From the Buffalo News:

It is not so much the danger. It is the scent of desperation.

I strongly suspect that Nik Wallenda, of the famous tightrope-walking family, can tip-toe along a high wire strung over Niagara Falls this summer without toppling into the drink.

What bothers me about the stunt is the eagerness of some public officials to embrace it.

Assemblyman John Ceretto, R-Lewiston, stepped to the podium at Thursday’s news conference and, like a carnival barker, emitted a single-word exhortation: “Electrifying.” The volume of that debateable declaration may have awakened desk clerks at every dreary drive-up motel along Niagara Falls Boulevard.

I was about to call for decorum, but… well, this is Niagara Falls. Subtlety was crushed beneath a waterfall of crassness and commercialism two centuries ago. The Canadian side is an ode to wax museums, theme restaurants and arcades. All of which can be fun, if you are in the mood. But they do not have much to do with parkland, natural beauty and the quiet contemplation of a hydro-wonder.