Unkind or Unthinking

Another strange aspect of the McCann PR campaign is the way it choose to highlight the interview with Kate and Gerry and not the interview with the Healy's earlier in the week.

The video of the Healy's was subject to the same scrutiny by psychologists and various other experts as the McCanns appearance. The contrast was major. The conclusion was that they did not know all of the facts, but they were being truthful.

Mrs Healy is back in the news again today.

""I want people to start being kinder to Kate, she has enough to cope with.

"Yes, she is distressed at times and she can't smile that often at the moment. But she is very strong and she is going to fight on to get Madeleine back.

"People are saying she's at breaking point but she's not going to have a nervous breakdown.""

The problem with this is that people are not being unkind - well some are - but in general they are simply commenting on what they see. And what they are being fed. And the contradiction between the two.

In a week that saw headlines about how Kate McCann broke down and wept uncontrollably, is it any wonder that people are cynical? Because anyone who has seen the full video is bound to be suspicious due to seeing not a single tear. There was a great deal of emoting, some cheek wiping and quivering speech, but there was not a tear.

Indeed so desperate has the justification been that I have seen some Mcpologists on forums asking if it were possible that Kate McCann has a duct deffect that prevents her from actually crying.

The response from the McCanns, through their spokesman Clarence Mitchell, is more threats to sue.

The criticism highlighted by the Mcpologist press is the comments by Jose Cabrera:

""When people cry they move the muscles in their face and she did not move one single muscle, just like poker players. That is very significant.

"It brings us the certainty that she is hiding something.

Any Englishman is cold but she has something else - her personality is not normal - and he causes an impression because all he worries about is her answers.

"All he worried about was controlling her. It's extraordinary. Whenever she opened her mouth to talk he squeezed her hand - and all this because the key to this mystery is definitely with her.

"It is he who dominates the whole situation. He is aware of everything and knows he has to control her and her problematic personality so that she does not go too far in front of the cameras and speak too much.

"The interview was a circus act.

"The most curious thing is that before this interview was agreed to, everybody already knew she was going to cry, which is what happened, and she even managed to play the part quite well.

"It was an act which nobody believes. After their theory of abduction they now insist on their innocence, and those who are innocent don't need this.""

It has to be said that none of the analysis is new. People have been saying for months that Gerry has a controlling personality, and that there is something of the puppetmaster and puppet about the McCann's relationship. The only difference with these comments is they come from a psychiatrist, and therefore have an element of ligitimacy. Not that this game is unknown to the McCanns. For instance the recent photo-fit has been drawn by an FBI trained artist - not an FBI artist, but an FBI trained artist.

As for the matter of the interview being a circus act and staged. The word circus has long been attached to the case, with regard to the media coverage. And the interviewer did state that the atomosphere surrounding the McCanns was similar to that surrounding a political campaign.

It does have to be said that Mr Cabrera appears to be an adherent of the psychological school of cliche. The comment about the English being cold - apart from being factually wrong with regard to Gerry McCann - is also pretty crass.

But ask yourself if any of what he says is unkind?

The issue of the interviewer's comment, about the atomosphere being akin to a political campaign, perhaps lies at the heart of the stumbling nature of the PR campaign.

Clarence Mitchell is a government spin doctor. The 'skills' required for this job, are entirely different to the skills required for dealing with the McCanns. Yes, it is necessary to ensure that the coverage takes a certain direction. But in government there is always a new crisis or event that will occur to wipe the story from the headlines. But with the McCanns the story always returns to the same position, the questions never change and this combination creates suspicion.

Speaking of the government connection, there are reports today that the PJ do not have the McCanns phone records, and that the information is being blocked by the British. Add to this that the forensic results are still in limbo. Indeed the reports say that the only information the police have is that which the Portugese police have collected themselves. Everything else is being blocked.

Would it be unkind to ask why?

peace:)