Did you ever eat one those meals that you asked yourself why you wasted your calorie intake and money on that? The Dr. Phil Show interview today with Lisa Irwin's parents, media representative, but mostly starring their attorney made me feel like I had empty calories. I will never get that hour back.
There was really no new information that we were led to believe forthcoming. That is kind of like going to Wal-Mart and expecting customer service. I knew better.
I'm confused. Family attorney Joe Tacopina told Phil McGraw that the parents have answered questions from the Kansas City Police Department once, twice and three times, and there is no need to talk to them further (yet a conversation was held yesterday). If that is the case, then why answer the same questions on The Dr. Phil Show for the fourth or more time? I am not joining the dog pile, but it makes one or more participants look narcissistic. However, the Dr. Phil staff has been after the family and extended family for some time now to do their show.
Host McGraw asked Lisa's mom, Deborah Bradley, why wait until now to get excited about trying to find their daughter. Her reply was "things needed to quiet down." Really? If my baby was missing, things would not get quiet. I would be raising hell and I would not care what people thought about me. Yes, I might need to be on Zoloft, but I would be stirring the pot.
Others who know more about statement analysis and body language are far more qualified to dissect the performance than I, so I will leave it to them. But it sure did not look good that attorney Tacopina answered most of the questions. It either looks like damage control or an epsisode of "All About Joe."
Why do the interview? As I said in an interview with Jane Velez-Mitchell on HLN today, that is not the way you find a baby unless she is truly abducted and alive. Is she? The Dr. Phil Show can get your baby's face out there but it cannot find the abductor, whether Lisa is alive or not. However, in fairness, Deborah Bradley told Phil McGraw she did not care who took her daughter, merely that she was returned safely, somewhere.
Also on the show was formerly touted as a private investigator, then security consultant, now taking back the title of investigator Bill Stanton. The New York-based licensed "security guard-unarmed" led McGraw to believe that he has been seeking the truth. That sounds good until you know that I have spoken with both Megan Wright (the woman with the cell phone who was the intended recipient of a call from Bradley's phone that night) and potential eyewitness Mike Thompson (the motorcyclist) who both tell me they have never spoken to Stanton or any member of his "team". Both have spoken with Cyndy Short, the Kansas City attorney that was fired off the case the end of October 2011 after her and Tacopina disagreed on their roles.
Yes, I have spent some time with family members on this case. On my own dime, I have tried to find answers and be objective while trying to be true to myself. Initially, I was not asked by anybody to get involved in this case until I started having success in finding answers. To be clear, I can ask questions to find answers on this case with or without being hired. The difference is if I am hired, I would not have as much freedom to talk openly as a reporter/blogger.
As you can tell by my comments here, I do not work for Tacopina or Stanton. I am also not against them. Whatever would find this baby and bring the person to justice, whether it be an abductor or a family member, I am all for. But, folks, we have to talk and not in a sanitized television studio. Let's do the right thing.
