Balloon boy's dad is the man!

I came across this article titled : In Defense of the 'Balloon Boy' Dad which basically shed some new light on this media fiasco. So what were your feelings towards this Richard Heene guy? Despicable? Selfish? Insane? Maybe so.

But let's think about what this guy did. He bent over the MSM, the followers of the MSM, and the followers of the followers of the MSM and gave them a good ol' fashioned spanking. He just made some crap up and we followed it. Sound familiar? What makes balloon boy's story any different from any other "news" story we see? Why are we blaming Richard Heene, when its OUR fault for watching the nonsense.

To quote the article:

Richard Heene is the inevitable product of this reigning culture, where “news,” “reality” television and reality itself are hopelessly scrambled and the warp-speed imperatives of cable-Internet competition allow no time for fact checking. Norman Lear, about the only prominent American to express any empathy for little Falcon’s father, vented on The Huffington Post, calling out CNN, MSNBC, Fox, NBC, ABC and CBS alike for their role in “creating a climate that mistakes entertainment for news.” This climate, he argued, “all but seduces a Richard and Mayumi Heene into believing they are — even if what they dream up to qualify is a hoax — entitled to their 15 minutes.”

Just my two cents. Whatever the hell that means

Ummm NO !

What he did was take the resources of many rescue workers, police and fire officers who could have been needed in a real emergency.

He cost that town a lot of money with this "stunt". He shoud have to repay every penny and personally apologize to each and every worker.

Furthermore, he did not "bend over" the media. It was a big story and we had no way of knowing it was a hoax, they were reporting it as news as the events unfolded, nothing more.

i don't normally defend the media but in this instance i don't see how they could have fact checked the story to any greater a degree.

there was a balloon, there was a family, the family did say the boy was in the balloon, what more do you want? the media to storm the house to check to make sure the kid wasn't under a bed?

I'm with elevatedone. I think Dad should get on a tv show. How about "Inside America's Jails"? He can be on every week!

A news item like that is about as off the cuff as you can get, the balloon was already in the air before the media got there. All the media was doing was following the rescue services as they attempted to save the life of the poor little lad who was in the balloon.

The sickening part would have been, if the boy was actually in there and him falling out of it, or being dragged arse backwards through a nettle field for millions to watch.

Otherwise in honesty, the kid is fine, the parents where looking for some fame (money), and it back fired.

Or has it?

Its nto fair on the rescue services, but i bet they got a bit of an adrenaline rush out of it, better than rescuing old ladies cats from trees.

if you wanted to "get back" at the MSM... a hoax would be an option. although that wasn't his intention, he sure made a fool out of every news station out there.

and it is the news's job to FACT CHECK their stories and not just take people's words. or you'll end up with a story like this. yes he wasted resources and it was a retarded thing to do... but saying that the MSM wasn't at fault is just rediculous

[edit on 27-10-2009 by dannyfal]

Y'know, I wasn't aware of the whole "balloon boy" thing until well after it was over. Why? Because I don't waste my time watching what passes as "news" these days.

It's kinda funny how most everyone here decries the news media as being biased, dumbed down, brain washing infotainment, yet still watches it religiously. We are all aware that if no-one watches it, sponsors will stop throwing money at it, and it will either change or go away. And yet....

Originally posted by dannyfal
but saying that the MSM wasn't at fault is just rediculous

Exactly what would you have had the media do differently in this case? Should they have ignored the report? How would you verify the parent wasn't hoaxing while the balloon was in the air?

reply to post by yeahright


i would... not report it? better safe than sorry...

ok for one thing... the guy had been on reality tv before. he shouldn't be discredited... but if you have seen him on the show you'd know he was a completel nutjob.

second of all... that flying baloon didn't look like it could hold any weight in any shape or form. a 6 year old child would need a lot more helium than that thing to lift him up. i'm no chemist, only an opinion.

lastly... no one helped to point out that you have to be a pretty bad parent to have your kid fly away in a a balloon. THATS what the story should have been... "Retarded Father, lets kid fly away".

i dunno, the MSM just took their word and tried to be the first to report on it... when in reality they could've let the fireman and rescue do they're thing and report on it AFTERWARDS. instead of .... lying

reply to post by dannyfal


I think the media is obligated to report the facts as they know them. If someone reports their kid is aloft in a balloon, that's a story, unless there's solid evidence to the contrary. Let people make their own decision about the veracity of the people involved.

Can you imagine the storm had the balloon really had a kid in it and the media sat on the story until it crashed?

I'm not seeing it. To not report the story would be irresponsible if not ridiculous. Either way, it's a story. It's either a story about a kid in a balloon, or a story about someone so pathetic they stoop to fabricate a tale about their kid aloft in a balloon.

reply to post by yeahright


well i see what your saying.. but there are thousands of stories that are not reported on. how would it hurt to not report the story? you honestly think there would be a problem with reporting the story after the fact even if the boy was in the balloon?

the MSM jumped the gun... deciding NOT to report would make no difference at all in anyone's lives. the rescue teams would still be there and what not. i mean how did it even end up going national? it seems like more of a local story.

basically this guy was thinking... the media is dumb. lets take advantage of them. and he did. he got his tv time and no one got hurt. now he can go write a book about his experience and make millions of dollars cause people are stupid and buy that crap.

I want to speak about this from a personal perspective, all the other stuff aside.

I happened to catch that story just before I was about to leave my home and got sucked into it. Not because it was sensational, or exciting, or a REALITY stint...but because I believed a poor little six year-old boy was trapped in that balloon and might at any minute loose his life. I was not excited by it, but horrified. I was almost in tears when it crashed (note; they turned the camera off at that point so as not to show the moment when the boy potentialy was killed). I am a mother and to watch that unfold was terrible.

That this man intentionally put ME through that really *isses me off! What right did he have to make thousands of people hold their breath in horror at the possiblity that they were watching his SON DIE IN FRONT OF THEM. That is beyond sick...it is twisted and demented and he is not fit to be a father.

NOW...let's talk about the responders. I happen to be an emergency responder. I will tell you that there were probably several people out their putting thier lives at risk in order to try and safely bring that balloon down. From the helicopter pilot to the people on the ground....

What about that man who ran through the uneven dirt toward the balloon as it came down? He could have easily hurt himself...FOR NOTHING. How emotional do you think the people that initially went up to that balloon expecting to find a dead little boy were? How much do you think the whole experience cost them emotionally?

NO...what this man did does not equall exposing how bad our media is. It exposes a sick individual who used HIS CHILD to emotionally toy and harm literally thousands of people at the same time. That he did this intentionally.....put people at the risk of physical and emotional harm ON PURPOSE in inexcusable!!!!!!!!

reply to post by westcoast


Well that man alone is just a sick guy sitting in his house being a lousy father.

Throw the media into the mix and you have people's emotions all over the place. and for what? for more viewers? there are plenty of sick individuals out there who want fame, it was the media that fed into it. they blew the story completely out of proportion.

and i am not a mother so i cannot speak for you, but my first reaction to that story was "where were the parents?"

reply to post by dannyfal


I will give you that the media should have handlec it differently. Provide video coverage ONLY for those involved in the rescue...but don't broadcast it. I should not have watched it....I could have turned it off, but that mother/responder in me could not. I HAD to know if that little boy was alive or not. I fed right into it.

That aside...it was NOT the medias fault or MY fault that this guy is a sick manipulator that used his KIDS to get the attention he desires. He alone is to blame for his actions. I am tired of trying to find blame everywhere other than where it really lies. HEENE caused this...he did it on purpose and he alone is to blame for everything that followed. He could have stopped it at anytime but chose not to.

reply to post by westcoast


I agree with you completely. I have twin 6 year old boys, and when this "broke" I thought of my boys. Its the same if a child is kidnapped, or killed - makes me hug my children even more. I did, however, mention to my husband that hopefully the child was hiding.

On another note - apparently rescue workers DID check the house while this was going on. They just never thought to look in the attic - and would't have thought to do so since the entrance to the attic was inaccessable to a child.

I'm not taking sides with the MSM - but it would have been impossible to double check in the short amount of time given. The guy played everyone, unfortunately. I hope he ends up paying for the rescue manpower spent.

What this man did was "cry wolf". Next time Falcon "disappears", I hope he doesn't expect a search & rescue. I hope they fine him for the cost of every resource utilized....and then double it for exemplary punishment.

Just my 2-cents

I really ...just...don't....care.
I don't think I'd even bother to read or comment on this thread except I keep wondering if anyone has any information about him working for the govt and being 'activated' so as to keep the attention of the population busy.

Balloon Boy's parents plead guilty today...

www.cnn.com...

Originally posted by dannyfal
But let's think about what this guy did. He bent over the MSM, the followers of the MSM, and the followers of the followers of the MSM and gave them a good ol' fashioned spanking. He just made some crap up and we followed it. Sound familiar? What makes balloon boy's story any different from any other "news" story we see? Why are we blaming Richard Heene, when its OUR fault for watching the nonsense.

Are you insane?

You think planning a hoax like this and costing emergency services thousands of dollars of tax payers money, plus taking all this time away from police, who couldve been doing something productive is a laugh?

You wouldnt be Richard Heene by any chance would you



Hopefully the moron and his stupid wife have to pay the money back