The only thing that would change my opinion on Ronald Cummings is if he were to voluntarily, without reward or compensation, give a formal statement to police regarding the whole, unadulterated truth about what happened to Haleigh.... when, where, how, why, ...including the names of who's participated in a coverup and therefore obstructed justice... and subsuming every other detail in full truth and only the truth.
At that point, I would be able to at least give Cummings due credit for stepping up and being a man with some guts and hope that that would be the first step in redemption for him. If this - as of yet hypothetical - full, truthful disclosure to LE were to transpire, if-that-were-to-happen-and-good-grief-I'm-not-holding-my-breath, I'd gladly regard him as an individual who is trying to do the right thing for once.
The fact that some touching images exist bw a parent and children means just that to me - that some touching images exist -- very nice images. Super. Given that, I wont list here the myriad of parents for whom warm, touching, "nice" images exist who were also subsequently found to have killed their children. (...in a court of law, in absence of reasonable doubt.. by a jury of their peers... - insert appropriate legalese and disclaimers here.)
Let's face it, for the average person, happy times are the moments chosen to be captured on film for scrapbooks and family chronicles. Granted, it doesnt automatically indicate to me that those happy moments are isolated incidents, but OTOH it doesnt mean they're not either. Iow, it hardly proves to me that everything is peachy dandy, hunky-dory, Beaver Cleaver, let's call Hallmark, in the day to day family dynamics.
Also, most folks put their best face forward when a camera is around. I highly doubt Grandma or the parent would include in the Fond Memory Family Scrapbook, (to be treasured for posterity and shared with others) snapshots or video of the parent slapping the crap of a child - passing for the gross misuse of the word, "disipline" - or images of child services knocking on the front door, reading the parent the riot act, dispensing "warnings," along with candid shots of the parent with social workers inquiring as to how hard one is permitted to legally hit their child without inviting litigation and pesky repercussions.
"Roll the tape, Hal....." [quote tm DL]
moo
At that point, I would be able to at least give Cummings due credit for stepping up and being a man with some guts and hope that that would be the first step in redemption for him. If this - as of yet hypothetical - full, truthful disclosure to LE were to transpire, if-that-were-to-happen-and-good-grief-I'm-not-holding-my-breath, I'd gladly regard him as an individual who is trying to do the right thing for once.
The fact that some touching images exist bw a parent and children means just that to me - that some touching images exist -- very nice images. Super. Given that, I wont list here the myriad of parents for whom warm, touching, "nice" images exist who were also subsequently found to have killed their children. (...in a court of law, in absence of reasonable doubt.. by a jury of their peers... - insert appropriate legalese and disclaimers here.)
Let's face it, for the average person, happy times are the moments chosen to be captured on film for scrapbooks and family chronicles. Granted, it doesnt automatically indicate to me that those happy moments are isolated incidents, but OTOH it doesnt mean they're not either. Iow, it hardly proves to me that everything is peachy dandy, hunky-dory, Beaver Cleaver, let's call Hallmark, in the day to day family dynamics.
Also, most folks put their best face forward when a camera is around. I highly doubt Grandma or the parent would include in the Fond Memory Family Scrapbook, (to be treasured for posterity and shared with others) snapshots or video of the parent slapping the crap of a child - passing for the gross misuse of the word, "disipline" - or images of child services knocking on the front door, reading the parent the riot act, dispensing "warnings," along with candid shots of the parent with social workers inquiring as to how hard one is permitted to legally hit their child without inviting litigation and pesky repercussions.
"Roll the tape, Hal....." [quote tm DL]
moo