Madeleine McCann: Colette Douglas Home Spreads The Fear And Inside Irvine Welsh
MADDIE WATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann, Kate McCann, Gerry McCann
THE HERALD: “Do you want to see every parent in the dock?”
It’s Colette Douglas Home, professional Maddie opinion giver. And to answer her question: yes. Fingerprint them, photograph them and question them for 42 days. Only the guilty have anything to fear.
Fear:
You’ve got to admit, they shouldn’t have left the children unattended and gone out to dinner.” It was a colleague talking to me about Kate and Gerry McCann. He went on: “We go on holiday with a big group of friends but we’d never do that. We put the wee ones to bed and eat downstairs.”
“And do you check on them every half hour?”
“Yes. Well, we send the teenagers to do the checking.”
Fear:
I wonder if he realises how fortunate he has been. If something terrible had happened, can you imagine the headlines? They would probably say something like: “Teenagers checked on missing toddler while parents partied.”
Yeah, who cares that the children have been eaten by alligators, fallen down the plughole or hit the minibar and suffocated in their own vomit – it’s the media’s reaction to it that matters most.
And what of the McCanns, Colette’s favourite subject:
I imagined the fact that Kate and Gerry McCann are doctors would stand them in some regard, since they spend their lives trying to help others. I was wrong. I thought the clear evidence from family photographs that Madeleine was a happy, well-cared-for child would demonstrate that leaving her unsupervised was an aberration, not the norm. But I didn’t allow for jealousy and resentment.
Maybe people are just bored of the McCanns? But Colette cannot face that possibility:
So let’s think about that call for prosecution. If the McCanns are to stand in the dock, who should stand beside them? We can start with those who were on the same holiday and who didn’t hire a babysitter. Then what about all the other couples who have stayed at that or any family-friendly holiday village where they felt safe enough to leave the children unattended while they ate? What about people who eat in the garden on hot summer evenings while their children sleep in the house? What about parents who sleep indoors, maybe one night a year, while their kids sleep in a tent? If we apply these standards, the courts would be jam-packed.
What about them? The McCanns are not being prosecuted child neglect, child abandonment, nor for any other crime.
THE SCOTSMAN: “Crime and Punishment - Irvine Welsh”
Dave Robinson is in Saughton jail. For crimes againt journalism. Ho-ho:
I’M WALKING behind the Famous Author. He’s wearing trainers, a T-shirt, an expensive-looking grey-green leather jacket and is carrying a plastic bag. As I follow him, I’m thinking that the way people walk tells you something about them. The Famous Author walks like a fighter: self-confident, disciplined, head up. He doesn’t walk like a 50-year-old, though in a couple of months he will be one.
How close behind Welsh is Robinson? Close enough to smell him?
Welsh has written a book called Crime, HMP Edinburgh. But he nearly didn’t:
He’s talked to child-abuse survivors’ groups and handles the subject with uncommon sensitivity – so much so, in fact, that he gave up writing the book altogether when the Madeleine McCann story first broke. “Even approaching the subject tangentially seemed frivolous and stupid.”
His is work of fiction, the McCann case is one of fact. What has one to do with the other? The McCann case is a touchstone for a writer’s book, a stepping stone on the PR drive.
Posted: 29th, July 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Madeleine McCann, Tabloids Comments (494) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
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July 29th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Elena Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Jo,
That is very extravagant and wasteful of you.Must play havoc with your dry cleaning bills.
*******
I have the luxury to have people who take care of me and even of my bills.They pay ALL my expenses
I truly do not know how much I spend but you can get in touch with my Fund administrator if you like?
Where are you in the UK,in Ireland,in Germany,Greece…..?you can bill the call on my account,no problem and from wherever you are.If you are shy, skype is fair enough
Totally free from charges
July 29th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
dear m&a
i have been posting for ages now and not one of mine has gone missing as yet.
i also still have all the post numbers and my clock is correct, along with the little pictures of the posters which i like so much, like when gandolph’s shows a nice, intricately crafted ‘ZZZ’ along side his name, and the lovely little ‘petrol soaked rag and box of matches’ effect on the one belonging to branson flowers.
hope this new ‘upgrade’ isn’t going to spoil it for me too much.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
GuessWho Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
If you scroll back through today’s post you should find a a degree of
confirmation about one of those that you mention being a multi.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
And in the left corner with a silly grin on her face, and eggs in her pocket, we have … Jo
In the right corner, with pen in hand, we have ….. C&C
SECONDS OUT!! Round No. 2 ……
July 29th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
coolandcalm
I love your “granny tone of voice” like
I am a very naughty grown up ,not a child.
Children are NOT nasty like some grown ups I know
July 29th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Jo,
That is very extravagant and wasteful of you.Must play havoc with your dry cleaning bills.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Ah!! Dear m.e.into every life a little rain must fall:
agw
no offence but you do give the impression of being firmly implanted up your own arse.
Administrator: None taken. You are quite right m.e.. Kick, scream, and release your bowel contents on the floor.
We are well equipped and extremely well-used to to dealing with insufferable little shits here.
Your last remark rather shows the mistrust and wariness shown by the Moderators and spam trawls was fully justified in your case.
Wasn’t it my old leaky-trousered matey? -agw.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
GuessWho : will give you a quick lesson on smileys a bit lata when you return
(Easiest way is to put your cursor onto any smiley done by a poster and it should show you how to do it
)
July 29th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Okay AGW,
Point taken. It has gotten a bit tired hasn’t it. No more promise!
July 29th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Agw
“We don’t throw eggs at each other on the way home”
I do! I love it! excellent sport,to quote Âde
July 29th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Julie
July 29th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
____________________
Julie,
You seem to be a nice person. Thank you. It happened many moons ago, so don’t worry, I got over it. Sometimes bad things happen.
How do you make the smileys?
Yes they as well as many other holidaymakers (which doesn’t make it right) left their children alone. If they hadn’t maybe they wouldn’t be asking now “What if I hadn’t” though I believe if there was an abductor he/she/they would have found another opportunity to get what he/she/they wanted. Yet it happened, nothing can change that. They have to live with it. But if that’s all they did (or didn’t do) what would you like a prosecutor/judge to do? Or what would you like these parents to do?
Re my name: you’re welcome to guess but I choose it a couple of nights ago when some people seemed to be obsessed about multiposters and they were guessing whether Maria was CoolandCalm or Gandolf or Cherry etc.
Bye
July 29th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
_______
chenier Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Rhett Butler strikes again…
___________
But tomorrow is another day…
July 29th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
hi Mel
July 29th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Oh dear! Bye m.e !!
July 29th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
everyone - DUCK !!!!!!!!!!!
July 29th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
agw
no offence but you do give the impression of being firmly implanted up your own arse.
Administrator: None taken. You are quite right m.e.. Kick, scream, and release your bowel contents on the floor.
We are well equipped and extremely well-used to to dealing with insufferable little shits here.
Your last remark rather shows the mistrust and wariness shown by the Moderation was fully justified in your case. Wasn’t it my old leaky-trousered matey? -agw.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I see you just_me
July 29th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Oh Jo…. you are so very wrong if you think you piss me off. I love it when you show everyone your true self. I don’t however see you as grown-up at all… I see your IQ as being more at home on the George thread.
………………………
Stig….. like a mosquito buzzing around. Hard to ignore but so easy to splat.
…………………………..
June…. I lost a post to another thread…. sadly I can’t remember what time or even what thread actually! It disappeared and I had to do something else so I forgot about it.
M and A
from one dotty ole Essex girl to another - oh bugger,
ok we have informed the webmaster, wasn’t yesterday was it? Anorak said one disappeared right in front of him
July 29th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Maz says:
“The damages Robert Murat was awarded were nothing like enough to compensate for the hell he and his family were put through by the McCanns, the press and the fools who believed their nonsense.”
Hopefully what he collects from the Tapas2 (or more) will provide a little more relief.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Elena asks of a Moderator:
M and A said,
No, no one said they were, but if you are defending peoples finer feelings why not the antis as well? the word Mccannland was developed as a direct reply to Anorakland which was submitted by someone as an insult. Sauce for the goose? as well as the gander
Ok we shall start again, when we say stop we mean stop, not debate , stop. Especially over identities.
—————————————————————————————-
As I said, I didn’t know that it was wrong to try and guess who the new mod was. Had I been even given a hint earlier I wouldn’t have persued it. I didn’t see JJ’s remark until I had posted the second last comment.
I don’t have a problem with defending the feelings of so called antis. I don’t see them as monsters, just people whose views are different to mine and I respect that. In the real world, lets face it what makes an evening interesting is a good lively debate among friends. We don’t throw eggs at each other on the way home.
At any rate we have both said our piece and I resect your decision as moderator as I am sure you respect my right to defend myself.
Administrator: I have already expressed my view on this and Elena persists.
It may help if I outline a little of the Moderator role for you all.
It was always envisaged that Moderators would be free to develop their own style and concentrate on areas of the site particularly appealing to them. We also welcome suggestions from them (and everyone else) for new features and areas of activity.
For many good posters the Moderator role is restrictive. It becomes a bit like the classic definition of Stress.
Stress:
The condition induced by having to be reasonable and polite to some pure- bred-ass-hole who richly deserves to have the living daylights choked right out of them….and choked right out now.
The Moderators can get that feeling but can not take part in full debate because of the restrictions of the task. We have no wish to restrict good posters and there are at least three who have assumed names for the Moderator roles they carry out.
Questions or guessing as to who and what they are are futile since very few of us know and we get terminal memory failure and a blue screen when asked.
Elena….I enjoy your posts I think you are capable of bringing a lot to Anorak.
Don’t be boring because then it gets brought to my attention.
When that happens… I will sort it. Ask around, you’ll find it’s true
July 29th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
agw
SHE?
Administrator: I do beg your pardon I was multi-tasking and three posts ahead.
She/he/cross-gender it makes no difference the …frankly m.e., dear I don’t give a damn, is still too good a line to miss. -agw
July 29th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Jo
“Dont worry,be happy”
I very recently saw Bobby McFerrin in concert and I smiled a lot, let me assure you!
July 29th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Maz
OLEEEEEeeeeee!
From the nasty grown up
July 29th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
No gremlins in the ones removed yesterday. mine was removed.no explanation.
We’ll just have to agree on no evidence and mods are cleared of any involvement.
Mods and Admin
Untrue, you were told to NOT discuss paedophilia, you chose to ignore us.
You have been allowed back , the post that went today disappeared , it was not removed.
Agw? she? er no a he, and perfectly charming, easy to get along with, unless you choose to piss him off
July 29th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
I seem to remember Gerry referring to Robert Murat as a “sad loner”, which he clearly is not. This does not seem fair minded and neutral, but is in itself a loaded statement hinting that the guy is a weirdo who might fit the “profile” of an abductor/child molester. Colin Stagg and Barry George were called “sad loners”. Stagg, if you remember, was also in the frame because of a “profile” provided by a psychologist.
I don’t know much about the “profile” of Robert Murat that was produced, but I cannot see anything about him that would make him fit the profile of a person who would harm a child. To me he always seemed like a handy scapegoat, an ordinary, decent man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. In trying to help, he would have had no notion that someone with a vivid imagination could liken him to Ian Huntley! There but for the grace of God….
After all the pain and misery caused to so many innocent people, I hope that someone can sleep at night.
I remember discussing Robert Murat on one of these threads. I don’t know how may people defended him but I was certainly one. Never for a moment did I believe he was involved in taking Madeleine and I posted my views on this site many, many times until I got bored with repeating myself and stopped posting.
The damages Robert Murat was awarded were nothing like enough to compensate for the hell he and his family were put through by the McCanns, the press and the fools who believed their nonsense.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
GuessWho Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
____________________
That’s a very sad story GuessWho
However, I wouldn’t put Madeleine’s sad story in the category of “What if I hadn’t…”.
FACT is, they did! ….. left three small children alone, and now one has been missing for over a year. If they hadn’t, they wouldn’t be asking now “What if I hadn’t…”.!
BTW … are we meant to be guessing who you are
July 29th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
coolandcalm Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Stig…… best ignore Jo. She is just like an attention seeking child; the more she thinks she has an audience the sillier and nastier she gets.
and she expected us to take her seriously?
******
I a m nasty grown up child and I am glad you dont take me seriously as long as you are very pissed off,as you are ,its FINE with me
Stiggie
Dont worry,be happy
Dont grin! SMILE
http://bp1.blogger.com/_w-8JKaTohe4/SGPWesfOWmI/AAAAAAAAKQ0/vsoQz65g25E/s1600-h/it_has_been_suggested.jpg
July 29th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Rhett Butler strikes again…
July 29th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Mods and Admin
Disappearing posts
If we remove a post its obvious and we say why, if people persist on a topic then we remove and don’t say.
There have been posts disappearing, it isn’t Admin, its isnt us, the next in chain of command is Deity, he said it wasn’t him, so that leave gremlins…
Its GREMLINS
July 29th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
CC
I do agree! However her gaff was such I just couldn’t let it go