The Grubs: Damage control - only fools rush in

From Runaround Gerry's blog.

"Spent the whole day travelling from the Algarve to Washington where I will be visiting the National and International Centers for Missing and Exploited Children and meeting politicians involved in recent legislation on missing children. The flights for our campaign manager and myself were kindly donated by an airline."

Which airline Gerry? You failed to name the airline in the same way you failed to mention the newsagency whose reporter had the audacity to disturb your slumber.

It is common practice to name such sponsors or benefactors - it is called "open accountability" especially when campaigning for funds. After all, we all know the involvement of Phil Green don't we?

There is a very upsetting story on the front page of a British National Newspaper today. The headline suggests that Kate and I face prosecution for neglecting our children by dining 50 yards away and checking on them regularly.

Not only in the British newspaper - also the New York Post

Fifty yards? Have you seen the aerial views of the location Gerry? What the headline actually states and not suggests, is that you face investigation both in Britain and in Portugal for leaving your children unattended. If they were not unattended there would be no need for anyone to check on a regular basis. A lot can happen in an hour or half an hour, depending on which of The Pact of Silence's, lies one chooses to believe.

We know that there has been criticism in some quarters of our actions but at the time, we felt our actions were responsible.

Scrub the phrase, "some quarters"and face reality. The criticism is up and down the land, in offices, building sites, pubs and around the dinner table.

Each day more and more people grow sick and tired of your arrogance, your continuous lies, your lack of genuine grief, total lack of concern for the daughter whose love and trust you betrayed, the way you have turned Maddy in to a brand, your two-bob-pub-thug army of foot-in-mouth suffering relatives and your sticky-back plastic advisors who have turned you in to a despised laughing stock. I am sure my readers can add more to the list.

You over-played your hand Gerry. Responsible, articulate, right-thinking adults have seen right through this grotesque charade and have embarked on an eloquent and productive email and online awareness campaign of their own - which is why you are forced to address issues we have raised.

We achieved results without having to resort to the bully boy tactics and threats of your supporters. We used words in a way you and your advisors can not - we used them to win people over - not turn them against us.

The only thing your ham-fisted campaign has achieved is growing animosity generated by badly thought out releases and statements that have eroded the little credibility you had to begin with.

Answer some direct questions.

Are you stuck in Portugal? Apart from special dispensation for a family occasion, is it true that one of you always has to stay behind as a sort of bond - and you give an ever-changing list of excuses to explain why?

The reason I ask such a legitimate and valid question is due to overwhelming public belief that at this moment in time, you are prevented from returning to your homeland. Most parents would want to get back to normality, especially for the sake of the twins who must think they are on a never-ending but baffling holiday - minus a sister.

Has this been the situation right from the start? Is that why one of your friends immediately came up with a fist full of dollars? Why are so many of your meetings with the police held within the safe confines of the British Embassy instead of your villa?

How does Kate feel about being treated as a deposit? But you care as little about Kate as you do about Maddy - otherwise you wouldn't have left Kate to face the heat on her own while you promoted yourself in Washington.

Not only are you irresponsible, you are a yellow bellied coward continuously hiding behind a woman's skirt. Is that why you were Scotland's Under-19 running champion? - when the going gets tough - run. The mark of a school-yard bully boy.

At least Laura Bush had the intelligence to snub you. Hell, even Bindi Irwin addressed the UN and the Press Club in Washington. How does it feel for one of England's Sacred Cows to be upstaged by an eight-year old Australian girl? Don't have much luck with Aussies do you laddie?

You felt your actions were responsible? That says a lot about the sort of person you are Gerry. Apart from your hired keyboard monkeys there is hardly a person in the UK, Australia, Portugal, USA, Canada, France, Ireland or anywhere else, that would agree with you.

We were essentially performing our own baby listening service although we have talked of the guilt we felt at now being there at the moment Madeleine was taken.

Oh for Christ's sake - can't you do anything right? Do you or your advisors ever think before making statements? Thanks Gerry, we now have your confession - you and Kate were there the moment she was taken. So tell us Gerry, we are dying to know - what happened?

We have been advised that legally our behaviour was well within the bounds of responsible parenting and subsequently been assured that no action will be taken.

Who advised you? Why are you always so reluctant to name verifiable sources, unless they can help market Maddy and add to the coffers of the fund independently administered by your relatives?

These types of criticism, particularly at this stage, as well as being hurtful are extremely unhelpful in the search for Madeleine.

It is not criticism Gerry - it is the publication and distribution of facts. The fact that you do not like such comments does not alter the validity of those facts.

As for being hurtful - hard luck. Get used to it. I am in for the long term.

Another thing, what do you mean by, "at this stage?" Why is now such a particularly bad time and not earlier? I would have thought such comments would have been more hurtful early on, not more than two months down the track.

From the moment we discovered Madeleine missing Kate and I have done everything in our power to try and help get her back.

No you have not. You have done bugger all. You have done as little for Maddy in the days since she went missing as you have from the day she was born.

Our opinion now is completely clouded by what has happened to us and of course has sent shock waves through thousands of families. The real issue is that we should not have a constant fear of abduction of our children from their bedrooms, gardens or streets for that matter.

The "real issue" is that there is a little girl less than three foot tall, missing due to your premeditated negligence.

No we shouldn't have to have a constant fear of abduction. But is a sad reality of the world we live in. The world your influential friends helped make. Which is why other parents take simple, common sense precautions. One shouldn't have to worry about being knocked down crossing the road, it should be up to the driver to take care - but we still look both ways before stepping on to the road.

You are a surgeon. Before operating on a patient do you try to address all foreseeable issues and complications? If so, why is that same concept so difficult to apply to your children?

What Kate and I did was at worst naïve

What you and Kate did would be a criminal offence with any other parent, in any other country.

and no one should forget that the real criminal is the predator who has taken a completely innocent child in such a premeditated fashion. It is this act that has wreaked havoc on our family and affected millions of other people

How do you know the alleged abduction was premeditated? Incidentally, your use of the word "such" implies you have knowledge of the planning.

What happened on the night of May 03 has affected millions of people because they are outraged by your irresponsible actions, the way the British media whores have built you two selfish bastards in to an example of responsible parenting, and the way you have been protected from any form of official censure from appropriate authorities.

We are affected because all of the above is a gross insult to the overwhelming majority of parents who through responsible parenting, have no need to embark on a publicly funded damage control campaign to win the hearts and minds of those whose hearts and minds tell them - you two grubs are an affront to parenting and an affront to the intelligence of normal thinking people.

You are fighting a losing battle Gerry, and you and your advisors are giving us all the tools we need to continue a campaign to make sure that Maddy receives the justice she deserves.

You Gerry and you Kate, deserve only the scorn and ridicule you have bought upon yourselves. And if I have played any part in causing you hurt - then at least I have done something worthwhile in my life.

Virtually every time you open your mouth or go to print, you are now in damage control mode.

We are winning Gerry. We know it, you know it, your advisors know it, your relatives know it.

I am now ready for the next stage - the question is Gerry - are you?