Gee, the murder of innocent children is always wrong? Thanks for clearing that one up. Sorry for your loss, but that doesn't give you license to be an irrational boob...especially when the Amish school shooter said in his suicide note that he was "mad at God." Yeah, religion really made that problem go away.

I don't know--I've been a little uncomfortable with progressive blogs dogpiling on "this guy doesn't deserve to be on TV." Sure, his argument appears completely absurd but there are plenty of folks out there who would agree with his underlying premise that we are witnessing a moral decline in our country and these shootings just demonstrate a lack of respect for life, etc. etc. Isn't it better to have these opinions expressed openly--rather than behind church doors (where this is said quite commonly), or in the right-wing blogosphere echo chambers? Cogent or not he is not isolated in his beliefs. And perhaps his views are not illuminating but the discussion it sparks could be. Unless you think people are too stupid to listen to arguments and pick amongst them, isn't more speech better than less?

The idea that CBS isn't entitled to air certain views is a little, um, odd to me. Because if you're going to argue that CBS gets to--has to--decide who's argument is worthy of airtime that might also include views on your side they consider to be too far out there.

I think there is a valid criticism of how CBS has done its "freeSpeech" segment, MediaMatters has documented that their speakers tend to lean right but I think it's an intriguing idea (let's have the opinion labelled as such and discuss it). I wish they would have more provocative folks, right and left, and more dialog amongst the speakers.

And, scary as it is, this IS what some people are saying. We shouldn't hide our heads in the sand or dismiss them out of hand.

Just to clarify: moving that word "not" around can make a big syntactical difference. I didn't say CBS was "not entitled" -- I said they were "entitled not to" run crappy pieces like this one. Also, I agree that there is a dicussion to be had/aired about various definitions of "moral decline" and its role in certain ills. But there's no reason CBS has to stoop this simplistic in order to do so.

Thanks for your comments.

Oops--sorry! I am NOT entitled to put words in other people's mouths and rearrange their sentences.

His argument seemed ripped straight from Ramesh Ponnuru's Party of Death. And Ponnuru gets be editor for the National Review and appear on the Daily Show. Same incomprehensible argument dressed up in better vocabulary and a suit. I don't know--is it better to allow more respectable salespersons to be out here hawking this argument in forms that make it seem almost plausible if you're not paying close enough attention?

And, Pacificwhim, I'm not sure the culture of life crowd believes that killing innocent children is always wrong. Those Iraqi children being caught in the crossfire? Ooops! Their moral relativism just happens to have a nationalist/racist tinge to it.

I tuned into Katie Curic last night to see what she was reporting on. Just at that moment she stated that last night's Free Speech thing (this guy) had caused a lot of stir. I thought there might actually be follow up to the referred to segment, but instead she directed people to the CBS website where we could engage in the ongoing "lively" discussion. Then she moved on and I turned the channel.

when, oh WHEN, is someone in MSM gonna call these nutcases on their senseless gabble? When???

Surely the folks at CBS don't buy what people like Rohrbough are selling, do they?

That guy is unamerican, saying shit like that. He trivializes the death of his own child. Yeah, that's harsh, but it's true.

Awards for cheap-shots all around on this one.

When are we gonna call people like this unamerican? When? Because this shit is not what this country is about. This shit is rustic, know-nothing bullshit that people with more well-developed forebrains have had to tolerate for millenia now. People like this are always with us..but I say they don't deserve the bully pulpit of MSM. A soapbox in some backwater in the hinterlands? Sure.

If I were to approach CBS with the thrilling news that I have proof the tooth-fairly exists, you think they'd put me on the Today Show? That's the equivalent...and my tooth-fairy story isn't even partisan.

I am SO SICK OF THESE PEOPLE. I wish they'd go crawl back under the rocks they came from.

Yes, Columbine was a terrible senseless tragedy. Yes, I'm deeply sympathetic to the impossible loss suffered by the parents..but when someone like Rohrbough starts exploiting his son's death with right-wing babble, I say, do we all really have to hear about it on the Today Show???

This is not the country I grew up in. Where did all these nutjobs COME from???

*ce's* editor's-choice post makes some very good points, and I will modify what I said earlier to this degree:

this is a free country, everyone should have their say. Maybe even on the Today Show. And maybe it's a good thing that this kind of irrational gabble gets out there into the public discourse. People can hear what these yahoos really think.

But my initial argument holds. Do I get on the Today Show to talk about my proof of the Tooth-Fairy? What qualifies as news? What qualifies as useful free-speech? What qualifies as responsible editing on the part of a major news organization? Rohrbough's comments don't amount to shouting *FIRE* in a crowded theatre (speech NOT covered under the Constitution)...but it's close. It's incendiary speech with no basis in fact. And where's the balancing comment by someone who actually has a brain? Eliminated by a right-wing, corporatist Congress intent on giving MSM a free ride.

Phooey. I am so sick of this craziness. Makes me want to go find a nice quiet island somewhere and never come back. Ya know?

One thing's for sure: guys like Rohrbough, if nothing else, demonstrate the utter bankruptcy of not only our public discourse, but our education system. Did he go to public school?

Nevermind. I'm going to go back to work and try to forget I read even heard about this crazy drek.