Josh & Anna Smuggar: A Series of Unfortunate Events

[Defrauder]

Why is Josh usually photographed next to a plate of food?  I eat therefore I am?  God is blessing me with food again because I'm so great?  I just like to freakin eat and the reality show afforded me this meal?  What gives?   Does he DO anything?  Cave man - woman, food, baby....

[GeeGolly]

I think that is a millennial thing Defrauder. My FB feed has many posts of dining out and food pics. 

[BitterApple]

I think that is a millennial thing Defrauder. My FB feed has many posts of dining out and food pics.

I agree, Millenials are big on food pics. Josh is definitely not unique in this regard.

[Cherrio]

I doubt Josh would get six months severance after a mere two years on a job he had to leave because of his own past actions.  I think it's far more likely that Josh has TLC money in the bank and is taking over some business from Jim Bob such as property management or is investing some of the show income into his own rental property.

I agree. I don't think he got any severance, since he probably violated a term of his employment or morals clause.  He is lucky he was let go without any backlash from that hideous organization.

[GEML]

20 years in DC. I'm certain he had a severance. You want to handle these things quietly. That's how you do it.

[Defrauder]

I agree, Millenials are big on food pics. Josh is definitely not unique in this regard.

I'm Generation X - the days when a roll of film cost money and you didn't know how the picture came out until it was developed so you were careful about what your roll of 24 included because maybe that was all you could take for a month or so.  These days (and it's great) photos are I guess pretty much limitless and don't  cost anything anymore so why not.  I just notice it in Duggar men I suppose - food pics, Duggar woman - pregnant pics.

[Missy Vixen]

I agree. I don't think he got any severance, since he probably violated a term of his employment or morals clause.  He is lucky he was let go without any backlash from that hideous organization.

IMHO of course and I live in Washington State, not Washington, DC. ;-) I'll bet there are NO morals clauses in any FRC (or RW think tank) contracts. Considering the fact we see scandals on an almost daily basis from those employed by the various orgs, nobody could sign one with a straight face.

 

Of course, my opinion and I will be interested to see what Smuggar does next, mostly for entertainment value.

Go for the dog.  That's what I want.  I think complaints about "a dog's life" are pure jealousy.

Our dog went to McDonald's with Daddy this morning to get breakfast, hit the Starbucks drive through where he was most likely offered a Puppaccino, and is currently being enticed to play with the Kong. Later, there will be peanut butter treats. ;-)

 

I wonder if the Duggars just ignore the dogs that show up on their property or play with/interact with them at all.

[Churchhoney]

IMHO of course and I live in Washington State, not Washington, DC. ;-) I'll bet there are NO morals clauses in any FRC (or RW think tank) contracts. Considering the fact we see scandals on an almost daily basis from those employed by the various orgs, nobody could sign one with a straight face.

 

Of course, my opinion and I will be interested to see what Smuggar does next, mostly for entertainment value.

 

I agree.

 

I also have the strong feeling that FRC knew all about the Josh rumors before they hired him. Those rumors were everywhere among the conservative Christian community in northwest Arkansas, apparently, so I can't imagine them not knowing.

 

If that is the case, they would have known from day one that they were taking a risk, as that information could come out at any point, considering that Josh was a "celebrity." I think they knew, and before he put his fat rear into one of their office chairs for the first time they'd already written a version of his "resignation letter." And had made plans to give him a very solid severance if anything came out and they needed him quickly and quietly off the premises. They had to give him a good severance because they couldn't risk his coming back at them with the accurate charge that they knew about him all along, as a son of Jim Bob might very well be expected to do. The Josh/FRC separation all happened with such quiet and dispatch when the news came out, that I can't see it happening any other way.

Edited August 1, 2015 by Churchhoney

[Absolom]

Many people have lived and worked in DC and some have even worked in personnel offices and know how it's done also. 

[GEML]

Then you likely know that when you have an executive director that you want to get rid of quickly and quietly, the best option to do so is offering $$$$.

[GeeGolly]

Yeesh, it sounds like if you work enough places in DC and are scandalous, you'd be all set for retirement in just a few years. It is like the many CEOs that go from companies to companies, mess up and get buy-out packages.

[Wellfleet]

I would lean toward thinking he's not working for them at this point, because they've been burned before in their existence and could still be worried that something else Duggardly might come out -- and that their secret-employment arrangement could come out as well. (Mainly because I think that his job would pretty much have to be a meet-and-chat-up people job of some sort -- so somebody will know for sure if he's doing it, and if anything tainted should turn up, they're likely to talk, loyal conservatives or no. I just don't see them hiring Josh for a desk job writing or researching or strategizing or the like. He doesn't have the skills.)

 

However, I completely agree with you about the long long severance package -- including good health insurance. I'm certain he got that. It's not uncommon, and, as you say, they wanted him to sign their statement and get off the premises posthaste. And he had a quite pregnant wife at the time who would need good healthcare over the next year -- they didn't want to risk a news story about her having a health crisis while being crappily insured after their coverage ended.

 

I agree that Josh received severance - not that he deserved it - but that he did get it. And cannot comprehend any reason why they'd actually pay him to both work - and not work - for them either. In the first place, if that kind of news should leak, and it would seem very leakable, it would not only look bad, it'd look stupid on FRC's part. In the second place, he was hired to be the public face of FRC for a reason - he hasn't the education, skills or experience most if not all their other employees have. What on earth could he do behind-the-scenes that someone else isn't already doing? And if FRC wants entree to the Gothard group, why can't they themselves invite David Waller to lunch? Why do they need a Josh for something like that?

Edited August 2, 2015 by Wellfleet

[Churchhoney]

I agree that Josh received severance, but cannot comprehend any reason why they'd actually pay him to both work - and not work - for them. In the first place, if that kind of news should leak, and it would seem very leakable, it would not only look bad, it'd look stupid on FRC's part. In the second place, he was hired to be the public face of FRC for a reason - he hasn't the education, skills or experience most if not all their other employees have. What on earth could he do behind-the-scenes that someone else has already been going? And if FRC wants entree to the Gothard group, why can't they themselves invite David Waller to lunch?

 

Yeah, I completely agree. I don't think he's working for them either.

 

Did I seem to say that he was? Wouldn't be surprising with my rambling, backtracking, and 300-comma sentences -- but what I meant was that I think he's not working for them because why would they trust the Duggars and Josh to have no lurking problems at this point? And if a lurking problem emerged, and Josh were working there, the news of his continued employment would also get out .... because his work would have to be glad-handing work of some kind, so somebody would know about it. He couldn't be somebody working at the kind of job you could hide because the person could work at home from their computer -- like ghostwriting speeches or developing a get-out-the-vote strategy or something.

[Wellfleet]

Yeah, I completely agree. I don't think he's working for them either.

 

Did I seem to say that he was? Wouldn't be surprising with my rambling, backtracking, and 300-comma sentences -- but what I meant was that I think he's not working for them because why would they trust the Duggars and Josh to have no lurking problems at this point? And if a lurking problem emerged, and Josh were working there, the news of his continued employment would also get out .... because his work would have to be glad-handing work of some kind, so somebody would know about it. He couldn't be somebody working at the kind of job you could hide because the person could work at home from their computer -- like ghostwriting speeches or developing a get-out-the-vote strategy or something.

 

No churchhoney, you didn't. Sorry, I think I grabbed the wrong quote by mistake. I hate posting a reply without having the correct quote in the first place, so people can follow along intelligently, but it looks like I'm guilty this time. Mea culpa...

[GEML]

What I mean to say is that the subculture groups aren't going to be the ones that disown Josh. They will forgive him and think he was "persecuted." So he can likely start his own dummy consulting company of some sort that allows him to liaison with their lead ship on issues of GOTV and fundraising, doing what he was doing at FRC, only now on his own, or behaos with the backing Of IBLP. They can always hire someone else to be the public face of it (it's not going to be Ben,unless he ups his A game very quickly) but Josh can still trade in on his side of the equation.

And politicians still need the money and the votes.

Right now, for instance, with so many in the Republican primary, every dollar or percentage point in the poll you can muster means the difference between making it into a debate or being shut out. That's how tight the margins are. Josh's type of job has real value. For all we know, he's really working very hard. (Well, hard for a Duggar.)

[Churchhoney]

No churchhoney, you didn't. Sorry, I think I grabbed the wrong quote by mistake. I hate posting a reply without having the correct quote in the first place, so people can follow along intelligently, but it looks like I'm guilty this time. Mea culpa...

 

No problem! And it could have been me. Wouldn't be the first time that I seemed to say the opposite of what I meant!

[galax-arena]

IMHO of course and I live in Washington State, not Washington, DC. ;-) I'll bet there are NO morals clauses in any FRC (or RW think tank) contracts. Considering the fact we see scandals on an almost daily basis from those employed by the various orgs, nobody could sign one with a straight face.

Yeah, but those scandals don't deter them from trumpeting themselves as the arbiter of  morality and "traditional family values" to begin with, and they somehow manage to do that with a straight face! I think the cognitive dissonance and hypocrisy are strong with these people.

 

I have no idea if Josh signed a morals clause or not, though. 

[kokapetl]

What I mean to say is that the subculture groups aren't going to be the ones that disown Josh. They will forgive him and think he was "persecuted." So he can likely start his own dummy consulting company of some sort that allows him to liaison with their lead ship on issues of GOTV and fundraising, doing what he was doing at FRC, only now on his own, or behaos with the backing Of IBLP. They can always hire someone else to be the public face of it (it's not going to be Ben,unless he ups his A game very quickly) but Josh can still trade in on his side of the equation.

And politicians still need the money and the votes.

Right now, for instance, with so many in the Republican primary, every dollar or percentage point in the poll you can muster means the difference between making it into a debate or being shut out. That's how tight the margins are. Josh's type of job has real value. For all we know, he's really working very hard. (Well, hard for a Duggar.)

Are there any electoral districts/constituencies/ridings/wards/divisions/electoral areas/electorates where Josh's association with a politician wouldn't be a net loss of votes/support for that politician?

[GeeGolly]

What I mean to say is that the subculture groups aren't going to be the ones that disown Josh. They will forgive him and think he was "persecuted." So he can likely start his own dummy consulting company of some sort that allows him to liaison with their lead ship on issues of GOTV and fundraising, doing what he was doing at FRC, only now on his own, or behaos with the backing Of IBLP. They can always hire someone else to be the public face of it (it's not going to be Ben,unless he ups his A game very quickly) but Josh can still trade in on his side of the equation.

And politicians still need the money and the votes.

Right now, for instance, with so many in the Republican primary, every dollar or percentage point in the poll you can muster means the difference between making it into a debate or being shut out. That's how tight the margins are. Josh's type of job has real value. For all we know, he's really working very hard. (Well, hard for a Duggar.)

Just to add... I think Josh started one when he was like 16 or 17, if I recall correctly. 

[Churchhoney]

Are there any electoral districts/constituencies/ridings/wards/divisions/electoral areas/electorates where Josh's association with a politician wouldn't be a net loss of votes/support for that politician?

 

Well, so few people vote in our non-Presidential years, and fewer still vote in party primaries, that I think just about anything or anybody could wield influence if things were managed correctly. I'm pretty sure there are places where leghumpers could get a particular Republican nominated for a House seat or some high-level state post, for example, and possibly even places where they could push that person into office, even if other Republicans stayed home from the polls. So, if they used him very very strategically, I imagine he might still influence a few elections. Don't know if that would be enough to warrant anybody paying him much of a salary, though.

[GEML]

I can speak most about Virginia politics, which was my specialty, but we've had multiple electrons that were within .5% of the vote within the past decade. That's a few dozen to a few thousand votes on either side making the difference from school board races all the way to state attorney general races.

With Citizen United case, there is SO MUCH MONEY is politics right now, that yes, there almost certainly is someone out there that would be willing to pay a Josh Duggar if he could produce a plan that showed he could bring x number of votes to candidate Y.

I know that isn't what a lot of people want to hear, but yeah, it's how it's done.

Edited August 2, 2015 by GEML

[Missy Vixen]

Right now, for instance, with so many in the Republican primary, every dollar or percentage point in the poll you can muster means the difference between making it into a debate or being shut out. That's how tight the margins are. Josh's type of job has real value. For all we know, he's really working very hard. (Well, hard for a Duggar.)

Here's a thought: Why is one of the candidates (who's been strongly linked to the Duggars) continuing to double down on his anti-abortion rhetoric when all polls show it's a NON-STARTER? Seriously.

 

He's getting advice from somewhere. It certainly isn't anyone with a finger on the pulse of 70% of the American public. I'm betting I know who it might be.

[Churchhoney]

I can speak most about Virginia politics, which was my specialty, but we've had multiple electrons that were within .5% of the vote within the past decade. That's a few dozen to a few thousand votes on either side making the difference from school board races all the way to state attorney general races.

With Citizen United case, there is SO MUCH MONEY is politics right now, that yes, there almost certainly is someone out there that would be willing to pay a Josh Duggar if he could produce a plan that showed he could bring x number of votes to candidate Y.

I know that isn't what a lot of people want to hear, but yeah, it's how it's done.

 

What I question is whether he could produce the plan! I was thinking that they'd have to be paying the strategist/analyst/numbers person and Josh the voter-attractor, in which case his monetary value is a little less! So you think he may have the research and analyst abilities as well? If so, then he's probably well fixed.

Edited August 2, 2015 by Churchhoney

[GEML]

He would be part of a team. I figure IBLP probably hires him to do what he was doing at FRC, only in reverse - he persuades candidates, PACs and lobbying groups that they are still relevant (and they are not just to hand over money and votes but get something in return.)

[Churchhoney]

He would be part of a team. I figure IBLP probably hires him to do what he was doing at FRC, only in reverse - he persuades candidates, PACs and lobbying groups that they are still relevant (and they are not just to hand over money and votes but get something in return.)

 

Yep, I think a team makes sense.

 

Makes me kind of sad, though, that somebody smart enough to effectively strategize all that might work for IBLP.  Oh, well, as long as the strategist doesn't use the Wisdom Booklets to educate his kids.

[ariel]

Are there any electoral districts/constituencies/ridings/wards/divisions/electoral areas/electorates where Josh's association with a politician wouldn't be a net loss of votes/support for that politician?

 

Sadly yes, in some districts in the bible belt of the USA.

Edited August 3, 2015 by ariel

[Satchels of gold]

IMHO folks are being far too optimistic about Josh's options for gainful employment in the political arena in any capacity. I'm not a political expert (however I am the county chair for one of the two major political parties....hint it rhymes with acrobatic) but I do know people and how they think. Josh is tainted. Now and probably forever. Comparing him to Bill Clinton or John McCane is like comparing apples and space ships (tm Carole Radizwell ). Molesting children, including a 5 year old , is so far out of the scope of most people's experiences it can never be normalized. We all probably know multiple people who have cheated on their spouse or left a devoted spouse for a hotter, younger version but few of us know a child molester" . It is the "other" of all "others".

Edited August 3, 2015 by nc socialworker

[Wellfleet]

IMHO folks are being far too optimistic about Josh's options for gainful employment in the political arena in any capacity. I'm not a political expert (however I am the county chair for one of the two major political parties....hint it rhymes with acrobatic) but I do know people and how they think. Josh is tainted. Now and probably forever. Comparing him to Bill Clinton or John McCane is like comparing apples and space ships (tm Carole Radizwell ). Molesting children, including a 5 year old , is so far out of the scope of most people's experiences it can never be normalized. We all probably know multiple people who have cheated on their spouse or left a devoted spouse for a hotter, younger version but few of us know a child molester" . It is the "other" of all "others".

 

Wholeheartedly agree. I'm not any kind of political scholar whatsoever. I've just been interested in history and politics from a relatively-young age. I'd stay in Summer nights in the 60s and 70s to watch the conventions on TV with my dad, back when they still really were conventions - and I remember seeing the 20-minute standing ovation for Bobby Kennedy in 1964, when I was 8. An extraordinary moment. What I know I've learned from 45 years of reading the news magazines, and watching the TV anchors and pundits. All of which has educated my gut as well as my brain, and my gut tells me that no one individual or group is going to hire admitted child molester Josh Duggar - officially or unofficially - in any capacity at this time. And maybe never. Josh is, IMO, politically-radioactive. It might be different if he was a world-class political operative like David Axelrod, Rahm Emanuel, James Baker, Michael Deever, David Gergen etc. But he is SO not of these gentlemen. He doesn't possess any kind of access or expertise that a group or person couldn't get elsewhere - with MUCH less grief and trouble if it became known to the public.

Edited August 3, 2015 by Wellfleet

[Micks Picks]

 

I'd stay in Summer nights in the 60s and 70s to watch the conventions on TV with my dad, back when they still really were conventions - and I remember seeing the 20-minute standing ovation for Bobby Kennedy in 1964, when I was 8. An extraordinary moment. What I know I've learned from 45 years of reading the news magazines, and watching the TV anchors and pundits.

Wow we must share genetic  material.  There aren't a lot of kids who are enthralled with political conventions, even when they were important and actually elected somebody and we were surprised at the VP, and not many kids who get stuck on political shows.  So we must have tons of DNA in common.  I loved it, and didn't do many other things because I had to get home and watch TV.  To this day, I don't know many adults who actually dig this kind of thing. Most don't know what's going on, and a friend of mine who does know what's going on is so dug in with her positions that any politician who ever deviates even slightly gets her ire up and not her vote, meaning that by the time she finishes with her choices she always votes for somebody who doesn't win and doesn't ever get picked as a government operative by the eventual winner.  And it's the operatives to actually get things done and moves agendas forward.  However the disinterest of almost everybody so demoralizes me.  I just don't have many people to talk to because there is no information there to be exchanged.  I am independent, trend republican but do not hate democrats.  Used to be one.   The party had to work some to get me to leave.

[mbutterfly]

I can speak most about Virginia politics, which was my specialty, but we've had multiple electrons that were within .5% of the vote within the past decade. That's a few dozen to a few thousand votes on either side making the difference from school board races all the way to state attorney general races.

With Citizen United case, there is SO MUCH MONEY is politics right now, that yes, there almost certainly is someone out there that would be willing to pay a Josh Duggar if he could produce a plan that showed he could bring x number of votes to candidate Y.

I know that isn't what a lot of people want to hear, but yeah, it's how it's done.

But could Josh Duggar do that? Is he a make-a-plan-bring-a-plan-to-fruition person? I don't honestly know. I see several others have given a similar question. 

Edited August 3, 2015 by mbutterfly

[GEML]

The thing is, he doesn't have to be visible to the candidate and the campaign. That really would be toxic. He will be visible to the religious followers. It will be someone else getting photos with actual public people. But can he still get a paycheck out of it? Yes.

[Wellfleet]

The thing is, he doesn't have to be visible to the candidate and the campaign. That really would be toxic. He will be visible to the religious followers. It will be someone else getting photos with actual public people. But can he still get a paycheck out of it? Yes.

 

I understand that Josh doesn't have to be visible. Of course that would be fatal. But how long could the very fact of his being involved - at whatever level - be concealed? I'm guessing not long, especially with tabloids these days eager to uncover anything possible on the Duggars. And do you really think his influence and input is SO valuable that people would risk the toxic possibility of him? Has he got the only key here? There's no one else - who's not a molester - who could achieve similar results? The whole scenario just seems ridiculously implausible.

[Churchhoney]

 

IMHO folks are being far too optimistic about Josh's options for gainful employment in the political arena in any capacity. I'm not a political expert (however I am the county chair for one of the two major political parties....hint it rhymes with acrobatic) but I do know people and how they think. Josh is tainted. Now and probably forever. Comparing him to Bill Clinton or John McCane is like comparing apples and space ships (tm Carole Radizwell ). Molesting children, including a 5 year old , is so far out of the scope of most people's experiences it can never

be normalized. We all probably know multiple people who have cheated on their spouse or left a devoted spouse for a hotter, younger version but few of us know a child molester" . It is the "other" of all "others"

 

 

I totally agree that this is true of people at large. But I think you still have a ton of pols and political operatives on the right who share Josh's "religious" convictions and his belief that he's been definitively forgiven and his smarm. And I expect a lot of those will be perfectly happy to view him as a fellow conservative Christian martyr who happens to have been crucified by hypocritical liberals for something he did as an unknowing child.

 

He won't ever be the public face of anybody's franchise again and nobody will want a shared photo op. But lots of people in the back room -- both the top people and their staffs -- have no gag reflexes, and I think his tv-star sheen plus his martyr sheen would make him quite acceptable as a water carrier there, with the right crowd who share the political worldview of IBLP or the like. I can easily see people like Jim DeMint, Sam Brownback, Dick Armey, Scott Walker, Sarah Palin and many many others being perfectly happy to shake Josh's hand and chat with him over coffee about their many mutual concerns. I honestly don't think the "child molester" thing would even cross anybody's mind in that kind of scenario.

 

Nobody in the public ever gets even a glimpse of what goes on as the sausage is made inside an ideologically consistent network of people. Heck, look at the recent Koch brothers gathering -- where they got the top news outlets in the nation to agree that they would not report on sponsors and the like in what was actually a kind of public meeting that the press was invited to. Top national press outlets actually agreed to this. And the kind of completely secret deal-discussing and dealmaking events that are where the actual work gets done are utterly inaccessible to everyone. He can scurry around with a ton of other little operatives in a warren of little rooms in a big building somewhere, and nobody will ever know. (Which is not to say that I see him making a big salary off of this -- and unlike most others in those rooms, he'll have no hope of ever becoming more prominent and gaining real power. Still, that doesn't mean he wouldn't be welcome as a water carrier.)

Edited August 3, 2015 by Churchhoney

[GEML]

I totally agree that this is true of people at large. But I think you still have a ton of pols and political operatives on the right who share Josh's "religious" convictions and his belief that he's been definitively forgiven and his smarm. And I expect a lot of those will be perfectly happy to view him as a fellow conservative Christian martyr who happens to have been crucified by hypocritical liberals for something he did as an unknowing child.

He won't ever be the public face of anybody's franchise again and nobody will want a shared photo op. But lots of people in the back room -- both the top people and their staffs -- have no gag reflexes, and I think his tv-star sheen plus his martyr sheen would make him quite acceptable as a water carrier there, with the right crowd who share the political worldview of IBLP or the like. I can easily see people like Jim DeMint, Sam Brownback, Dick Armey, Scott Walker, Sarah Palin and many many others being perfectly happy to shake Josh's hand and chat with him over coffee about their many mutual concerns. I honestly don't think the "child molester" thing would even cross anybody's mind in that kind of scenario.

Nobody in the public ever gets even a glimpse of what goes on as the sausage is made inside an ideologically consistent network of people. Heck, look at the recent Koch brothers gathering -- where they got the top news outlets in the nation to agree that they would not report on sponsors and the like in what was actually a kind of public meeting that the press was invited to. Top national press outlets actually agreed to this. And the kind of completely secret deal-discussing and dealmaking events that are where the actual work gets done are utterly inaccessible to everyone. He can scurry around with a ton of other little operatives in a warren of little rooms in a big building somewhere, and nobody will ever know. (Which is not to say that I see him making a big salary off of this -- and unlike most others in those rooms, he'll have no hope of ever becoming more prominent and gaining real power. Still, that doesn't mean he wouldn't be welcome as a water carrier.)

This. I'm not saying he's ever anyone big in politics again. I'm just saying he has a job that pays decent money that supports his family in AR or wherever they end up (it won't be in DC) and he gets to be on the edges of what he wants to do. There are thousands of people like him. In two years, this story is forgotten and he slips into the political background and no one cares except the people who think he's been given a bum deal.

[Absolom]

Josh might some day get another political job that would definitely be behind the scenes, but he's currently sitting in NWA where there is very limited scope for him to be involved in politics and I've seen nothing from him indicating a wish to be working on a campaign.  I'm not sure he wants another political position where it could put him in the way of major criticism again.  Perhaps he wants this scandal forgotten as quickly as possible and to get on with a more normal life. 

 

I'm not about to speak for all fundies as the ones I know are definitely not a monolithic group, but the ones I talked to recently find Josh radioactive and don't want him near any of the candidates that they favor.  They would be vocal about him working on a campaign in any position and should they find out would waste no time telling the candidate to get Josh far away.  They feel duped by the Duggar parents and Josh and somewhat by Jill and Jessa. 

[Happyfatchick]

It seems to me that any position he had, no matter how indirectly related to a candidate, would be snooped out. And the day it does, WOOSH, its throwing gas on a bed of dry pine needles and lighting the match. All over the rags again. Previous scandal right back to the top of the news pile. They would know that going in, and it just seems poison to me, although you guys are smarter and more well read than I. It would die down eventually, and he may bring a few thousand votes to the table. It would be weighed so carefully going in - I'm not sure the relatively small number of people he could reach and draw would be worth it. Plus he'd make excellent joke fodder for the opposition.

I'm sure they'll think of something, they always do.

ETA: I hope he finds something nice and quiet, low key and gives poor Anna a break.

Edited August 3, 2015 by Happyfatchick

[Churchhoney]

Josh might some day get another political job that would definitely be behind the scenes, but he's currently sitting in NWA where there is very limited scope for him to be involved in politics and I've seen nothing from him indicating a wish to be working on a campaign.  I'm not sure he wants another political position where it could put him in the way of major criticism again.  Perhaps he wants this scandal forgotten as quickly as possible and to get on with a more normal life. 

 

I'm not about to speak for all fundies as the ones I know are definitely not a monolithic group, but the ones I talked to recently find Josh radioactive and don't want him near any of the candidates that they favor.  They would be vocal about him working on a campaign in any position and should they find out would waste no time telling the candidate to get Josh far away.  They feel duped by the Duggar parents and Josh and somewhat by Jill and Jessa. 

 

I completely agree that it's not clear Josh wants a political job. All I'm saying is that I believe he could get one, in a certain capacity. And I kind of think that in the end it actually could turn out to be one of his more realistic options.

 

I also agree that it wouldn't be a job for a candidate or an office holder but for an organization. Individuals don't employ a ton of people and the candidate always supplies a face for everybody to love, hate, blame and tie everything back to. So everybody on such a staff ends up being in kind of a public-facing position and, as you say, the public gets to veto people's employment. And Josh is way vetoable, to most of us.

 

I can see him getting a job with a conservative organization, though. Since voters and volunteers and even the media don't directly interact with or even much think about what goes on behind the scenes in organizations, organization staff are much less likely to be the object of complaints or even of any snooping to find out about them. They're just acting as middlemen, and they can easily be visible to one group while remaining virtually invisible to many others. An organization staff that carefully strategizes could simply trot Josh out to woo some particular people who remain Duggar champions and still hide him completely from everybody else. He wouldn't any longer be making public appearances but would be talking only with certain leaders known to be sympathetic -- as quite a few influential Christian conservatives have been -- or to carefully chosen small groups. Then those people could promise to go out and rev up their congregations, radio audiences or friends in favor of whatever issue or candidate the organization in question wants votes for -- and the congregants/audience/friends would never even know that the leaders even talked to the organization, let alone to Josh. All of this can go on very quietly -- and it does, all the time -- and if by chance somebody did find out, any public outrage wouldn't actually have anywhere to go. You can vote against Mike Huckabee. But how do you vote against IBLP, or The Heritage Foundation? There might be a small public flap, but it very likely wouldn't have long-lasting consequences, since noone would even know what issues they'd been using him to support.

 

There are certainly pitfalls and questions about his having a political job like this. For one thing, as you mention, he might have to leave home, which he may well not be inclined to do. Not a whole lot of national political activity in Tonittown. Nevertheless, I think equivalent barriers might exist for any job he might get.

 

He seems to share the Duggar trait of having no particular skills, which seems to fit them only for manual labor or for something that's somewhat customer-facing. Josh doesn't seem cut out for manual labor, so what does that leave him with? Another used-car lot? Being the office guy for the towing business? (does that still even exist?) Flipping houses for Jim Bob? Most if not all of the possibilities that I can think of seem to be some kind of sales or other money dealings that involve regular people .... and there would be a huge squick factor there from potential clients and customers, I expect.

 

The public doesn't have the stomach for making deals with devilish people the way you actually have to in politics. In politics, if you want a certain law passed, you have literally no choice but to muck around in the back rooms with as many small or large constituencies as you need to turn up the votes, even if some of those constituencies employ -- or even are wholly made up of -- people who dance with the devil.  But when it comes to making real-estate deals or buying cars (or hamburgers), you may well be able to go make a deal with somebody down the block who doesn't squick you out. Who's really going to want to buy their next ride, house, or chicken sandwich from a child molester? Is Jim Bob going to want Josh as the fresh young face of the Duggar real-estate empire? I really wonder.

 

I agree that he's not employable in many jobs in politics. But I don't think he's very employable in most other possible jobs, either. And I think there are places in politics where he could hide out and be considered well worth a modest paycheck.

[Bella]

I'm not sure the relatively small number of people he could reach and draw would be worth it. Plus he'd make excellent joke fodder for the opposition.

I'm sure they'll think of something, they always do.

 

Agreed. Memories might not be long, but the Internet makes it easy for those who do remember these things to dredge them up years later. Opposition research is pretty simple these days, and it's harder and harder to keep secrets. I'm not convinced Josh could be so conveniently hidden.

 

But the Duggars do keep finding ways of sticking around, kind of like gum on the sole of your shoe.

[charmed1]

I'm Generation X - the days when a roll of film cost money and you didn't know how the picture came out until it was developed so you were careful about what your roll of 24 included because maybe that was all you could take for a month or so. These days (and it's great) photos are I guess pretty much limitless and don't cost anything anymore so why not. I just notice it in Duggar men I suppose - food pics, Duggar woman - pregnant pics.

This reminds me of yet another Jim Gaffigan quote. He said with smart phones, people take entirely too many pictures. "I have more pictures of my kids than times that my father actually looked at me in my lifetime."

[truthtalk2014]

Since FRC is a non-profit, is there some place where they have to disclose all the money each year?

[Wellfleet]

This. I'm not saying he's ever anyone big in politics again. I'm just saying he has a job that pays decent money that supports his family in AR or wherever they end up (it won't be in DC) and he gets to be on the edges of what he wants to do. There are thousands of people like him. In two years, this story is forgotten and he slips into the political background and no one cares except the people who think he's been given a bum deal.

 

 

I totally agree that this is true of people at large. But I think you still have a ton of pols and political operatives on the right who share Josh's "religious" convictions and his belief that he's been definitively forgiven and his smarm. And I expect a lot of those will be perfectly happy to view him as a fellow conservative Christian martyr who happens to have been crucified by hypocritical liberals for something he did as an unknowing child.

 

He won't ever be the public face of anybody's franchise again and nobody will want a shared photo op. But lots of people in the back room -- both the top people and their staffs -- have no gag reflexes, and I think his tv-star sheen plus his martyr sheen would make him quite acceptable as a water carrier there, with the right crowd who share the political worldview of IBLP or the like. I can easily see people like Jim DeMint, Sam Brownback, Dick Armey, Scott Walker, Sarah Palin and many many others being perfectly happy to shake Josh's hand and chat with him over coffee about their many mutual concerns. I honestly don't think the "child molester" thing would even cross anybody's mind in that kind of scenario.

 

Nobody in the public ever gets even a glimpse of what goes on as the sausage is made inside an ideologically consistent network of people. Heck, look at the recent Koch brothers gathering -- where they got the top news outlets in the nation to agree that they would not report on sponsors and the like in what was actually a kind of public meeting that the press was invited to. Top national press outlets actually agreed to this. And the kind of completely secret deal-discussing and dealmaking events that are where the actual work gets done are utterly inaccessible to everyone. He can scurry around with a ton of other little operatives in a warren of little rooms in a big building somewhere, and nobody will ever know. (Which is not to say that I see him making a big salary off of this -- and unlike most others in those rooms, he'll have no hope of ever becoming more prominent and gaining real power. Still, that doesn't mean he wouldn't be welcome as a water carrier.)

 

Well, I dunno. I guess the possibility of Josh remaining "in politics" in the future is no doubt feasible, but it just seems so very unlikely. The FRC managed before him, he was active less than two years, and they'll manage again without him now. I just don't see the draw. He doesn't have the education - he's not a thinker, or an Idea Man. And he couldn't have absorbed it at home either. He's not even an orator. He just follows the script - a script he never would have been given if his oversized family hadn't had a TV show-slash-platform of their own first.

[Churchhoney]

Since FRC is a non-profit, is there some place where they have to disclose all the money each year?

 

Yeah, here's their 990.    http://www.guidestar.org/organizations/52-1792772/family-research-council.aspx

 

For the record, I absolutely did not mean to imply that FRC would or could ever hire him again. When people think about them, they think about him, and someone would sniff him out. But that wouldn't be true of plenty of other places, and there really are no people who spend a lot of time looking for this kind of small gotcha thing inside of conservative advocacy groups. If he were a liberal, James O'Keefe would move heaven and earth to find his resting place. But there really are no such dedicated sleuths against conservative groups that I know of.

Well, I dunno. I guess the possibility of Josh remaining "in politics" in the future is no doubt feasible, but it just seems so very unlikely. The FRC managed before him, he was active less than two years, and they'll manage again without him now. I just don't see the draw. He doesn't have the education - he's not a thinker, or an Idea Man. And he couldn't have absorbed it at home either. He's not even an orator. He just follows the script - a script he never would have been given if his oversized family hadn't had a TV show-slash-platform of their own first.

 

I don't think anybody will necessarily conduct a campaign to get him. But I also think that if he wants such a job, he can ask for it and someone will be very likely to see some marginal benefit in it and would take him on. This kind of background schmoozing thing would actually be a lot more suitable for him than much of the FRC job, I think. Because, as you say, he's not an orator. He is a smarmy schmoozer, though, and, most likely, a brown-noser and suck-up extraordinaire when he thinks it's called for, and he's even been on tv, and he's seen by some as a martyr. It's hard to get my brain around, but I'm pretty sure that this combination is actually quite appealing to some people.

[GEML]

Right now, as I've mentioned, I think he had a severance package, which will go a long way in AR where he likely doesn't have to pay for housing. He probably doesn't need a full time job for a year, and by then much of this will have blown over, the media will be about the presidential election and he can quietly slip in working behind the scenes for some PAC or organization regarding a state or local election that won't get media attention if Jack the Ripper were on its payroll.

[Happyfatchick]

I betcha some "do-Gooder" sucking on the we-all-make-mistakes koolaid offers him a job. In fact, I bet more than one has already. I don't think his choices are limitless, but I'm thinking somebody is out there with a safety net. I agree with GEML that he got a severance, probably a decent one. (And part of the agreement was that he would keep low and be vewy vewy qwiet). I don't think his quietness has all to do with him being smart (?), I think it's tied to money. But again, that's just me. He will eventually go back into the workforce, but I think we'll see him driving a truck, or landscaping. Something he can do and be alone.

The worst HR job position in the history of EARTH was mine once. Unbelievable. The workers in the plant had to be on the clock before I arrived, and it was truly a hell house. There was, EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. a line down the hall and around the corner when I arrived. Like working in a rehab facility for rabid Tasmanian devils (managers included). They were ALL crazy. When I got pregnant, the VP offered me a job as office manager in a whole different setting (although some of the clerical staff ate their young as well). I feared that otherwise, my anxiety enzymes would destroy my baby, so I took it. I got to choose my workspace, and I took cubical partitions and made myself an office in the quietest spot as near to the supply closet as I could possibly get. I hid. And I was vewy vewy qwiet. It's a natural human response to hide and lick your wounds after you've been truly been beaten soundly. If he is coasting on a severance, then I'm glad (for Anna's sake, and the children's) that he's had the time to regroup. I don't want to see him again, and I don't care what he does with his future, but my heart really does want the kids to be ok.

I'm curious (and clueless) because I said something about severance - and assuming if there WAS one, it included medical insurance probably. Does insurance cover home births? Sorry, that may been discussed ad nauseum already.

[amitville]

Right now, as I've mentioned, I think he had a severance package, which will go a long way in AR where he likely doesn't have to pay for housing. He probably doesn't need a full time job for a year, and by then much of this will have blown over, the media will be about the presidential election and he can quietly slip in working behind the scenes for some PAC or organization regarding a state or local election that won't get media attention if Jack the Ripper were on its payroll.

 i do not think this will blow over, it will stay with him for years hampering everthing he does or tries. 

Edited August 3, 2015 by amitville

[GEML]

I think it would hamper him in almost anything in the "real" world. But as long as he stays within the super Fundy/quiverful bubble, they will likely find a place for him. Assuming, of course, that he genuinely isn't hurting anyone.

[Barb23]

Does anyone know or want to take a guess at what Josh's FRC salary was?

[Defrauder]

Does anyone know or want to take a guess at what Josh's FRC salary was?

Free food and Aldi's gift cards. 

[amitville]

I think it would hamper him in almost anything in the "real" world. But as long as he stays within the super Fundy/quiverful bubble, they will likely find a place for him. Assuming, of course, that he genuinely isn't hurting anyone.

 

I think it would hamper him in almost anything in the "real" world. But as long as he stays within the super Fundy/quiverful bubble, they will likely find a place for him. Assuming, of course, that he genuinely isn't hurting anyone.

That is just wrong on so many levels. Yet they pass judgement onto other. What a sad world josh lives in.

I think it would hamper him in almost anything in the "real" world. But as long as he stays within the super Fundy/quiverful bubble, they will likely find a place for him. Assuming, of course, that he genuinely isn't hurting anyone.

 

I think it would hamper him in almost anything in the "real" world. But as long as he stays within the super Fundy/quiverful bubble, they will likely find a place for him. Assuming, of course, that he genuinely isn't hurting anyone.

That is just wrong on so many levels. Yet they pass judgement onto other. What a sad world josh lives in.

I think it would hamper him in almost anything in the "real" world. But as long as he stays within the super Fundy/quiverful bubble, they will likely find a place for him. Assuming, of course, that he genuinely isn't hurting anyone.

 

I think it would hamper him in almost anything in the "real" world. But as long as he stays within the super Fundy/quiverful bubble, they will likely find a place for him. Assuming, of course, that he genuinely isn't hurting anyone.

That is just wrong on so many levels. Yet they pass judgement onto other. What a sad world josh lives in.

Edited August 3, 2015 by amitville

[GEML]

Off the top of my head, I'd guess that Josh probably made about $75K in DC. That's the low end for what he did, but he was on the low end for education (serious understatement) and experience. I always figured that the job had been partly funded by someone on the inside of his world and that was part of his getting the job. But I doubt it was higher than that. The FRC is a high profile think tank, but not necessarily a high numbers one.