Reflections on the Duggar Scandal

Last week, a story broke that rocked fans of the TLC's 19 Kids and Counting: it was revealed that, when he was a teenager, Josh Duggar was reported to the police by his father, Jim-Bob, for having inappropriate contact with several young girls.  

As the details emerged, the story became more stomach-turning and shocking: Josh Duggar was caught molesting his own sisters, touching them inappropriately while they slept. Not once, but several times. 

Life as he knew it quickly unraveled once the story hit: Josh immediately resigned from his job at the Family Research Council, and issued an apology for his "inexcusable" behavior, expressing "deep regret."  Recent reports say that Josh and his wife, Anna, who is pregnant with their fourth child, will be relocating from Washington D.C. back to Arkansas to be closer to family and ride out the scandal. This week, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar--in full-on damage control mode now that their show has been pulled from TLC's lineup and sponsors are defecting in droves--will be sitting down for an exclusive interview with Megyn Kelly of FOX News. 

More than anything, my heart goes out to the Duggar girls who were abused, and forced to keep silent about that abuse in order to protect the family "brand".  As I anticipated, there is talk of giving a spin-off show to the recently-married Duggar daughters, Jill and Jessa, featuring their lives as newlyweds and new parents (Jill gave birth in April to a boy named Israel, Jessa is pregnant with her first child and due in the Fall). At first, I hoped they would get their own show--as victims, don't they deserve to move on with their lives, and not be punished for the misdeeds of their brother? 

But now that I've had some time to reflect on it, I think that allowing the Duggars--any of them--to continue having a platform upon which to display their unique religion-based life choices, would be grossly irresponsible, and only serve to perpetuate the environment that led to this heinous cover-up in the first place.

Today, I came up on a terrific blog post from three years ago, written by Libby Anne, that sums it up much better than I can verbalize. Libby Anne was raised in a household with very similar values and ideals as the Duggars, so she knows whereof she speakes.  She expressed her concerns about the Duggars, and what the future might hold for the children--and her musings were eerily prescient.  Kudos to this writer, for seeing the warning signs that were there all along and calling attention to them...and shame on the rest of us for not heeding her warnings.  

I strongly encourage you to visit her blog and read the original post:  http://www.patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfeminism/2012/02/carefully-scripted-lives-my-concerns-about-the-duggars.html

Review: S'mores Oreo Cookies

In my never-ending pursuit to try ALL of the new and unusual Oreo flavors, I managed to procure the latest release: S'mores Oreos. 

Initial impressions: It's good--on par with the new Red Velvet Oreos--but not as good as the Limited Edition Peanut Butter Cup Oreos.

The first strike against this cookie is the "graham cracker" flavored cookie base. Sorry, but for me, an Oreo isn't an Oreo without the chocolate cookie component.  I also couldn't perceive any discernible difference between the "graham cracker" cookie and any other "vanilla Oreo" flavor I've ever tried. 

One difference between the S'more cookie vs. the Peanut Butter Cup cookie is that the S'more version has the creme flavors stacked one on top of another, rather than side by side. The (alleged) marshmallow creme is stacked on top of the chocolate creme.  I know, the package says the white creme is marshmallow flavored, but it tasted exactly the same as every other white Oreo middle I've ever had--right down to the subtle gritty texture. 

The addition of the chocolate creme definitely elevates the cookie's overall flavor, and the ratio of creme to cookie was also well balanced. 

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this one a solid 7.5.