Gerry and the US - Go West Young Man!

Came across this - have clipped it a bit but Gerry in the US is fresh from telling the officers at the Police Federation what's what - and just a week later he is visiting the US - with his fairly new PR Justine McGuinness - Clarence having been recalled to matters of state, well, recalled anyway:winkwink:

From McCannfiles.com:  
 July 24, 2007. Transcript from show ‘On the record’. 

GUEST HOST: Little Madeleine McCann — she has been missing for more than two-and-a-half months. Police say the four-year-old British toddler was kidnapped in Portugal on May 3rd.
Her parents are waging an international campaign to find Madeleine and to stop child trafficking. Madeleine's father, Dr. Gerry McCann, is in the United States now. And yesterday he went On The Record with Greta Van Susteren.[..]
VS: I suppose we should tell the viewers where we are.
MCCANN: Yes. We are at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children here in Alexandria, just in Virginia. The main reason for my visit was to come and see what is regarded as, I would say, the world leading center for missing and exploited children.
VS: It is not exactly what you did your study in cardiology for, is it? (How is this relevant? )
MCCANN: No, no. But with what's happened to us, we are trying to make the most of it, and do everything possible to try to get our daughter back. And both for my wife and I, our lives are on hold, at the minute, until we find out and, hopefully, get her back.
VS: And obviously you are here at this organization. Anyone else you will be talking to in our government?
MCCANN: I'm very pleased to say that the Attorney General took time out of his incredibly busy schedule to meet with us today. And we had a 40 minute meeting, and we talked about these very issues, about how we can advance legislation.
And, I think importantly, Madeleine's disappearance has already created some discussion at the G-8 summit recently. So it's becoming more topical. At least the public will know consider the issues, and that's something that we need to capitalize. There is a window of opportunity here to affect change for the better.[..]
VS: Did the Attorney General Gonzales, did you get the sense that he knew about your daughter's disappearance before the meeting was set up?
MCCANN: Yes.
VS: He knew about it.
MCCANN: He is, obviously, at the very least been briefed prior to the meeting, but he certainly gave the impression that he knew about Madeleine's disappearance.[..]
VS: Do you believe she is still alive, or is that just the survival mechanism in you, in a sense, that you want to believe she is?
MCCANN: Of course we want to believe it, but I will not accept that Madeleine is dead until I get concrete evidence that assures us that she is dead. There is no evidence of serious harm, and there has been a very extensive ground search from quite a large radius around Praia da Luz, from where she was abducted.
I'm not saying it's impossible, but, actually, I think she is probably more likely to be alive than dead. We truly believe that.
VS: Meeting with the Pope, did that help bring some sort of comfort to you?
MCCANN: Yes. I mean that meeting was incredibly important to Kate and I for two reasons. Spiritually, and that was the reason we were there, and it was organized through the Archbishop of Westminster.(never pass up a chance to drop a name)
[..]And, of course, it did generate a huge amount of awareness of Madeleine's disappearance, which has had an knock on effect. And I hope that we can use the goodwill that has come from thousands, and, probably, hundreds-of- thousands of people in response to one very bad act, and use that in a positive way to help other missing children and make the world a little bit safer for all kids if possible.
VS: Any theory why Madeleine's case got publicity? You are very unfortunate that your child is missing, but fortunate that at least some of the spotlight might help.
MCCANN: There has obviously been a mixture of circumstances for us. I don't doubt that Madeleine's image itself is playing a huge part in that.(Master stroke, that iconic photo and the non-existent coloboma plus phoning SKY news within hours of the ‘alarm’  must have helped quite a bit. Imo the inference here is that the image was carefully chosen  - would the tennis photo have had the same effect?)
VS: She is cute, very cute. But all these missing children are all adorable. We want to help them all.
(What planet is this woman on? It’s all down to beautiful and lovely again - clearly no-one will look for an ugly child)
MCCANN: The circumstances of having a foreign child abducted in another country when you are on holiday — I think most people want to go on holiday and relax, and that's created a lot of empathy as well.
(So it’s fine if a local girl gets abducted, that won’t worry holiday makers?)
We have had huge numbers of support, and the Media supported us. Everyone wants to find her. And we just want to continue now.
VS: We certainly hope we can find her. We hope we can find every child.
Good luck, sir. Thank you. Welcome to the United States.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Of particular interest in this interview: 
Her parents are waging an international campaign to find Madeleine and to stop child trafficking.
I'm very pleased to say that the Attorney General took time out of his incredibly busy schedule to meet with us today. And we had a 40 minute meeting, and we talked about these very issues, about how we can advance legislation.
And, I think importantly, Madeleine's disappearance has already created some discussion at the G-8 summit recently.
...use that in a positive way to help other missing children and make the world a little bit safer for all kids if possible.
VS:  Any theory why Madeleine's case got publicity? You are very unfortunate that your child is missing, but fortunate that at least some of the spotlight might help.
MCCANN: There has obviously been a mixture of circumstances for us. I don't doubt that Madeleine's image itself is playing a huge part in that.
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From the above we can infer that Dr. Gerry moves in the highest circles, graciously thanking the Attorney-General for taking time off from his busy schedule and not failing to mention it wasn’t just the 60 seconds blessing from the Pope this time, but a high-level  40 minute meeting. 
During which, apparently they hammered out a scheme to advance legislation - in the US I’d think, so that’s a full international political meeting. 
Then there’s the G8 Summit - getting a pat on the back. Can't get more global than that.
Gerry, (and Justine McGuinness although she does not appear to be in the pictures), visit the White House where they meet with the First Lady's deputy chief of staff Sarah Armstrong.
Because the President wasn’t available apparently.
Because Mrs. Bush wasn’t either, possibly  having to attend a knitting circle.  So Dr. Gerry got an underling of an underling of Mrs. Bush  - and  a photograph of himself with the White House in the distance. Like any other tourist. 
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Chutzpah has been defined as the attitude of someone who has murdered both his parents and throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan.

Who was driving the CEOP/USA/Papal visits? Even Superman McCann couldn't have organised that lot after seeing a light in a church in PDL that allegedly forced him into action.

There seem to be an awful lot of spooks in the mix here.

I can just picture him jogging round the perimeters of the White House, a David Walliams double act in string vest and Y-fronts camera friendly hair beautifully coiffed,  peeping through every window hoping for the chance of a quick wave with the President.

Cooee Mr President - it's me - Gerry..

Hi Verdi,
Even George Bush steered clear of meeting Gerry, that would have been an episode to record wouln't it,George was busy counting the hanging chads along with Mr Chaney and Donald speaking of the knowns and unknowns?
George W had a problem recognising where he was and what he was doing on the date of 9/11, watching it live in the classroom, when the first plane hit the towers, the tv pictures were shown hours later after the event, proving he could not have seen live events of what had happened? You can't kid a kidder,eh Gerry?

tigger wrote:From the above we can infer that Dr. Gerry moves in the highest circles, graciously thanking the Attorney-General for taking time off from his busy schedule and not failing to mention it wasn’t just the 60 seconds blessing from the Pope this time, but a high-level  40 minute meeting. 
During which, apparently they hammered out a scheme to advance legislation - in the US I’d think, so that’s a full international political meeting. 
Then there’s the G8 Summit - getting a pat on the back. Can't get more global than that.

I often wonder if there was some kind of plan already in place...

...which was ruined by Goncalo Amaral, Eddie & Keela

The guy (Gerry) is so megalomanic, they should test him for syphilis. 


I often think the Madeleine campaign was a lot like the ice bucket campaign: most people were just "shamed" into participating. Their whole blabla that they were going to save all disappeared children was part of that emotional blackmail. For the rest they like to go for the easy targets: the Vatican could use some publicity that they are doing something good for children, Missing Children was just in the middle of a developing scandal about numbers juggling, tv programs like that of Greta van Susteren are always looking for someone to come on the show, and the Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, was on a deep down slope hill as far as the appreciating of his job performance was concerned.  And that G-8 remark? Human trafficking is a permanent item on the agenda.

Iow again nothing special, as you say Tigger: just another tourist and some clever PR, I have to give the pink one that.

Tony Bennett wrote:

tigger wrote:From the above we can infer that Dr. Gerry moves in the highest circles, graciously thanking the Attorney-General for taking time off from his busy schedule and not failing to mention it wasn’t just the 60 seconds blessing from the Pope this time, but a high-level  40 minute meeting. 
During which, apparently they hammered out a scheme to advance legislation - in the US I’d think, so that’s a full international political meeting. 
Then there’s the G8 Summit - getting a pat on the back. Can't get more global than that.

I often wonder if there was some kind of plan already in place...

...which was ruined by Goncalo Amaral, Eddie & Keela

I think it was all bla bla, Tony. There is always talk about how to advance legislation. That is no real achievement. It were all a symbiotic events: both sides seeing some opportunity, parasites feeding of eachother.

Tony Bennett wrote:

tigger wrote:From the above we can infer that Dr. Gerry moves in the highest circles, graciously thanking the Attorney-General for taking time off from his busy schedule and not failing to mention it wasn’t just the 60 seconds blessing from the Pope this time, but a high-level  40 minute meeting. 
During which, apparently they hammered out a scheme to advance legislation - in the US I’d think, so that’s a full international political meeting. 
Then there’s the G8 Summit - getting a pat on the back. Can't get more global than that.

I often wonder if there was some kind of plan already in place...

...which was ruined by Goncalo Amaral, Eddie & Keela

@Tony Bennett….

I think many people have wondered the same thing... me included.

Verdi wrote:I can just picture him jogging round the perimeters of the White House, a David Walliams double act in string vest and Y-fronts camera friendly hair beautifully coiffed,  peeping through every window hoping for the chance of a quick wave with the President.

Cooee Mr President - it's me - Gerry..

Errm, you're not far wrong! Although you've now added a new and terrible image which is hard to get out of my mind.... string vest...

25 Jul 07

83

Up early this morning catching up with e-mails and phone calls as well as updating the blog. Managed another early morning run, round Washington centre this time, which is quite beautiful with grand buildings and monuments separated by wide grassy areas. I had another meeting with another congressman Mike Rogers who is an ex-FBI agent and we distributed wristbands to Nick Lampson and some of his colleagues as well as members of NCMEC This afternoon we had a meeting with the British Ambassador at his residence to update him on our meetings. The Embassy itself is a stunning building almost rivalling the Whitehouse Flying back to Portugal this evening to get back to the family. I have no doubt that this visit to Washington has been extremely productive and will really help to maintain Madeleines profile. We will continue to work closely with ICMEC who have incredible experience and energy in dealing with missing children.

Incidentally, the ex FBI agent is interesting as the McCanns were asking the PJ to involve the FBI. 
Unfortunately, they chose the cadaver and blood dogs instead...
I love the 'distributed wristbands'

Love that too: "incredible experience in dealing with missing children"

So their not missing too much, really, are they?

tigger wrote:

Verdi wrote:I can just picture him jogging round the perimeters of the White House, a David Walliams double act in string vest and Y-fronts camera friendly hair beautifully coiffed,  peeping through every window hoping for the chance of a quick wave with the President.

Cooee Mr President - it's me - Gerry..

Errm, you're not far wrong! Although you've now added a new and terrible image which is hard to get out of my mind.... string vest...

25 Jul 07

83

Up early this morning catching up with e-mails and phone calls as well as updating the blog. Managed another early morning run, round Washington centre this time, which is quite beautiful with grand buildings and monuments separated by wide grassy areas. I had another meeting with another congressman Mike Rogers who is an ex-FBI agent and we distributed wristbands to Nick Lampson and some of his colleagues as well as members of NCMEC This afternoon we had a meeting with the British Ambassador at his residence to update him on our meetings. The Embassy itself is a stunning building almost rivalling the Whitehouse Flying back to Portugal this evening to get back to the family. I have no doubt that this visit to Washington has been extremely productive and will really help to maintain Madeleines profile. We will continue to work closely with ICMEC who have incredible experience and energy in dealing with missing children.

Incidentally, the ex FBI agent is interesting as the McCanns were asking the PJ to involve the FBI. 
Unfortunately, they chose the cadaver and blood dogs instead...
I love the 'distributed wristbands'

I realise tigger that you were taking the wee out of wee Gerry and distribution of his 'McCann brand' good quality wristbands :) !  Intriguing nonetheless
to know why he wanted the FBI involved !?!

Gerry the con-man suited and booted for the chance 'never to be repeated' of a lifetime..

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Wonder where the Burton 'off the peg number' came from - not the sort of thing you pack for a weeks family/sporty holiday on the Algarve.  Reckon he borrowed it?  Whatever, nobody seems particularly interested in his imposing presence !

He knew very well the FBI would not get involved. It is just showing off that they left no stone unturned, especially if there was some money or attention to be get by  that.