Fox's Favorite Catholic Priest Says Sexual Abuse No Reason To Deprive Duggars Of TV Show

What kind of fair and balanced "news" network would Fox be if it didn't have its own rightwing whackadoodle Catholic priest on speed dial to pronounce God's own truth to the half-comatose octogenarian audience? (That's a rhetorical question.) As Fox's official "religion contributor," Father Jonathan Morris is often called upon to explain, in his priestly garb, what Jesus said about slut pills, or how Obama is raping the First Amendment -- or, as he did on Tucker Carlson's Sunday show, why the Duggars should not have to lose their reality TV show just because Josh molested four of his sisters and a babysitter:

We're hearing such outcry. Get the Duggars off TV! It's so bad for America! This is a bad example! How can you possibly allow them to stay on?Really?!?[...] A social outcry, that they are somehow bad people, they should not be allowed on television -- I don't think so.

[contextly_sidebar id="s1J0bwfTFdSzETwAMuNPAsd9WAZaXyQV"]

Lucky Duggars, they get their very own Catholic priest to go on TV and defend their right to be on TV, despite their past unpleasantness. Not that we'd expect a Catholic priest to understand the outcry over a family covering up sexual abuse of children -- yes, that's a pointed dig at the Catholic Church's widespread cover-up of sexual abuse of children, in case you missed it -- but we're a little surprised that Father Morris appears so emotionally invested in protecting the Duggars' reality TV career. After all, he says, if the Kardashians get to be on television, why not the Duggars, HUH??? And, like the rest of the "journalists" on Fox -- and the Duggars themselves -- he's appalled that anyone would criticize this particular family or point out its "family values" hypocrisy when the Duggars never claimed they were without sin anyway:

What's been shocking to me is all of these very secular headlines rejoicing at the downfall of the family that never said it was perfect.

They're only human, after all, and everyone makes mistakes. Maybe not the mistake of repeatedly molesting your kid sisters, or the mistake of telling your son, "It's OK, just don't do that anymore," or telling your daughters, "Listen, it's not like your brother raped you, he just did some 'mild inappropriate touching,' so let's pray and then put it behind us. Oh and smile for the camera!" But who among us hasn't made those kind of fumbles? Besides, says Father Morris, the Duggars handled the whole cover-up of their son's molestation so well:

From what we understand, they reported it, they also got professional licensed counseling. They seemed to respond to it pretty well.

No, not exactly, Father. First they did absolutely nothing about it at all, for more than a year. Then they sent their son to work out his molesty demons with some prayer and construction work. And, as Jim Bob Duggar explained in his Fox interview, they didn't have any legal obligation to report their son's molestation, so extra superstar brownie points to them for doing that eventually.

Also, like the rest of the Fox News cast and the Duggars -- and Jesus, probably -- Father Morris is a lot more upset about how the Duggars' mostly innocent crimes were exposed in the first place.

How this report actually got out? To have victims' names be -- or at least pointed out who these people were? I would like to find out who did that, why they did that.

We'd like to take this opportunity to point out that the only media who has identified any of Josh Duggar's victims by name is Fox News. But you knew that. And while the official Fox-Duggar talking point is that the police reports of Josh's abuse were somehow illegally or unethically obtained, that, like everything else you hear on Fox, is not accurate. But hey, it's a lot easier to be outraged at The Media, for reporting on something, than at the sick and twisted family who tried to keep its twisted sickness a secret, only to invite cameras into their homes, and into their children's faces, to make money by over-exposing themselves. And they'd like to keep doing that, pretty please, maybe with a TLC spin-off about Josh Duggar's victims, not that we should ever mention that again.

[contextly_sidebar id="8RN9EMQyPqkOvEKgye5ju7XdNH2QdlEa"]

Still, Tucker Carlson knows why the police reports were released in response to Freedom of Information requests. It's because "people hate them because of their views." Well, yeah, that's a fair point. Some peopledohate their views -- on how transgender people don't deserve rights because they'll do icky stuff to your daughters in the bathroom, or how Mike Huckabee should be president. But people who hate the Duggars didn't force them to protect their kid-diddling son. They did that one all on their own. Father Morris isn't willing to go so far as to accuse people of hatred, but there's one thing he does know:

I don't know what the intention there was. But what I do know is there are a lot of really bad examples on television. Somehow to say the Duggars really have to go because we as a country can't handle the Duggars being on there when they've had this child who did this terrible thing. Um, I think we'd have to get rid of a lot of things on television, and I don't think we're ready to do that.

We actually agree with Father Morris on this one and only point. There is a lot of crap on TV we should get rid of, because it's a bad example for America. Like maybe anyone who makes excuses for child molestation and those who cover it up? Seems like a good place to start.

[ Crooks and Liars ]