Anderson Cooper The Journalist

The air came rushing out of Balloon Boy’s mode of transport and he has now been transformed from a symbol of desperate attempts at rescue to one of conspiracy and deceit.   A few days ago, we were all worried about his survival.  Now, the frenzy is to punish the boy’s family, specifically his parents, for what was apparently a contrived attempt for publicity.

"Balloon Boy" and his father, Richard Heene

Instead of looking at the overall situation and attempting to deal with the entirety of the problem, we are, as is human nature, content to look at the symptom while ignoring the cause.  Regardless of what Balloon Boy’s parents may have foistered upon Balloon Boy and his siblings, the public response should be to not go overboard, just as the public response should not have gone overboard when he was first reported missing and presumed to be aloft in a balloon.

Restitution should be made by the Heene family for the costs involved, estimated at upwards of $20,000, but beyond that, all of those involved need to temper their anger and not focus so strongly on the family as they should on their reaction to their own injured pride, for at the root of this problem, that is with what we are truly dealing.

In a broader scope, we are dealing with a father who is trying to support his family and felt justified enough in setting up a hoax to help things along.  Richard Heene does not seem to be a bad guy, but he does seem to be limited in his options and somewhat desperate in his attempts to find ways to support his family.  He has apparently come to the conclusion that television reality shows hold the answer, much in the same way that caused Octomom to have child after child, clearly responding to the society around him that nowadays nurtures such notions.

He is also responding to the society around him that is in a repression/depression and does not hold out much to him in the way of “easy” money (other than through television reality shows, on which the Heene family has previously appeared).  With jobs currently limited in availability, Richard Heene thought his apparent hoax would be an effective ploy, but instead it backfired.  Now, a bruised societal ego is responding reflexively, with threats going as far as saying the kids should be taken away from the Heene family.

Let’s get a grip:  this is all largely much ado about nothing, yet it has dominated the media’s attention for almost a week now and will surely continue to do such until the next “great event” comes along.  Instead of everyone jumping on the Balloon Boy-bashing bandwagon, President Obama should invite the boy and his father to the White House and share a glass of milk and a beer.  They could then discuss President Obama’s attempts to fix an economy that instills such desperation into his nation’s citizens. – George Curcio