We tend to think of insanity as a solitary pursuit, something that happens behind the eyes of people (at least, until they open their mouths). However, when crazy lies at the heart of a political party's tactics, it is possible for a Choir of Crazy to be heard emanating from the Bag of the same name.
Take the case of Josh Duggar, one of the...people on a "reality" TV series called 19 and Counting. He confessed to molesting four of his sisters and their babysitter, fondling the genitals of the girls, some multiple times, when they were asleep, or sometimes awake, when he was 14 and 15 and they were much younger. These are horrific acts which deserve to be unequivocally condemned, right?
Apparently, not if you're Republican Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, who claims that the Duggar family, good Christians that they are, "dealt" with the problem. How did they do that? They sent Josh to the Institute in Basic Life Principles, a ministry and adolescent training program, where he was given spiritual, not psychological help. Unless he spent the three months helping build the facility - accounts aren't entirely clear. The fact that founder Bill Gothard was later ousted from the Institute in 2014, amid allegations that he had sexually harassed a number of women and on several occasions failed to report knowledge of child sexual abuse may give some indication of how effective at teaching Duggar the error of his ways those three months must have been.
Part of the whole "dealt with it" thing was that the family informed Arkansas State Trooper Jim Hutchens, a family acquaintance, of what had happened. Hutchens did not report the incident to the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline, as might have been expected; instead, he gave Josh a "stern talk," which, in Arkansas legal circles, falls somewhere between a slap on the wrist and 25 years in prison. Oh, and Hutchens is now serving a 56-year prison sentence on unrelated child pornography charges.
Good to know that Josh got the help that he needed from qualified experts.
"Dealt with it" also apparently means counselling the family's girl children not to sit in men's laps or act in flirty ways with them. The fact that most of them were not conscious at the time of the abuse in no way absolves them of their responsibility for it; after all, Eve could have tempted Adam in her sleep!
Blaming victims of sexual abuse is not enough to get you in the Bag of Crazy, but it is a subtle indicator of a person's tendencies...
Josh Duggar had been a strong fundraiser for the Republican Party; indeed, there are pictures of him with half the current candidates for the party's Presidential nomination, and many others besides. What was their response? For the most part, a cricket chorus. For, as the bible truly states, "Whosoever shall looketh the other way when a crime hath been committed, so shall he be rewarded with the love of the low information voter." Yes, the good book is full of words to live by.
The only prominent Republican to condemn Duggar's actions was Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum. "I was sickened by it. I was just sickened by it," he said. You know you're in trouble when Rick Santorum is the voice of morality in your pa - oh, wait. The Duggars supported his run for the party's nomination in 2012, but this year have switched their allegiance to Huckabee. The moral high ground in the today's Republican party seems to be built on a swamp in the Bag of Crazy!
Of course, Sarah Palin would chime in. Does anybody remember Sarah Palin? She was famous for...shooting grizzlies from a helicopter or something. And, of course, she blames a "liberal media conspiracy," even though the last vestiges of liberal media are currently under glass at the Smithsonian. The moral equivalence of Josh Duggar's behaviour to that of Lena Dunham is easily dispelled, as glib attempts to distract attention from the real issue invariably are, by a chart:
| Lena Dunham | Josh Duggar | |
| siblings involved | one | four |
| non-family members involved | none | one |
| frequency | once | seven or more times |
| gender relationship | same | other |
| purpose | curiosity about her own sexuality | satisfying his own sexual urge |
| damage to other(s) | limited to none | substantial |
Why, those cases could practically be twins! Of different parents. Who have different racial heritages. But, still.
The Bag of Crazy might have more sympathy for Fox News hostweasel Megyn Kelly's point about "revictimizing" the girls by releasing this information if it hadn't become a prominent right wing talking point; when all of the Stepford journalists repeat the same thing over and over again, you have to wonder about their sincerity. I might believe Kelly's concern more if the girls' original victimization had actually been dealt with (instead of being "dealt with") in the first place.
Along with the non-apology apology, we now have a couple of examples of the non-outraged statement of outrage. This appears to take the form: "These actions were inexcusable, but [INSERT DIVERSIONARY POLITICAL ATTACK HERE]." And, where there is outrage, there are usually right-wing radio DJs. In this case, Kevin Swanson and Steve Vaughn from Degeneration Radio, who used the Duggar case to - what? It's actually called Generation Radio? Here, it's all C-RZY all the time!
What's missing in all of these cases is empathy for the abused girls, any sense that they were treated in a criminal manner and that they deserve justice. This is where the Crazy hits the road. One of the reasons we are currently at war is because of the horrific way our enemy treats women. IOKIYAR, I guess. Does anybody remember the phrase "moral relativism?" For those of you who weren't paying attention six months ago, Conservatives defined moral relativism as "dirty, stinking liberalism." Hunh. Who's the dirty, stinking liberal now?
