Michelle and JimBob aka J'Chelle and Boob

[JoanArc]

Quote

Hey you're right! JB lied and I believed him.  I feel really stupid right now.

You're not stupid. I think a lot of the narrative of hard-working Jim Bob, the tales of destitution, the early years of dating/marriage, are all made up of whole cloth. I kinda wish the media dug more into the financial angle during Joshgate, but there's only so much they can work with.

[Churchhoney]

7 hours ago, JoanArc said:

It's ok, neither did Jim Bob's somewhat well off family, in reality. He went to private school FFS.

And then there's Jimmy Lee's obit, which has bugged the heck out of me ever since I first saw it. This -- in multiple ways -- is so not the person that JB describes, so what the heck is going on here, and what do the rest of the family make of this discrepancy:

"J.L had a unique ability to make others laugh and smile. He delighted in spending time with his family traveling and doing things together. He was a fun Grandpa. Few people enjoyed life as much as he did.

"After graduating from Fayetteville High School in 1955, he attended the University of Arkansas, and served in the Army ROTC. He married Mary Duggar in 1960. In 1962, he became a third generation real estate agent in Duggar Realty that his grandfather J.T. Duggar established in 1933.

"He loved buying and selling property, cars, and making "big" trades. Among many of his real estate transactions, he sold sites for the Springdale Holiday Inn & Convention Center, McDonald's on U.S. 412, Heritage Funeral Home and the new Tamales Restaurant coming soon on 48th Street. He was an incredible salesman.

"He grew up attending Calvary Baptist Church in Fayetteville and was a member First Baptist Church in Springdale for many years.

"Grandpa Duggar lived out the verse in Proverbs 17:22 that says, "A joyful heart is like good medicine." He loved cracking jokes in tense situations, telling funny stories even about himself to make others forget their own problems. If he could come back just for five minutes, he would tell us how wonderful Heaven is, and how important it is for the rest of us to make sure we have a relationship with Jesus and to live every day for Him! He would tell us not to get so bogged down with the cares of this world or to worry about anything, but to love God, serve others and make a difference with whatever time and resources we have left. He will be greatly missed."

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=33774692

[Sew Sumi]

I've always contended that Jana wrote that. It's such a disconnect with what we were told about the guy on the lecture circuit afterward. 

[MunichNark]

Does Meeeechelle own any other item of clothing or does she really own one pair of witches shoes, that hideous long black skirt and several extremely unflattering blouses?

Woman, get your crunchy thin hair cut to a decent length, buy some proper clothes and you will look 10 years younger. But then of course, perhaps she is tired of Jing dong ding jumping on her

[Churchhoney]

9 hours ago, Sew Sumi said:

I've always contended that Jana wrote that. It's such a disconnect with what we were told about the guy on the lecture circuit afterward. 

Makes sense. Could also have been Deanna, maybe? Maybe she had a completely different relationship with her father than JB did?

One line that sticks out to me is the one about Grandpa Dugg "telling funny stories even about himself to make others forget their own problems." Humor at one's own expense is something of which aggressive-and-egocentric-'humor'-only Jizm Bob is completely incapable. If true, it certainly shows one very stark difference between JB and JL and maybe some stark differences were at the root of the resentment? JL -- an open and funny person who may have fallen off the sober and serious wagon a lot, getting into a bit of trouble and thus infuriating and scaring JB, the very uptight, fearful, extremely ego-driven kid?

I'd love to know the truth about all of this.  (cause believe it or not I would like to understand Jim Bob more ... What is wrong with me? lol)

Edited July 31, 2016 by Churchhoney

[flyingdi]

20 hours ago, Sew Sumi said:

We also don't know how much of his story is hyperbole or straight-up lies. The Duggars didn't start using this speech until after Jimmy Lee died. I think Boob really resented the guy. Failing to get him even a used wheelchair for use near the end, rather than pushing him around in an off ice chair demonstrates his true affection. I think the only reason Boob took them in at all was because of Mary.

And to make sure we knew what a nice family guy he was for taking in his elderly parents.

[ginger90]

Has anyone seen any mention of Jim Bob recently? It's strange, to me, that he has been absent from photos of the engagement.

[Defrauder]

2 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

Has anyone seen any mention of Jim Bob recently? It's strange, to me, that he has been absent from photos of the engagement.

Yeah that is really strange.  Unusual of him not to be in these kinds of pictures and front and center.  Maybe he's freaking out because they're holding hands and Jinger is all of a sudden showing her knees?  Maybe he lost control of her and can't face it?  He may not be the one making the rules anymore.

[BradandJanet]

14 minutes ago, Defrauder said:

Yeah that is really strange.  Unusual of him not to be in these kinds of pictures and front and center.  Maybe he's freaking out because they're holding hands and Jinger is all of a sudden showing her knees?  Maybe he lost control of her and can't face it?  He may not be the one making the rules anymore.

MeChelle is there keeping an eye on Jin and Jer. Someone has to stay home and watch Josh-u-ah. Fort Duggar is under siege. 

[Sew Sumi]

55 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

Has anyone seen any mention of Jim Bob recently? It's strange, to me, that he has been absent from photos of the engagement.

TLC likely realizes that he has abysmal Q ratings and endeavors to keep him offscreen as much as possible. And if only one parent can attend the engagement of her daughter in fundieland, I think it would logically be the mother. Even if her Q ratings are also in the tank, they're likely better than KJB's, since she's seen as basically doing what he says, and not a full conspirator in Joshgate I. WE know that's bullshit, but people out there actually believe the lies they were fed on the Megyn Kelly specials. 

[kokapetl]

Why did Ben get to go? 

[birkenstock]

I think that TLC is going to play up the whole Jinger/Jeremy and Jessa/Ben BFF angle.  It's good for optics. Jeremy is now Ben's bestest friend ever so of course he gets to go along for the engagement tour. 

Really, I'm guessing Jessa wanted Ben to come along and he wasn't really needed at the house.

Ha, if Jim Bob isn't there because of his Q rating.  Hopefully, he's done with the show other then small cameos. I hate Jim Bob's condescending tone and face. I wonder how/if their dynamics would change if Michelle returned to tv or continued to travel without him.    

[Oldernowiser]

32 minutes ago, Kokapetl said:

Why did Ben get to go? 

Well, somebody has to have a penis, or who knows what might happen!

He's Penis by Proxy.

[JoanArc]

Like Bin would let Jessa go to NYC unattended...

[birkenstock]

I looked at the family's official FB page and Jim Bob took the Duggar boys - Josh through Jackson and the two M boys - to the Oshkosh airshow for three days this past week (don't know which days, but it was from the 25th-31st). So that's why he didn't go on the Philadelphia and New York tour, he was doing "man" stuff.  

At least Jana had a lighter load only having to look after the little girls. 

[Sew Sumi]

Thing is, the Engagement Team was home last Sunday night, so whenever the guys left, it was leaving Mechelle and Jinger back at the TTH. Maybe there IS some problem between Boob and his consort. That's nearly two weeks of separation, with maybe a night or two together in between. 

[birkenstock]

Really?! The plot thickens. I thought he was just prioritizing guy time and his interests over Jinger's engagement tour.  The less embarrassment Jinger has to face from Jim Bob being Jim Bob the better.  I can just imagine the embarrassed eyerolling from Jinger if he was there.  She seemed more relaxed without him.

Edited July 31, 2016 by birkenstock

[JoanArc]

Wow, didn't they used to brag about how they were never apart?

[Sew Sumi]

7 minutes ago, birkenstock said:

Really?! The plot thickens. I thought he was just prioritizing guy time and his interests over Jinger's engagement tour.  The less embarrassment Jinger has to face from Jim Bob being Jim Bob the better.  I can just imagine the embarrassed eyerolling from Jinger if he was there.  She seemed more relaxed without him.

Yes, the sightings reported in the Philly airport were from last Sunday. 

Mechelle has taken the girls to Gothard camps before, too. This isn't the first time they've been separated for days at a time. It would be nice if the leghumpers could put two and two together, but they're still working on their onesies. 

[OpieTaylor]

I'm hoping someone who knows how will post the photos here of KJB with the boys at the air show:  http://www.duggarfamily.com/eaa-oshkosh-airshow.

Smuggar looks large and soft in the pic in front of the bus - is that him on the end in brown Tshirt? He looks a lot taller than the other boys, as well as fatter.  

In the NASA astronauts pic, it looks like Jordyn on the end in sunglasses - or is it one of Smug's boys?  

The pic in front of the Aero helicopter, with 3 boys - the one in the middle looks quite fit, like he's been lifting weights. 

[Sew Sumi]

Brown shirt with manboobs IS Smuggar. He's holding the hands of one of his littles in Picture 3 (walking aside a plane). None of his brothers have ever looked like that, plus you can see JD in Picture 1, and he's not in a brown shirt. Joe is in shape. The other boys are skinny, most still growing. 

[kokapetl]

I believe Michelle had gallbladder problems. 

[Sew Sumi]

I believe you're correct. She had attacks but couldn't have it removed (IIRC) because she was pregnant with Josie. I don't think they'd permit that surgery while pregnant, but maybe I'm misremembering? 

eta: Found this. It looks like she still has her gallbladder. I don't ever remember her having a surgery after Josie. FWIW, this article is dated 3 days before Josie was eventually delivered. Thank goodness those days are LONG GONE for me! 

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20325363,00.html

Edited August 1, 2016 by Sew Sumi

[Marigold]

I am really surprised that Jim Bob is not at the engagement festivities and not meeting all the family.  

Seriously. It would be weird if my husband did not go and meet the in laws. I truly couldn't imagine flying cross country and leaving him at home while all fun family stuff is happening.  It's not like Jim Bob has a job and needs to do brain surgery at 5am the next morning! He has a flexible schedule. Why stay home???? 

I'm betting that the producers see how much Jim Bob hate there is and have purposed to keep that fool off camera. 

[Sew Sumi]

As I noted in the Jinger thread, Boob certainly has abysmally low Q ratings, and production told him to stay home. Mechelle is almost as bad, but every girl needs her mommy, and given that this turned into a "meet the parents" week, on top of the engagement, she is the lesser of two evils as far as TLC is concerned. 

That said, WHY THE FUCK did the DuggarFamilyOfficial FB use the engagement picture with HER in it as the cover photo? Why can't it just be the Happy Couple? Geez, let Jinger have her day for crying out loud! Mechelle probably did that herself. Stupid cow. 

[awaken]

Wow. Was josh there w some of his kids to parent on his own (with his dad and loads of brothers of course) or was Anna somewhere hidden in the background?  

[birkenstock]

Per Jim Bob, it was a guys-only trip.  

Though I hate saying something nice about Josh, I think he is able to look after his sons solo.  Josh had a lot of practice with little ones since he shared a bedroom with his younger brothers.  I'm not saying he had the same level of responsibility as Jana and the other older girls had, but that I would trust him more than Jim Bob to keep track of his boys (that's a really low bar).  The uncles were probably good back up - John David showed how good he is with Mikey during the flamingo painting.  Jim Bob is useless.      

Edited August 1, 2016 by birkenstock

[BitterApple]

48 minutes ago, awaken said:

Wow. Was josh there w some of his kids to parent on his own (with his dad and loads of brothers of course) or was Anna somewhere hidden in the background?  

I'm sure Jana was stashed in the bus to do the cooking and cleaning, the same way she was when the Smuggars went on that RV trip with TFDW and Priscilla.

[birkenstock]

10 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

I'm sure Jana was stashed in the bus to do the cooking and cleaning, the same way she was when the Smuggars went on that RV trip with TFDW and Priscilla.

I see Jim Bob doing that.  I was thinking that the guys gorged themselves on junk food so that no cooking was involved. Then made the girls clean out the RV once they got home.    

[louannems]

I remember those Osh Kosh pictures of the air show being posted LAST summer!  Those pictures look the same to me.

Edited August 1, 2016 by louannems

[Sew Sumi]

They have gone in the past, but it wasn't with ALL the sons. I believe these are two different trips. I don't recall Smuggar going last time, but I do remember JD and possibly Josiah and maybe a couple of the younger Howlers, not a large group at all, comparatively. I don't think JB went, either. I am NOT going to dig through their FB looking for evidence.

[GeeGolly]

If you look at the 3rd picture, the one in front of a plane, you can see the shadow of a stroller and on the edge of the pic you see a person in a bright yellow shirt and possibly a jean skirt. Anna?

I guess not. I just saw a pic in the Smuggar thread and a young J-boy appears to be wearing a bright yellow shirt.

Edited August 1, 2016 by GeeGolly
to add J boy

[Churchhoney]

7 hours ago, Sew Sumi said:

They have gone in the past, but it wasn't with ALL the sons. I believe these are two different trips. I don't recall Smuggar going last time, but I do remember JD and possibly Josiah and maybe a couple of the younger Howlers, not a large group at all, comparatively. I don't think JB went, either. I am NOT going to dig through their FB looking for evidence.

I'm pretty sure JB did go either last summer or the summer before. I clearly remember one set of pictures of him with some younger Howlers at the air show. That's because I remember thinking that if the eager and smiling young boys knew how JB's idiotic education and socialization practices were actually depriving them of adult involvement in careers like aerospace one of them might get a clue and punch his fat lights out.

[Marigold]

Im still surprised that jim bob didn't travel for the engagement.  He could still be there just stay off camera.

Jeremy's family is pretty far away from Arkansas...

[Catlyn]

I'm surprised with the Howler wearing shorts and having his sleeves rolled up.  Some look like average boys.

[Barb23]

37 minutes ago, Catlyn said:

I'm surprised with the Howler wearing shorts and having his sleeves rolled up.  Some look like average boys.

I was surprised by the shorts too.  Are man buns to follow?

[Absolom]

Michelle did eventually have her gallbladder out.  It was even on the show with her seeing the doctor and saying she didn't really want to have any of her God-given body parts removed.  That it could act up and complicate future pregnancies convinced her to have it done.  Then the older girls had to add waiting on Michelle upstairs in bed to their duties.

[Lady Edith]

I don't know...I doubt that Jim Bob would let Michelle go to Philly/NYC without him.  He did let her go with Jessa to visit Ben and his family, but they are of like minds.  And it was a rural area with little happening.  Not like the city with its evil ways.  In addition, I think the Vuolos are more worldly and therefore could present more of an issue in Jim Bob's eyes.  I see JB having tighter reins on Michelle around them than with the other ILS.  But that's just my opinion...

[Minivanessa]

Well, Jeremy's dad is seriously fundie and a preacher and all, despite living so far from Arkansas and having a more worldly family. Besides, by now Michelle and the older kidults have been to NYC several times, and they had Ben and Jeremy with them on this trip as escorts, along with the TLC crew I'm sure.

We are several years past Michelle's ignorant fears before their first trip to NYC, that the streets would be jammed with perverted criminal Satan-worshipping defrauding homosexuals, passing out drugs and condoms on every street corner. Yes, that's an exaggeration - but IIRC a TLC crew member let out the story that when the show first scheduled the family to go to NYC, Michelle had a lot of questions. She was truly worried about the den of iniquity that they were heading for and genuinely afraid there would be horrible people doing horrible things in the big bad city. IIRC the crew member reassured her that yes there were all kinds of people in New York City, but no they wouldn't be doing alarming things on the city sidewalks in front of her kids, and the Duggars would be quite safe. 

[Missy Vixen]

1 hour ago, Absolom said:

Michelle did eventually have her gallbladder out.  It was even on the show with her seeing the doctor and saying she didn't really want to have any of her God-given body parts removed.  That it could act up and complicate future pregnancies convinced her to have it done.  Then the older girls had to add waiting on Michelle upstairs in bed to their duties.

I had my gallbladder out ten years ago. The athroscopic (be sure and correct me if I'm not using the correct term, I'm looking for "surgeon is guided via teeny cameras and makes incisions that are closed with glorified Band-Aids") is a piece of cake. In other words, it was done on a Tuesday morning, I had a day or so of complete rest, and I was back at my normal routine (and off prescription painkillers) by Saturday of the same week.

Michelle Duggar will do ANYTHING for attention, won't she?

[Almost 3000]

12 minutes ago, Missy Vixen said:

I had my gallbladder out ten years ago. The athroscopic (be sure and correct me if I'm not using the correct term, I'm looking for "surgeon is guided via teeny cameras and makes incisions that are closed with glorified Band-Aids") is a piece of cake. In other words, it was done on a Tuesday morning, I had a day or so of complete rest, and I was back at my normal routine (and off prescription painkillers) by Saturday of the same week.

Michelle Duggar will do ANYTHING for attention, won't she?

Yep, that way is a piece of cake. I was told not to lift anything heavier than 15lbs or drive for two weeks. I grabbed my big, old boy Siamese and immediately knew why the no lifting was recommended so after that complied. Michelle just expanded on what she already doesn't do with the no lifting and all...

[Sew Sumi]

1 hour ago, Absolom said:

Michelle did eventually have her gallbladder out.  It was even on the show with her seeing the doctor and saying she didn't really want to have any of her God-given body parts removed.  That it could act up and complicate future pregnancies convinced her to have it done.  Then the older girls had to add waiting on Michelle upstairs in bed to their duties.

I totally don't remember any of this.Was this after they got back from living in Little Rock?

[Absolom]

Yes, it was.  I remember it because of Michelle saying no to they surgery until the impact on having more babies came up.

[Sew Sumi]

Found that Lily and Ellie recapped the episode. I can't remember ANY of this. I guess this "reunion" was at the compound, since Josie couldn't travel. I don't remember any of Michelle's family in AR, other than her oldest sister in one of the early specials. I was in grad school then, must have had a paper or midterm coming up. 

http://www.duggarfamilyblog.com/2010/10/duggar-diagnosis-recap.html

[Minivanessa]

5 hours ago, Jeeves said:

We are several years past Michelle's ignorant fears before their first trip to NYC, that the streets would be jammed with perverted criminal Satan-worshipping defrauding homosexuals, passing out drugs and condoms on every street corner. Yes, that's an exaggeration - but IIRC a TLC crew member let out the story that when the show first scheduled the family to go to NYC, Michelle had a lot of questions. . . 

Following up on my post earlier today ^^. I found the article I remembered and I was sort of right. It's here. Short version: the Duggars at the time were very ignorant of the world outside Arkansas, because they didn't watch TV or apparently read anything but their religious publications and the local newspaper. Their views of the "outside world" were thus very skewed and stereotyped. The crew was instructed to NEVER engage in conversations with Boob or Michelle, because the producers didn't want the crew to taint the Duggars' "unworldliness." The crew member said:  "It was very much like being told to not tell your little sister about Santa Claus."

I'll quote some of of the rest:

Quote

 

So, during the leadup to their first family trip to New York to appear on the Today Show, Michelle started approaching some of us about New York and if it’s “scary for kids”. Because Michelle came to us, it was acceptable to entertain conversing with her but producers would always rush over and monitor the conversation. That very day we had a couple of crewmembers new to the set not familiar with the drill. . . .As tempting as it was to give some ridiculous answer, the producer’s face reminded us to just be polite and give her the answer she wants. Well, the followup question is when it went completely off the rails. “Well, I hear the city is overrun by ..... gays... has that been causing a lot of problems?” One of the new crewmembers laughed and said “Why don’t you ask “Jimmy”? [and directed a joke at Jimmy] . . . Jimmy as you can guess, was gay, but this fact was completely lost on the Duggars.

It took her a minute to process that . . .there might really be one of these gays she’s always heard about nearby! In her house, even! She pulled the producer over to the corner and started yelling at him and demanding to know if what was just said was a joke, and that she wants to see Jimmy.  . . . The producer is now in a very tough position, because Jimmy is a veteran of the industry and is excellent at what he does, but now the Duggars’ weird uncultured Pollyanna worldview is threatening to disrupt the production staff. We could see the producer trying to calm her down and offering to have a talk with Jimmy . . . when suddenly Jimmy appears. ...

Michelle asked point blank “So ... you’re .... gay???” The four of us are ... completely shocked that someone in 2008 would even do that, and Jimmy ... suddenly strikes a pose like a model in a pinup photo, and responds “Well, darling, depends on who’s asking!”  ...

. . . Jimmy was removed, fired from the set, and transferred to another production, and [none of us were] to breathe a word of what we saw to anyone. The official reason given to pacify the Duggars was that he was “fired due to causing conflicts with the talent”. . . . He was fired 100% because he was gay and for no other reason. The conflict was because he was gay. Of course, he wasn’t really fired fired, but taken off this particular crew. Jimmy was super cool and took it all in stride, and understood the reasoning and the delicate balance the producers needed to have to please these stupid people. And the reason he never came forward or made a stink was because he was paid a bonus and moved to a more desirable production. The dramatics of the “firing” was inflated for the Duggars’ benefit, stupid enough to believe that normal people from more progressive parts of America would support the removal of a gay person from a job filled with union democrats. (Another secret they weren’t aware of!)

...They kept a very tight lid on this incident, because on future tapings when new crews would be swapped in, they were suspiciously more and more straight-edged Christian than you’d typically see on the set of a television show, any television show, outside of the 700 Club. As long as the Duggars are comfortable and safe from the scary city gays, all went according to plan. ...

 

Sorry for the long post, but I just couldn't resist quoting a lot of the story. 

Of course, this startling revelation of there being a crew member who was teh gay, didn't change MEchelle's mind about anything. She went on to make that nasty robocall about transgendered people (or gays, I forget) assaulting kids in store restrooms. The "Jimmy" story was such a rare glimpse behind the scenes of reality TV - and this show specifically - that I thought it was worth re-telling.

[awaken]

19 hours ago, birkenstock said:

Per Jim Bob, it was a guys-only trip.  

Though I hate saying something nice about Josh, I think he is able to look after his sons solo.  Josh had a lot of practice with little ones since he shared a bedroom with his younger brothers.  I'm not saying he had the same level of responsibility as Jana and the other older girls had, but that I would trust him more than Jim Bob to keep track of his boys (that's a really low bar).  The uncles were probably good back up - John David showed how good he is with Mikey during the flamingo painting.  Jim Bob is useless.      

Ok, good point.  I would really like to think that despite all he's done, that he's a good dad in the moment and can parent his kids when needed and handle them when out.  

8 hours ago, Barb23 said:

I was surprised by the shorts too.  Are man buns to follow?

Yes!!!  And scripture tats, I dearly hope!!

[farmgal4]

5 hours ago, Missy Vixen said:

I had my gallbladder out ten years ago. The athroscopic (be sure and correct me if I'm not using the correct term, I'm looking for "surgeon is guided via teeny cameras and makes incisions that are closed with glorified Band-Aids") is a piece of cake. In other words, it was done on a Tuesday morning, I had a day or so of complete rest, and I was back at my normal routine (and off prescription painkillers) by Saturday of the same week.

Michelle Duggar will do ANYTHING for attention, won't she?

Laparoscopic is the word you're looking for. :-)

[Missy Vixen]

6 minutes ago, farmgal4 said:

Laparoscopic is the word you're looking for. :-)

Thank you. For some reason I could not seem to pull it out of my overcrowded brain. LOL ;-)

[birkenstock]

1 minute ago, awaken said:

Ok, good point.  I would really like to think that despite all he's done, that he's a good dad in the moment and can parent his kids when needed and handle them when out.  

Yes!!!  And scripture tats, I dearly hope!!

I definitely think that he has the capacity to handle looking after his sons, but think that it was good that he had JD, Joe, and Josiah around for back up.  I think that 19KC showed the bond he has with Mikey and, for Mikey's sake, am glad they had the father-son time together.  I do think Anna or someone else should be around when it's all four kids though.  

I wonder if Jim Bob could handle young children on his own. He's taken one or two out as accountability buddies, but don't think he could handle more than a day.  Has the show ever shown Jim Bob in charge of the kids without an older girl, Michelle, Mary, or helper around?

[Marigold]

Hate josh.  I do think he can manage his kids though.  He was probably a male version of a J slave, which involves less work than a female J slave.  I bet Josh had his share of lugging around younger siblings, caring for them etc. 

Jim Bob probably manages the older kids decently. I doubt he is good with babies or toddlers at all.