Balloon Boy

Suddenly, live on national television yesterday, our collective, inner, 6-year-old boy was stirred to life. Who wouldn’t want to be floating free, up in the air with the birds, on a Thursday afternoon? Who wouldn’t want to do all of that with a name like Falcon?

Perhaps we’re well past the point of expecting cable news to check the veracity of the scenario, that a thin-skinned, sealed, relatively small helium balloon listing and bobbing through the air with little evidence of a ~50-pound load on board could actually carry a small boy, but it was fun while it lasted.

Today, the evidence is stacking up against the boy’s father, Richard Heene. Apparently he was there when the balloon launched yesterday.

And after watching the bizarre Today Show interview this morning — wherein Richard dismisses the notion that it was hoax as young Falcon vomits twice — it just doesn’t pass the smell test.

Whatever happens, I’m sure we’ll be able to watch it live on CNN, MSNBC, or Fox News.