My turn on the McCanns

Everyone and his uncle are putting the boot into the McCanns and so for what it's worth - not much! - this is my opinion on some aspects of the tragedy.

I refuse to speculate on their guilt or innocence for the simple reason that I do not know and given the heinous nature of the crime I would hesitate to accuse anyone of it (and that includes Mr. Murat) without some very compelling evidence.  I should add that, as I write, I have seen and read nothing that I would describe as 'compelling'.

However, I would say that the McCanns suffer with some very large problems when it comes to the presentation of their characters and personalities to the GBP (Great British Public).  They are middle-class, for a start; apparently happily married, which is not good; they are fairly well-heeled because they are both doctors, which is worse; but absolutely worst of all, they are practising Christians.  All of these characteristics are designed, by a malignant fate, one might think, to bring down on their heads the wrath, the envy and the spite of many of my fellow subjects who hate and despise those aspects of a life they find totally alien.

There is one other aspect of the McCanns behaviour that adds extra hatred to the mob's mass pathology in this post-Diana age, and that is the fact that they are stoical.  Where are the tears, the mob demands to know, where is the raw emotion, why can't they behave like, er, you know, 'Big Bruvver'?  But the McCanns do not do that, instead they go to church!

If events prove that the McCanns are indeed guilty of this monstrous crime then I would have no hesitation in hanging them immediately after the courts had settled the matter.  However, that would not alter by one iota the opinions I have expressed above.

Comments

[N.I.B.]

Oh for God's sake, talk about trying to have your cake and eat it. It would have been better to say *nothing at all*, rather than project your personal beefs onto this sorry tale. As it stands, you're just as bad as the 'the mob' you presume to criticise.

[David Duff]

Oh God! Just when you think you've shaken off the flu, back it comes!

Welcome back, 'NIB', er, I think!

[N.I.B.]

I've been saving myself for the next time you found a new low - and this post was it.

[David Duff]

Phew! Thank goodness I didn't disappoint you, 'NIB', that would have been too, too ... er ... something ...

[N.I.B.]

Is that all you can manage?

[Elmer Quigley Gooseburger]

Mr Duff.

It is neither the McCanns' "class", nor their perceived wealth which is the source of so much discontent with the masses.

Nor is it the fact that they are (happily??) married, nor is it their (new found?) religious persuasion.

What really gets up the noses of many people is the McCanns' ongoing insistence that what they did, in leaving three babies unattended in an unlocked apartment (of which, they had no meaningful view) was "within the bounds of responsible parenting"; that they are "very, very (as opposed to the singular "very" or the plain, unvarnished) responsible parents"; and that they will "continue their search for Madeleine", when there is no evidence whatsoever that they began any meaningful search in the first place.

When the McCanns spout brazen and demonstrable deceit such as that listed above, it is hardly surprising that people able to think for themselves will question what else they are prepared to lie about.

The McCanns are an effront to decent parents everywhere, and have earned, unaided, the contempt of many people.

Whether the McCanns are guilty of a crime in relation to Madeleine's disappearance or demise, (beyond that of any demonstrable crime under Portuguese law relating to child abandonment) remains to be seen.

The odds however, are stacking against them and if what is currently being leaked to or reported to the press is even half-way true, they will have their day in Court.

[N.I.B.]

Oh why bother with occam's razor stuff Elmer? You know, and I know, that David is cravenly using the case of a missing girl to 'prove' his 'Class War' (or whatever the fuck he chooses to call it, but it walks like a duck and quacks like one) theory. In other words, he's just another over-politicised twat pinning his pet theory to other people's misfortune. Lenin's Tomb, Duff and Nonsense - what's the difference?

What sort of man would turn up at a stranger's funeral to remind the bereaved family their loved-one might still be alive were it not for the failings of the NHS? )I'm not saying David has ever done this, but I am reliably informed he moved in next to a Church not so long ago.)

[David Duff]

On this occasion, Mr. Gooseburger, I am happy to disengage from the conversation because I have said all I want to say - at this stage. However, I do agree with your criticism, if not your language, of their mistake in leaving the children unattended, a mistake they share with hundreds of thousands of other holiday makers in quiet little seaside towns everywhere, but not, thank God, the consequences.

'NIB', go and lie down, you're becoming over excited!

[N.I.B.]

Go and lie down? That's the best reply you can manage, a shitty little patronising put-down?

Well, thanks for proving this is all a jolly little ego-game for you, and that you actually *don't* give two monkeys about the kid. You must be so proud.

[David Duff]

"Go and lie down? That's the best reply you can manage"

Yes.

Er, given your overwrought condition, that is.

[N.I.B.]

So you don't refute what I said about you not actually caring about the missing toddler beyond the fact that she and her parents are a convenient place to pin your pet political theory?

Fair enough, it means everyone can see you for what you are - just anoter sleazy, politically motivated opportunist.

[David Duff]

Yes, yes, 'NIB, whatever ...

[N.I.B.]

Yep, "whatever". Like a chav caught on CCTV.

[David Duff]

I was about to reply in detail, 'NIB', but I managed to catch myself in time. So, once again, whatever ...

[Clairwil]

'I refuse to speculate on their guilt or innocence for the simple reason that I do not know and given the heinous nature of the crime I would hesitate to accuse anyone of it (and that includes Mr. Murat) without some very compelling evidence'

Thank God I'm not alone in this. I'm sick to the back teeth of the amatuer detectives gleefully picking over a family tragedy on their blogs.

[N.I.B.]

Fair play, Clair, that's all they are, amateur detectives, nothing more and nothing less.

But it's David who sees fit to attach his 'political meta analysis' sticks in my throat. What does that make him? Oh, yes: An opportunist, politically-motivated, gloating, ambulance chasing [expleteive deleted and this is your last warning 'NIB'!]

[Clairwil]

N.I.B,
I disagree with David on the McCann's marriage and religion being a problem for the public but it's undeniable class has been a factor in the anti-McCann bit. We keep hearing, rightly that a working class couple wouldn't have got off so lightly for leaving their kids for a few hours. What bewilders me is that the people making that point don't want to see everyone in a similar predicament treated as well by the media as the McCanns were until now but to see everyone treated equally badly.

[N.I.B.]

As I said at the top of this comments thread, it would have been better for our friend not to pipe up at all. All he's managed to do here is come across as the precise inverse of the archetypal 'Guardianista' know-it-all he /so/ despises.

That is to say: a smug, self satisfied [expletive deleted- and so will the commenter if he persists in its use!]t, albiet an inverted one.

[Flying Rodent]

In my experience, it's 95% certain that the parents did it.

That said, I wouldn't like to make any pronouncements - this reminds me of that Australian couple, the one whose baby was snatched by the dingo (not that the court saw it that way).

Meryl Streep played the mum in the movie, if I recall.

In short, I have no idea. Sorry.

However it turns out, it's utterly brutal for everyone involved.