The McCanns: Wark right over the truth

I know that yesterday some of you were waiting for me to dissect Penny Wark's article about the McCanns, but to be quite honest with you - why bother?

To do so would only add credibility to an article that is now a perpetual testimony to the lies and deceit that have been the hallmarks of a campaign that from day one, has been more about the protection of reputations and livelihoods than about finding a missing toddler regularly and deliberately betrayed by her parents.

To those involved in the campaign a little girl's life became no more than a tool to protect others - and we are not just talking about the Tapas Nine. A network of media and communication contacts joined together to mislead, deter and hinder those seeking the truth.

Wark's article was designed to meet a number of objectives. Partly it was aimed at a public that the British media still regards as fickle, gullible and unquestioning.

The UK media are skilled in such tactics - for decades the Establishment have used the media as a tool to fool and mislead the British public. It worked well - but people are now not as unquestioning as they once were.

However, people have their own lives and problems. We live in a mad world of hustle and bustle and those who have not been following the tangled web woven by all those directly or indirectly involved with Team McCann, could easily be fooled by Wark's portrayal of the McCanns as victims. It is that section of the market that Wark's article was designed to target.

"Oh those poor parents, I know they left her unattended, but what the poor things must be suffering. All those nasty people pointing the finger at them. Haven't they anything better to do?"

Yes I know that most think differently, but you will not hear our voices - all you will hear will be the voice of the minority. The voices of the few will be sold as the voice of the public - laying the foundations for the McCanns to return to Britain - should they be allowed to.

A little while back, an Australian media personality with experience of working in the British media, declared that a British journalist with integrity has yet to be invented - and Wark showed that to be true.

In the comments section yesterday I already pointed out one example. Do you recall Zinedine Zidane, being sent off during last year's World Cup final for head butting an opponent? Her glowing appraisal of the French captain was written the day before the final and went to press following the incident - and without mention of it.

I was rather curious about Wark's fawning attitude to the McCanns in light of an article she wrote in April 2003. The article was entitled, "Don't put childless women into pigeonholes" although as we all saw in the article, she had no qualms about referring to "the stereotypical image of an inadequate single mother who might carelessly mislay a child and who certainly couldn’t afford to visit this aspirational resort."

I do like the use of the phrase "carelessly mislay a child" as though the "carelessness" of a poverty stricken mother is far more heinous than deliberate neglect practised on a regular and deliberate basis by a mum and dad whose jobs involve accepting large sums of money to look after the welfare of others. Maybe if they had been paid the same amount to look after their children, they may have made more of an attempt to do a better job of it.

In the 2003 article she explains her decision not to have children.

"I have remained childless through choice rather than lack of opportunity, and absolutely not because I ever thought that having children would undermine my sense of identity. By the time I made the decision in my late thirties I recognised that I was fortunate to have a partner, two stepchildren, and an extremely fecund sister-in-law.

The children were there, I just hadn't given birth to them, but in order to do that and be the kind of hands-on mother I would have wished to be I would have had to give up work. There was no agonising; it was a choice, made easily and without regret.

Of course blood makes for powerful ties. The unconditional love that comes with motherhood is unparalleled in the human condition"

Isn't it a pity that the mother Wark so vigorously defended, has never - and will never - share her views on motherhood. Wark decided that to be the sort of mother she wanted to be - she would have to give up work. Kate McCann wouldn't even give up a night at a tapas bar.

I also found one of her other articles quite ironic - an article in which she attacked Australian cricket fans, yet defended the Barmy Army. Mind you, I do not blame her for defending the Barmy Army, the vast majority of Australians enjoyed having them here and spent more time defending them than the British press did.

In her article she used the phrase "******ng wanker"

It seems that staunch defenders of the McCanns are allowed to use that sort of language without censure - while those who oppose the tacky little duo, are labelled "obscene" and "vulgar".

Anyway - for those of you who want me to review Wark's article - I'm not going to do it!:)