WHILE WE WAIT - SOME MYTHS EXPOSED

Apologies to my regular readers for my absence.  I have reached a bit of a watershed with the case of missing Madeleine McCann. I have solved the case to my own satisfaction - that is, enough to quell that gnawing curiosity that drove me at the beginning.  No, I do not have enough to prove it, but if and when Operation Grange produce results, I will know if they followed the right tracks or are selling us a load of old baloney. 

At the moment, there is no point in protesting - what are we protesting about? And there is no point in screaming cover up, because we just don't know that (yet).  Meanwhile, the perpetual tweets, and the  recycling of stories that never worked first time round are just insulting by the 20th.  In all honesty, I am tired of arguing the same points, over and over.  We have all tried, every which way but loose, to rule the parents out of Madeleine's disappearance.  Some of us, simply because we do not want to lose that much faith in human nature.  Many of my readers, I think, have much the same philosophy as myself, that is, their need to solve the puzzle is far greater than any need for retribution. We still trust that justice will be achieved through the due judicial process, that is those responsible for the crimes herein, will stand trial. 

Those Online Trolls and Exposing the Myths 

Whilst it is inevitable that the parents of Madeleine will be judged in the Court of public opinion (you cannot legislate against human nature), it is morally wrong to interfere in the police investigation, and absolutely despicable to put suspects and witnesses on trial by social media.  Some who have followed this case, have taken their 'hobby' way too far, in that they have they conducted their very own public 'investigation' and by investigation, I mean stalking and harassing witnesses, then finding them guilty in their kangaroo courts.  They are nothing more than online vigilantes, people like Richard Hall and Tony Bennett cash in on angry mobs, they can jostle themselves into leadership roles without anyone questioning their  own credibility or agendas.  That they too do not believe the abduction story is enough.  That RH's other hobby is aliens and TB is a homophobic, right wing loon and creationist, matters not, they have filled the gap created by the MSM's failure to report the disappearance of Madeleine truthfully. 
 
Discussing the case of missing Madeleine online became, arguably, the first and most prominent social media PR war.  Battle lines were drawn from the off, social media sites and discussion groups were flooded with 'parents supporters', that is, very aggressive trolls who's clear purpose was to disrupt discussion and issue threats and warnings if anyone criticised the McCanns.  We now know, via Michael Wright in the witness box, that Team McCann did indeed establish a media monitoring unit from the off.  These trolls collected the names and comments of the McCann critics on their website 'Exposing the Myths', along with abusive photoshopped images of their victims and their families.  Their main threat to those questioning the McCanns, was public exposure as an 'online hater', with your employers, your neighbours, friends family etc, being informed of your internet behaviour.  Pretty much a summation of Jim Gamble's rhetoric when he stated critics of the McCanns should be in the dock. 

In a nutshell, 'Exposing the Myths', was the dossier handed to Martin Brunt.  It contained the names and details of hundreds of McCann critics, each of whom could expect the same fate as Brenda Leyland if they didn't toe the line.  Had their evil plan not spectacularly backfired, blogs such as my own, would have become a criminal offence.  As far fetched as that may sound, this particular pack is led by competing alpha males who have taken megalomania off the scale.  Some truly believe that people should be imprisoned for having an alternate opinion and are chomping at the bit to slap a few liberals around.  But the troll story, is just another fascinating aspect of this case, and not the reason for my current malaise. 

The End is Nigh

I don't know what the outcome of this case will be, but I still have enough faith in human nature to believe that the officers investigating this case are working on behalf of the victim.  This is a high profile case with a worldwide audience, a cover up is not an option.  The least controversial statement they can issue at the end would  be 'they are not looking for an abductor'.  And that's a statement they can't avoid, not least to reassure the people of PDL that there is not a predator on the loose, nor are there gangs of child traffickers roaming the Algarve. 

I will always challenge and indeed, ridicule, news designed to mislead and dupe the public, be it from the slick PR team of Mr and Mrs McCann or Official spokesmen of any variety. It irks me that those who provide the mainstream news have such low expectations of their readers' intelligence. Martin Brunt's second biggest mistake was explaining away the excavations in PDL as the abductor removing a deceased Madeleine and burying her in the immediate vicinity while the alarm had been raised and the search was underway.  Why Martin? Why?

My own opinion

But where am I now on the Madeleine mystery?  I reached the point of beyond reasonable doubt many years ago with regard to the parents involvement.  That is, for all the reasons I have given and explained in depth, I think that Goncalo Amaral's theory is the closest we have to the truth of what happened that night.  It wasn't plucked out of thin air, it arose out of the findings of the highly trained dogs, the discrepancies in the witnesses statements (that they refused to clear up with a reconstruction) and the very peculiar behaviour of the parents.  None of which is based on hatred of middle class doctors from the Midlands. 

My own personal theory as to why this case has yet to be 'solved', lies in the number of potential defendants who are involved.  Who gave the order to send in a British Consul to ask the Portuguese police to go easy on the Parents? Who gave the order to appoint a UK Government Family Spokesman - and, err, why?  How were all those police agencies who rushed to the McCanns' assistance, so easily taken in?  If that is the standard of police detection in this country's highest ranking officers, we must all despair! 

To be fair on Operation Grange, when and if, they start writing out a charge sheet, where do they begin?  And what authority do they have to prosecute suspects of crimes committed abroad?  Some of those who actively perverted the course of justice in this case, have since been elevated to peerages.  Or have become part of some New (line your own pockets first) World Order. 

How many highly regarded philanthropists and dooers of good in the UK, how many politicians, how many celebrities, how many newspaper barons, editors, columnists, sofa queens, jumped on the popular bandwagon  gave their unquestioning support to the parents?  Senior police officers, crime experts, national charities?  the list of those complicit, or those who should have known better is seemingly endless.  If you look at the stagnation and the quagmire this case has become and the number of potential defendants, the 6 years and £12million, becomes understandable. 

Will this be another 'Chilcott Inquiry'?  Albeit on a much smaller scale.  That's if anyone has the stomach for it.  After a decade, the world has moved on, perhaps there are bigger, more incriminating scandals that have edged the whole McCann case aside?  Regular journalists are not like we obsessives, every day must bring new injustices, new scandals, stories of greater public interest.

But when it does blow....

Those of us who have stuck with this one, understand the scale of outrage the unravelling of the Madeleine mystery will incite.  The large corporations and the big names involved.  In many ways, I am still astonished that Scotland Yard picked up this poison chalice, though with the formidable Ms. May, I doubt it was optional.  Their problem as I see it, is, if they concur with the conclusions of Goncalo Amaral and the original Portuguese investigation, they will not only have to prosecute all those immediately involved, they will also have to prosecute ALL those who perverted the course of justice - including those who did so in an official capacity, that is, on behalf of HM Government.   Methinks, therein lies the problem.

Those who truly understand the ins and outs of this complicated crime will have a good idea of the kind of investigation being carried out by Scotland Yard and anyone with an ounce of common sense will know there isn't a police force in the world who would spend 6 years looking for one child.  The answers are all there, but if I spell them out, I would be prosecuted for libel.    

Paedophile Rings and Weirdo Allegations

This case is all about money and power, not deviant sex and yuck.  Child abuse is the smokescreen - it kinda works for everyone, child protection agencies, charities and wannabe internet police.  But also those drawn to child abuse issues as survivors, advocates, child protection agencies and the lunatic fringe who see perversion in everything.  It was a 'draw' for myself, as a survivor, I was curious.  At first sight, the statements of the Gaspers and Yvonne Martin are alarming, but they are a very tiny part of the police files and nothing has ever come of them.  Unfortunately,  they were seized on by those desperate to find clues and motives and something more sensational and heinous than a tragic accident. 

In the early days, I was intrigued by the sexual allegations, so I researched them as only a sufferer of OCD can.  Topmost in my mind was  'they made no sense'.  And I speak as someone with experience of living in a childrens' home where kids were regularly abused, mostly physically.  Sadists outnumber paedophiles, if anyone bothers to check, which they never do.  The conspiraloons are creating sickening scenarios that simply never happen, not even in video nasties.    

I think it is the subject of child abuse that has been exploited here, rather than the actual physical abuse of children.  Anyone who truly cared about the protection of children would be on the front line tackling the abuse that goes on in dysfunctional homes daily, not the one in a zillion chance of children being abducted from their beds.   

Why can't we discuss the 'P' word?

Unfortunately, the word paedophilia has become so taboo, that it is impossible to discuss rationally, and most people, the self appointed experts especially, know very little about it.  The perverts they catch are telling them exactly what they want to hear, and they are buying it!  The victims too, have their victimhood reinforced by professionals making a case either for or against, a defendant. 

There are perfectly rational and non emotive ways in which to protect children from those who would abuse them.  Education, education, education.  Whilst we must teach our children to be cautious, it is wrong on every level to fill them with terror.  Most people ARE inherently good, including the foreign waiters who make our kids laugh, and the quiet old gent sat on the park bench.  In filling our kids with fear, we might just as well stamp victim on their forehead. Predators always go for the weakest first. 

The best gift we can give our kids is confidence.  One aspect of this case that irks me particularly, is this 'new fear' young parents have of their babies being abducted.  As if they weren't riddled with enough fears already. Madeleine would not have been abducted if her parents had been there, nor would she have suffered an accident.  That should have been the message we took from the loss of this child's life.

The 'P' word I fear may also have been used to exert pressure over those in power in the same way as homosexuality was in the 50s/60's and of course, almost every decade before. The physical dragging from their homes of ageing celebrities to go on public trial, reminds me of traumatic scenes from The Tudors, in their barbarity. They are little more than witch hunts, an opportunity to score political points and a way in which to win over angry mob by providing a villain for them to throw rotten vegetables at.   And I have little sympathy for the victims of these politicians and celebrities, would their experience have been quite so traumatic if the groper had been, say, Fred the plumber? 

For any man, or woman, the accusation of child abuse, or the possession of 'suspect' photographs, would be life changing.  Not only for the accused, but for their family and friends.  What constitutes a 'suspect' photograph?  And who dare look it up?  As we have seen from the Madeleine case, it is unbelievable what people can interpret from a photograph, and in the case of poor Maddie, a lot of it is pretty twisted. 

The Law cannot keep up with technology, most indecent images of the under-aged are shared and distributed by young teens sharing selfies and pressing the wrong buttons.  Ergo, almost everyone who uses the net can be accused of anything.  And that none of us know anything about these fuzzy laws and who implements them, is scarier still. 

The truth is, most of us don't want to know about Paedophilia, we don't want to discuss it beyond the universal response, of they should all be hung.  However, our ignorance allows those with questionable agendas to keep reinforcing the idea that all our children are in constant danger.  Kids are being robbed of their freedom and opportunities to interact with others and build their own characters and defences. Skills they will need for the rest of their lives.  Don't teach your kids to be fearful, teach them to be brave!

If Madeleine died, and I believe she did, it was not as a result of being sexually abused (and again, yuck), it was as a result of know it all doctors who imagined they had found the solution to childcare whilst on holiday with friends.  A group of doctors, with one presumes, an abundance of knowledge of drugs and anaesthesia between them, find the perfect solution to dining out with friends without the need for a babysitter.  And it was perfect.  Until the Thursday.  Collective decision and all that. 

Will it all end in a fanfare of publicity, ex police chiefs and experts, fighting to tell their stories of how they were duped.  Can you imagine it?  'Yes, I was that stupid'  Right now I'd give almost evens on karma intervening here - to be honest I don't see any way of them avoiding it.  If the abduction is proven to have been faked, there will be a sea of red faces having to admit that they were duped.  From a historical perspective, the karma in this case should be up there amongst the most painful, car crash TV we will ever see in our lifetimes.  I look forward to it.     

Why did they all. the politicians, the spin doctors, the lawyers, the television presenters, hop on board?  How often does a photogenic toddler with squeaky clean parents land in the laps of those pushing missing child charities and police agencies dedicated to tracking down child abuse globally? The Maddie mystery reinforces all those bogeymen stories the authorities keep warning us about. 

Operation Grange, I have no doubt, are committed to producing a result.  You don't keep asking for more time and more funds, if your ultimate goal is to say 'I got nuffink'.  Human nature, plays a part.  Returning to the original crime, the loss of a child's life, I doubt there is any police officer or detective the world over, who would actively participate in covering up the death of a child.  And as much as I think Theresa May is off her rocker, I don't think she would either. 

Operation Grange do not appear to have been investigating anyone in Portugal, Morocco, Spain or beyond.  And indeed, why would they?  It is a Portuguese investigation.  In reality, the only jurisdiction the British police have, is over British citizens - who else are they going to investigate? 

At the moment I have reached a personal crossroads, I want to broaden my horizons, until the Madeleine case has something new and interesting to write about. That is not to say, I won't respond to fake news and misleading commentary, I will, because it is something I feel almost duty bound to do.

There are many aspects of this case that I am longing to discuss in greater depth, but good manners and my own moral guidelines prevent me. The whole sanity aspect of the main players for example, is something I look forward  to exploring immensely, when I can finally write about this case 'unbound'!  The whole subject, I'm afraid, has become frustrating for me because I cannot move on and I cannot go deeper into the aspects that interest me the most.  I'm like one of those bad jokes you hear after a tragedy, where the comic has to add 'too soon?'.  At the moment, I am still the baddy and I am getting tired of being booed and hissed at.  Actually, that's not strictly true, I'm not getting booed and hissed at nearly enough, I'm sure if I really put my mind to it, I could upset a lot more people!  

Happy Easter everyone, and may your eggs (chocolate) be plentiful :)