Definitely, the circus was underway before the Padilla's walked into the case... but they did add to it in a huge way. As much as the Padilla's knew this was coming down, I still have issues with TP implying to Fox35 that the reason he wasn't revoking was about upholding the reputation of his business. To me, that crawled right up my craw, because he has led a lot of us to believe that this was all about finding Caylee, not some business venture.
I wish them the best... maybe their hearts were in the right place, and yes they did try... but one has to admit that some of their actions do make it questionable, IMO.
But this is actually easily understandable.
I live in Wisconsin. I really wish I could be in Orlando voluteering for the TES team. But I can't. I can't leave my job, my family, etc.
IMO, I see it this way because if it would really adversely his business, I can see trying to keep it. Caylee's story is tragic, and we all want the ending to that story. Tony and Leonard may have made a mistake in going down there to begin with, but as Leonard himself said, "what's done is done." Now they must deal with everything as it is, a total change from what they anticipated.
Again, I do understand the emotional reaction--"if he really cared about Caylee, he'd be doing something to punish Casey." Trust me, I have that same reaction to most people in this situation, who are all close to Casey.
Did they make a mistake? More than once. But does that mean that Tony should now sacrifice his life (since it is his business apparently, he and his family do rely on his income) to pay for that mistake? That wouldn't help anyone. And to put ourselves in his shoes, all of us care about Caylee, and have been preaching since the beginning that this should be focused on Caylee, not Casey. But none of us are going to quit our jobs and fly/drive/walk to Florida. The majority of us can't do it.
So I do not find anything totally out of order for Tony to protect his career. I also do not find it HORRIBLY wrong that Leonard is gaining some fame and camera time. I feel that they are both good-hearted, and truly do have good intentions and have since the beginning. But good intentions are not exclusive from personal maintenance.
To critisize either Padilla for simply trying to maintain their jobs is like critisizing law enforcement because they are getting paid. It would be like critisizing and blaming the media since they are also obviously receiving benefits from this tragedy. It doesn't mean that they are not emotionally involved in this case, or that they don't care at all about Caylee. It just means that as we all do, they can and must juggle life and all of its necessities.
lisha