Couric & Co.
October 3, 2006 8:59 AM

Quote for the Day

"He was an exceptional father. He took the kids to soccer practice and games, played ball in the backyard and took our 7-year-old daughter shopping. He never said no when I asked him to change a diaper."
-- Marie Roberts, in a statement, speaking about her husband Charles, who took his life yesterday after shooting 10 Amish schoolgirls, execution-style.
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Amish ,
Charles Roberts
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by hermit22 October 4, 2006 4:39 AM EDT
When Cain killed Abel, Adam and Eve were probably in shock too.

Marie Roberts observations are very important.

Things happen in the best of families.

Thank you for printing her words.
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by wd810 October 4, 2006 4:25 AM EDT
I had to weigh in on Brian Rohrbough's "Free Speech". Bravo. What he said had to be heard. Everywhere we look our kids are in crisis. Why? because so many of the values and yes morals of past generations have been stripped away in the name of "do anything, say anything, think anything that makes you feel good no matter the consequences that others may suffer".

I do not agree with the idea that suicide has become an acceptable action. I believe it is more prevelant merely due to the fact that "If thats what they want to do with their life - its OK" Well its not and we need a strong voice for our children to guide them all safely to becoming upstanding citizens in the world we live in. Tolerant but not complacent.

My father-in-law, a pediatrician, wanted to see children represented on the Cabinet level of this country. A Secretary of Children who would sit amongst the others at the Cabinet meetings and help shape policy for our children's future. There are over 150 departments in our government relating to children but there is no one person accountable. I believe the time has come that we make kids our priority even though they don't get to vote. I'm not sure thats liberal or conservative....it just feels right. Want to help me Katie??
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by jwadeyoung October 3, 2006 11:56 PM EDT
Being a 26+ year teacher with the Miami-Dade school system has had it's just rewards and disappointments. All school personnel needs to take serious steps to keep our schools safe and keep the bad guys out. If this means keeping the parents at bay, then so be it. There needs to be a better plan of action before it comes to the lockdown procedure. The lockdown happens to secure the students in the classrooms, but does not necessary keep them safe. When the bad guys have a gun, they can shoot there way into any room in the school. We all need a plan that will keep us safe.
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by iagreenotto October 3, 2006 5:31 PM EDT
Bad things happen? This horrible crime is just another event that is unpredictable and unavoidable, or is it.
Maybe instead of reacting we should be considering. This evil, sickman was allowed to fester by someone . Who in his life, ignored his actions and overlooked his signs of sickness.
To prevent further crimes I think we should all look at our friends and family and speak up and get involved.
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by twmoore2005 October 3, 2006 4:43 PM EDT
Dear Katie,
Love your work. Miss you on "Today." I watch CBS Evening News every night. Giving citizens an opportunity to speak out on the news is an excellent idea even though I might not agree with
the opinion expressed, differing opinions should be heard. I don't find anything wrong with you expressing an opinion on the terrible Amish tragedy;it was what we were all thinking.
twmoore2005
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by love2live1 October 3, 2006 4:28 PM EDT
This is a sad time for our nation and community. I believe it's due to a moral decline of our core values. This has enabled people to believe it's okay to kill, mame, and destroy.

I pray and grieve for the families who have lost loved ones. I pray our country will wake up and put God first. There is no honor in bad behavior.
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by omicronthree October 3, 2006 3:28 PM EDT
My heart is completely broken. I would like to send my prayers and my condolences to all the families affected by this horror. I cry for the children, the mothers, the fathers, brothers, sisters. My heart breaks.
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by October 3, 2006 3:07 PM EDT
It's time for some opposing view points on freeSpeech. The segment as it is describes exactly why I don't watch TV news, and no one I know does either.

I feel bad for Mr. Rohrbough's loss, but I completely disagree with every last word of his segment. I urge you to air someone who would oppose such extreme right-wing dogma.

God has not been expelled from the schools, and certainly has not been expelled from the government. Our currency, our government buildings bear His name. Our politicians debate policy in Christian terms--trying to outdo one another on holiness. (Nevermind that people who make these claims often fail to respect the religious believes of their Jewish and Muslim brethren).

Evolution does not describe the strong killing the weak--it describes how species adapt to changing environments. Evolution, in fact, is an absolute--an idea extracted from observing life in the world. To teach anything but the scientifically-derived truth misleads our children, and misleading our children is wrong.
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by October 3, 2006 3:06 PM EDT
And yes, the murder of innocent children is wrong--including those killed when unused embryos produced during artificial fertilization are destroyed, or those killed in wars. The concept of "collateral damage" has diminished the value of children.

Hatred of those different than us through failure to respectfully consider multiple points of view has become an acceptable action. By ostracizing members of our society, we damage them mentally, and that contributes to this 'epidemic increase in murder-suicide attacks on our children.'

Indeed, our schools are not safe. Our children are terrorized everyday by their peers and by dangerously misguided 'Christians' in name only who attempt to impose their non-reality-based views on them--a form of mundane, everyday terror.
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by baznme October 3, 2006 3:01 PM EDT
No one could have said it better than the father (Brian Rohrbough) of one of the students that was murdered at Columbine:

This country is in a moral free-fall. For over two generations, the public school system has taught in a moral vacuum, expelling God from the school and from the government, replacing him with evolution, where the strong kill the weak, without moral consequences and life has no inherent value.

We teach there are no absolutes, no right or wrong. And I assure you the murder of innocent children is always wrong, including by abortion. Abortion has diminished the value of children.

Suicide has become an acceptable action and has further emboldened these criminals. And we are seeing an epidemic increase in murder-suicide attacks on our children.

Sadly, our schools are not safe. In fact, we now witness that within our schools. Our children have become a target of terrorists from within the United States.
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by oblivionokla October 3, 2006 2:21 PM EDT
The guy was obviously mentally ill. What the important issue is, here and in the last week of events, is the response of the police and the SWAT Teams(paramilitary police). They seem to have adopted president Bush's tactic of no negation. They just swarm the scene, which resulting in murder homicide. Wouldn't it be worth a few hours of negation to save the children's lives. Instead of making the point of how tough you are.
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by hd_wanderer October 3, 2006 1:30 PM EDT
Why are you giving this man publicity? It is a tragedy what has happened, but you are giving this man the fifteen minutes of fame he was looking for.
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