After it emerged that Josh Duggar admitted to having fondled several girls during his teen years, he and his family went into radio silence for over a week. On Saturday, his parents, Jim Bob and Michelle, announced they would break that silence via an interview with Megyn Kelly of Fox News.
In a blog post on their official site, Jim Bob and Michelle said they planned to “share our hearts” about what they had to endure when Josh fondled five girls in 2002 and 2003–including his own sisters. They also said they wanted to speak about “the tears we all shed and the forgiveness that was given.” Part of the interview will air on Wednesday’s edition of “The Kelly File,” with the full version to air on Friday.
I know what a lot of you are thinking–classic case of a pair of prominent wingnuts going to ground, then deciding to break their silence on the “fair and balanced” network. Well, don’t be disappointed yet. Kelly has actually been willing on more than a few occasions to break out of the Fox News mold and engage in actual journalism. Most notably, when Erick Erickson and Lou Dobbs wrung their hands at a study showing more women than ever were the primary breadwinners in their family, Kelly tore them apart. She loudly asked Erickson, “Who died and made you scientist-in-chief?” More recently, she ripped into Mike Huckabee for lamenting the number of “trashy women” in the workplace.
Kelly is also one of the few staunch supporters of marriage equality on Fox News. Most notably, she told Maggie Gallagher that banning same-sex marriage is no different from banning interracial marriage. There’s no way that the viciously homophobic Duggars weren’t aware of this. That alone is reason to hope that Jim Bob and Michelle won’t get a break from Kelly. But Scott Wooledge of Daily Kos decided to help Kelly along by suggesting a few questions she ought to ask. While admittedly there’s only a 50-50 chance of Kelly actually going hard on the Duggars, it’s a lot better than the near-certainty that we would have been treated to a softball fest had the Duggars decided to break their silence on “Fox & Friends.”
I hope that this isn’t the last time the Duggars have to explain their actions. By all rights, they should have to do so under oath. It cannot be stated enough–the actions of the Duggars and their church elders, on the face of it, amounted to child endangerment. Jim Bob and Michelle may have the option of storming off the set in case Kelly decides against throwing softballs, they won’t have that option if they face criminal charges for their actions. Sign this petition to the prosecuting attorney in the Duggars’ hometown and ask him to determine if the Duggars have to break their silence about their actions under oath.
