The sad fact is that Kate McCann has already been found guilty by many members of the public?

Question

Her problem is that she doesn't conduct herself as we would like. In short, she exhibits a dignity and composure that seem out of place in a world where celebrities and ordinary people behave incredibly badly in front of the camera.

Britney Spears, for example, has gone so far down the route of excess that she's lost her children and her mother and sister have turned up and started screaming at bystanders. Amy Winehouse wanders around the streets of Soho with bleeding feet, devoid of any shame. Kate McCann, on the other hand, attends church, takes strength from her religious beliefs, goes running alone and always dresses neatly. That's just too sickening for some people – she can't be normal, can she?

your opinion?
thanks
http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists/janet_street_porter/article3081831.ece

In The Stranger, Albert Camus's tale of a nonconformist being punished, the hero is a young man. But in real life, it is more often a woman in the spotlight who is punished if she doesn't respect the norm. The Queen didn't weep for Diana, Hillary Clinton didn't break down over Bill's infidelity, Heather Mills didn't break down when divorcing a Beatle.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2195972,00.html

Answer 1

and the sad fact is you keep defending child neglectors

Answer 2

Why are we trying to prove one party's innocence or accuracy by showing how the "other" party is behaving differently merely due to cultural differences. It is not a correct defence. Kate McCann started this discussion that"she is being considered suspect because she is not mumsy" absolute nonsense. We Brits should think twice before endorsing "our culture" in this manner..please
The reason many seem to have a doubt is about the crass behaviour of doctors: Macanns and others to leave the children unattended, to expect that a child will not wake up and it is ok to let them cry alone for some time. What would all say if say children had fallen off the bed and sustained a head injury?

Are we now going to justify that we brits leave children alone whilst we have drinks and we do not fear leaving 2 year olds alone and that we can't be bothered to hire a nanny: is that a cultural difference: I beg to differ sir!
If a poor uneducated teenager went to the local for a pint and her child was hurt at home, the child will be in social services care within a day! No one will then call it an accident.

"I know I am right" is not a way to prove yopur innocence. Any parents would be expected to accept their gross negligence because they should be worried about the child and not what will people say about them. The whole Mccann operation is aimed at proving them right at absolutely whatever cost.

I pray and hope Maddie is somewhere safe but I maintain that The parent's attitude is not of most parents Brit or non-Brit,

Answer 3

No your examples have no relevancy to the McCann case. Britney had her children taken away, she is aware of their whereabouts and she can be assured with the knowledge that they are being looked after, but despite that she still cried when they were taken away. Its maternal instinct to express some form of emotion when you become detached from your child.

Amy Whinehouse doesnt have kids. So why mention her?

The point is given her situation Kate should have shown some emotion intially and during the course of her disappearance and even now, her daughters gone missing and i havent seen her break down once. Its not so much an expectation its more of a human trait that normal people would express. And you can't get into the semantics of that otherwise we'd be condoning murderers and paedophiles. And trust me when i say crying in front of the camera does not consitute behaving badly actually it would have made people more sympathetic towards her. She doesn't exactly portray the role of a grieving mother well.

'Kate McCann, on the other hand, attends church, takes strength from her religious beliefs, goes running alone and always dresses neatly.'

^^its not so much what she does, its what she doesn't do. A grieving mother can dress neatly and go to Church, but she also expresses emotions associated with losing a child.

'The Queen didn't weep for Diana, Hillary Clinton didn't break down over Bill's infidelity, Heather Mills didn't break down when divorcing a Beatle.'

The bond between Diana and the Queen wasn't what you'd call strong, Maddie is Kate's DAUGHTER and she (as far as we know) doesn't know the whereabouts of her daughter or whether she's dead or alive. Hillary Clinton, i'm sure if she lost her daughter would be emotional, but in that situation she had to be dignified because it must have been excruciatingly humiliating. Heather...well didn't people say she wasa goldigger?

If only Kate shed ONE tear, i'd be inclined to think that maybe, she's innocent.

Answer 4

The internet has given us all a voice, but I think we need to be more careful about how we use it. There have been some simply dreadful things said about "the McCanns", which frankly help no-one. Originally it was Gerry McCann who got most of the bad press and now it has swung over to Kate McCann. This is irrational. Their children have TWO parents, and they are both equally responsible for whatever has happened.

I am aware of the fact that only since they became "arguidos"
has the strain really started to show, which puzzles me. I would have thought that nothing worse than losing their daughter could ever make a difference - but there may have been other factors at play, like feeling if they were suspects then the search for her would stop - which would obviously drive them to desperation. However I think it is obvious that Kate McCann is dying inside and it is pitiful to see. We should perhaps keep our own counsel.

The remarks made by relatives about people's reactions to her non-maternal appearance were just another exercise in damage limitation, which once again has seriously backfired. However whilst we agonise about their pain and grief and appearance, we should hardly dare to contenplate what Madeleine has gone through. She really is the one who needs out thoughts, for what they are worth now.

Answer 5

Reality tv has a lot to answer for - people expected Kate to be weeping and hysterical on camera, whereas she did these things in private and remained in control in public. The Trisha and BB watching members of the public just can't handle it.

People didn't warm to the McCanns as they did not behave how many would expect - and they did themselves no favours by saying straight away that they were perfectly justified in leaving their kids alone.

There would seem to be no real evidence against the McCanns, so I don't think they will ever be charged with anything - but the suspicion will always hang over them unless the real perpetrator is found. They have a life of sheer hell ahead of them - I hope it will stop for the sake of their other children.

Answer 6

The queen was probably not unduly releived to lose the burden of her loose cannon of a daugther in law.

I think Heather Mills got exactly what she was after.

And as for Hilary Clinton - I imagine she is a very intelligent woman who views infidelity for what it truly is and not what over emotional betrayed wives make it out to me.

Therefore I am not sure you're doing Kate McCann any favours by comparing her to these people who didn't actually lose anything.

I hold nothing against any person who keeps themselves together emotional and physically but surely jogging on the day after your daugther gets 'snatched by a paedophile' when you should be out looking is a bit much, even for her?

Answer 7

It is a sad fact that in this society. You can be judged that if you are not weeping and wailing about an event, then you are deemed as having something something radically wrong with you.

No-one is denying that it was naivety or bad judgement in leaving their children alone to go out for a meal instead of taking them with them. Does that mean that they are guilty of anything and everything else that has been said about them. It does not make them evil or even worse, murderers, as some would have us believe.

Answer 8

Shambo - it seems WELSHCAKE beat me to it....how DARE you suggest that if we support the British Justice system we are perverts and should not be trusted with children. Do you not have the intelligence to answer a question without insulting others who disagree with you?

But..in answer to the question....yes it's sad that many have judged her guilty in their own minds without having a single shred of evidence to base their assumptions of guilt on.

I admire the dignity both Gerry and Kate have...it's a rare quality these days, and the examples of the celebrities you named prove that point...they have no dignity or self respect and unfortunately many people model themselves on these self abusers.

The McCanns undoubtedly made a huge error of judgement on may 3rd... but hindsight is a wonderful thing...funny how some can use it to cast guilt on Madeleine's parents....surely none of us would ever make a mistake if we were granted the gift of seeing into the future.

If you asked the McCanns if they knew the outcome of their decision to dine with their friends on May 3rd would they do it again...and their answer was yes....then and only then would they be guilty of any crime....because what happened to Madeleine was something no parent could have imagined possible, it is for that reason that no charges of child neglect are forthcoming...simple as that.

Answer 9

The media is what it is. I do not believe there is such a thing as an un-bias report. I do wish the media would not hound people as they do. Yet it is just that type of reporting that the public supports. The media is a business and profits are what motivates them. Associating the situation of Kate McCann with Britney and Amy is not very complementary to her. A better example would be Princes Di. Still, there is cause to wonder why parents would choose to leave their children unattended while they dine in a foreign country.

Answer 10

Dear Toi-et-moi,

Albert Camus is one of the best known existentialist writers of the 20th century, in the Stranger, the young man (Meursault) in question is not only a non-conformist but also a young man unable to express emotions of love and sadness (eg: not willing or unable to cry at his mother's death) in this fact alone he is similar to Mrs McCann, this does not make her a non-conformist this only highlights her inability to express emotions - probably more akin to existentialism.

Sartre believed that people lie to themselves and, underneath these lies, people negate their own being through patterns. The preceperi is similar to what today is called insight.

Mrs McCann is a conformist, one example is that she attends mass on a regular basis and this fact has been highlighted on many an occasion, there has been a lot of damage control on behalf of these parents.

I cannot believe you actually had the gall to compare Mrs McCann to one of the finest writers the last century produced.

Shame on you.

For those interested below is a summary of Albert Camus's The Stranger (L'Etranger):
http://www.camus-society.com/the-stranger-summary.htm

Answer 11

she has also been declared completely innocent by other people too

who is to say who is right or wrong - hopefully time will tell

on thing i have learned over the last couple of weeks is to get lots of positive thumbs ups - support the mccanns and sign of uncertainty or criticism - big thumbs down

why? I don't know any more than you do unless you are Kate, Gerry or their cronies (sorry friends)