And now this … http://www.insideedition.com/headlines/10630-woman-in-duggars-church-tried-to-warn-of-joshs-behavior-8-years-ago
The thing though, for TLC and reality telly, is the more pathological the players, the better the ratings, the Kardashians have realised that it isn’t being rich and fabulous that gets ratings, it is putting on weight, or having a sex change, or being an alcoholic, that makes entertainment (aka the bearded lady). If people will watch mental crises in action (say hoarders, or Kate Gosling) then for sure they will watch tv families with incest and child abuse. Most people who might comment on the duggars won’t ever have watched a show, yet we all know who they are. That there is money.
I am suspecting that the Duggars have some sort of final say in editing or something like that, which won’t allow TLC to air some of the really questionable stuff that they see, like the blanket training. If TLC really wanted ratings, they would show the blanket training in action. I don’t think the Duggars are going to allow any airing of any behavior or conversation that will reflect badly on them. There is just no way in hell that TLC has been in there for 15 seasons and has missed every opportunity to show either kids arguing, or kids sassing back, or parents spanking, or anything that might make them look less than in control. You know that some of those things have happened… but why haven’t we seen them? There’s got to be some sort of clause in their contract that gives Jim Bob the ultimate control on what gets aired and what doesn’t.
I also think as this plays out, and people become more skeptical of their lives, people outside of the family are going to start speaking up, such as the woman in their church (article linked in #460). This family has done a lot of traveling, and spent a lot of time dealing with vendors for weddings, etc. They are fairly isolated in their day-to-day living, but not completely isolated. Stuff will come out, and for the kids sake, I hope they’re off the air as this plays out. From the link above, they’ve also canceled an upcoming appearance in Philadelphia this weekend. And they’ve all been silent on social media… not a word, which is very atypical for them - they’re usually very prolific on social media.
I do believe you are correct re the editing. There was an issue at Jessa and Ben’s wedding that I read about - where their decision to have their first kiss in private was a surprise to everyone - including Jim Bob and Michelle. Jim Bob did not like the raw footage that showed them looking surprised at this decision - and so it was edited to make it appear that they knew of this plan beforehand.
I finally looked up “blanket training” - I have never heard of this before - yikes!
And the whole idea of editing the kiss - seriously, this is something to protest J-Bob!? Good for Jessa and Ben.
So far, J-B/Michelle have also controlled - or at least owned - the homes that their wedded children have lived in initially. Josh and Anna lived in the former small Duggar home. Jessa and Ben live there now. Jill and Derrick are living in a HUGE house that J-B acquired at some point and is supposively meant to be sold at some point. Wonder if living in these homes was an option or directed???
I don’t understand the blanket training either. Why don’t they just use a playpen or pack and play filled with toys and books like everyone else? Or hold their baby. I have often visited with friends and dealt with a small child at the same time. It’s called motherhood. 
^ control. Teach a kid to stay in a square and later get other conformity. When conformity is a value from babyhood, along with the joyful countenance, you’ve got a formula going. She has described her version of the blanket as without spanking, but I don’t know.
Blanket training is abusive.
And it goes against the very nature of a child which is to “explore” the world around them. Something like that would effectively break the spirit of a baby. Just awful.
With such a gigantic family, new baby every year, it must be necessary to have effective crowd control. Even with a baby too young to walk.
I would love to know if there are any connections between Jim Bob, that state trooper who gave Josh Duggar “a very a stern talk” (before being prosecuted and convicted of child pornography himself), and the good Gov. Huckabee. If I were a reporter, that’s the trail I’d be following. Way too much “special” consideration for the Duggars for my tastes, and Huckabee is way too savvy a politician not to know that his quick defense of the family would come back to bite him in the a$$.
Re “blanket training,” there is a line of thinking (belief?) in certain evangelical/fundamentalist circles that it is a parent’s responsibility to “break the will” of their children, because children are born sinful and need to be taught to adhere to the tenets of the faith or else they face eternal damnation. I had one friend from childbirth class, a lovely person by any reasonable criteria, who told me that she would give her four-month-old a strong slap on his thigh if he rolled around on the changing table. Her belief (as passed down from a very patriarchal denomination) was that you began “training” a child as early as possible. This is not unlike how children were reared 200 years ago or the way some people train their pets. It is terribly misguided in my opinion, but the practitioners of such approaches believe they are doing the “right” thing.
More advertisers dump sponsorship of the show - CVS, Allstate, Pure Leaf Iced Tea, Behr Paint, Walgreens, Ace Hardware (also previously announced: General Mills, Payless and Choice Hotels). All of these companies have advertised on TLC, and most on the show, but a couple have said they have not advertised on this show, and will not advertise on this show in the future.
The questions is, are there any companies out there willing to step in where some of these advertisers were previously advertising? I’ll bet Hobby Lobby would, but they don’t do TV commercials.
Chick-fil-a?
^^^Chick-fil-A possibly?
http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/pregnant-jill-duggar-chick-fil-a-is-in-heaven-201562
ETA: LOL, “great minds” and all that . . .
I am guessing that this is not the most reliable news outlet, but this is new:
I think this tends to show that the Deptartment of Human Services was called in. One can only speculate as to what this later trial was about (it was mentioned in the Arkansas newspaper article I linked about - a reporter had seen the file. Knew nothing about it, but had seen it out on a desk). Appealing restrictions placed by DHS? Asking to be let back into the home? Someone somewhere mentioned surveillance cameras being seen in the home on the show? No way to know what this was about AT ALL as this record is sealed.
I am seeing articles on the web about the children being spanked by the parents with a rod. I don’t know if they are valid or not. It makes me wonder what else was happening in that household. I really hope this show is permanently off the air and that some accountability takes place. I don’t trust the parents to be taking proper care of their daughters. I believe the girls especially have the right to choose how they want to live and they have the right to be educated and go to college. If their rights are being violated child protective services should take those kids out of that home. I just find this whole scene very disturbing and there is something definitely wrong going on here. These kids have been controlled and brainwashed. People may disagree but I am only sharing my opinion. Not trying to offend anyone.
You know what they say, “don’t believe everything you read on the web”.
But in this case, all you have to “believe” is the words that have come out of any of the Duggar’s mouths this past week or verified quotes (for instance, from a Duggar’s own political website) to know that something is really wrong and that people have been misled.
Those girls have been completely brainwashed, I don’t see how tearing them away would even be wanted by the older ones. Doesn’t Michelle sound brainwashed? I am christian, btw, and I don’t know anyone this kooky. Apparently they also “home church” because regular ole christian denominations weren’t as legalistic as them. And that is what you all are seeing - legalism - which actually becomes cafeteria Christianity - picking and choosing what is and isn’t a big deal. FYI…the bible actually doesn’t mention homosexuality all that much, but it does preach love and acceptance. What is really talked about negatively in the bible is adultery and divorce.
I’d love to know if any of the cameramen or producers ever saw anything but are bound by contract to keep mum. I have to think with cameras around all the time there isn’t much real parenting going on with the younger ones now anyway. I saw how the girls have so many in one room - maybe now I get that more - safety in numbers.
I don’t know about a “rod” per se, but paddles are routinely used in evangelical circles. You can even get them personalized! /smh
http://papaspaddles.com/paddles.html
http://www.thewilbournegroup.com./Specialties/index.html
As for why an inanimate object and not one’s hand, just refer to Dr. James Dobson:
http://drjamesdobson.org/Solid-Answers/Answers?a=9486c7b6-a005-4e5a-9876-bbb3328b51b0
My FIL told me that everything I needed to know about raising children is in the book of Proverbs.
Proverbs 12:24 http://www.religioustolerance.org/spankin13.htm