It Was a Cat-5 . . . Media Event

While we shouldn’t make light of 4 million homes without power in the aftermath of Irene, it was much less of a storm than advertised.  I’ve seen worse damage—and had longer power interruptions (my power went out last night at 3 am for a grand total of two minutes)—from normal severe summer thunderstorms.  However, a week ago it was by no means clear that the storm would weaken as it did, and the reverse might well have occurred.  The obvious problem is that once the media turns up their volume knobs all the way to 11, there’s no way for them to dial back.  Howard Kurtz has their number in “The Hurricane of Hype,” and we can always enjoy a few yucks at the media’s expense from the video below.  (Oh, and this NSFW video, I predict, will not make the Weather Channel’s highlight reel, though I am sure it will make The Daily Show Monday night for sure.  In fact, I wonder how long it will stay up on YouTube.)