Defending Balloon Boy's dad
Are we being too hard on Richard Heene now that we know his runaway balloon story was a hoax?
Richard Heene may face crimminal charges for his 'Balloon Boy' hoax.
(Reuters/Corbis/Rick Wilking)
Don't be too hard on Richard Heene, said Frank Rich in The New York Times. There's something "poignant" about the way the "Bad Dad" in the Balloon Boy hoax tried to solve his family's financial problems by grabbing one of the "the last accessible scraps of the American dream"—a starring moment in "the big tent of the reality media circus." And if you want to point fingers—Heene's lie did far less damage than the artificially inflated bank bubble that made him, and millions more, so desperate. (Watch coverage of Mayumi Heene's confession that they did it to become more marketable)
Comparing bank bubbles and Richard Heene's hoax is silly, said Isaac Chotiner in The New Republic. "I can glibly say that 'Just as numerous Americans were fooled by the few hyped instances of shark attacks into staying out of the water in the summer of 2001, so were many Americans fooled by Bill Clinton's initial comments on Monica Lewinsky.'" But the two matters are unrelated—"Rich should stop looking for patterns where none exist."
And let's not underestimate how much real damage the Balloon Boy hoax caused, said Peter Cohan in Finance Daily. Twenty percent of the American workforce got nothing done during the two hours during which the nation watched Richard Heene's balloon drift and wondered whether 6-year-old Falcon Heene was inside. Do the math—the cost to the economy is a staggering $2.8 billion in lost productivity, so Richard Heene's hoax was far from a harmless prank.
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8 Comments
Posted by ellen, Monday, October 26, 2009, 10:21 am Are You serious? This guy does not need our misplaced pity. If we go by Frank Rich's thinking every criminal out there is doing it to feed their family and we should not be so rough on any of them. This guy started his deciteful ways long before the economic downturn, he coached his children to lie to authorities and did this for fame.
Posted by Amelite, Monday, October 26, 2009, 10:26 am It's certainly not Richard Heene's fault if people got nothing done for two hours so they could watch a balloon chase. Sheesh!
Posted by Bob, Monday, October 26, 2009, 11:20 am Media just can't let it drop. They were into their usual feeding frenzy on balloon boybetter yet airhead dadbefore any piece of journalistic responsibility came into play. Now they have to find excuses for their stupid race for ratings and the turn of socalled news shows to plain show biz. No wonder polls show no trust in the mediaeven less than in Congress.
Posted by Fred, Monday, October 26, 2009, 11:46 am I agree with Bob. This is not a news story. Stop reporting it as such.
Posted by Eileen Smyth, Monday, October 26, 2009, 12:59 pm Look, I'm no shrink but it wouldn't surprise me if we were to somehow find out this guy is a sociopath. He has abused people in the past. He has exploited his children in the past. He has lied to potential employers. He has shown no sympathy for anyone in the past. He reported a false emergency put people in harm's way. He then instructed his children wife to lie to the police.WHAT MORE EVIDENCE DO YOU NEED THAT THIS IS A BAAAAAAD GUY???
Posted by Joe Donuts, Monday, October 26, 2009, 3:30 pm tick tick tick the 15 minute fame clock is running....DING
Posted by nikita puhalsky, Tuesday, October 27, 2009, 7:46 am The televised media lost all credibility with me years ago. Let's be real, breaking news is not constantly happening, yet they have to fill the void with something. Consequently the quality suffers and there is not critical examination of the story. I place my pity with the children, dad needs to get a set and a second job if they are having difficulties.
Posted by Defense, Tuesday, October 27, 2009, 4:10 pm What really was the damage caused by a parent reporting a child missing when the child was not missing? Well, if the police had bothered to follow protocol they would have told Heene to call back in 24 hours. If the kid was still missing after 24 hours the police, if they cared about protocol, would have searched the home for the missing child. So, if the police followed the rules the cost would have been approximately zero.
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