The Duggars Deserve Every Bit Of The Public Smackdown They're Getting Today

If you frequent entertainment websites, you can’t go a day without reading about a Duggar. It may have something to do with the size of the family: with Jim and Michelle, 19 kids, cousins, partners… the exposure possibilities are endless. This family gets a lot of airtime via their TLC show 19 Kids And Counting and occupies a lot of internet real estate.

It’s easy to get caught up in all the hair, denim, and entertainment — and forget about how dangerous this family really is. They have a huge platform from which they regularly spew anti-gay, anti-choice, anti-woman rhetoric. Now, the family faces a scandal, as one of the men of the clan admits to a history of sexual molestation — one that the family has been covering up for years.

Josh Duggar admitted this week to molesting a number of teenage girls 12 years ago. Some of the victims were allegedly his own sisters. From USA Today:

His acknowledgement came after InTouch magazine published a story Thursday about police records it obtained from Springdale, Ark., hidden since 2006, that show Josh Duggar confessed to his father, Jim Bob Duggar, who then waited more than a year before contacting police about what his then 15-year-old son admitting doing to five girls.

The family issued a statement on their Facebook page, where Josh and his wife Anna also weigh in. There is a lot of thanking God for getting the family through it, and virtually no real apology to his victims. It’s disgusting, yet not surprising. This family has made a career out of silencing and controlling the girls under their roof, and pushing anti-woman, anti-choice, and homophobic agendas.

Michelle Duggar was instrumental in appealing an anti-discrimination ordinance in her home state of Arkansas — one that would have allowed transgender people to use the correct bathroom. She orchestrated a robocall, spreading paranoia: “I doubt that Fayetteville parents would stand for a law that would endanger their daughters or allow them to be traumatized by a man joining them in their private space. We should never place the preference of an adult over the safety and innocence of a child.” How ironic that she was the one putting her own girls in danger by not immediately responding to the knowledge that they were being molested under her own roof. How terrible. Those poor girls.

Josh Duggar has resigned from his position as executive director of the Family Research Council — an organization whose primary aims are to fight against marriage equality and a woman’s right to choose. The backlash on Twitter has been swift and full of vitriol — and you can hardly be surprised. The family is the epitome of hypocrisy. They rally against good people and even better causes under the guise of some sort of “moral decency” that they are clearly, in reality, devoid of.

Yesterday, as the molestation story was spreading like wildfire across the internet, there was a 19 Kids And Counting marathon on TLC. Great timing. The network has pulled the show from the lineup, but has yet to make any announcements on any future plans for the show.

Enjoy your public smackdown, Jim Bob, Michelle, and Josh. You’ve earned it.