Having An E-fit Over Madeleine McCann
MADELEINE McCann in missing in Portugal.
Madeline McCann’s mother is appealing for help.
“Her face is frozen with grief and fear. She smells her Madeleine’s favourite cuddly toy. And never out of her grasp is a mobile phone which she wills to ring. The wait never ends.”
So says the Mirror’s Sue Carroll on the Mirror’s front page.
“Maddy’s mother shows the strain,” says the Mail. The Sun offers hope in “MADDIE COPS HAVE E-FIT”. And more headlines inside:
“SCRUFFY WEIRDO HUNTED OVER BRIT TOT”
“PROWLER SPOTTED BEFORE MADDIE TAKEN”
“Brit police send two paedo hunters”
The investigation is ongoing. But the Sun says Portuguese police refuse to show the E-fit image of the wanted man because it breaks the law. It’s an “E-fit farce”.
Only it doesn’t seem to be. Reading on we learn that Portuguese police have shown the image in Praia da Luz, the area near to where Madeleine went missing.
The Sun’s farce is the police’s decision not to let it see the picture and broadcast it back to readers many miles removed from the crime scene.
And the Sun is not alone in its criticism of Portuguese law. In “TEN BLUNDERS”, the Mirror lists the errors. It includes the decision not to show it this E-fit picture of the wanted man. Portuguese police have only shown it to locals, to those people who might have seen the man and seen what he did.
But concerned of Leicester wants to see, so too Bianca of Waltham Forest and Gwen of Plymouth. They want to see the face of the devil. They want to know.
And here comes Dep Supt Alan Ladley, the man who caught Sarah Payne’s killer, Roy Whiting. Ladley says that “basic coppering” might have found Madeleine’s abductor by now.
Like Madeleine, Sarah went missing on a family holiday. Sarah was found dead.
Madeline McCann is missing and we are led to believe it would have been better for mum and dad and Madeleine McCann had she been taken in Britain, preferably on Ladley’s patch. But not in Soham. Not there.
But whatever the paedo panic, instances remain rare, all the more so when a stranger is involved, as appears to be the case with Madeleine McCann.
The story features what the tabloids call “every parent’s worst nightmare”.
But this is an awful reality for Madeline McCann and Madeline McCann’s parents…
Posted: 9th, May 2007 | In: Tabloids Comments (123) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
May 28th, 2007 at 3:59 am
Aha, Single Parent - at last, a voice of reason!
Actually I’ve been mega-busy this weekend, and have admittedly lost my natural touch with developments. Although I do hear, somewhat unsurprisingly, that - yes - the McCann’s now have an audience with The Pope. Very impressive. Now piety has pretty much gone off the charts.
So what’s the Pope gonna do? Well, not much, probably do his “ad infinitum ipso facto dominoes pizza” thing, wave his hand around and ask “So, do you have the child for the baptism”, to wit Gerry will respond in his unusually high-pitched brains-without-common-sense retort “Eh, no, Mister Pope. She’s been nicked. That’s why wuzz’re here to see ye”.
In the most recent sit-down interview, which lasted twelve of my Earth minutes - the McCann’s sat very quietly and still and answered some of the questions the BBC had the dappiest, sycophantic reporter on Earth rustle up at the last minute. It suddenly occured to me - hey, Kate McCann (Mom) is a bit of a hottie! Christ, no wonder she’s being kept in the news - dang! - page 3 in The Sun will have a field day; “POOR MOTHER OF KIDNAPPED DAUGHTER AIN’T AFRAID TO SHOW YOU *HER* ALIBIS! Kae, 33, from Leicester says “I’m just a sucker for quick backdoor snatchers” - “Yes Kate, and quite a splendid backdoor it is too!”. Haha…ahhhhhh.
I wouldn’t put it past them. I’m guessing maybe X Factor with Pato Banton’s “Baby Come Back (With My CD Collection of Bob Marley)” - and, perhaps more sickeningly, T’Pau with “The Man With the Child in his Eyes”.
As Whatsherface Liverpool short-cut dark-haired bird Lisa Stansfield once sang “Been Around the World and I-I-I…. I Can’t Find my Baby”.
And around the world they say they shall go. With the money those stupid News of the World readers donated after they got their £1.25 change from the fiiver they spent on booze “daaaahn the pub”. “Coz it’s the pedo’z what’s fucked in the head, innit. It ain’t right, they gotta have their balls lopped off”. Fucking morons.
I’m really at a loss as to what to say - The Pope??? Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME? Is it just me, or does this act REALLY seem to be scraping the very very bottom of the barrel now? I think so.
As for this “new lead” - it may have well read like this “Police are looking for a man with distinctive non-female features, wearing trousers, and possibly a t-shirt with or without a jacket, possibly long or short-sleeved. The man is thought to have had hair, and is aged around 18-60 - any information can be given anonymously”. What a shambles. This case has become an utter farce.
And so, back to our quizzically-challenged interviewer asking such the distraught (and quite busy) couple classics like: “So how are you feeling right now?”, and “What you doing next?”. I was PRAYING for her to ask “So, where are the pair of you going on holiday next?”.
What I think is majorly lacking in contemporary reporting (or perhaps I should say CUNTemporary) is the ability to ask direct questions, even personal ones. Not the cookie-cutter banality that seems to excrete with distressing inevitabilty. For example, why doesn’t said interviewer say “Look, I’m really sorry, fuck these questions, but I need to ask - what the fuck were you two thinking? I mean REALLY Kate, Gerry, you left three toddlers in a half-locked, half-unlocked ground floor apartment to go out boozing. Now I know everyone has fits of madness, but seriously, COUPLES tend not to have synchronized stupidity. You’re clearly reckless and most of the people back home are thinking you’re either a bunch of cunts, or a bunch of irresponsible cunts who are now paying a very approporiate price. How would you respond to those aalegations?”.
See, it’s all down to the last sentence? Dress it up as “others are saying”. Why the fuck not? They do it to the viewers. Why doesn’t she say “People are saying - and this is not neccessarily my opnion - but people are saying that you two are fucking idiots. Any thoughts there, at all?”
Here’s another slab of meat (Please, no Madeleine puns just yet!) for thought: Imagine, if you will, that this WHOLE THING IS A BIG FUCKING ROUSE. Imagine Madeleine is safe and well. Imagine the McCann’s know everything - and that “our Maddy, the nation’s fucking treasure” is safely holed up with Kate’s Aunt somewhere in Bicester *NB Police, don’t go there, it’s just a supposition* - hey, it’ll make you famous? Not a bad little plan. Quite a nice little earner. Let’s put it this way, shall we? Either Dad, in the interviews is showing a remarkably brave face in light of the events, or he’s a daaaaaammmmnnnnn good actor.
But, all joking aside, I think on or around June 15 (provided of course Maddy’s abused, bloated decapitated corpse *hasn’t* been discovered by some poor kid out fishing for his family’s food on the Med) we will start to see the “money pot” swell to around £10 million. By that point, I think it should be down to a gameshow. The McCann’s should leave the money in a secret Mark Warner apartment, and the first person who can identify their moves and figure out where it is, and nick it while they’re downing shots of Aftershock in a bar with fuck-all visibility with pounding music and no windows, gets to keep it. They could call the show “Watch the McCann’s Being Fucking Idiots At Our Expense Again… Factor”.
Perhaps The Pope could adjudicate.
Afterall, they’re hungry for the publicity, aren’t they?
May 28th, 2007 at 12:47 am
To begin with, Dr Watson, well said sir! Please humour me tonight as I have watched the news and I am totally pissed off.
Now to business…. A European tour? An audience with the Pope? What celebrity event are the McCann’s going to stage next? Shall we see them in the Big Brother House or Fame Academy? Perhaps a garden party with the Queen or tea with Posh and Becks? When the fim is made will we see Tom and Nicole reunited on screen for the first time since the divorce to play Gerry and Kate? Dakota Fanning as Madeline? Shame Macauley Culkin’s knocking on a bit after all he’s used to being left Home Alone!
I believe that I have adequately stated previously my opinions on the parenting skills (or lack of) of the McCanns and I can see no reason to repeat these as it just winds me up to even think about it. But for God’s sake what sort of people use the “alleged” abduction of their child to launch a celebrity career?
Is it just me, or does something not quite add up here? Why has it taken three weeks for a description of the “abductor”, as seen by a friend of the family, to be released? And, if this friend saw someone with the child (Close enough to give a detailed description of his height, clothing etc), why did he not tackle the guy or at least raise the alarm? Very suspicious if you ask me.
As the next stage in this three ringed circus is likely to be the obligatory pop single, might I end by making a few suggestions: “Don’t leave me this way”, “All by myself”, “Holiday”, “We are family”, “when will I, will I be famous”!!
Thank you for your indulgence.
May 26th, 2007 at 12:48 am
Lou said: “You may argue about all the unfair media attention given to them,but it can only help raise awareness and prevent future abductions”
Actually I fundamentally disagree. If anything, this is WORSE for the family. I have stated the reasons in previous posts, but the principal reason, worth reiterating here, is that the higher the media profile, the lesser the chance that whoeevr has Madeleine will give her back. Why? Because whoever has her, if that person wants to give her back, they may not want to risk it. Madeleine is too young to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere to make her way home. And if you turned her in, whether or not you were the one who abducted her, or just found her, you’d be treated as suspect number… well, I was gonna say “one”, but then you’d be the ONLY person who’d know ANYTHING. You’d be torn a new asshole by the press and the public conscience.
I’m sure if it weren’t for the meddling press and spin doctors, the McCann’s would have chosen not to do the “Don’t You Forget About Me” video - because that really is tell-all in how desperate the case is getting. The Portugal police have this technically non-jurisdiction on their hands, and as a result of two idiotic - stupid - parents, this easily avoidable mess could have been avoided. God knows how much of the Portugese tax payer’s money has gone in to funding those police offers and firemen wandering around looking for her, making calls and doing paper work. And it;s not JUST the Portugese police. No, now we have very well-paid BRITISH professionals on the case, too. Who’s paying them? YOU. ME.
IF “Maddy” (don’t you just love how we’re all a close-knit family now) was snatched from under the noses of the McCann’s while they were out walking, then fair enough, I’m 100% behind everything. But sadly that’s not the case. We’re not dealing with a case of kidnapping here really. We’re dealing with a case of stupidity. And why should I have to fund that.
The silent Portugese thinking behind all this must be “Well, mate, you lost her - you find her”. Good.
Lou, sorry to bring this back on you, but what the fuck, you’re definitely an ambassador for the “she needs to be found” thinking. Allow me to put it this way. Yes, a little girl is missing, she may very well have suffered. But she isn’t in need of finding. No, we don’t have that luxury. What she IS in need of, actually, is of being RETURNED. The guy(s) who have taken her are doing a much better job of watching her now (presumably because they, too, don’t want her stolen from them by another bunch of wacky Pedo-gese).
I think it’s time to spell it for the The Sun readers: Gerry and Kate McCann
are fucking selfless IDIOTS; displaying the kind of snobbish, stupidity capable ONLY of those who have two braincells, but no clue how to rub them together.
And Lou - so sorry to mmention this, but you cannot refer to us, the voice of reason, as “illeducated” when you litter your own message with an inordinate amount of commas without spaces.
I know,grammar and,punctuation,is a bit,difficult to grasp,but that was just,silly.
Madeleine needs to be returned. Not found. Think back to when you last lost your car keys… ah, found them in the last place I was looking for when I stopped looking…
May 25th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
Sadly,regardless of the opinions of several illeducated people ,on this site,there is a little girl out there who has suffered,and may now still be suffering,in need of finding.The parents are not perfect,who is?You may argue about all the unfair media attention given to them,but it can only help raise awareness and prevent future abductions.I think of Madeline daily,and all the other missing children in this world.Help make it better by supporting their plight ,not pointing fingers.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:31 am
I feel that i no longer need to comment….other than concurring with the words of the good doctor above.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:27 am
Sonia, in fairness to the McCanns, I think the money in the pot is “infact” going to other parents of abducted children.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go leave my 3 year-old son in a flat somewhere in Parai de Luz so i can get my hands on some of that cash.
“Timmy, where are you… ?”.
May 25th, 2007 at 7:55 am
WELL SAID DR WATSON
Wait - wait - wait. The biggest mistake bar none is the fact the parents left three toddlers alone in a room in a foreign country! Shame on them! I pray for her safe return but I believe the McCanns should be ‘investigated’ as to whether they are suitable parents - not only did they leave three tiny children alone, but they also left them in a country where they do not even speak the language!
What if Maddie had woken up - opened the door - and wondered out? As a foreigner living in Greece - I know that a Greek person would be reluctant to interfer in a foreign child’s wonderings … after all we do werid thing in their eyes … so I’m guessing Portugese would react in a similar way. It must horrify the Portugese that a couple would leave three kids alone - The Brits seem to be skimming over this. Do British parents leave three toddlers in UK alone and nip off to the pub for a quick drink? I don’t think so! These are supposed to be educated people. A couple who left 3 children - kidnapping is an extreme possibilty .. but choking/fires/or just waking and wanting mummy! I would NEVER leave my sleeping 4 yr old and her 8 yr old daughter- not even in her own country in an apartment block full of people we know.
As for Portugese police - all you have to do is read expat forums in Portugal to read exactly want is going on. That’s where you learn the truth. Not from the Sun/Mirror/News of the World -
And finally - why are they not wailing/grieving/screaming/pouring their hearts out/unable to speak to the press …. why is she made up in fetching coloured make up - jewellery - clothes with sunglasses perched on their heads …they look like any other holiday makers - not a couple who have lost their precious 3 yr old. I wonder what the people (the family loving people) of Portugal make of the grieving parents?
May 25th, 2007 at 12:28 am
Also, how shameless are the McMann’s? They are clearly quite affluent and yet they are shamelessly accepting money that they obviously don’t need for the Find Madeleine Fund. If they were really as pious as they claim to be they would redistribute that money to parents of other missing children who, unlike the them, don’t have the financial means to keep looking for their missing young ones.
May 25th, 2007 at 12:20 am
Dr Watson can I circulate your comments to my friends and colleagues here in Australia? They are gold!
This whole case has become a tabloid media saga of epic proportions. And how f***ed up is this…Here in Sydney a young school boy (white, of Anglo Celtic origin and from a middle class suburb) has been missing for 5 days now and believe it or not the abduction of Madeleine on the other side of the planet received infinitely more coverage in the first 5 days after her abduction than the home grown case.
To make matters worse, if the missing boy here was of indigenous or of non English speaking origin it probably wouldn’t have made the news at all. Here’s proof. A few years ago a young girl of Muslim Middle Eastern immigrant parents was abducted from her bed while her parents were in the next room sleeping and while her sister was sleeping a metre away in the same room. It barley made the lead story on the evening news and the little girl’s photo wasn’t plastered on the front pages of every daily paper as is the usual case when a child is abducted in this manner – it on average made around page three. She had the wrong surname, hair and eye color you see. Makes me quite ill.
Although I feel sick at the thought of what abducted children must go through, this case in Portugal has highlighted that the tabloid loving lowest common denominators of popular culture in the English speaking West are a pack of Social Darwinists with very challenged, unegalitarian ideas. The irony is that we think that the rest of the world looks at us in the supposedly enlightened & liberated West with envious eyes. What a croc.
By creating news worthiness hierarchies based on color, creed and class the media keeps perpetuating these challenged beliefs system. Say no more about the power of the media really.
May 24th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
i totally agree with most you can not leave children unattended
no matter where you are i have 2 young children and would never dream of it if you go on holiday as a family you stay together as a family if you want to go out for a meal and drink on your own then go on holiday just as a couple but despite what we all say and i do pray they find maddie alive and well this is something the parents will have to live with for the rest of there lives a very hard lesson in life . and as for peodophiles they should never be allowed to roam anywhere they want it is about time certain laws changed
May 24th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Sonia, that is a hard question to answer: “What if the couple and all involved were of a different creed , colour or class?”.
This particular case is most unusual because it deals with reasonably well-to-do thoroughbred white folk. They’ve gone to great lenngths to tell us every miniscule detail - down to the fact that, yes, they did try for ages to have kids. And they also recently bought a £600,000 home shortly before they went on holiday. Their best buddy put up £100,000 as a reward initially, and it has since become a part of that huge pot fund designed to keep whoever has Madeleine well away from the though of actually returning her safe and sound.
The irony really is that, yes, this is a well-to-do, well paid, middle class family. Yet, the media think they are delivering us what we want to hear, and as much background to this poor reality show-wannabe farce. The flipside, at least in my eyes and certainly the last few posters here, is that in doing this, they have portrayed, very inadvertently, the McCanns as reckless and unfit for parenthood. But because the media is SO determined that they are right, and that us sheep will gobble up any shit they pour down our heartstringed throat, they think compounding this misery with, frankly, abysmal attempts to win our hearts further with ad campaigns and funds will make us pine for “poor little Maddy” even more. But it hasn’t worked on me. I’m seeing right through this bullshit. This IS bullshit. To ask, nay “beg”, for us to sympathise and taking away any decent forums for us to debate this issue on. (See my above posts)
The very fact that the media and co. refer to Madeleine McCann as “Maddy” instantly gives whoever using that nickname a biase toward their reporting. And if that biase is bent toward an opinion, then it ceases to be news. It becomes an “opinion” - and that’s where us sheep don’t make the distinction. Referring to her as “Maddy” Is, at its most basic, consumer manipulation; it imposes on us a sense of “we know this girl well enough to call her Maddy” - the reality is, we know FUCK all about Maddy and should care as such. Just because she’s one of a few hundred thousand British toddlers, doesn’t make her any more sympathetic or any less deniable. She must be found, yes. Preferably alive and well.
But us fucking idiots are SO desperate - always - for answers. We NEED someone to blame. Or at least, in our current “Boo to the Pedo’s!”mentality we think we have to adhere to, we need someone to blame. Our sight is blurred somewhat by the fact that the real ones to blame are the parents of “Maddy”. But I’ve gone into this at great length in previosu posts.
So, what if it was The Chavs instead of the McCanns? Hmmm… well, in the past we’ve had Ian Huntley’s marvellous adventures. That sickened me too. I’m not talking about what he did: rather, how the media treated the whole story. I mean, for Christ’s sake, dressing up two little girl actresses in Man Untied shirts and reenacting the path Wells and Chapman took home on that fateful night? FUCKING HELL. And 1000 people complain about Jerry Springer The Opera offending our sensibilities. What about deliberately staging a very abrupt, ill-concieved and ultimately insulting photoshoot dressed up as a vital exercise designed to find the two girls. Fucking diabolical.
The Chavs in Portugal, I am sure, would have made use of the creche that was available in the apartment, and thus no story would have been told. I can’t believe the McCanns DID NOT utilise the creche nor the babysitter services. Exactly WHAT was the point in the media reporting that aspect of the case to us, the sheep, when really what they want is for us to sympathise. The media have done a terrible, terrible job of THINKING we’ll lap that dilapidated pile of dog semen-flavoured lies. They’ve sacrificed reality and trust in favour of ratings.
The more I write about this, the happier I am - YES, we should report intelligence lacking common sense. Yes, the McCanns have well paid jobs and clearly are intelligent enough to support their own family. But Goddamnit… talk about being intelligent enough to afford to buy the BMW, but not have the common logic to NOT drive it into a lamppost. Absolute fuckwits, no question about it.
But, I digress; the Chavs would be castigated, pubicly flogged and rounded whipped by the media. In fact, I’d be happier if it WERE the chavs, because at least then they wouldn’t be tarnishing the rest of us middle class DECENT parents with the McCann’s stupidity brush.
Face it - the prettier and more tragic and interesting the case in hand, the more likely the vultures at the media will be to pounce on it at once. The more mileage they can get from it, the more LIKELY it is to have a tragic outcome, will sell loads of airtime, get more subscribers and sell more ads. The media, secretly, are hoping “Maddy”’s corpse will turn up afloat, dead, bloated in the nearby resort. They’ll be waiting there for exclusive pictures. Don’t believe me? I work in the media, and they have photographers following people whoa re msot likely to find that poor sod lying down, knickers-round-ankles, and fucked up beyond all recognition.
How many papers are they going to sell if Maddy is returned safe and well?
Answer: About a third as many than if she turned up dead.
If she turns up alive - all well and good - “Exclusive: McCann’s talk about their ordeal - ‘WE’RE HAPPY TO HAVE MADDY BACK HOME’ etc”, with obligatory accompanying shots of all family well and laughing together. The story is headline news for a couple days, all’s well. The End. Sacriligious, libellous, dangerous anti-Pedo lobby silenced, media defeated.
If she turns up dead - media field day “WHO WAS THIS SCUM WOT DID THIS?” - blurred out shots of ‘Maddy’ in a field somewhere looking like Little Red Riding Hood’s alternative ending, blurred out gore - think Saddam dead in his casket after his hanging. Media field MONTH. “For Madeleine” - NAME AND SHAME! Doris G. from Bedford writes “I can’t believe this has happened” - a blow-by-blow account of what must have happened to her, who took her - two days later, we got three new suspects because they work at a nearby cotton factory, ande Maddy was wearing cotton at the time she vanished. “ALIENS TOOK HER - see page 9 for more details”. The story will be in the paper for months; reporters, newscasters and journos will tell us what we’re already thinking, just to amke sure “Oh My God, look at this picture of poor Kate McCann looking distress, and in this closeup, you can see a tear - obviously the sombre thought of the fact she’ll never see her precious angel again is tearing into her”
And you know what, us fucking angry ncompoops will lap it up like the media hungry whores we truly are. Jesus Christ, we’re so helpless at the mercy of our own morbid curiosity about death, life and loss. We need those fucking pictures - because as we all know - there’s nothing better than a BAD fucking day for someone else to make us TRULY feel better and appreciate what we have. We’re so desensitized to violence and doom and gloom anyway, we have to stoop further. We need Kate’s tears, we need the pics of anything and everything “Gerry McCann took a shit today, we talk to the janitor who nailed the turd on the third flush EXCLUSIVE” - we need the details, so next time we watch our own daughter quietly watching children’s TV, and very consciously removed from any of this nonsense, we feel choked up and have a decent excuse to go over and hug her. What fools she must think we all are.
But what do we take away from this event? What, truly, do we learn from what we’re consuming in the media? Here’s what we’ve learnt.
1: Don’t leave your toddlers - all of them - in a strange place for ANY period of time, in (what transpired to be) an unclocked GROUND FLOOR apartment.
2: It’s always advisable, legally, to not compound the liklihood of having your children kidnapped by putting a neon sign out your apartment saying “They’s here, back in half an hour. Love K&G x” with a big flashing disco arrow pointing to a window.
3: In the event of a kindapping, DO go public with your unhappiness toward the foreign poilice force with the ironic statement “They’ve not been looking after us properly”. Heaven Help Us…
4: DO pander to media requirements that you must be seen to go to Church to pray for the return of your daughter. A nice, heartwarming message for those of us media consumers with an IQ that is smaller than our shoe size. A big laugh-out-loud, forehead-slapping desperate last-resort to those of us who at least can complete tThe BEano crossword in udner 20 minutes.
5: Make a borderline embarrassing music video to raise awareness in case someone stops her. Simple Minds is a good ‘un. The key factor here is it only “seemed” like a good idea at the time. In terms of the odds, they’re not good - for every, say, 100,000 people who’ve had to sit through that video - perhaps 12 have only ever been to Portugal, and fewer than half would know where Portugal is on a map. And 25% of those would only know where it is on a map because England plays football there sometimes. IN TERMS of the abducotrs - yet ONE MORE GOOD reason to NOT hand her back - a fear of high profile public execution awaits you. It makes it all the more difficult for you to hand her back. Even if you merely “found” her. (See previous psots)
Things do not at all look very good for Madeleine right now. She has been dealt an enormous, some may say Biblical injustice (no irony intended, Kate) by her parents. I’m sure they feel terrible. I’m glad. I don’t think it’s enough that they feel terrible.
If Maddy is found alive (and hopefully well) then I genuinely hope those bastard parents of hers don’t ever have the opportunity to care for her again. They’re clearly unfit as parents. If she’s not found alive and well… then, fair enough, that’s punishment enough. Either way, common sense not only evades the McCanns at the best of times, but this time, it dictates that it won’t work out well for the McCanns either way.
But then when has common sense ever prevailed in stories - and they are stories after all - such as these?
May 24th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Can I say I have had somewhat of a change of heart and that my sympathy towards the McCann’s has completely waned. How can they gallivant about Portugal’s holy sites in what is a brazenly hypocritical display of piousness? If they were as truly as religious as they pretend to be they wouldn’t have left their toddlers alone while they went out to have some fun. The Bible specifically states that children should be revered above all else. I truly think this manipulative couple is in damage control mode as they know they F*** BIG TIME and now they are putting on a pious face for the media in between hiring campaign managers, consulting with lawyers, showcasing their astute media savvyness, oh and yes, wanting to find their little girl. I read with interest that the McCann’s tried desperately for years to have children. One would think that they should have revered their children a little more then. Hmmmm – it all smells a bit foul to me.
I’d also like to repost some questions I asked on May 11 @ 12.32am and May 12 @ 9.46am…
Can we also spare a thought for the countless other children around the globe who have been stolen. Why isn’t the same attention being given to each and every one of these cases?
Do any of you think that the reaction to Madelein’s abduction would have been the same if she was an English child of Black, Middle Eastern or Asian origin regardless of the class, professions and affulence of the parents??
May 24th, 2007 at 12:30 am
Thanks for that salutation! Unfortunately we have to come here to say what we think, well away from the safeharbour of common sense that is CNN, the BBC, The Sun etc.
You’re absolutely right that the media is milking this reality-TV-on-Paper cash cow. You know what, I think the flywheels at the rags, TV Stations etc *secretly* want this case to have an unhappy ending. I think they want this so that the proles DO come away more ignorant, the McCann’s come away with ample opportunity to show their upset, distressed and helpless faces on their front pages for at least three days - for the “lynch-a-pedo” mob to have yet another excuse to continue their misguided and misspelt reign on “them monstaz”.
The next big step for them would be the eventual capture of the “Monster” who swiped down and snatched “poor little angel Madeleine” from her room. They could flog him publicly on Live TV - something I’m sure Rupert Murdoch would have Bill O’Reilly sanction on Fox News. We’re all headed seemlessly, and without any uncertainty, to a live Televised execution on TV anyway. It’s only a matter of months — er, actually, MONEY. With Big Brother, reality shows and “For Sarah” campaigns, the social consciousness is only as good as the media it consumes. And if the media are a bunch of flag waving, self-absorbed money spinners wanting to make a quick buck out of the general public by feeding off their inherent “glad this ain’t happening to us” fears, then we deserve the consequences of everything we believe from them.
But you know, all this media attention, and the huge sum of money offered for the return of Madeleine… well, let’s put it this way: imagine if YOU had Madeleine right now. You took her. Would you really give her back now??? And if you had a change of heart, how would you go about doing it? Drop her into the middle of a supermarket? Drop her off at a gas station? Or Hand her to the poilice? Or the McCann’s? Well, obviously you wouldn’t hand her back to the McCann’s - because I’m sure you, as would the guy who took her, wouldn’t be THAT fucking stupid.
Obviously you’re not gonna walk into a police station. And quite clearly she’s too young to navigate her way home from a supermarket - so you’d be relying on someone there to find her and take her back.
But let’s spin this another way. What if - WHAT IF - you were out walking and found madeleine just walking around. You’ve found her. YOU have found her! What would you do? I dunno about you, but my very very frist thought upon accepting it was her would be “Oh Fuck, I found her. Er… right what do I now? Shit, if I go to the police, or the media, or wherever… shit, I’M GONNA BE A SUSPECT! They’re gonna harang me till the day I die. I’m gonna be crucified in the press if I say “Uh, I jsut found her” to which the response would be “Yeah, right, sir! Come with us”. The authorities would raid your house, take your computer and expose all the harmless porn you downloaded from your Temporary Itnernet Files and your wife would find out. The media would make sure of that.
The Media (especially the right wing) may take the slant that YOU had her and wouldn’t buy your story. BEfore you know it, you’d get fired. You;’d be castigated. And on one morning, approximately three weeks from the day you handed her safely back to the authorities, you’d wake up and discover you have the word “PAEDOPHILE” daubed in red spray paint all over the front of your house.
Do you see now why those who have her are probaly very, very reluctant to give her back? The McCann’s today in the press said they’re doing all this to keep the profile high as can be. I think, in doing that, that they’re keeping her even farther from being found safe and alive as possible.
So, you got her… you’re kinda fed up with having her around and going to great lengths from being found. You’re at a point where you wish you could go back and not take her in the first place. You could hand her back… or, you could save yourself all that attention make the whole ’situation’ disappear. Permanently. I think you know what that means.
Fuck… do you think William Hill will let me cancel my bet?
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:50 pm
Dr Watson….I salute you.
I have been having a very similar argum….discussion with some delightfully charming ladies elsewhere on this site, and it heartens me to read that there are other (seemingly!) sane people out there who see this case for what it undoubtedly is.
For Team McCan’t it has become a guilt driven scramble to find more air miles, sorry - I mean their child. They have acted neglectfully in their care for their three children, yet the great, free press that we supposedly have (bet they wish they had The Mail in Baghdad, eh) have not questioned why this has been allowed to occur.
For the Media this has become a cash cow from which they can milk pennies from the Proles, wishing to have some reality TV that is a bit ‘more’ real. Their reporting has at best been shambolic and have contributed to the public persecution of two individuals who are innocent until proven otherwise.
For the readers of the Daily Tripe or whatever…. this has become either a chance to blame those filthy foreigners/those dirty paedos/anyone who doesnt wear a yellow ribbon OR the new Diana.
I am unable to find any answers to the following quetions -
Why is this case recieving so much attention in comparison to all other child disappearance cases?
What good has this campaign actually done?
Would this case recieve as much attention if it was the Khan family from Tower Hamlets on a package holiday to Benidorm?
May 23rd, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Oh yes, I almost forgot to say…thank god other people are now coming on here and saying it as it is. For a while there I thought I was the only one who thought that way!
May 23rd, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Precisely what I was saying (21st May at 11.32pm). When will someone in the media spotlight stand up and say it publicily?
May 23rd, 2007 at 2:30 am
dr. watson. agree with everything u wrote. briliant
May 23rd, 2007 at 2:16 am
I can’t believe what I’m reading here. The majority of all these posts are advocating the chemical castration of these “monsters”. But you have to consider the consequences - we’ll be forking out valuable tax money to help these “Monsters” deal with depression. Chemically castrating them is not a viable option. And certainly the barbaric Americanised “cure” of state-sponsored murder is not the way to go.
I am *really* sick and angry reading these posts. The real solution here is a mixture of THREE things. Ready for the truth? Here goes:
1: It is the media’s duty to our society to NOT report non-newsworthy items. If there is no real significant update to the McCann case, then you should NOT report anything. At this moment in time, the only thing I would consider newsworthy from the media is if they found the abductor - or at the very least a very strong lead. Look what happened to that poor scapegoat Brit who lived only a few doors down. The media feel need to milk this situation for all its worth. It’s dangerous. When you have reporters standing around bringing us “breaking news” that is neither “news” nor “breaking”, you get a very dangerous thing happen: they start to give *their( opinion on things. And that’s what ruins the bipartisan reporting. Just the other day on the BBC, we had a 7 minute update: about forty seconds of “not much goin’ here” and the rest saying “How the McCann’s must be feeling now is terrible”. Well, DUH. We’re human beings watching the news, we have feelings and emotions (at least those of us who don’t wish castration and.or death on fellow humans.
2: Peadophiles are NOT monsters. Okay, they are human beings with severe sociable defects. Not a popular statement, I am sure. But what I’m trying to say is that name-calling on message boards, on the news etc is NOT going to help get their little girl back. Do not get me wrong, I condemn paedophilia, paedophiles and their sick fascination with children. But is punishment really the answer? I happen to think that everyone suggesting punishment as “the answer” is actually sort of defeatist. Punishment occurs AFTER the heinous crime of child molestation. People try to prevent themselves from getting cancer, not trying to cure themselves AFTER they get it. No, the real “cure” for paedophiles, surely, must be *before* they commit the crime. And herein lies the problem with our attitude.
There is simply NOT enough being done to *help* paedophiles. We have gun amnesties. We have knife amnesties. We offer potential tax frauds the opportunity to submit themselves before a deadline. Seriously, think about this, if you suspected you were a paedophile, who would you turn to to stop yourself from acting on your deranged impulses and desires? This is not a “Hug-A-Hoodie” quagmire - it’s a reasnoable solution, I think. I do believe in my heart of hearts that paedophiles genuinely wish they could NOT be paedophiles. If they could swallow a red pill and be “cured” of their lust, I am sure life would be a lot easier for them, and their ill thoughts and sleepless nights could be gone. It’s like being the idiot kid at school. I’m sure if they could, they would rid themselves of their unfortunate position.
I would really like to see posters, advertising campaigns, TV commercials etc advertising the fact that if you think you may be heading toward being the next Ian Huntley - or even harbour some weird fetishistic desire to have a group orgy with the Seven Dwarves - that you have an anynmous hotline that is there to help. I am SURE it would be a popular way to help paedophiles to help themselves. I am SURE, also, it would prevent many more Madeleines from being adbucted. I am SURE, 100%, that if it so much as stopped one more child from being taken from their parents, then it would be worthwhile. Don’t refer to paedophiles as monsters. Their crime, as the media and your friends would have you believe, is more heinous than Hitler gassing upwards of ten millino jews. Their real crime is that “chemically” they find something sexually attractive that you and I find needs to be protected and nutured. Calling them monsters pushes them farther into the shadows, and adds yet another reason to get off on their “so-illegal-and-outrageous -it’s-more-fun” adventures. Let’s bring them out. Let’s get them treatment. Let’s stop the infection before we have to cut “it” off.
3: … and boy oh boy this one won’t be popular. STOP - and I do mean NOW - saying “Right now we need to channel our energy into finding little Madeleine - let’s not say anything harsh toward the parents, they’re going through a tough time enough”. That is really the last straw with me.
Usually when a news story breaks out on the BBC news website, they include a “Have Your Say” column ont he right hand pane: “Blair to Stand Down on June 27″ - Have Your Say - “Doris G from Soton says - ‘I think he’s lovely’ etc. I notice with great alarm that they have chosen to play a safe hand and NOT have a “Have Your Say” on this McCann fiasco. Why? Because A: they can’t afford to have wisecrackers like me go there and say “It’s their fault” becausr that would harm their slant on the whole story, and B: a lot of people like me evidentally feel the same way I do:- The parents of Madeleine are undeniably going through a very tough time - but they have bestowed an outrageously irresponsible fate on their “precious” daughter. The parents of Madeleine ARE to blame for whom this sick individual is who sntached her from them.
“Pointless” and “easily avoided” are two phrases I would use to describe the actions of these two six-figure-earning, highly-regardied intelligent GPs. Just goes to show, does it not - intelligence without common sense leads to, well… headline news about intelligence lacking common sense. The McCanns are entirely to blame. I am well aware that people do have fits of madness from time to time. You may have left your front door unlocked, your GPS in an unlocked gloved compartment, or your mobile phone on the drinks machine at Nando’s - fair enough, we are all aghast when we do something idiotic in “a moment of madness”. But to purposely leave your THREE toddlers, ALL of whoma re under the age of FOUR - YES, FOUR! - then there is something seriously suspect about your parenting abilities.
It is this attitude that the McCann’s are not to blame (or they sort of are, but we shouldn’t tear them a new one just yet) that has led to this GOD-AWFUL Simple Minds “Don’t You Forget About Me” two minute movie trailer that we’re seeing at our football matches and TV events and, most awkwardly, this new “fund” set up to keep the McCanns on holid– er, I mean, on the hunt for their child. The famous who ahve donated have obviously done so to show they care, for the princely sum of whatever they’ve donated; a fraction of what they earn per hour for some blatant publicity - so the next time you’re browsing through the CDs at HMV, you eventually hit the “U” sections and think “Oh Bono, making poverty history AND wanting that little girl back”. Well, DUH! Apart from the obvious predators, who the Hell DOESN’T want Madeleine returned safe and sound. It’s so obvious as to be redundant. If we’re not supposed to be debating (Yes, “Debating” as opposed to “sticking up for”) the MCCann’s actions, simply because we identify them as the prototypical career couple we all strive to emulate, then why do we all feel guilty so as to spell out what every other bugger here say: “I think we should concentrate on finding her first”.
NO, I say - and thrice NO! The McCann’s have made an almost inhuman (some may say “monsterous”) miscalculation and have messed up big time. Their kid has gone missing. It boils my blood to see people struggling witht he fact that they’re ABSOLUTELY GUILTY of negligence. Gross, willful negligence. It angers me so much that I have to come HERE to say all this, and am not afforded the opportunity where someone worth a hoot while be reading this.
SHOULD Madeleine be returned untouched, unharmed and unscathed (which, let’s face it, is bursting the bubble of reality - and that’s putting it nicely) then the McCann’s should be arrested on the spot and face charges of negligence toward ALL THREE of their children. I am deadly serious. In fact, who’s to say the remaining un-abducted children they still have in their “care” are safe? If I found Madeleine, I would be VERY reluctant to hand her back to THEM. I would hand her to the authorities and seriously advise them to think about where she’s going back to - two thick-as-plank socialites who’d rather leave their three toddlers in a locked, targetted GROUND FLOOR apartment that they CANNOT see from whichever bistro they’ve decided to amuse themselves in.
It beggars belief, it really does.
Let’s put it this way. Let’s say, instead of Madeleine being abducted, that her and her two siblings were brunt to the bloody ground while her parents were out. The McCann’s would be torn a new one by you, and the media. And by me. The irony is, the torture would have been less prolonged.
The lasting irony is that whoever has her now is doing a DAMNED good job at watching her.
That is all.
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:09 pm
I agree with a lot of people out there and someone who wrote on May 21st at 11.32pm. I to am a single parent of 2 girls and have never once left my children on their own as little kids. I would never have thought about it as I brought them into this world to love and cherish and look after whatever may be. I to think that the McCans (Mr & Mrs) should be arrested on their return to England. I’m fed up of hearing people say its not fair to judge until you have been in the same position, well myself like many others i’m sure have been in similar positions whereas you are asked to go out for a few drinks but are unable to find or afford a babysitter so instead stay in for your kids sake!!!! I hope they never recover from this ordeal and suffer like hell now and in the future for what they have done to Madeline. I feel so much for this little girl and wish I could help, she is always in my thoughts and will not forget her. Sweet dreams little Angel xxxx
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:00 am
we all make mistakes unfortunately the mc canns will regret this 1 4 the rest of there lives but who r we to judge them theres not 1 person out there who has never made a mistake .this mistake has cost them their precious daughter and they are very much paying the price 4 that now so please lets not pass judgement and give them all the support we can to keep them strong and get madeline home safe and well. Gerry and kate my heart goes out 2 you both and madeline, you are doing an excellent job holding it together keep strong maddie needs you i hope you be reunited soon lots of love to you all i wear my yellow ribbon 4 maddie and send prayers and love to her 2 i only hope the prayers get answered but never underestimate the power of a prayer xxxx Rachel
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:39 am
I pray 4 u every night madeline and hope you come home soon i wear my yellow ribbon every day 4 u sweetheart and have shed many tears. LOTS OF LOVE AND KISSES XXXX. Let this be a wake up call 4 every 1 out there and never stop looking. if the police got there act together in the 1st place madeline might of been found. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE if you have madeline leave her in a safe place its not right you take her from her family shes only a little girl you must remember when you were little look after her and please dont hurt her if your out there reading this PLEASE HAVE A HEART ALL OVER THE WORLD ALL HEARTS ARE BREAKING BECAUSE OF MADELINE SO we beg of you BRING MADELINE HOME SAFE .
May 21st, 2007 at 11:54 pm
i hope and pray every day 4 maddie to have a safe return home. i think the parents are to blame no1 in the right mind leaves three children that are under the age of 3 yrs old on there on. im a mother myself and i would never leave my 5 yr old child alone even if im popping out next door. altough i still have sympathy for the parents, my deepest sympathy is for maddie who must be frightened and confused.
god bless maddie and i hope shes in a safe place and the person/people are treating her well.
May 21st, 2007 at 11:32 pm
I’m sorry, am I missing something or has the world gone mad?
The parents of Madeline McCann were at the best grossly negligent and at worst responsible for killing her, because let’s face it the chances of her being found alive are less than slim.
All this false sympathy is sickening. If this had been the child of an unemployed, single parent from a Council estate the press would have crucified the mother (or father) by now. Instead, because these are so called educated, respectable people with good professions, it is apparently alright for them (and their friends) to leave three toddlers (and various other chidren) unattended in a foreign country while they went out for the evening.
Well I’m sorry, and someone has to say this: “It is not alright”.
The parents should be prosecuted and the other children should be put into care, until homes can be found for them with responsible parents who do not abandon them to go out on a jolly!
When you choose to have children, you have to make sacrifices. If you haven’t got a babysitter…YOU DON’T GO OUT!
rant over!!
May 20th, 2007 at 1:39 am
Obrigada Bonnie for the kind words in defense of Portugal. Ive said it millions of times, everyone has Maddie in their hearts but as time goes by, there are English people who are going out of their way to make the Portuguese loathe them. WE ARE THE OLDEST ALLIANCE ON EARTH 4 HEAVENS SAKE. ENGLAND HAS HAD A PORTUGUESE QUEEN! (we werent backward when it came to her substantial dowry, were we?)DO ANY OF THESE PEOPLE THINK THAT THEIR ONGOING BIGOTRY IS ANY SERVICE TO MADDIE? please stop before too much damage is done.If the English hate us so much, why dont they go holiday somewhere else….like Argentina? I hear its lovely over there. God forgive my rant and bless Maddie, but enough is enough.
May 19th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
I have been reading some of the comments, one person said, the first blunder was vacationing in such a backward country, you must be English, i am canadian and i have been vacationing in the algarve area of portugal for 25 years, when my kids were small and now they go there too, and never had a problem, but than i never left my kids alone, to go have dinner, who does that, 3 small children, alone, its neglect. simple.
No Parent in the right mind, goes anywhere and leaves their children alone to have dinner, its unheard of. ultimately the responsibility of this missing child is the parents, no doubt they are heart broken, but what were they thinking, my prayer are with them, and i pray, she is found safe and sound. and that no one hurt her. but this is a wake up call for all you parents who go holidaying, keep your children close. this is a weird world.
May 19th, 2007 at 2:21 am
A poem from the heart.
As tall as i am im short on words,
As loud as i am im often not heard,
As happy as i seem i often cry alone,
As wise as i am i know little,
In the darkness of things there is light ans as week as i am no one prepared me for the strength i would feel when you love someone and they love you,
As strong as i am no one prepared me for being a mom,
Thank You God…….
I pray for maddies safe return.
May 19th, 2007 at 12:16 am
In the UK, if parents leave young children alone in the house they are committing a crime and can be prosecuted. If the McCann’s hadn’t left a 3 year old infant on her own would this really have happened?
May 18th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
whoever has got maddie wants to give her back she isnt yours she wants her mummy and daddy maddy is still a baby whoever has got her put her in a safeplace where she can be found please give her back to her parents ,she wants to go home and put a end to this I PRAY FOR HER SAFE RETURN.
May 18th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Why let thease sicko,s live a life 4 a life , thay do there time then thay get out to start there sick lifes again,thay ave new lifes for them layed on a plate. THERES NO JUSTICE IN ANY OF THIS ATALL, AN AS FOR MADDIE, why was she left on her own, to me thats neglect the mcanns r adults, thay should of never thought of there stomachs 1st, i feel so much bitter inside, theres people out there that cant ave children, so why r the macanns,allowed to get away with such NEGLECT, i ave 6 children of my own, and ave never left my children alone, my heart goes out to them for there loss, but my anger will always remain. MADDIE WE HOPE AND PRAY FOR YOUR SAFE RETURN.YOU AVE A FACE OF A ANGEL.AND WE ALL LOVE U.
May 18th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
i no im only 11 years old but i wish maddie the best of luk on geting home