Cruz joke handled the right way, Duggars scandal handled the right-wing way

The Duggars, Jim Bob and Michelle and most of their 19 kids, clad in their religious,
 home-school uniforms, arrive at their election polling place in Arkansas in 2002.

Far-right Republicans have gotten burned recently by standing beside their man for far too long, even as their object of ideological affection has slowly slid into extremism.

For example, Cliven Bundy, the gun-toting, government-defying Nevada rancher, was a source of adulation for many conservative lawmakers and commentators last year until his rants finally revealed that he was a virulent racist.
Phil Robertson of reality TV’s Duck Dynasty was adored by the Religious Right until he spouted some particularly vile, homophobic statements in 2013 – and again in 2015 – that led to his fade from the public spotlight.

Now, we have the Duggars, an Arkansas family I had never heard of until recent days when it was revealed that the eldest son is a pedophile and his sexual misconduct with young girls was covered up by his ultra-religious parents – the stars of the “19 Kids and Counting” reality TV show.

Over at MLive, columnist Susan Demas smartly points out that, just when it seemed the right-wing had learned its lesson by keeping mum about Sen. Ted Cruz's incredibly ill-timed joke this week about Vice President Joe Biden, the conservatives simultaneously can’t resist the urge to defend the Duggars.
Demas’ hard-hitting column cannot be adequately summed up in a few paragraphs but here’s a bit of what she wrote:  

“Usually when a conservative does something outrageous, the right-wing posse unites and closes ranks. There are the inevitable vehement declarations that (say the) conservative is the real victim.

“There aren't a lot of bright lines left in politics. But thankfully, not speaking ill of someone who's just lost a child (in this case, Biden) still seems to be one of them.

“Incredibly, however, child molestation doesn't appear to fall under the ‘bright line’ category -- at least in the case of a prominent ultraconservative family.

“… The Duggars were allowed to spin and spew dishonest answers to Megyn Kelly on Fox News, bewailing that they're the real victims, of course. But unlike Cruz, the right-wing forces have their back, from Kelly sniffing that the reality TV stars' right to privacy was violated to Sarah Palin blasting the ‘intolerant left's destructive personal intrusions.’”