I've kept quiet about the whole Madeleine McCann story. It's not that I've not had an opinion, it's just that the information has mostly come from journalists or from the the McCanns themselves. Living in a country where one is used to hearing updates from the police I've felt like we've not had any unbiased information presented to us.
The McCanns have now been made official suspects and whilst I wouldn't like to hazard a guess as to whether they are likely to have harmed their own child or not, I find it interesting that they've come to the decision to return to the UK at this point.
Trawling the web today I came across someone else who has been following the story and her thoughts struck me as being like those of my own:
Istorya - The McCanns On Trial
In a statement given by Gerry McCann he said:
I don't agree. They left their children home alone. Children far too young to be left by themselves. Their actions, whether direct or indirect, have lead to their daughter going missing. In the final analysis, in my honest opinion, the buck stops with them.
I don't see the problem with them leaving the kids.
From what I can gather all of the others in the group did the same, they had done it all week, and from I gather it had worked successfully on a previous holiday to Greece.
Come on, loosen up - these are responsible, hard working, middle class people who just wanted to let their hair down with a few drinks.
I mean if a person can't leave three kids under the age of 4 in an unlocked hotel room while they enjoy tapas in a resturant, on the far side of the swimming pool without any sort of view of the apartment, then what is the world coming to.
Let's focus on the main thing here - repeating the mantra that the McCann's are blameless victims.
Eleanor: Valid points. Their PR machine continues to work tirelessly to bring in the funds too. Which is why two doctors have been able to spend 4 months in an apartment in Portugal, made regular European trips (one of which to visit the pope, no less)and haven't had to go back to work. Maybe I'd be less inclined to be uncomfortable about it if they were using their savings. Then again, I don't have a problem with people being generous; I find it doesn't sit quite so well with the McCanns *asking* for money. But, I suppose, if you don't ask, you don't get...
Trannyfattyacid: Of course, I forgot. They were on holiday. You don't have to be responsible parents when you're on holiday...
Glad someone out there share my views... people seems to have forgotten that the McCanns was at fault in the first place.
Just wanted you to know I am still around and and trying to reconnect with some of my old regular reads. It has been a long time though. Used to be at my-meadow
I agree. The kids should never have been left alone. And Eleanor has aired one of my own thoughts - had Madeleine and her siblings been left alone by a single mum from a council estate, the media and public would have had an entirely different attitude. Many things don't add up, e.g. the apartment shutters had been forced upon from inside, as if someone wanted to fake a break-in. Unless that poor child turns up, one way or another, we will probably never learn the truth.
Ya, it's a tough call. Sure, the kids should never have been left "home alone" in the first place. And yes, I guess all the media attention has certainly distorted and warped perspectives on the loss of this child.
I sure hope she turns up safe and sound sometimes soon, all the same. I'm sure we all do, regardless who is at fault.
Cyalayta
Mal :)
I've not said anything about this because I thought I was the only one who had them down as 'heavily involved' as teh thing didn't add up from the start. Amazing how many other people who share this opinion are coming out of the woodwork now :)
One also wonders why the money given (well over a million pounds at the last count) has now been moved to an offshore account, and why the Trustees are all family members. Ho hum.
The other thing - have you seen how many forums there are where people sit around all day discussing every in and out of this case? I only stumbled on them by clicking a link in someone's blog. Unbelievable!
I absolutely agree that the parents are far from blameless here, and it really bothers me that their actions are not provoking a stronger sense of outrage. Let's change the identity of the parents to a couple living common-law on a council estate, barely scraping by, or better yet, a single mom. How would the authorities have handled the case then, and what would have been the opinion of the general public?
The other thing that really doesn't sit right is the attention that this case has received. Not to mention the massive amount of money donated for the search. How many other children went missing that day about whom we know nothing? What makes Madeleine so much more special than all of these other children?