A cry for decency about Madeleine

I read this piece by Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian today. Thankfully, his is a voice of kindness and sanity that still does not shy away from the things we have all been secretly thinking. It’s a piece that everyone should read as we’re in serious danger of crucifying the parents without knowing the facts. I’ve now lost count of the times I’ve overheard people in cafes or bars quoting the new mantra: “I always knew there was something fishy about them” or words to that effect. Thank you to Jonathan for the following words of wisdom:

Madeleine: a grimly compelling story that will end badly for us all

We’re divided and now confused by the McCann investigation – and in real danger of losing our common decency

Jonathan Freedland
Wednesday September 12, 2007
The Guardian

Visit the Sky News website and you’ll see in the menu of topics the single word Madeleine, sandwiched between UK News and World News. The story is now so big that it commands its own category, on a par with Politics or Business. There is, of course, no need to supply a last name or any other details: Madeleine refers to what is surely becoming the biggest human interest story of the decade. It’s not just the hour-by-hour updates on television news or the you-the-jury phone-ins on the radio. A more reliable indicator is the chatter heard in offices, at bus stops or in queues at the shops. Thanks to the astonishing twist of recent days, the British collective conversation is not focused on the war in Iraq or the efficiency of the NHS, even if it should be. Instead, its great preoccupation is the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, a story that gets ever more strange.

Even before last week, the case had gripped. The apparently random abduction and murder of children always does, whether it’s Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, Sarah Payne or the victims of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley. We fear these crimes like no other; they touch fears with deep roots in the cultural soil. The child snatcher is a creature from myth, whether the oldest Gaelic folktales or Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel. Modern storytelling is hardly immune: my own generation once cowered in terror from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s Child Catcher. So when the news first broke in May that a sleeping child had vanished from her bed in a Portuguese holiday resort, all the familiar fears were stirred.

Just listened to new Springsteen album – full version this time

This is true.

A very nice man dropped by my office yesterday, asked for me and handed me a CD in a clear plastic sleeve. On it, it said ‘Bruce Springsteen – Magic’. He nodded at me in a knowing way, winked and left.

I didn’t ask any questions about where he got it. But as soon as he was out the door, I had the thing on our CD player.

The big surprise was that it wasn’t as bad as I had been led to believe. And another big surprise was that the ‘young uns’ around me seemed to like it as well. This is the generation that are listening to The Klaxons, by the way.

So that was promising at least. And some of the songs are good. Not sure that the album has any cohesive production or theme. But that darned saxophone of Clarence’s – it really hacks me off big time.

Still, it will stay on the office playlist for a while. Will reserve full judgement for a while longer.