FOR ONE BRIEF SHINING MOMENT IT SEEMED POSSIBLE FRANK RICH WAS ABOUT TO WRITE AN INSIGHTFUL COLUMN...:

In Defense of the ‘Balloon Boy’ Dad (FRANK RICH, 10/24/09, NY Times)

Certainly the “balloon boy” incident is a reflection of our time — much as the radio-induced “War of the Worlds” panic dramatized America’s jitters on the eve of World War II, or the national preoccupation with the now-forgotten Congressman Gary Condit signaled America’s pre-9/11 drift into escapism and complacency in the summer of 2001. But to see what “balloon boy” says about 2009, you have to look past the sentimental moral absolutes. You have to muster some sympathy for the devil of the piece, the Bad Dad. And you can’t grant blanket absolution to those in the American audience who smugly blame Heene and television exclusively for the entire embarrassing episode.

The metaphor that shrieks out for application here is of the Balloon Boy to the Unicorn Rider, even if that does make Mr. Rich part of the gullible audience. The daring sky-high ride that turns out to be unmanned in the end--it is the Obama story.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 25, 2009 9:17 AM