CBS 'free speech' school shootings due to Evolution and Abortion

[underpants]

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/03/cbs-columbine/

CBS Turns Over News Broadcast To Man Who Blames School Shootings on Teaching Evolution and Abortion
Last night, the CBS Evening News turned their broadcast over to a man named Brian Rohrbough, who lost his son during the Columbine massacre. Mr. Rohrbough proceeded to blame recent school shootings on: 1) the teaching of evolution, and 2) abortion. Watch it:



Mr. Rohrbough suffered a great loss and is certainly entitled to his opinion. But CBS does not have to broadcast his extreme views to millions of people.

The commentary was an example of CBS News’ new “free speech” segement which has been dominated by conservative voices, according to an analysis by Media Matters.

[cdb]

1. Amish abortions?

Yep,thats gotta be it. It all makes sense now...

[MadHound]

2. I predict a slow and painful death for the CBS evening news

And really, that's quite a shame, considering that it was once the network of Murrow, Cronkite, and Rather, among other great journalists. But now they've put perky Katie on, turned over most of the time to "soft news", and they have this disgusting "free speech" segment that simply allows any RW whack job to come on and spew whatever drivel that they want to. Pathetic really. I tried to give it a chance, watched it a couple of times. But I was so appalled at the fact that for a news show, they only have about five minutes of hard news at the beginning while the rest is so much fluff, I had to turn it off. Until CBS changes their news substantially, I won't be watching.

[TornadoTN]

7. Somewhere, Bob Scheaffer is smiling

I feel bad for Bob, he really gave it all he had when he had the helm. Sure, he wasn't perfect, but he had dignity and the news was, well, news (for the most part). I actually enjoyed Bob delivering the news and was glad to have him in my house at 6:30 every night. When he left, so did I. I came back for one night with "Perky", the night Limbaugh was on, and couldn't believe what a sad state CBS Evening News had become. I had to tell myself that I wasn't watching Entertainment Tonight.

[skypilot]

3. If Mr. Rohrbough...

...was inspired to speak out because of the most recent school shooting then someone should tell him that it's very unlikely that the Amish "teach" evolution and abortion.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. Yes, those Amish schools teach nothing but evolution and abortion

:eyes:

Note that all the school shootings so far have taken place in Good Old American small towns and suburbs, the kinds of places that are "good places to raise kids."

Well, maybe there's something wrong with Good Old American small towns and suburbs. Maybe they aren't such "good places to raise kids."

[underpants]

13. Now what makes you say that?

Just because two kids can stay up until 4 AM smashing glass and cutting pipe in the cul-de-sac prefab house and the parents either don't care or are so blasted that they are passed out is that why you say that?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

5. What's scary is he believes that with his whole heart

He has no idea that he's deluded in the least, to him that is a rational conclusion.

[cspanlovr]

6. Here's the REAL reason: Just heard on CNN that the teen (15 yrs old!)

who shot the principal on Fri. in Wisconsin had been a victim of family violence. His father was charged with felony child abuse in 2001. Court records show teen has medical condition that affects his behavior, but he was not receiving treatment because his family could not afford the medication or counseling. What a country.

[TornadoTN]

8. This needs to be repeated over and over

People need to see the correlation between poverty and violence, while focusing on the reasons WHY people are living in poverty. I'm in the Upper Middle Class personally, but under the Bush administration my family has been living as if we were barely in the middle class. Health Care costs are strangling my family and we are very healthy people (aside from a couple of regular medications that we are on regularly)

[cspanlovr]

10. Its so obvious. People on edge of society often fall off. We who

have more feel the pinch, they who have less feel the push.

[TornadoTN]

14. Well Said and Accurate

I can easily see how this type of situation can unfold and spiral out of control. I fear that we are in for a rough road for many years until things have changed in this nation and the discourse has moved away from this twisted Neoconservative viewpoint.

People are being forced to make tough decisions each and every day about whether they buy medicine or pay their electric bill. Whether they put gas in their car or buy lunch for their children. ALL Americans, conservative or liberal, are being squeezed by this administration and anyone that says otherwise is dillusional. People can't come to grips with this because it goes against all of their preconcieved notions of liberalism vs. conservatism.

Mark Warner said it best Sunday night at campaign event for Harold Ford, Jr. that I attended. He said (directed to Republicans) "if I had told you 6 years ago that we will elect a President that would squeeze the middle class, raise the debt to its highest levels and destroy our constitution in the name of safety, would you have believed it would be a Republican that did it? Would you still have voted that way?" (paraphrasing from memory, but that's the scope of it)

[underpants]

9. Wow

just wow.
Amazing how short sighted we can be in the name of the all holy dollar*

*not intended to be taken as a "false idol" in any way shape or form now please continue to produce.

[sinkingfeeling]

11. Gee, wonder why he didn't mention America's great love of guns,

violence, and anything military, like the tens of thousands of WMDs we 'praise'? Wonder why he doesn't condemn the teachings of 'christian churches' that women are the source of all 'evil' in the world and should bow down to the males? Wonder why he doesn't see a connection with having a government who tells every American child that 'might makes right' and that we don't need to talk to others, just bomb them into the stone age?

While I feel for this man's loss, it is offensive to those of us who strive for peace and accept all people as being human beings.

[wryter2000]

12. Ye gods

I had no idea CBS had gotten this bad. I tuned out the minute Couric got there. I've been pleasantly surprised at the coverage on ABC.

[Red Zelda]

21. I never even got to the vapid "Speech" segment

I shut it off when the "report" on the Foley scandal was labeled as a political report then had NO Democrats at all. Did we not see Repukes everywhere when the worthless TV media reported on Clinton? Amazing lack of journalism.

Then, how many times did I have to get Katie's personal view of the Lancaster killings?
Hey CBS: This is the worst TV newscast I have ever witnessed.

[wryter2000]

24. Welcome to DU

:hi:

I hope their ratings sink below 0.

[TlalocW]

15. The guy's right

I live near an Amish community, and before their schools started teaching evolution and abortion, the kids were all perfectly behaved. Now they squeal the wheels of their buggies in parking lots, get tattoos that say, "Born to Raise Barns," and sleep in until 5:30 a.m.

Sad commentary on our times.

TlalocW

[Hugin]

16. I have remained fairly aloof from the 'school shooting' discussions...

But, this goes too far.

Why does CBS pander so?

This is an absurd argument for the causes of these incidents and if anything would
tend to drive people apart.

It is a disservice.

[truebrit71]

17. And yet they gave Bill Maher a list of topics he COULDN'T discuss...

....this is such right-wing pandering it makes me glad I never bother to catch the perky news and instead watch REAL journalism on Countdown with Keith Olbermann...

[underpants]

19. Great point

:thumbsup:

[Beelzebud]

28. I think Maher's story was a lie... He was on Scarbourough -

And Joe asked him point blank: "Did they really give you a list?"

He did a little giggle and a shrug, and said something like "No, but it was implied."

[LostinVA]

18. Yeah, those Amish are known for promoting both evolution and abortion

Real Radical Lefties up there in Lancaster....

JEEBUS.

[liberal N proud]

20. Well, maybe evolution of the right wing fundamentalist

But it is more like de-evolution as they get dumber as time goes by.

:wtf:

[evirus]

22. does this remind anyone of....

that waco family who say every soldiers death if a message from god that homosexuality is wrong?

[mmonk]

23. oakie doakie

[LSK]

25. when will Mike Malloy get a spot on the "free speech zone"?

:D

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

26. I thought it was Twinkies...Oh, that was another case.

[Warren DeMontague]

27. Okay. Now can we point out that these shootings all take place

in conservative communities, and compare the data on how many of these types of crazy, violent crimes are done by self-described "good, upstanding Christian" folk?

[boolean]

29. WHAT?!

Evolution & abortion = School shootings?

Still trying to figure it out....

[VOX]

30. So, teaching evolution and abortion are to blame? That's totally insane.

Guess Ari Fleischer was right: "Watch what you do, watch what you say."

How much farther backward is this country going to go???? :grr:

[treestar]

31. It's a generalized philosophical view that allowing for

"death" in the form of abortion causes a generalized lower valuing of life and spreads.

But then the death penalty and being for it would seem to apply (though not as much, since the persons killed have at least been convicted in a court of law of murder).

Or being in favor of unnecessary wars, which kills the strongest among us. One would think that devalues life also.