Josh & Anna Smuggar: A Series of Unfortunate Events

[truelovekiss]

I usually don't hate Michelle, but the laughing look on her face when she said "I guess they can sleep in their RV in front of their house!" and snickered had me raging on Anna's behalf. Marcus was about a week old? Anna was likely still bleeding, leaking, etc. She traveled like a trooper because they needed to get their for Josh's job (though I think I would have sent him ahead and followed in a plane after I had recovered from birth). But her inlaws can't be bothered to fulfill the favor they agreed to. I mean, I know you take what you can get when you want free help, but it just screamed lack of character on behalf of the older Duggars to me.

Part of me can imagine that sending Josh ahead was considered, but Anna might have wanted to keep their family together. She's far from a feminist icon, but Anna is much more mature and independent now than she was at the time of the move, so I could imagine her being hesitant at the idea of being alone at night with the kids, and the idea of sleeping over at the Duggar house is enough to make me cringe. So I guess I can see why they didn't do that, even though it makes more sense.

But the overall message of that episode was Boob and J'chelle offered to help and just made everything worse for everyone around them. And it's ridiculously contradictory how Jchelle demands to be treated like a queen when she's pregnant/post partum, but could not give less fucks about her daughter in law sleeping in an RV with their one week old. I bet she wouldn't make Jilly Muffin go through that.

[zenme]

The Smuggars could have checked into a hotel if they didn't want to stay in the RV. I would have, as a matter of fact, I'd rather do that than stay in the RV. When faced with the fact that Ma and Pa Duggar would not be arriving as scheduled, the Smuggars had a choice. Sure, it was inconsiderate of the Ma and Pa, but Smuggar shouldn't be surprised. He grew up in the disorganization that is the Duggar household. He thought he was so cute when he'd show up late to drs. appts.

He could have had a moving company deliver his stained mattresses and country craft knickknacks for him. Others do.

[ginger90]

He could have had a moving company deliver his stained mattresses and country craft knickknacks for him. Others do.

I wonder if Josh got moving expenses with his new job. If he did, he may have been sorry he didn't just go with movers. On the other hand, saving the difference and all that!

[EarlGreyTea]

I wonder if Josh got moving expenses with his new job. If he did, he may have been sorry he didn't just go with movers. On the other hand, saving the difference and all that!

For real. He got what he paid for. Movers at least would have been on time and experienced in unloading things. I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for Josh or Anna though. He's the one who made pregnant Anna carry a bunch of stuff plus the stroller and she is an intolerant simpleton. I really, really liked her up until this recent nonsense about school holidays and other Instagram posts. A Duggar in-law hasn't disappointed me this much since Derick.

 

I will say that Anna has really blossomed looks-wise. I look at the first few episodes she appeared in, and she looked really dowdy compared to now. Her hair and clothes have improved a lot. Of Smuggar, the less said the better. And the braids she puts Mackynzie's hair in are gorgeous.

Edited March 20, 2015 by EarlGreyTea

[JoanArc]

Does he have a secretary, or personal assistant. He's high up enough to need one.

I think all he does is get his schedule for the week, memorize the talking points, then go home and eat. Sometimes he hosts that awful radio show on FRC.

Looks aren't everything, but he'll look 45 at 30. I wonder if there's anything medically wrong they're hiding. Not just poor self control or pre diabetes. Diabetes would do a number on his undisciplined butt. No more erections, no more legs, no more vision. Poor Anna left in the lurch, thinking she caused it.

[GEML]

As a rule, very few people in DC jobs, even high ends ones, have administration assistants, and those who do share them. Josh would be the lowest on the totem pole if his group has one (which I doubt they do.)

Don't know for sure, just guessing as someone who lived in DC culture for 20 years.

[Wellfleet]

Does he have a secretary, or personal assistant. He's high up enough to need one.

I think all he does is get his schedule for the week, memorize the talking points, then go home and eat. Sometimes he hosts that awful radio show on FRC.

Looks aren't everything, but he'll look 45 at 30. I wonder if there's anything medically wrong they're hiding. Not just poor self control or pre diabetes. Diabetes would do a number on his undisciplined butt. No more erections, no more legs, no more vision. Poor Anna left in the lurch, thinking she caused it.

 

Gee, I can't imagine what kind of work Josh could possibly need an assistant's help with - I've been thinking all this time that he has an office, a computer and maybe a TV - that's about it.

[zenme]

Something tells me that if Josh had an administrative assistant he'd make sure he'd drop that piece of info into a casual conversation, or in a talking head.

[JoanArc]

Maybe not a secretary - but a 'minder'. Maybe an intern? He didn't just walk into that job knowing what to do after 'owning' that car lot.

[Sew Sumi]

Yeah, I imagine a lot of those DC places use college and high school "interns" as free labor. NYC is also notorious for doing the same thing in certain industries. 

 

Said  FRC intern was probably the one actually responsible for Jessa's tacky wedding invitations. 

Edited March 21, 2015 by Sew Sumi

[Micks Picks]

• Free help isn't free and Josh should have known that.  It's aggravation, differences of opinion, and money for food and drink

The Bates family I'm sure shuddered at the gang barreling down the road towards them, but what could they do.  If not for the Duggers they wouldn't have the house.  And then get them for a whole extra 36 hours, oh my.

Ug,I hate to say it, but thanks to those assistants I've never faxed anything in my life.  Tried once, but fed it upside down so the recipient would only get a blank paper.  I slunk away to my office and pretended it never happened, my fax stuff in the "in" box for staff.

The staff typed our final reports.  I'd give them a disk with my work on it, and they'd align it properly to be put in format for a bound document.  But I found that you really had to check your graphs and so on, because they had a habit of enlarging or shrinking them to make them look better, but then they didn't say what they were supposed to say.  Got to be careful of that.

So how does Anna put up with Josh being around females during the day?  I think she must go on all of his out of town journeys.

[GEML]

DC interns actually don't do scut work. They are deliberately given pretty interesting work to do. It's an age old system that if you are either going to not pay someone or pay them a pittance, you at least give them real experience and access to build real contacts. They certainly would NOT have been doing Duggar wedding invitations at work.

[Barb23]

As a rule, very few people in DC jobs, even high ends ones, have administration assistants, and those who do share them. Josh would be the lowest on the totem pole if his group has one (which I doubt they do.)

Don't know for sure, just guessing as someone who lived in DC culture for 20 years.

I'm with you & figured since you are our "DC Insider" you would know : ) My husband has had upper management jobs (not political) in DC & Baltimore & has always shared an assistant to help with clerical tasks & the assistant has other duties, just not being a secretary. Since the evolution of the computer, most of a secretary's duties have dwindled. (Think emails vs typed letters of the past).

I'm with the group that thinks Smuggar's job would never even warrant an assistant & agree, if he did, we would have seen a TH of him bragging about it. The movie Obsessed comes to mind with Idris Alba & Beyonce. He had a male assistant cuz of his wife's (Beyonce) insecurities.

[truelovekiss]

I'm with the group that thinks Smuggar's job would never even warrant an assistant & agree, if he did, we would have seen a TH of him bragging about it. The movie Obsessed comes to mind with Idris Alba & Beyonce. He had a male assistant cuz of his wife's (Beyonce) insecurities.

I like the idea of the assistant being a grandmotherly type that brings cookies and peanut brittle to work and has hard candies in a bowl on her desk. That would explain the weight gain as well.

Edited March 21, 2015 by truelovekiss

[kassygreene]

As a rule, very few people in DC jobs, even high ends ones, have administration assistants, and those who do share them. Josh would be the lowest on the totem pole if his group has one (which I doubt they do.)

Don't know for sure, just guessing as someone who lived in DC culture for 20 years.

I had five years at a DC job which didn't require an assistant - so I and the 16 others who reported to my boss shared the services of the assistant to his boss (with his boss's 30 other subordinates on the org chart) - being such lowly peons we were never any kind of priority unless my boss's boss gave the order.  To be fair, none of us got to travel, and timesheets and scheduling training were all successfully automated, and no one, assistant or otherwise, really made enough money to spend it on under-appreciated things like an unending supply of homemade goodies.

 

If I recall the few pictures I've seen (and I'm not looking them up again), Josh has less of an office and more of a cubicle.  Cube farmers as a rule don't get dedicated assistants.

 

Back in the 70s when I was in college, my campus job was assistant to a business writing instructor.  She taught the budding young business majors the fundamentals of business writing, especially letters and memos.  Things like formatting, spelling and grammar, appropriate style of language, and so on.  Every class had at least three arrogant young schmucks who were always complaining about the class (it was a requirement for the degree), because this was the sort of work the secretary would do.  As it was, they were being graded on content by the instructor, and on spelling and grammar by me (a computer science major).  That was fun.

[JoanArc]

I will trust you all that Josh has no helper. I'm kind of surprised he went from homefooled education, to executive director. That's a big transition, with no mistakes. Maybe they're forgiving since he's basically a PR sinecure? Maybe that's why he's stressed and looks like he's on the wrong side of 40?

[truelovekiss]

I wonder if Smuggs knows/cares that he only has his sweet suit-and-tie job because his parents screw like bunnies. I'm in school for business, so I'm well aware that when it comes to getting a job, a huge part of getting in the door is based on who you know and networking. But the idea is, you might get the intro because of connections but you get hired because of your education, work background and abilities. Josh doesn't really have much of that, and I think he's self aware enough to notice and perhaps be bothered by it.

[Wellfleet]

If I recall the few pictures I've seen (and I'm not looking them up again), Josh has less of an office and more of a cubicle.  Cube farmers as a rule don't get dedicated assistants.

 

Yes indeed. In fact, everyone I know who works "on the cube farm" IS an assistant of some kind...

[Wellfleet]

I wonder if Josh got moving expenses with his new job. If he did, he may have been sorry he didn't just go with movers. On the other hand, saving the difference and all that!

 

I bet either TLC or Boob gave the thumbs-down to using any moving expense $$ for professional movers. That would have been an episode-killer. Besides, I don't think Josh would have cried when the movers had finished and were getting ready to leave. SNARK.

[Sew Sumi]

DC interns actually don't do scut work. They are deliberately given pretty interesting work to do. It's an age old system that if you are either going to not pay someone or pay them a pittance, you at least give them real experience and access to build real contacts. They certainly would NOT have been doing Duggar wedding invitations at work.

I was being facetious. :)

[roamyn]

I bet either TLC or Boob gave the thumbs-down to using any moving expense $$ for professional movers. That would have been an episode-killer. Besides, I don't think Josh would have cried when the movers had finished and were getting ready to leave. SNARK.

I didn't see the episode where they moved away, but when we left out beloved Cleveland to transfer to yucky Chicago, I sobbed as we pulled away.

It's stressful moving several states from ur home and family.

Of course we're doing it again in a few weeks to go to NC, but now I'm happy, happy, happy (as another intolerant reality star would say)

[Micks Picks]

Roamyn or any other poster, who said Happy Happy Happy.  It's so familiar and it's not coming to me from whence I heard it.  Please, before it drives me nutty.

 

Never mind, it finally came to me.  Duck Dynasty.  I haven't seen that show is so long, and I loved Uncle Si on the episodes I saw.  He ended up taking a poodle with him on a shooting trip.  A great dog for that kind of work, but not one that his family approved of!

Edited March 22, 2015 by Micks Picks

[GEML]

I don't think Josh and Anna had any idea how stressful it is to move to a new home when you have a REAL JOB to start and family to get settled. I think that is why their emotions come across in that so authentic even if it might have been manufactured drama.

And I've always said the question to ask isn't why Josh was hired - that's actually an easy question to answer. But who suggested it and where is the money for his position coming from and is it from specific donors?

And for what it's worth, my husband had a pretty high level executive job in a very well known multinational (no longer in DC) and he has never found a position because of networking, he works in a cubicle but he DOES, finally, have primary say on an administration assistant. So there you go! :)

[Barb23]

I don't think Josh and Anna had any idea how stressful it is to move to a new home when you have a REAL JOB to start and family to get settled. I think that is why their emotions come across in that so authentic even if it might have been manufactured drama.

And I've always said the question to ask isn't why Josh was hired - that's actually an easy question to answer. But who suggested it and where is the money for his position coming from and is it from specific donors?

And for what it's worth, my husband had a pretty high level executive job in a very well known multinational (no longer in DC) and he has never found a position because of networking, he works in a cubicle but he DOES, finally, have primary say on an administration assistant. So there you go! :)

You are so right. It seemed like the Smuggars stayed in Arkansas to the very last minute & didn't even have things packed til then & they had a lot to move. Once in DC, they came to the harsh reality they could no longer run on Duggar time.

[Fostersmom]

I just looked at Josh and Anna's Instagrams and yes, both are pretty single minded in their topics, but Anna's has gone off the rails. She's also developed "crazy eyes" and that kind of scares me. Her eyes have started showing that manic quality that often ends badly. I hope I'm wrong and reading way too much into her pictures, but I'd be worried if I was her family. 

[floridamom]

Josh and Anna stayed in Arkansas and moved to DC at the last minute because Anna was going to deliver Marcus. They preferred for her to move after the birth..but you know what folks? I didn't think they meant days after that child was delivered....but they did! That wasn't considerate at all...I think the poster on this forum that observed this family's opinion of expecting, labor and delivery as being disrespectful of that process is totally correct, iMO...They DO only think the already born baby is important...they treated Anna like a pack mule and I think Jilly is running after the family as if she was NOT pregnant too. In her most recent photos, she looks awfully tired and she doesn't have a job or really work at doing anything....

[Apple Clark]

Josh and Anna stayed in Arkansas and moved to DC at the last minute because Anna was going to deliver Marcus. They preferred for her to move after the birth..but you know what folks? I didn't think they meant days after that child was delivered....but they did! That wasn't considerate at all...I think the poster on this forum that observed this family's opinion of expecting, labor and delivery as being disrespectful of that process is totally correct, iMO...They DO only think the already born baby is important...they treated Anna like a pack mule and I think Jilly is running after the family as if she was NOT pregnant too. In her most recent photos, she looks awfully tired and she doesn't have a job or really work at doing anything....

That is so inconsiderate and wrong of him (them?). Moving pregnant or with a new baby would be hard but I would prefer to move before. You're tired and uncomfortable of course, but you're not bleeding and staying up til all hours feeding and changing and putting your baby back to sleep. Now, I'm not speaking from experience I've never been pregnant but from what I've heard, I'd like to move before my baby was born. I think Jill is a total KoolAid aid drinker, but I feel bad because she was still tutoring James and babysitting her other kids while she was pregnant, and that is just so wrong. She looks so worn out... :(

[dillpickles]

When excatly did Anna announce she was pregnant again? I haven't been able to keep up with the Smuggars as much as I'd like too. I was really hoping she'd keep it at three, but it seems like she's probably gonna stop at 10 or 11.

[Ljohnson1987]

They announced it when the Little Couple was still on. Maybe December? I remember it was during the show, and I was annoyed.

[Sew Sumi]

Early January, I think. She was 12 weeks when she announced, and counting back, she had to have gotten knocked up in mid- October while they were on their bigot bus tour, campaigning for FRC-approved candidates in the midterm election cycle. She took a pregnancy test when they stayed at the Dullards' for Jessa's wedding in early November. 

[Ljohnson1987]

Anna always seems to get knocked up around Kenzie's birthday.

[truelovekiss]

She took a pregnancy test when they stayed at the Dullards' for Jessa's wedding in early November.

Didn't Jill take her pregnancy at her mother and sisters' at the TTH? Is pissing on a stick a bonding activity for these women?

[GEML]

To be honest, I also think they schedule things around the birth deliberately in hopes for drama and ratings. A regular birth of a baby is honestly enough for most of us, but a BABY ON THE BUS! Or, LET'S MOVE RIGHT AFTER THE BABY!

It is disrespectful of the mothers, because it's so easy that something could go wrong - not even something big, just small, nagging little issues that no one would feel like bringing up, but could still matter.

On the other hand, I have to say that I am someone who does recover from labor really well. I was on a ropes course and zip lining two weeks post-partum. And I was in my forties. It is the ONLY area where I'm ahead of the curve health-wise. So I can say that I'd be the type of woman who would pull some crazy stunt like this.

But the fact that EVERY time a baby is due they seem to be (gasp!) running around just before and just after is pretty suspicious.

[EarlGreyTea]

Didn't Jill take her pregnancy at her mother and sisters' at the TTH? Is pissing on a stick a bonding activity for these women?

Probably. They're bred for nothing else. It's not like they can bond over tough college classes, (secular) music, TV, job hunting, etc. It's really no wonder they're so fixated on reproducing - they aren't allowed to have anything else. After every episode I give silent thanks that I was given parents who put no limits on my future and encouraged me in anything I wanted to do.

 

What I'd give to see someone try to engage Anna on world issues.

[truelovekiss]

Probably. They're bred for nothing else. It's not like they can bond over tough college classes, (secular) music, TV, job hunting, etc. It's really no wonder they're so fixated on reproducing - they aren't allowed to have anything else. After every episode I give silent thanks that I was given parents who put no limits on my future and encouraged me in anything I wanted to do.

What I'd give to see someone try to engage Anna on world issues.

All you would see is her (regurgitated) opinion on abortion, which of course, brings us back to babies.

[floridamom]

As I stated before, somewhere on a posting board, I wonder how well Anna does at these DC banquets that Joshie goes to? What can she possibly have to say regarding broader topics of conversation at these events? I'm sure NOT ALL the DC wives there are stay at home mothers who have NEVER attended a school, or worked anywhere at all  like Anna...

[GEML]

I don't imagine it's very easy for Anna. She's come a long way, but DCs a brutal town and she would be a very very small fish.

[msblossom]

I don't imagine it's very easy for Anna. She's come a long way, but DCs a brutal town and she would be a very very small fish.

I gotta give it to Anna, she seems to have handled the transition pretty well, although I'm sure it's been stressful and intimidating hobnobbing with the well educated and elite DC crowd.

GEML, you're in Germany now, do you miss the bustle of DC?

[riverblue22]

Well, I imagine Anna could talk about her kids.  Some pleasant wife of a politician or think tank guy would ask her all about her kids.  Maybe she would ask about the other's children.  The conversation would normally move on to school experiences, children's activities and sports, and then she would be in trouble.  About all she would have to contribute are their early attempts at violin.  But there would be no conversation about future schools or colleges or hobbies.  At that point the conversation would end or move on to hate topics like abortion and Muslim holidays.

[Literata]

 

I wonder how well Anna does at these DC banquets that Joshie goes to?

I'm not feeling too charitably toward Anna these days, what with her Muslim-holiday hate speech and all. But I actually think she can conduct herself pretty well in most situations. Someone posted not long ago that although we've been led to think the Duggars are fundie royalty, the Kellers actually are, or have been, pretty high up the totem pole, and Anna actually could have been regarded as quite a catch for Smuggar. So despite having been brought up in very humble surroundings, Anna probably found herself in a broad range of social situations growing up -- her dad's prison ministry comes to mind -- and likely made her share of small talk. The fact that one or more of her sisters seem to have easily acclimated to mainstream life is evidence that maybe their lives weren't quite as cloistered as the Duggar kids'. 

So, yeah, it would be nice if she had more to talk about than violin lessons, but I think she's probably pretty confident and outgoing in most situations.

Edited March 23, 2015 by Literata

[GEML]

The trouble with DC events is that everyone is always looking over their shoulders to see who else is in the room. I'm sure that Anna is able to do the small talk, that that DC small talk can be done at a brutal pace and can be handled in such a way to always make you feel that you aren't terribly important unless you are quite entertaining or in a position where YOU are the one who gets to look over your shoulder!

(I'm headed to Ireland, but currently in Texas for another month or so. And yes, I do miss it, because it was my home, but I'll admit, I remember being Anna - I came to DC in my mid twenties with a small child - and although I don't agree with their positions on much, with 20 years perspective, I empathize with the learning curve.)

[msblossom]

The trouble with DC events is that everyone is always looking over their shoulders to see who else is in the room. I'm sure that Anna is able to do the small talk, that that DC small talk can be done at a brutal pace and can be handled in such a way to always make you feel that you aren't terribly important unless you are quite entertaining or in a position where YOU are the one who gets to look over your shoulder!

(I'm headed to Ireland, but currently in Texas for another month or so. And yes, I do miss it, because it was my home, but I'll admit, I remember being Anna - I came to DC in my mid twenties with a small child - and although I don't agree with their positions on much, with 20 years perspective, I empathize with the learning curve.)

Moving reply to the Prayer Closet. Edited March 23, 2015 by msblossom

[JoanArc]

Pickles posted that Josh bought a house in Arkansas near his family - 5 bedroom $55k. Investment property? Running for office? Got fired? I'd like to see Josh run, myself. Pure comedy.

 

Here's what she posted: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/17163-Kincheloe-Rd-Siloam-Springs-AR-72761/70670412_zpid/

Edited March 24, 2015 by JoanArc

[riverblue22]

Pickles posted that Josh bought a house in Arkansas near his family - 5 bedroom $55k. Investment property? Running for office? Got fired? I'd like to see Josh run, myself. Pure comedy.

 

Here's what she posted: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/17163-Kincheloe-Rd-Siloam-Springs-AR-72761/70670412_zpid/

 

Maybe he is sick and tired of staying at the Duggar compound on frequent visits home.  And there is no way he can afford to buy in the D.C. area nor does he want to commit to that area.  I'm thinking that maybe Josh's job allows for teleworking.  Most of his responsibilities probably require travel or long-distance phone calls.  The house seems to be quite a bargain.  And yes, I see a political run in his future.

[zenme]

I hope it's haunted.

[GEML]

$55,000? Most everything decent of comparable size and reasonable commute in the DC area is going to require another zero, so there's that.

It could be that Anna and the kids will move back and he will be in an apartment in DC, telecommute and travel. A lot of families do this. It might mean that financially they were in over their heads. It's really really difficult to live on one salary in DC. The culture just is not set up that way.

[Vaysh]

Is that likely though with the extreme focus on the family that Gothardites have? I have no problem believing that Josh would like that kind of setup, he seems to be a bit over married life, but Anna would have a cow. As would Jim Bob.

[Seashell Lover]

If it is true and he really bought the house he will be between 10 to 15 minutes from the casino.

[Sew Sumi]

It was a foreclosure that apparently needs a ton of work, so they wouldn't be moving anytime soon. I wonder if he had a contract situation at FRC that would be up in June? 

 

Interesting, but I would like to see the proof that HE purchased that property. The Zillow listing just says it was sold in January. And since when does Josh have that kind of cash laying around? 

[kellylovessnark]

This may be a little off topic. Move it if necessary. There is a lot of properties owned by the Duggars. Josh and Anna have their property in Benton. Derrick and Jill's house is there. John David's house is there. There is a lot of Duggar Properties there. All of them in in Benton Countyy.