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(On a scale of bad to worse - eleven)

Continuing our odyssey of November 4th, we arrive at 1979. This one went from bad to worse in a matter of hours. And stayed that way for a record 444 days. The U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran is largely thought to be responsible for bringing the Carter Presidency down and it did prove to be one series of epic blunders after the next, culminating in a disastrous rescue attempt that only served to aggravate an already out of control situation and further ramp up the chants of "death to America". But in the early hours of November 4, it only seemed like a diplomatic problem.

Richard C. Hottelet (CBSNews): “Young Iranians described as students, acting with the blessing of Ayatollah Khomeni have occupied the American Embassy in Tehran and hold more than fifty hostages there. They demand extradition of the Shah, who is now under medical treatment in New York.”

As the days wore on, there was no end in sight.

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(November 3, 1979 - by the end of the day it looked like this)

Saturday November 3, 1979 was supposed to be, by all intents and purposes a slow news day. South Korea had just buried its assassinated President Park Chung Hee, the 1980 Presidential race was getting started, the body of Mamie Eisenhower, former First Lady arrived in Kansas for burial and the coming week would mull Congress giving Chrysler a much needed bailout to stave off bankruptcy.

By the afternoon it got different. Five people were shot dead and at least eight were wounded during an Anti-KKK rally in Greensboro North Carolina, as carloads of whites opened fire on an otherwise peaceful demonstration. Twelve acknowledged Klan members would later be arrested. Protesters overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, signaling what would become a 444 day odyssey of hostages and attempted negotiations.

It goes to prove how quickly things can change, from seemingly nowhere.

But on the morning of the 3rd, when this CBS World News Roundup was broadcast, it was just another quiet weekend.

(the never-ending saga of the Middle East - going back as far as the memory can see)

Another warmup of the Wayback Machine - this time to March 14, 1978. A typical average day - nothing special - nothing earth shattering. The hostage drama in Holland just came to a close, an hour before this broadcast. The Middle-East was doing what it seems to endlessly do. Buenos Aires was the site of prison riots The Senate was debating the Panama Canal Neutrality Treaty. The latest International scandal, Koreagate was running through the halls of Congress (the players making a comeback in 2005 under the heading "Food For Oil"). The Dollar was nosediving against the Yen - and Pope Paul had the flu.

Just another day - we all got through it. The earth didn't go off its axis. People died, people went insane and people got born.

And so it goes . . . .

(Dallas Townsend and the CBS World News Roundup)

I'm very happy that the hostages were freed in Colombia, but it's kind of interesting that it happens as soon as John McCain pays them a little visit. Richard Blair agrees...

I’ve gotta tell you, ever since the itinerary of the tour was announced, I’ve been scratching my head a bit. It didn’t make any sense. Why would a U.S. presidential candidate feel the need to hobnob with the political elite in Mexico City and Bogota?

Hullabaloo has more...

UPDATE (Nicole): Did McCain violate the Logan Act?

CNN:

A French journalist held hostage in Iraq for four months says his captors wanted U.S. President George W. Bush re-elected because it would help promote their cause.

Speaking by telephone from Vichy, France on Friday, Malbrunot quoted his captors as saying Bush's re-election "would improve our ability to fight."