Zippidy-duped-ya Zippide-ay

I'm thinking about how I'm going to get my four hours-plus of fame. Fifteen minutes' worth----that's setting the bar pretty low by today's standards of attention seekers.

It's gonna take a lot to outdo the Heene family.

But it's possible. All situations are ripe for a perfect "look-at-me" storms these days.

After all, it's been a long time since we've had a good white Bronco chase. I think it would be fair to say the the Heene Hollywood wannabes trumped O.J. for sure.

This "boy in the balloon" story could have legs for a long, long time, so they pulled off a good one, and it could be the Heene's four hours will extend to many years as the media exercises every possible option to explore all dimensions of "How'd they do that?"

Until the next one wacko wannabe comes along that is.

We've got 24-hour stations ravenous for news beyond health care, Afghanistan, H1N1 aka swine flu. We've got viewers just as hungry.

As a news junkie, I was kinda disappointed that I missed it all. Sorta like the time I missed the infamous streaker at the Sandpoint High graduation. Heck, I was even sitting in the front row of spectators behind the graduating seniors when that one occurred.

Always interested in everything that's going on around me, I happened to be gawking a different direction in old Bulldog Gym that night when the guy came in the side door ran across the gym in front of the stage, the orchestra and all the seniors and then vamoosed out the opposite door.

All I experienced of that legendary event is the laughter, the groans and all the noise that came afterward. And, it's remembered to this day.

We had another incident similar to the streaker and to the boy in the balloon years before that. A couple of young, local mad scientists put together their own backyard flying vessel and sent it off into outer space. It was a hot-air-type device, and it had everyone in town going for a few hours as it floated in the skies above Sandpoint.

I believe KXLY-TV covered that one. Only difference was there was no supposed kid sitting inside, which reminds me that kids can do things like young Falcon pulled off. I know of a couple of incidents in our own neighborhood where the law was called in to go look for lost kids.

In one case, the youngster was sitting in a stump in the woods watching all the action; in another the object of the neighborhood search had found a nice nesting place in a lower cupboard inside the family's dwelling.

Yes, such things do happen, and possibly the Heene family took all their knowledge of such possibilities and put together the perfect script for that much desired fame. People do get tired of hearing about health care, Afghanistan and even unfaithful government officials. People need something new and fresh.

They got it. As I said, I missed the whole thing. I was out riding my horse, and when I came in to check my Facebook page, Farmville and Mafia games were interspersed with Balloon Boy comments.

"Who's this Balloon Boy?" I thought to myself. "Did I miss something?"

Sure did, and immediately wondered what the heck. Later, I turned on Larry King where Wolf Blitzer was interviewing the "distraught but relieved" family.

Wolf Blitzer should get the Pulitzer.

He asked the right question, and Daddy Heene hadn't quite prepared little Falcon for that one. Little Falcon knew the truth, and he told it. Daddy Heene needs to let those kids grow up a little and become a bit more sophisticated next time he tries a similar stunt.

I'm still wondering what prompted little Falcon to throw up in front of a national audience---twice the next morning when similar questions were posed for him.

Then, I read this morning that a media outlet may have been involved BEFORE the silver balloon took off. May have known the family plans. I also read that the sheriff supposedly duped the media by saying he believed the Heene's story just so the Heenes would talk more.

Lot of duping going on here.

I'm not believing all that I hear or read yet, cuz I'm getting to the point, as a consumer of news, to count or to take several deep breaths before believing everything I see on TV.

We're getting trained, slowly, as the truth distributors go through the ultimate tests that I can remember in my lifetime. It's a sad situation.

As long as people continue shopping for their own brand of truth, as long as other people are shopping for their four hours of fame, and as long as there are 24 hours worth of television air time to fill--------I think we're going to see a lot of more Heenes waiting in the wings, waiting to come on stage and to get everyone to pay attention to them.

Journalism teachers of America have a mighty challenge ahead, that's all I've got to say. And, hats off to Wolf Blitzer for asking the key question that uncovered this most recent information debacle.

Finally, I must say that my favorite part so far is the skeptical spectators who brought their aluminum popcorn poppers to the Heene household. Was that possibly to counteract the box that Mr. Heene held up after his "big announcement" that didn't materialize.

His assignment to reporters was to insert their questions and so he could go inside his house and dream up some even more far-fetched lies to feed them.

Is this the "new journalism?"