Scum-watch: McCann sycophancy and scummy mummies.
KATE and Gerry McCann must have thought the nightmare couldn’t get worse after their daughter Madeleine vanished.
...
First, there was the apparent lack of interest from the bungling Portuguese police. Then came the vile rumours about them in the local press.
While there could certainly be something to be said about the slow reaction from the Portuguese police in failing to close or notify the Spain/Portugal border, to call it a lack of interest is nothing short of a slur. They conducted searches throughout the area of Praia da Luz, interviewed everyone involved and shortly declared a man to be a suspect. It was only then that the trail went cold, which isn't exactly their fault. The very nature of the McCanns' media campaign could be just as responsible, resulting in the kidnapper going to ground and keeping Madeleine locked away from wherever anyone could see or find her. It was always a difficult decision to make, and we may never know whether it was the right one.
Now, after receiving dubious forensic reports, they are being treated as “suspects” in the case.
Naturally, if this case had involved terrorist suspects, someone accused of abducting a child or almost anyone else in this country, it seems unlikely that the Scum would be referring to forensic reports against them, compiled by the British Forensic Service, as dubious.
No wonder the McCanns were anxious to be back in the bosom of supportive relatives and friends.
But they would be more reassured if detectives in Portugal concentrated on trying to find Maddie.
In their pursuit of the McCanns they seem to have forgotten even to go through the motions of hunting the kidnapper who might still have the four-year-old in his clutches.
Uh, that was what they were doing up until they first apparently started to suspect the McCanns themselves, wasn't it? So believing of the McCanns, not willing to accept for a moment they just might have something to do with Madeleine's disappearance, the Sun's left with trying to accuse the detectives of not continuing the search for her. The reason they're no longer going through the motions appears to be obvious: they no longer think that she has been kidnapped, concluding that she's dead, either at the hands of her parents as the result of an accident or otherwise. It's one thing to accuse them of "bungling"; another to suggest that they've given up completely.
Onwards:
ALL pregnant mums are to get £120 of YOUR money in the hope they will spend it on healthy food.
Christ, MY money? I'm broke as it is!
Yet wealthy “yummy mummies” don’t need the cash, and already put food under the microscope.
“Scummy mummies” at the bottom of the heap will just spend the hand-out on booze and fags.
Lovely. Considering the very fact that the Sun itself is a caricature, it's not exactly surprising that it's using them in such a crude way here. It does however though say something about the Sun itself: a supposed working class publication, one of its biggest hatreds is of its very readers', condemned as "chavs", "yobs", "scroungers", leftie trade union dinosaurs and now as "scummy mummies". The very fact that the paper of choice amongst such people is likely to be the Sun has never entered into it. Even so, it's quite true that Alan Johnson's idea is a complete and utter clusterfuck, an obvious bribe, as others have expanded upon.
It does however bear comparing to another recent bung; the Tories' policy commitment to recognising marriage in the tax system. Both are aimed at achieving similar supposedly laudatory measure, in the case of the "health in pregnancy" grant narrowing the disparity between the rich and poor in health terms, while the Tories' pledge is in encouraging commitment in relationships and promoting the family as a way of tackling Britian's "broken society". Both are also completely spurious arguments, based on politics and narrow interests. The difference is that Labour's is meant to help the poorest: the Tories' on the other hand, despite all the bluster, is so opaque that an 8-year-old could see through it, an open bribe at middle class families already married. It's interesting then to note that while the Sun (and numerous other right-wingers) fully supported the Tories' idea, it completely rejects the Labour one, even though they're both idiotic. Could it be possibly be something to do with which class each is aimed at? No, that couldn't possibly be it; only the left indulges in class warfare.
While the cost to the taxpayer would be £120 for each pregnant woman, the Tories have raised the figure of around a £20 a week saving for married couples. Do the math: that's a lot more money to those who really don't need it courtesy of the fiscally sound Tories than it is from the stealth taxing, wasteful Labour.
As the Scum says:
It is this sort of expensive gimmick that drives taxpayers crazy.
Labels: "health in pregnancy", Alan Johnson, Madeleine McCann, McCanns, Scum-watch, Sun-watch, tax, Tories
"Then came the vile rumours about them in the local press."
Quite unlike the delightful treatment of Robert Murat by ours!
Posted by Mellomeh | Tuesday, September 11, 2007 2:36:00 am
Excellent post.
I think the press have put themselves into an extra ordinary position where, having been the uncritical supporters of the family (which I don't think is entirely unjustified - it was just so completely over the top) they now must either continue to support them - and therefore attack the police (including the UK Forensics) - or turn on them, even before charges are laid, if they ever are of course. What ever they do it will be about saving face, not reporting true events in a reasonable way.
They seem incapable of taking either a measureed or nuanced position. The Independent is probably the closest I've seen to proper coverage - but even that has still been excessive and muddled.
Posted by Jim Jepps | Tuesday, September 11, 2007 12:57:00 pm
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