The Duggars' Megyn Kelly Interview - MERGE

[DaysAgo]

I love this from FJ Twitter:

[Arrowoftruth]

It is WELS. Funny that you knew that right away. I've gotten to know a lot of WELS people, and many are not this bad, but so many actually take it even further in their own homes (like not allowing their children to trick-or-treat or dress up for Halloween). Mostly it's just bitchy judgment like comments such as, "Well I earned my white dress" (in regards to vaginal virginity on their wedding nights...nevermind they've performed oral sex on half a dozen different guys, but the girl who sleeps with her only ever boyfriend before marriage is the huge slut).

Are you ELCA?

I was raised Baptist in my family church and wasn't allowed to trick or treat or dress up for halloween because we were told it was the Devil's birthday/pagan holiday. We were given a packet and everything. I still to this day don't know how Halloween started and because of my upbringing I feel uncomfortable looking it up.

[Imagine20]

It is WELS. Funny that you knew that right away. I've gotten to know a lot of WELS people, and many are not this bad, but so many actually take it even further in their own homes (like not allowing their children to trick-or-treat or dress up for Halloween). Mostly it's just bitchy judgment like comments such as, "Well I earned my white dress" (in regards to vaginal virginity on their wedding nights...nevermind they've performed oral sex on half a dozen different guys, but the girl who sleeps with her only ever boyfriend before marriage is the huge slut).

I grew up WELS and went to a parochial school and never heard the gay pedophile thing, nor the dinosaur bit. Although, being gay was one of the worst things one could be according to them. (I've got a gay cousin who attended the same school, it wasn't until recently he could come to terms with who he is, and we're in our early 30's.)

We were taught that the world was created old and that the fossils were there from the beginning, or that they were planted by Satan to trick us (depended upon the teacher.) We'd skip entire chapters in our science books because "we don't believe in that." If any kid tried to ask about dinosaurs or evolution, they had their desk pulled out into the hall for the rest of class (I walked by another cousin's classroom a few times only to see her sitting out there, hanging out and waiting.) To this day, I feel cheated out of a decent elementary school science education.

Thank God I went to a public high school, but for the first 2 weeks I was scared to death since there were Catholics, atheists, and gays there. Oh my! I was finally excommunicated for not giving them money (seriously.)

These churches are damaging and full of hate. Hell, the pastor that was around when I was attending was arrested for sexual contact with a teenaged boy, and was convicted of have child porn on his home computer.

[knit1purl1]

It is WELS. Funny that you knew that right away. I've gotten to know a lot of WELS people, and many are not this bad, but so many actually take it even further in their own homes (like not allowing their children to trick-or-treat or dress up for Halloween). Mostly it's just bitchy judgment like comments such as, "Well I earned my white dress" (in regards to vaginal virginity on their wedding nights...nevermind they've performed oral sex on half a dozen different guys, but the girl who sleeps with her only ever boyfriend before marriage is the huge slut).

Are you ELCA?

I see your WELS and raise you CLC. The Church of the Lutheran Confession, a tiny splinter off of WELS. Because WELS wasn't conservative enough, gosh darn it. :angry-banghead:

We skipped the gay bit but my history teacher (yes, HISTORY teacher) opined that Noah had dinosaurs on the ark. :pull-hair:

The funny thing about this is that until very recently (so basically after I'd lurked FJ for a year, lol) I had never even thought of the church and school of my teen years as "fundamentalist." Yet they tick off a surprising number of "we are fundamentalists" boxes.

Went to their high school/college for six years, got a completely useless unaccredited English "degree and left. When I formally left the denomination, my siblings and parents report that I was denounced, by name in the pulpit. I converted to Judaism after all that. they taught me "old testament" very, very well. :nenner:

[FreeCalifornia]

I'm even surprised at Megyn Kelly vs something like the 700 Club. Even Megyn Kelly on FOX has a law degree, is a working mom with young kids and even more disturbing...wears defrauding sleeveless dresses and high heels!!! Wonder if she will have to "cover up" to enter the Duggar home.

I'm wondering if choosing Megyn Kelly/Fox was in any way related to Mike Huckabee & his influence at Fox. Maybe he helped to broker the deal & possibly ensure things went down in as positive a spin as possible.

[saguarosally]

I hope Megyn Kelly can throw in a few questions from out in left field, but I don't really expect it. I'm still curious enough to watch.

[luv2laugh]

I'm wondering if choosing Megyn Kelly/Fox was in any way related to Mike Huckabee & his influence at Fox. Maybe he helped to broker the deal & possibly ensure things went down in as positive a spin as possible.

This was EXACTLY my thought!!! Huckabee has been on Megyn's show many times.

[YoshiCat]

Rachel Maddow. And I'd LOVE to see her rip them a new one about LGBT rights.

She would be my first choice. But the Duggars would never agree to be interviewed by her or Anderson Cooper (as someone else suggested). They're both gay. They couldn't risk catching the gay or having one of their kids catch it. And then there's the problem that they might realize the interviewer is a regular, normal person who happens to be gay. Lastly, I'm sure they would actually be afraid that people might see their being interviewed by a gay person as acceptance or even approval of homosexuality.

[lizbeth]

I thought the Duggars already were interviewed by Anderson Cooper. Obviously in a very different context, though.

[YoshiCat]

The idea that there will be no mention that the victims are Josh's sisters never even occurred to me, but yeah, that's definitely a possibility. The problem with that though, is that it would make even less sense for Jim Bob and Michelle to be interviewed instead of Josh. If most of the people involved all lived under the same roof, then it's not unreasonable that JB/M act as spokespersons for the family, in addition to answering questions about their neglect and failures. But if they skirt around that and just focus on Josh's actions without specifying that his victims were his own sisters, then why are they there? To address their actions at the time, sure, but it makes Josh look unwilling to acknowledge his "mistakes."

I think Michelle will be doing all of the talking. Remember that interview a few years back, where Jim Bob said that when it's just the two of them, everyone approaches Michelle for autographs but never him? I'm completely out of step with my fellow Americans, but apparently Michelle is considered likable to many. Having her interviewed instead of her smug son could be an attempt to lull the audience. Who can stay mad at the quirkily frumpy, baby-voiced mother of 19? :roll:

As far as I know, the only public statements any of them have made were the ones posted on their Facebook page shortly after the story broke. And those statements don't even acknowledge that there are victims. It's all about poor Josh who just made a mistake but was forgiven so there's nothing to see here.

Now maybe they're finally trying to protect their daughters and deflect attention away from them but I doubt it. I'm sure the victims* were made to say they forgave him so Michelle and Jim Bob don't even see them as victims. It's Josh and only Josh who's being harmed so he's the one needing protection.

I think they honestly believe that the problem here is that the rest of us simply don't understand that God and everyone involved have forgiven Josh and they just need to properly explain that. Once they do that, everything will be fine. I think practically everything they say will be a variation of that.

I can't imagine that they're doing this interview without an agreement of what topics will be covered and what's off-limits. So I don't expect any questions about the victims, making them live in the same house with the person who molested them, spanking/beating their children or Gothard/ATI. I imagine footage of the kids being happy and wholesome, playing games and eating dinner together. They're just a happy Christian family!

* I'm including the fifth victim here. I presume she's from a family that also follows Gothard/ATI since those are the only people they mix with (NOT speculating on her identity, just a generic cult member).

[Cactus]

Has it been specified that Megyn Kelly is going to Arkansas, rather than JB&M going to the studio?

If so, a clever move from the Duggars' PR team. Their turf, their rules, there goes any chance of a hard-hitting interview :x

[IrishCarrie]

Why ON EARTH are Jimbob and Michelle being interviewed??? Josh is a grown-ass man - shouldn't he be the focus of the interview?

[SnazzyNazzy]

Meh, I don't watch Faux News for anything, this interview will be no exception. I doubt I will be missing anything, other than them missing the entire point, as to why everyone hates them. If I was a betting woman, I would bet that they won't even apologize for their own actions.

[BlackSheep]

Really, Jim Bob and Michelle? How about you tell the world why it took you over a year to deal with your son molesting your daughters? And why you never told the authorities or attempted to get him REAL help? And why you prioritized your cult and your reality TV show over the mental and physical well-being of your children?

Oh, I forgot. It's all about 'JOY' - Jim Bob & Michelle first, Others second, Your children last

I would say I can't believe they have the audacity to show their faces, but I can well believe it. They are absolutely disgusting. Go home, be with the fucking children that you so flippantly created for your own selfish purposes. Your 'ministry' is over. It was rotten to the core from the start. If you actually care about humility, forgiveness, truth and love you will stay out of the limelight and spend a good, long while in thought and prayer to figure out how and why you went so wrong, and what you can do to even begin trying to make it up to your own children. Get out from in front of the fucking cameras and spend some time being actual parents.

THIS

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[luv2laugh]

I think we are going to see Michelle cry like never before, like actual sobbing. I think they are going to go with the sympathy card.

[purpleskies]

While I still think they can only lose fans, this isn't going to be as trainwrecky as I had previously thought.

Ugh: megynkelly.org/159400/a-christian-defense-of-josh-duggar/

Apparently, most teenaged boys molest little kids.

[BlackSheep]

I'm even surprised at Megyn Kelly vs something like the 700 Club. Even Megyn Kelly on FOX has a law degree, is a working mom with young kids and even more disturbing...wears defrauding sleeveless dresses and high heels!!! Wonder if she will have to "cover up" to enter the Duggar home.

The Duggars believe that a woman should be in the home, under-educated, modestly dressed, birthing children regularly, and available for sex anytime... unless said woman is needed to advance The Duggar Message. Then it's okay.

[nst]

Why ON EARTH are Jimbob and Michelle being interviewed??? Josh is a grown-ass man - shouldn't he be the focus of the interview?

I know !! - the whole things reeks of again control issues

and it's sickening

[BlackSheep]

Steven Colbert... with his faux conservatism he'd just play them for fools from here till Tuesday.

JimChelle are so dense and narrow-minded, they wouldn't even realize that Colbert was playing them. I would tune in for that... and make popcorn.

:popcorn2:

[Toothfairy]

I I wouldn't I wouldn't be surprised if they blamed Obama for all this :x JimChelle lives in fundie land not real life. I think this interview will do more harm than good. Conservatives are ignorant as hell but they aren't stupid. Well some are but most aren't. Megan has an education and wears pants. She's smarter than these two fundie land people.

And can anyone please post recaps. I can't bring myself to watch fox news. I just can't. I lose brain cells. I also can't sit through 45 minutes of JimChelle bringing up Jesus every second.

[DuggarsTheEndIsNear]

Can anyone think of ANYTHING they could say to redeem themselves in any way? What if they did say, 'we fucked up (this would be paraphrasing)' or 'we regret how we handled the incident and are taking steps now to ensure that the children have access to psychological counseling'? Many of the leghumpers are already supporting them so they presumably need to rebuild their reputation, if you will, with the general public. So, what could they possibly say? And if the answer is 'nothing', why do the interview?

Honestly, they can't rebuild their reputation, in my eyes, but the least they could do is:

1. Admit the destructive nature of their homeschooling choices (not homeschooling in general, of course, but their specific choice to go with ATI)

2. Apologize to every single person they called a whore, a danger to children, or otherwise implied that their family was better than, when, in fact, their family wasn't.

3. Explained, in detail, the measures they've taken to ensure that their own daughters, Josh's family, and their guests are safe from him.

4. Seek forgiveness of their daughters for victim blaming.

5. Seek forgiveness of all the victims for not dealing with the issue as soon as they knew it existed.

6. Seek forgiveness of all the victims and Josh for putting their careers before their mental, emotional, and physical health

[DuggarsTheEndIsNear]

A ONE HOUR interview???? They are going to have to actually say something meaningful if the interview is that long. Unless they can bs for an hour and not really answer questions.

Have you not seen the "ask the Duggars a question" episodes?

[Mary C Doates]

I think since 19K&C hasn't been cancelled (yet) TLC knows every word that'll come out of their mouths.

My predictions of what they'll say:

- JB & M heartbroken, Josh broken, the children are confused

- they did the best they could, followed their beliefs, took what they felt was appropriate action at the time

- don't know of any further instances of inappropriate behavior

- they feel bad for causing disappointment

- they don't think it's fair that the victims are being retraumatized

- they're great believers in forgiveness, Josh has been forgiven, where would any of us be without forgiveness?

- they want to clear up any misunderstandings

- they appreciate the wonderful support and prayers they've gotten from so many people

- they believe advertisers have been dropped due to sensationalism of this long-resolved family matter

- they'd love the opportunity to continue sharing their lives, imperfect as they are, with their loyal fans and others who have enjoyed tuning in

- Josh wants to be the best man he can be and he knows he needs to regain people's trust

No mention of: ATI, Gothard, or the state getting involved.

I don't think the older girls (or any of the girls) will be part of the interview. I do think they'll keep their answers as superficial as possible, except with regard to faith and forgiveness.

I think this is exactly what will happen, plus a bunch of "precious", "blessing", "sweet", and "dear". They may trot out Precious Miracle Baby Josie to perform.

I'm going to have to rely on the re-caps from you brave souls, as I would rather spend a month as a member of the Pissing Preacher's congregation than watch anything on Faux News.

[karen77]

The only thing that they could say otherwise besides what Duggars the End is Near said (to redeem themselves), is that they are helping Josh and the girls seek treatment, real treatment.

[Tatar-tot]

Fox is the one to have everything to loose in this interview. If they don't ask the tough questions then they will appear to be supporting pedaphiles at the expense of their victims.