Comments on: Why Balloon Boy's dad deserves a break

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:59:19 +0000

I could not agree more with the preceding comments about this article. This man deserves everything he gets (in terms of punishment). "Sean" had it right – what if a rescue worker trying to save balloon boy was injured or killed – would the Editors feel the same? Not to mention, the psychological damage this man is doing to his children (did you see the disturbing homophobic music video starring his kids, or the clips of his parenting skills on the previous reality show he was on?). This is no different than calling in a bomb threat or yelling fire just for attention. All that being said, he would make a great TV producer.

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:33:55 +0000

Only in Canada would we make excuses for this idiot. The simple fact is, if real rescue efforts were required they would have been busy chasing this halfwits obession for the spotlight. Meanwhile someone could have died. It is the equivalent of a childish prank, but by a grown man who should know better.

By: Carl

Carl — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:33:33 +0000

The story 'Never Cry Wolf' still applies today.

By: Josh Fields

Josh Fields — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:07:27 +0000

This article gets it wrong from sentence one.

Richard Heene is not an eccentric inventor. He's a lowbrow scam artist who is willing to use/abuse his family to achieve extremely poor calculated stardom.

By: Sean

Sean — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:21:56 +0000

Fortunately, the author does not dictate the law to either the State of Colorado or the United States of America, nor does his assessment of the pending charges as "judicial overkill" hold any water. He does not decide what Heene may or may not be guilty of. Law and order prevails only when it is uniformly applied. If authorities decide that felony charges are in order, then he should be prosecuted for those charges. It is a mistake to say that this episode was harmless. Filing a false report is like pulling a fire alarm when there is no fire. Heene recklessly endangered the lives of each and every emergency response person who answered that call that day. I don't know about Colorado, but if this had happened in my state and one of those respondents was injured or died en route, whether via traffic accident or any other cause, he would be held responsible. My point is that this was not just some harmless stunt that people are overreacting to. This was an act of extreme negligence and should be punished accordingly.

By: NicciN

NicciN — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:05:58 +0000

You know what they say about hindsight. It's difficult to take pity on him. If only he were involved, that would be one thing, but involving your kids? That's unacceptable. If anyone want's to read a funny spin on this story, try: http://www.whythisblogsucks.com/2009/10/27/why-th...

By: Robert McClelland

Robert McClelland — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:26:46 +0000

So how do we explain the massive public scolding and official persecution?

As always, this is what happens when you create a monster and then allow it to run amok. The monster in this particular case is an amalgamation of the "tough on crime" hysteria (Heene committed a crime and should therefore be prosecuted to the full extent of the law) and the "ZOMG! My taxdollars!" psychosis (his stunt cost the taxpayers money). This will be the inevitable result as long these monsters continue to be fed.