Most absurd video of media's hurricane hype: Dramatic CNN reporter while people ar just walking by..

America: Dramatic news reporter on CNN. Long Island, New York..... CNN Meteorologist Rob Marciano provided that staple of severe weather coverage: That of the reporter standing out in the elements struggling in high winds and rain. It's intended to be very dramatic, and to be sure Mr. Marciano was being dramatic. "We are in, right, now...the right eye wall, no doubt about that...there you see the surf," he shouts trying to be heard over the wind. "That tells a story right there." "It's been truly remarkable to watch the power of the ocean here." Along the bottom of the screen CNN has emblazoned "Breaking News: Irene Batters Long Island" on its news ticker. But there's something funny to notice when you watch the video: Check out the people in the back ground. People are walking back and forth chatting with one another. One woman is walking backwards, her hands in the air. A guy on a bicycle cruises by. Sure, the weather in the video is cruddy, but one hardly expects to see people out and having fun in the sort of extreme weather the CNN reporter is characterizing. The coverage was intended to give us a sense of the danger of the storm, and yet that danger is not at all clear from the way the people around the reporter are behaving. "Shameless" and "brazen" are the only words I can think of to describe these antics. All the more so in that the reporters and producers and anchors responsible for the coverage lack the self-awareness to realize how silly it all looks ...