The Colorado Balloon False Alarm
Today we learn that in the case of the silver balloon that authorities chased across part of Colorado a few days ago, after getting a report that it was carrying a 6-year-old male unintentional stowaway, only to find later that he was actually safe at home, charges are to be filed. Naturally.
The legal profession, always jealous of its prerogatives, is still holding the exact nature of the charges close to its chest, but one possibility is the misdemeanor of falsely reporting a crime. It seems to be all on the strength of something the 6-year-old said on a talk show, though talk of a hoax was brought up much earlier.
But why bother? The purposes of all have been served, haven't they?
The county sheriff, who is calling for more than misdemeanor charges, should actually be quite satisfied. After all, his name has been in the national news every day since then. And the name of his otherwise obscure county now is equally known -- for these few moments of attention anyway, which never lasts long in any case.
Meanwhile the nation got its TV kicks out of another "child-in-the-well" emergency -- a welcome change from the usual news reports that discourteously call for thought that is seldom exerted .
And some military guys got to take some unexpected joyrides out of their big, expensive helicopters.
And the big airport nearby got to show its responsibility to the public, by closing down for a while and thereby getting a breather from its usual hectic activities.
Of course the news media did its bit by spreading the alarm as best it could and thereby ended up with its share of the sheepishness, but that's all a part of things.
All in all, everybody should be satisfied, and they should let well enough alone. But in a police state the legal profession is supreme, and it can't let any chance go by to intrude itself, to show who is king.
Somebody has to pay. And the legals think they have a case that will resound with any judge and jury, because the parents have been starring in a TV reality program called "Wife Swap."
The legal profession, always jealous of its prerogatives, is still holding the exact nature of the charges close to its chest, but one possibility is the misdemeanor of falsely reporting a crime. It seems to be all on the strength of something the 6-year-old said on a talk show, though talk of a hoax was brought up much earlier.
But why bother? The purposes of all have been served, haven't they?
The county sheriff, who is calling for more than misdemeanor charges, should actually be quite satisfied. After all, his name has been in the national news every day since then. And the name of his otherwise obscure county now is equally known -- for these few moments of attention anyway, which never lasts long in any case.
Meanwhile the nation got its TV kicks out of another "child-in-the-well" emergency -- a welcome change from the usual news reports that discourteously call for thought that is seldom exerted .
And some military guys got to take some unexpected joyrides out of their big, expensive helicopters.
And the big airport nearby got to show its responsibility to the public, by closing down for a while and thereby getting a breather from its usual hectic activities.
Of course the news media did its bit by spreading the alarm as best it could and thereby ended up with its share of the sheepishness, but that's all a part of things.
All in all, everybody should be satisfied, and they should let well enough alone. But in a police state the legal profession is supreme, and it can't let any chance go by to intrude itself, to show who is king.
Somebody has to pay. And the legals think they have a case that will resound with any judge and jury, because the parents have been starring in a TV reality program called "Wife Swap."
posted by Carl (aka Sofarsogoo) | 9:00 AM
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