Huckabee defends Duggars over Teenage Molestation Accusations

[Shadow Wolf]

I don't accept that they willfully exposed themselves to this.

Probably not. But they are public figures, they did not handle the issue well, and had they not tried to cover it up the way they did it wouldn't have become a news story.
But because they have a TV show, because they are political, they should have realized this would eventually come to light.

 

[dawny0826]

Probably not. But they are public figures, they did not handle the issue well, and had they not tried to cover it up the way they did it wouldn't have become a news story.
But because they have a TV show, because they are political, they should have realized this would eventually come to light.

I still fail to see how any of this true or otherwise justifies the exploitation of those who were victimized. That's really all I have left to say on this.

Placing politics ahead of the well being of victims sucks. I value the shared perspectives of Jessa & Jill far more than anyone else.

 

[Shad]

Whatever the truth may be regarding the records - I don't accept that they willfully exposed themselves to this. This doesn't, for me, validate the negative impact that the "scandal" has on the victims.

They made their family a sideshow on reality TV. They opened the door to the public and scrutiny. They have made public statements about family values and homosexuals. They seem to have ignored the media's tendency to dig up dirt on celebrates. They didn't care about the victims as evident by not removing the son from the home, not getting him therapy and reporting the incidents 3 years after the first one occurred. Yes it is horrible for the daughters but this is due to their parents being inept when it came to their son's acts and how the world of media works.

 

[Shad]

As a Mom to a 13 year old, I can't tell you in complete confidence how I would handle such a situation, so, I'm less inclined to pass judgement. Additionally, as a Christian, I also understand how valuable resources through the faith based community can be to support a family during such a struggle. The Duggars mentioned during their interview, that they weren't entirely sure what to do and did the best that they knew how.

I'm not positive that my first impulse would be to turn my child in to the authorities, particularly if my son or daughter confided in me and was seeking help.

I find it reasonable to consider their perspective. With all due respect, how does your personal disdain towards the family demonstrate that the victims deserved to be exploited?

Thus the problem with religion when one ignores certified therapist and the law instead going to unqualified believers, in their cult mind you, as any method of resolving the situation. If the justice system was fully involved all records would have been sealed thus no scandal. However they didn't do much for their son while also ignoring the victims.

If your child is seeking help would you wait 3 years to do something? If it happened 2 more times would you still wait and do nothing? Do you not have the responsibility to protect your other children which are the victims? They coddled their son while avoid any real help. Working in construction in not therapy...

Yes it is horrible for the victims but the blame is solely on the parents. The parents messed up, simple as that. Also keep in mind the family put 2 of the victim on TV but we have yet to see any interview beyond a statement from the son. Who is expousing the victims for their benefit? The parents are.

 

[gsa]

I've not projected anywhere on this thread that the Duggars are without blemish. I've been crystal clear that my greatest concern is that the media has unearthed records that the general public was not privy to and there's been miniscule concern as to how this impacts the victims.

Much that I've read about what the Duggars did and didn't do conflicts with the what the Duggars themselves have claimed to have done. Understanding the politics surrounding this, I'm inclined to consider the Duggar's perspective. In their own interview, they claim that both Josh and the victims did receive counseling. Jessa & Jill claim that they received counseling, which helped them to put the ordeal behind them.

They claimed, among other things, that they were blindsided by the FOIA, but the police department took the unusual (and totally unnecessary and unwarranted) step of warning them that the request had been made and was being honored following the city attorney's review of the request:

The Duggar family was notified before the department responded to the FOIA request. After the police report became public, many wondered if the Duggar family had been warned in advance of the release, citing social media silence on the part of many family members, and cryptic posts about forgiveness from Anna. It seems that was right on point: Mayor Doug Sprouse says the family was not only informed that the FOIA request was received, but was given updates, as the record was gathered and legal advice was sought.

Speaking of the department seeking advice, Chief O’Kelley didn’t only ask the City Attorney’s opinion before releasing the records: Mayor Sprouse says the department contacted numerous organizations and individuals in law enforcement and legal advice before concluding that the record must be released.

Finally, Mayor Sprouse addresses the Duggar family’s repeated complaints that the record was a juvenile record and couldn’t be legally released, and the claims that the file was sealed — they’ve even referred to the release as a “leak” and suggested the Police Chief was attempting to get “revenge.”

In their interview, and in their initial statement, they claimed or at least implied that they were blindsided. This is clearly not true, so this also casts considerable doubt on their negligible credibility. And the see a conspiracy against them, as opposed to shock that anyone would behave in such an unbelievably stupid and irresponsible manner given the size of the skeletons in their closet.

The Christian fundamentalist "counseling" that they probably did receive was almost certainly inadequate and vile. And note, they won't identify who counseled Josh, because we know it was a Christian fundamentalist who had to resign from his various cultic activities after his own molestation scandal broke out recently.

They're not defensible. They're simply fame and money seekers willing to say or do pretty much anything to preserve the brand.

 

[SomeRandom]

Did you watch the interview with Jill & Jessa? I'm just curious.

You're certainly entitled to your opinions. I admit that I don't know enough about the family to make such claims about their circumstances. Is it possible? Sure.

There's also the possibility that the family has been truthful.

I think I'll remain of the opinion that this "controversy" has been politically-focused to knock down a family that represents conservative politics. As a woman, as a mother, I'm disappointed that a political agenda has been of greater value than the expressed viewpoint of those who were victimized.

Yes I did, but a staged interview possibly supervised by the family or their PR machine doesn't convince me of their true feelings. Again, I'm not saying they aren't truthful, nor am I saying they are reacting to this wrong. They are reacting just the way they are and that's okay. But we don't let a murderer off the hook just because his victim/s forgive them. They are still scrutinized for their crime regardless of who does and does not forgive them. That's the way the court of public opinion works. Hell that's how a court of law works.

The Duggars are celebrities, what do the media do? They unearth any speck of dirt on a celeb (ANY celeb) to make money. It doesn't matter if you are conservative, liberal or anywhere in between that's just how the media rolls.
The Duggars ****ed up, that's why it's news, their political ideology just makes an easy target, that's all. If they were Liberal, the media would jump all over that as well.
Do I agree with the way the media handled it? No, but that's just what they do. It's no one's fault but the Duggars. It's one thing to try to protect your youngsters, even if they do something wrong, it's quite another to cover up KNOWN abuse for 3 ****ing years. If they had taken the son immediately to a therapist and temporarily (or permanently) separated the son from his sisters while he sorted out his "demons" as it were, then they would have come out relatively unscathed. They could have even turned all the support towards them, made a big show and dance about family loyalty and struggling with temptation or whatever (if they played their cards right.) The Duggars were woefully inept in this case, that's why it's blown up in their faces, not because of their "family values"crap which they themselves don't seem to give a toss about. They are in the game, they know the rules of said game but they screwed up and now facing the consequences. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but again the fault of all this lies squarely on them. Not anybody else. So apart from the victims (I do agree they are being exploited and not just by the media, the Duggars seem to have little qualms about using their own daughters in this) f*uck em. They made their bed, they can sleep in it as far as I'm concerned.

 

[dawny0826]

I really don't have anything else to say that I haven't already stated.

I care about the victims and their shared perspectives. Their views of Josh and their hopes for healing mean far to me than any other aspect of this. From the onset, my concern has been that this "scandal" was brought to light not with them in mind at all.