What have we learned?

Hi there nice people...


Ok.. so I was sitting here thinking about things. I've got the third re-run of NG playing in the background... but gah.. I don't even feel like watching it. It's just crap after a while.

Anyone else see Burn After Reading? You know that part at the end where the one FBI agent says... "Well.. this is just a clusterf##$%.... What did we learn?" I'm paraphrasing, of course... but if you saw the movie, you know the part I'm talking about.

Well.. to get to point.. What have we learned?


1.. It's easy to get culturally chauvinistic:

Not everyone grew up and went to school and went on to get married and have 2.5 kids with a white picket fence and a perfect life where everything is just gold and sunshine with candy paved streets.. All these folks seem to have lots of skeletons that people take delight in exploiting... probably more for entertainment than for the best interest of finding a missing child. I'm just as guilty. I'm sorry. JMO, but I'm thinking that these folks.. the Cummings and the Sheffields are now realizing the gravity of their situation... and a lot of that stuff from before isn't really all that important.

(of course, I realize that any criminal activity that could be a direct reason for the girl's disappearance would still be very valid)

2. The media: Necessary Evil?

Ok.. I get a little crazy about this. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that the point of any discussion in this forum is to get the Cummings child back home safe and sound. That being said... Ya want media coverage... almost on a continuous basis. The problem is that well.. the media has to report something... and they are running out of things to talk about. Hey.. I'm not saying that's right.. I'm saying that's what's going on.

The last two nights of Geraldo Rivera... oh man.. He just had to "go there"... He fired that shot over the bough.. and then went "ramming speed"... It was uncomfortable and embarrassing to watch...

The only positive thing that came out of that whole debacle is that they still were focusing on the little girl being missing at the end of it all.. like they should be. I think it's shameful that that is what it takes to get everyone's attention... not you, dear reader... I mean the average schmoe out there watching CNN and just waiting for his daily bread and circus.

3. Where does it go from here?


Hey, I'm just as judgmental as a lot of people (and I'm trying really hard not to)... I'm one of those guys that hate movies where none of the characters are likeable... good or bad. I want this child found... God willing... and let her come home safely... But what have we learned?

What have Ron and Crystal learned?

I'm leaving this wide open so as to get some discussion going.

Go!

#2 - Media
Media is lazy, spoiled, not very smart.
If WE can connect dots between CReynolds and Haleigh and missing man [real or not], surely an experienced reporter could, too. It is just so much easier for them to sit back and be spoon fed stories by LE and GR.

Even if the three missing persons cases are not connected, there would be potential side benefits of finding missing person John F. Waldo and absconded predator Chad E. Reynolds. A win-win proposition, IMO. [But I'm new on the job, what do I know?]

This is all very appalling to me. I was an impressionable youngster back in the days of Watergate. My mother, and thus I, considered Woodward and Bernstein heroes.

Just one rookie's opinion.

I agree with everything you wrote Issi.

And believe me, I'm just as guilty of digging for irrelevant damning info.

But digging nonetheless in case it IS relevant.

When it comes to the culture involved, it's hard to put objectivity into it when there are children involved. My heart feels for all of the little ones.

That said, I agree with you about Geraldo. A low point in journalism - if that's what it could be called. JMO.

I agree that Geraldo took reporting to an all time low. That wasn't really reporting in my opinion.

(As a side note: I am fairly sure that I will never watch him on TV again, because there are just too many other tv journalists to watch instead).

With the exception of Geraldo, I am grateful for unbiased media attention to any case. Where the media reports information that may or may not be relevant to a case.

We just don't know what is important information or not important information in this case as of yet. LE is being very tight lipped. I like to look at each part of the picture intensely, then step back and take a look at the big picture. In this case, I don't have enough info to know where each part of the picture falls enough to get a glimpse of the big picture..as of yet. Just my two cents.

To answer OP's question and I say this without any sarcasm but truthfully,

What have Ron and Crystal learned...

More than likely it is the full meaning of the word....regret.

LFlorida said:

#2 - Media
Media is lazy, spoiled, not very smart.
If WE can connect dots between CReynolds and Haleigh and missing man [real or not], surely an experienced reporter could, too. It is just so much easier for them to sit back and be spoon fed stories by LE and GR.

Even if the three missing persons cases are not connected, there would be potential side benefits of finding missing person John F. Waldo and absconded predator Chad E. Reynolds. A win-win proposition, IMO. [But I'm new on the job, what do I know?]

This is all very appalling to me. I was an impressionable youngster back in the days of Watergate. My mother, and thus I, considered Woodward and Bernstein heroes.

Just one rookie's opinion.

Click to expand...

Good morning Wow.. those are really good points. In terms of investigative journalism, there doesn't seem to be much of that going on. It's almost like you have people on a site like this doing all the leg-work for them.

Hehe... I was around during Watergate.. but a tad young at the time to understand it (just a toddler). I bet that was a fascinating time.

To answer OP's question and I say this without any sarcasm but truthfully,

What have Ron and Crystal learned...

More than likely it is the full meaning of the word....regret.

Click to expand...

Dang... Good answer.

I agree with most of what the OP wrote, but I HOPE that one very important thing we have learned is to keep our kids and grandkids safe, and do everything we can to assure that they are loved and protected.
Geraldo made a huge mistake, IMO, because whatever his purpose was in exposing these things, all he accomplished was to widen the gap between the two families, which does not help find the missing child. They should be standing together, giving support to each other... not fighting over things in the past which have very little to do with the case. I have never cared much for his style, and I care even less about it now.

WS doing the legwork for them is one thing...

Apparently reporters can't/won't bother even looking at the info.
Very discouraging.

Oh, and note I said I was a YOUNGSTER during Watergate Era, lol.

I just hope the media stays on this, if they don't the case may go COLD.........
Haleigh's name needs to stay out there. She needs to be found no matter
what the outcome. Justice needs to come to Haleigh and others not in the spot light.
JMOO

Good thread. Very unique. You've summed up my thoughts....and child abductions/murder/abuse happens in all walks of life. We've seen that.

BTW, I wish media would dissect the 911 call......
what is Rc doing in background.........
what is Rc looking for? What'sthe noise?
NOT HALEIGH............no screaming for her etc!
JR not crying.
saying *5 days ago*????
In background several words have come out *note*
see http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79859&page=4
Come on media sources HELP US OUT! if you read here! TIA

The media doesn't seem to serve a purpose for LE in this case. Keeping Haleigh's face out there...pleas to the public have not been a big part of this. Recent statements in the press indicate that this is a recovery mission and that giving out information would hinder those efforts. Just an observation.

Well.
What know for sure…Haleigh is missing. Anything after that is speculation. We can apply educated guesswork to what has been said on 911 tapes, media interviews and LE press conferences but we really have no good solid facts to build with. Without a foundation of good facts there is not much that can be done.

This is why the media should be important in this case. Media is needed to get past speculation and to get to the facts. That is not happening. The media is not investigating anything. They are not really that interested.

If this was a child from the home of someone from middleclass USA or up you can bet your bippy that media would be doing their own investigative reporting. They would be asking the questions that we are and LE would feel the pressure and at least make an attempt at looking like they want and need the public to help find Haleigh. Media would be out there trying to find dots that connect. Unfortunately this is just some small town, low-income type folks who have a past that has arrests, drugs and some questionable friends and family in it. The only difference between this family and any other is the income level and the address.
The media is not pushing LE for information because there will be no big 'fame' attached to finding that piece of info that could break the case wide open. And find Haleigh. Despite all of our questions regarding the players in this case these people are just not worthy of the time and GR carp over the weekend has just about squelched any possible chance for a rookie reporter to decide that he is going to use this case to do some really good comprehensive work to move up in the world of journalism. GR has made this case a pariah and no one will want to get to close for fear of being looked at as a tabloid reporter.

I do hope I’m wrong but unless LE has something very solid that they have been quietly working on all this time I believe that this will end up as a another cold case and Haleigh will become just another one of many children who are ‘missing and endangered’.

shadow of my mind said:

Well.
What know for sure…Haleigh is missing. Anything after that is speculation. We can apply educated guesswork to what has been said on 911 tapes, media interviews and LE press conferences but we really have no good solid facts to build with. Without a foundation of good facts there is not much that can be done.

This is why the media should be important in this case. Media is needed to get past speculation and to get to the facts. That is not happening. The media is not investigating anything. They are not really that interested.

If this was a child from the home of someone from middleclass USA or up you can bet your bippy that media would be doing their own investigative reporting. They would be asking the questions that we are and LE would feel the pressure and at least make an attempt at looking like they want and need the public to help find Haleigh. Media would be out there trying to find dots that connect. Unfortunately this is just some small town, low-income type folks who have a past that has arrests, drugs and some questionable friends and family in it. The only difference between this family and any other is the income level and the address.
The media is not pushing LE for information because there will be no big 'fame' attached to finding that piece of info that could break the case wide open. And find Haleigh. Despite all of our questions regarding the players in this case these people are just not worthy of the time and GR carp over the weekend has just about squelched any possible chance for a rookie reporter to decide that he is going to use this case to do some really good comprehensive work to move up in the world of journalism. GR has made this case a pariah and no one will want to get to close for fear of being looked at as a tabloid reporter.

I do hope I’m wrong but unless LE has something very solid that they have been quietly working on all this time I believe that this will end up as a another cold case and Haleigh will become just another one of many children who are ‘missing and endangered’.

Click to expand...

I get the feeling that the media is very interested, but is being shooed away by LE.

On a positive note, people who've heard of Haleigh's disappearance will continue to look for her everywhere...I'm sure everyone here does this. The reward continues to grow. Still hopeful.

What have we learned?

SQUAT!

Sorry but MY OPINION......

just a bunch of lies and confusion...

bottom line....... WE DON'T KNOW WHERE HALEIGH IS!

I have learned that, if you have children, you should
#1-get a pack of yappy dogs. They should go everywhere with you to ward off would be kidnappers and alert you to persons coming toward your children.
2#-You should never have changes in your phone service or lose your phone. Write down all contact numbers in a safe place and text instead of calling so that your whereabouts and conversations can be confirmed.
#3-If anything happens to your child you WILL be the first suspect.
#4-Try to look pretty and speak properly even though you are wrecked with panick, because everything you say will be replayed in multitude on national television.
#5-We should send major $$ to the people responsible for microchipping dogs, in the hopes they can come up with a microchip that has GPS locator included-then chip the kids
#6-Websleuthers are really smart cookies

Seahorseladydi said:

What have we learned?

SQUAT!

Sorry but MY OPINION......

just a bunch of lies and confusion...

bottom line....... WE DON'T KNOW WHERE HALEIGH IS!

Click to expand...

*Nods. Yep SQUAT pretty much sums it up.

I think it is a fact there is a reward. I just don't know how much of a reward? Did the reward go up after Ron gave LE the note?

Do we know where the reward money comes from? Please bare with me. I am new at sleuthing.

LFlorida said:

#2 - Media
Media is lazy, spoiled, not very smart.
If WE can connect dots between CReynolds and Haleigh and missing man [real or not], surely an experienced reporter could, too. It is just so much easier for them to sit back and be spoon fed stories by LE and GR.

Even if the three missing persons cases are not connected, there would be potential side benefits of finding missing person John F. Waldo and absconded predator Chad E. Reynolds. A win-win proposition, IMO. [But I'm new on the job, what do I know?]

This is all very appalling to me. I was an impressionable youngster back in the days of Watergate. My mother, and thus I, considered Woodward and Bernstein heroes.

Just one rookie's opinion.

Click to expand...

John F. Waldo found deceased this morning.

If LE thinks the best way to handle this case is keeping things quiet why didn't they give lessons to the family on how to conducts themselves. The Geraldo reporting scared me for Haleigh.

Clock's Tickin said:

I have learned that, if you have children, you should
#1-get a pack of yappy dogs. They should go everywhere with you to ward off would be kidnappers and alert you to persons coming toward your children.
2#-You should never have changes in your phone service or lose your phone. Write down all contact numbers in a safe place and text instead of calling so that your whereabouts and conversations can be confirmed.
#3-If anything happens to your child you WILL be the first suspect.
#4-Try to look pretty and speak properly even though you are wrecked with panick, because everything you say will be replayed in multitude on national television.
#5-We should send major $$ to the people responsible for microchipping dogs, in the hopes they can come up with a microchip that has GPS locator included-then chip the kids
#6-Websleuthers are really smart cookies

Click to expand...

Hmmm.....chipping the kids....I think we should look into this a little further. What would the pro's and con's be in getting a micro chip inserted into our children, for GPS tracking. I can't believe I just typed that! But really, could we save lives this way?