It's been quite the month for the Duggars so far, huh?
It's almost like making your family famous for being wholesome and pure while knowing full well that one of your family members is a child molester wasn't the best plan.
The big news, of course, has been that Josh Duggar was found guilty of possessing and receiving child pornography.
So many details of the short trial were absolutely devastating to hear -- for example, we learned that many of the materials Josh had viewed were especially sadistic and twisted, so much that it's difficult to even discuss.
We also learned more about the period of time in which he molested his sisters and how hard Jim Bob and Michelle worked to cover it up and protect Josh instead of their daughters.
The whole thing was really just incredibly heartbreaking, there's at least a little bit of comfort in knowing that he's been convicted.
His sentencing won't take place for a few more months, but until then, he'll remain in prison, and we know that he faces a minimum sentence of five years.
Considering how disturbing the materials he possessed were, many experts believe his sentence will be quite a bit harsher than that.
As a fun little bonus to the overwhelming amount of news about Josh, we also learned that Jana had been arrested back in September for endangering the welfare of a child, but let's just stick to the Josh stuff for now, OK?
It's a huge deal that Josh was actually convicted, because this is the first time he's faced any real consequences for his actions, and also, as we said, the Duggar family has build their entire brand on being righteous and pure.
If Jim Bob and Michelle had any integrity, they'd pack up and disappear from the public eye forever.
But these are the Duggars we're talking about, so integrity was never really in the cards, was it?
Back in October, Jim Bob announced that he'd be running for the state senate in Arkansas.
The senator for his district resigned then and a special election was announced to fill his spot, and good ol' Jim Bob said that he felt moved to run to fight against Covid vaccine mandates.
He also wants to pass laws that make getting abortions harder, because of course he does.
He was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives back in the late 90s and early 2000s, so he does have a bit of a background in politics, but still, it feels like really bad timing, right?
Especially because the primary election day is happening this week.
So if you were running for office and your son was just convicted on child pornography charges in a case that has been getting international attention, and during that trial it came out that you had done your best to cover up for that son's crimes in the past, do you think you might just drop out of the race?
You probably would, because that feels like the right thing to do, but unfortunately Jim Bob doesn't seem to acquainted with the concept of doing the right thing.
And that's why he decided to post a statement about Josh to his Facebook page this weekend.
On his new account, Jim Bob Duggar for Arkansas, he wrote "As a father, I am heartbroken over the entire situation regarding my son, all who have been affected by it in any way, and those who have been harmed through CSAM [child sexual abuse materials]."
"As an American," he continued, "I respect our legal system and am thankful for those who serve in it. As a Christian, I put all of my trust in Christ in both the joyful and difficult moments of life."
"As your state senator, I promise to remain an unwavering conservative voice representing our great community in Little Rock."
He finished by thanking his followers for their "prayers and support."
Can you imagine having the audacity to be in Jim Bob's position and to share a statement that's anything other than profuse apologies and a promise that you'll crawl in a hole and never come out?
In the pre-trial hearings, we heard him tell the judge over and over again that he didn't remember what had happened when Josh had molested the girls, even though he remembered enough back in 2015 to explain in a nationally televised interview why it wasn't a big deal.
If he can't remember something that huge, and if he couldn't figure out how to help Josh and get the girls real treatment for their trauma, how could he possibly be able to handle an entire state's problems?
Jim Bob's Facebook post is getting tons and tons of criticism, as it should. Someone has been trying to remove the negative comments, but they keep coming.
As of right now, the post has 491 laughing reactions, 323 angry reactions, and only 55 likes, so it seems like no one is interested in his attempt to spin this whole mess into something positive for his campaign.
But goodness knows he'll keep trying.
