding. You'd think he'd be high-fiving Smugs every time Anna gets knocked up.

Well done. That should be the tagline to this entire show.