Admit it: Even as you were expressing sympathy for all those people fleeing hurricane Dennis, you were cracking up at the spectacle of reporters for CNN, Fox News Channel, et al., as they struggled to keep their footing while being pelted by the heavy rains and winds. It's just so . . . stupid. All these correspondents in their colorful slickers, picking up pieces of debris, pointing at lone nutcases who didn't evacuate, and comparing Dennis to Ivan and other hurricanes. And then you get the obligatory exchange where the dry-and-safe anchor tells the reporter to be careful.

You know, you can put cameras out there and record the magnitude of a storm without sticking Anderson Cooper on a balcony in Panama City Beach, telling us how much flying sand hurts when it's hitting you at 135 mph.