They Duggared themselves a big hole...

I had way too much to say about Duggar-gate to put into a tweet.

What's all this brouhaha over a show that I've never watched? Oh, I was aware of it. I'd seen clips on the internet. You'd have to live under a rock to not know who the Duggars are. But, watch it? Not my cup of tea. I'm not a fan of reality programming anyhow. I prefer real actors. Real writers. These shows serve the lowest common denominator and are cheap to produce. Gimme The Walking Dead. Gimme Scandal. Gimme N.C.I.S.  I'm not a high-brow PBS snob, not by a long shot, but I do have some standards.

Now, it seems, the word is out about what many of us have suspected all along. There was something twisted and kinky going on in that ginormous paid-for-by-the-network house/dormitory out in Arkansas. Something just plain WRONG. It turns out that oldest brother Josh molested his little sisters when he was a young teenager. Eeeewwwww. Some people say that you can tell by just looking at him, what a perv he is/was. I say you really can't tell by looking.  (What 14-year-old boy doesn't look kinda pervy?)  I do think it's rather telling that his wife, Anna, could easily pass for one of his sisters. Who knows? Maybe all those Quiverfull types look related. Maybe they are related. Again, eeeewwww. Not something I care to research any further.

ANNA IS IN AN AWKWARD POSITION.

The family claims to have told Anna all about Josh's past "mistakes" prior to their wedding. Undoubtedly, it was a very sugar-coated and sanitized version of events, much like they're trying to push on the public now. She went through with it anyways. Maybe the idea of being a big tee-vee star was too hard to resist. Since these things are decided by the patriarchs of the families, maybe her daddy said, "Yeah, so what?" and Anna didn't get a say in the matter. This cult does not give women much of a say in anything about their lives. It's all about the menfolk and what they want. Because bible.

After about a week of the internet erupting with Duggar-related news... TLC pulls all scheduled airings of the show 19 Kids And Counting from their schedule - no comment on the long-term future of the show. Josh resigns in shame from his position as a lobbyist for the anti-gay hate group Family Research Council amidst all the stories, though you'd think that this would be right up their alley and Tony Perkins would have offered him a promotion.

Twitter and Facebook went nuts, and there was no shortage of opinion pieces. The left indulged in some schadenfreude, poking fun at what they viewed as hypocrisy: 

Remember, one reason the Family Research Council fights anything gay is because they believe gay people are child molesters! Child molesters, I tells ya!  For her part, Mama Michelle voiced a robocall last year to citizens in Fayetteville, AR, where the Duggars don't happen to live. There was an anti-discrimination ordinance going before the city council that she was asking people to protest. Michelle feared that it would allow transgendered individuals into public restrooms where they could molest little girls. Molest. Little. Girls. Clutch the pearls!   So yeah. Hypocrisy.

Meanwhile the christian right circled their wagons, defending their heroes in many charmingly misspelled posts. Prayer warriors were out in force, spewing hatred at anyone who dared to criticize their precious Duggars.  I guess we're all gonna go to hell. Because Jesus. 

Right-wing politicians who had once proudly posed with Josh, are quietly backing away from him. One of the most vocal supporters, Mike Huckabee, took the Duggar endorsement down from his website, no doubt fearing it could hurt his presidential bid.  As if.

FOX "News" aired a two-part special in which the Duggars got to tell their side of the story. Megyn Kelly, in her defense, did a pretty good job of asking most all of the questions you or I might have asked. The Duggars response was to tap-dance around the questions, change the subject or lie outright. Really, what did we expect? If what I see on Twitter, Facebook and the rest of the internet is any indication, I don't think the Duggars accomplished what they'd hoped to with these interviews.  The public just ain't buying it. They couldn't even make themselves look good for a FOX "News" interview!  No links here. If you can't find this on your own you might have been homeschooled.

NOTICE MEGYN WEARS PANTS FOR THIS INTERVIEW. WHEN DOES SHE EVER WEAR PANTS ON CAMERA? WAS THIS A NOT-SO-SUBTLE DIG AT THE DUGGARS' FRUMPY SISTER WIFE CLOTHES? I THINK MAYBE MEGYN DOESN'T LIKE THE DUGGARS SO MUCH. SHE DID ASK THEM SOME HARD QUESTIONS! 

One thing they brought up was what I call the "Roofie Defense". "Most of it was while the girls were sleeping." said sister, and self-proclaimed victim Jessa Duggar Seewald. I suppose that makes it OK in their view?  That logic makes a roofie-wielding date rapist blameless, as long as his victim is unconscious. "Over the clothes" is apparently OK, too. Uh, no, it's not. Ask any woman or girl who's been groped while fully dressed. No, it's not.

JOSH ENDORSES ROHYPNOL(tm)

The family claims that this is a closed book now.  Everyone has forgiven everyone else. Jesus says it's all OK. Punishments have been meted out. There are "safeguards" in place now, to prevent any further "mistakes" from happening. Whether or not the victims received any counseling is rather murky. Most likely, they were sent to some christian counselor who placed the bulk of the blame on them since it's always the female's fault. You know, Eve and the apple.

TYPICAL 'CHRISTIAN' COUNSELING

Jim-Can't-Keep-His-Pecker-In-His-Pants-Bob, or whatever his name is, said that "people on the outside" think christians are perfect. Wrong, Jimbo. We may think you are misguided, wrong-headed, under-educated, delusional, judgemental, holier-than-thou... you get the idea... but we don't think you're perfect. That you refer to us non-christians as "people on the outside" speaks volumes. Me, I'm proud to be on the outside of the Duggars circled wagons.

The Duggars would like all of us outsiders to just go away and leave them alone. Sorry, there's no such thing as privacy after you let those reality-show cameras into your home. Of course, I'm sure they are hoping for the show to continue, in spite of all the bad press, because Money.  None of them wants to have to go out and find real jobs. Not with their homeschool GEDs and all this scandal baggage. Their religion forbids women to work outside the home.  This would teach them why women need to get educations and jobs. Just one normal paycheck doesn't cut it anymore. TLC pays yokels really well for just being yokels. I bet they want that back.

I think TLC is hoping that all the excitement will die down and they can slip their little moneymaker of a show back on the fall schedule. If they do, I hope they give Honey Boo Boo another shot, too. Those people never tried to pretend that they were anything different than  what they were. I might not be a fan, but I will give them that.

So ends my Duggar rant, for what it's worth. I used to just dismiss them as harmless kooks. If she wanted to birth 19 babies, well, that was just the other side of the reproductive freedom coin. Now that I've learned a little more about Quiverfull religious cult that they belong to, they just totally creep me out. I feel sorry for the kids, especially the girls. They don't stand a chance. It's been said that sunshine is the best disinfectant. There are many other Quiverfull families out there. Families that don't have the benefit of a nice fat TLC paycheck. Maybe all of this publicity will push the authorities to examine some of these families a little more closely. Maybe there is a chance for the kids to live a normal life.

I knew when I first saw Idiocracy that way too many people were headed in that direction.
I'm so sickened by the election results tonight.  How could this happen? How could it be this bad? The republicans weren't even trying to hide their anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-elderly, anti-poor people, anti-people of color, anti-child... basically, anyone who wasn't a white, rich, christian republican.

Do people pay that little attention to what's going on? I know, I'm a political junkie.  I gobble this shit up like fresh donuts, but c'mon! How do you not see that these monsters are out for themselves, and that any benefits promised aren't gonna be for you!

When I think of all the stuff that's going to be on the chopping block:

• Health insurance. I just GOT freakin' health insurance, and now they're gonna try to repeal the law that made it possible for me to get it.
• Social Security. The fuckers want to privatize it! It's not even their money. It's ours, dammit!
• Food Stamps. Because fuck the poor.
• Unemployment. Ditto
• Women's right to choose. Not just abortion, but they're going after birth control as well. Hobby Lobby was just the tip of the iceberg.
• Voting Rights. Again, fuck the poor.
• Collective Bargaining Rights. Because how dare those employees stand up to their owners employers. Asking for a living wage, benefits and all. Pshht.
• Minimum Wage. See Collective Bargaining Rights.
• Consumer Protections. Such a pain in the ass for the poor billionaires.
• Net Neutrality. How can free and equal access to the Net be good for the wealthy?

Yeah, that's it for not.  Imma go get drunk, while it's still allowed. </rant>

 I will be so happy to get this nasty surgical dressing off on Friday. It's not really painful any more, but typing's a bitch. Also, cooking, bathing, brushing my hair and just about any other grooming/bathroom chore you can imagine. I need to put a bag over it to cook, because ewwww.  I miss being able to wear pants with zippers, too.

Jason O'Mara as Det. Sam Tyler

 TV helps pass the time until I go back to work.  I just finished binge-watching the American version of Life on Mars, including all the bonus extras. Maybe the best part of owning the DVD. What a great show. If you've never heard of it, here's my nutshell version: A NYC detective from 2008, Sam Tyler (Jason O'Mara) is hit by a car and somehow wakes up in 1973. Same job, same NYC precinct. The 1973 Lieutenant is Gene Hunt (Harvey Keitel). He and fellow detectives Ray Carling (Michael Imperioli) and Chris Skelton (Jonathan Murphy) do things a little differently than Sam is used to. Annie Norris (Gretchen Mol) is a policewoman who takes a lot of shit from the detectives, and becomes Sam's friend.

The sets, music and wardrobes are all painstakingly 1973 anatomically correct. There's some good cop stories with enough of a sci-fi twist to please fans of either genre.  Lasted one whole season, a little better than another short-lived hybrid show, Firefly. What is it with these kinds of shows? Is it that it's hard to explain the concept of the show in  15 seconds? I remember trying to tell people about Firefly. When you said "space western" people stopped listening. "Time-traveling cop" doesn't fare any better, it would seem. I loved the show, and was sad to see it go. At least they got to wrap up the story and answer any questions a viewer might have had.

Harvey Keitel, as Lt. Gene Hunt

The Latest Palin Scandal

I really do feel some sympathy for poor Bristol Palin. She arrived on the national stage, pushed by momma Sarah as a poster girl for teenage pregnancy and "pro-life" values. Six years and several failed reality shows later, she finds herself a single mom who just can't get a break from that darned ol' librul media.

Here's the story, as I understand it:

• Bristol, along with her parents, her child and some siblings, arrive uninvited at a private party given at the home in Anchorage. The group shows up in a stretch Hummer limo, because what else would they be driving around in? 
• The child remains in the car, perhaps to serve as a designated driver, as the rest of his group has apparently been drinking. Hope they at least cracked the window and left him a bowl of water.
• Believe it or not, the homeowner was NOT thrilled to see these "celebrities" crashing his party. It would seem that even by local standards, the Palin clan is considered low-rent. No one was impressed by Bristol's "thong dress" whatever that is, and her $300 sunglasses. 
• A fight ensues. There's a lot of he-said she-said over who hit who. I'm sure somebody is sitting on some hysterical video, maybe looking for the highest bidder. You KNOW there were probably lots of people there, recording it all with their phones.
• The police show up.  There is audio of Miss Thong Dress blubbering her disjointed and profane take on the festivities. She seems somewhat more concerned about her missing shoes and $300 sunglasses than her 5 year old son, who she left in the car and has since lost track of. Astute listeners can hear her mother in the background, coaching her to quit swearing.
• Bristol takes to social media. Per Palin family policy, everyone else is to blame. Mostly the librul media, and for some reason, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton.

Again, this is Bristol Palin. She grew up in this family, and probably doesn't know any better. Maybe she doesn't realize that civilized people don't behave like that at parties. Maybe she doesn't realize that adults take responsibility for their own actions. Her role models weren't the best.

This could also be something pre-planned by her family.  There was so much going on in the news. ISIS, Ebola, the mid-term elections, school shootings. The Palins hadn't been in the news for a while, and they needed to do something to get the country talking about them again. Well, we talked. Now the Palin family is doing what they do best, playing the victim.

You have my pity, Palins, but not for the reasons you think you should.

Politicalgates has a much more complete timeline HERE  

Kirk Cameron Halloween mask

Here's a KIRK CAMERON Halloween mask. I might create more if I get the inspiration.

Kirk is getting all excited about turning Halloween into a "Christian" holiday. He is encouraging his followers to have the most fun (funner? more funnest?) Halloween party on the block. Because everyone will want to flock to the parties where they give out religious tracts. Here's the story on Politics USA. You can't make this stuff up. Well, I guess you could, but thanks to Kirk, we don't have to.

Wow, I'd almost forgotten about this blog, and was surprised to find it still up and functioning. A lot has happened to me since my last entry. Several crappy jobs and periods of unemployment. My husband of 35 years, Jack, died on December 25, 2012. My son and his wife broke up, and she got custody of me and my daughter. My son moved to Key West, FL. My granddaughters are growing into lovely young ladies.

At this writing, events in Ferguson, MO are front and center of the internet and news outlets. When did we ever let our city police forces get like this? Devastating to learn that there is a gofundme account of over $200k for the defense of Darren Wilson, the cop who executed Michael Brown. Yes, executed. There is no other suitable word for it. People who are chipping in are supporting a murderer.

We are heading into election season. Don't yawn and say that it's just an off-year election that doesn't matter. 2010 brought us Ted Cruz and his ilk.  The House of Representatives now has a Republican majority and John Boehner is Speaker of the House. If those two names don't mean anything to you, you REALLY haven't been paying attention. If you are fans of either or both of those men, you probably won't like this blog. At all. The rest of you... Vote! VOTE! It could be your last chance. The Republican party has been taken over by the Tea Party and they are fucking INSANE! I honestly don't know how anybody who's not an old, rich, white guy can vote "R" any more.

I'm feeling kind of off because all of my favorite political shows are on hiatus right now. Summer doldrums.

Bill Maher, fellow atheist whom I've always had a little bit of a crush on. He brings on guests of every political stripe, including Dinesh DeSouza, Ann Coulter, Penn Jillette, Donna Brazile, Willie Nelson & Al Franken, to name some of the more memorable. Never a dull moment. 

Jon Stewart. I've been a fan of his since way back in the day, when he'd occasionally show up on Dennis Miller's HBO show. You remember Dennis Miller. Used to be a comedian, way back in the day.

Jon Stewart launched the careers of these next two, among others.

John Oliver sat in for Stewart last summer and knocked everybody's socks off with how well he handled the job. I'm sure that's one of the reasons he got his current gig at HBO, where he's now knocking everybody's socks of and he gets to swear, too. 

Last but not least, Stephen Colbert, of the Colbert Report. He plays a conservative, but is constantly making liberal points. Not all of his guests "get" Stephen's character. The interview with Rick Santorum was particularly hilarious. He will be taking over the late night duties on CBS next year when David Letterman retires. We will then get to meet the REAL Stephen. Or, his newest character, anyways.

Hmmm... bunch of white guys. Well, I like them. Maybe Sarah Silverman will get a show. I do know that another Jon Stewart protege, Larry Wilmore, will be taking over Colbert's slot when he leaves.  Here's their pictures, just for some balance.

Yeah, Sarah could host a show. I'd watch it.

Okay. I'm gonna close with some pictures of my dogs, because I promised them.

So, I'm in WalMart on a Sunday afternoon, and I almost run into this kid 'cos he's playing his video game and not watching where he's going. I back away, maneuver around him and I look up to see his WHOLE FAMILY has their noses buried in these games, totally oblivious to all the shoppers around them. It was really kind of comical. Four or five people all walking together, hunched over their handheld devices. "Really??" I sez. "Yeah, really!" sez the one person with them who wasn't occupied with a Nintendo DS, prob'ly the dad. "Shut up!" I suppose he would have been even nastier if I'd have run his kid down. Only at WalMart.