This is kind of thing that steams my clams. It's the Natalee Holloway petition.
The petition is the most convoluted, ridiculous thing I've ever read, based not on facts or evidence, but solely on assumptions all gleaned from watching the media coverage of this story. A young girl on vacation is missing, and presumed dead, under mysterious circumstances. But because it's on the news every night people feel like they're entitled to know the truth, or worse: they already think they know what happened. Just because the media is sensationalizing it by counting the days ("Day 91: Missing in Aruba", like it's a frigging Nancy Drew book) and Greta von Something and Nancy Whatsherface are blabbing about it on TV non-stop every night, and the mother of the missing child is harassing suspects at their place of work in Aruba, it doesn't make the accusations any more valid, nor the case any closer to being solved. Basically, a little information is a dangerous thing, and that's all we have to go on. The media's constant coverage alone doesn't make it "apparent" that there's a conspiracy, it's merely the power of suggestion. Furthermore, since there's essentially no "new" news in this case, it serves no purpose other than to pray upon a parent's worst fear, just to get ratings. It's appalling.
Here's the 'fair and balanced' news: hundreds of people go missing every year, and they're never found. How come we don't have petitions for all of them? Is there no one missing in this country? Is there a special "American white girl" clause that I wasn't aware of? Because you watch 12 hours of MSNBCNN a day, that suddenly makes you an expert on Dutch law? Let's be honest: everything we know about the Dutch we learned from "Austin Powers in Goldmember". That's like saying I know a lot about Amsterdam because I drink a lot Amstel Light. How do we have the right to send in the FBI, and force US laws onto this case--because we're the US, and we say so?
Something obviously went horribly wrong and this girl ended up dead, and whether there was foul play or it was an accident, I can't make the call because I wasn't there. If the law enforcement in Aruba botched the investigation, it only shows that foreign countries are just as capable of ineptitude and negligence as we are (anyone heard of O.J. Simpson?). And if we're outraged over an alleged political cover up, we've got plenty of that in our own country to focus our attention on (Karl Rove, I'm looking at you). And although it's a horrible ordeal for the family and I don't wish it on anyone, it doesn't have anything to do with you or me.
The kicker is the "we will boycott Aruba" line in this petition. If the island of Aruba relies on American tourism for their income, don't you think that the Aruban officials are doing whatever they can to find out what happened? If they're covering up something, it only makes them look worse. Regardless, if you assume this is a massive conspiracy, and as a result you don't want to go to Aruba, don't go! Who's stopping you?