It is time, once again, for another edition of the AWMD Friday Free For All.  This is the only time of the week when our arguewithmydad.com readers can control the topic(s) for discussion.  All you have to do is get someone else to respond to your suggested topic and then the floor is yours.  Don’t be shy and don’t hesitate.  Get busy and be sure to get your views and arguments where everyone can read and react to them.  Right here on arguewithmydad.com.  I will make a couple of suggestions for possible topics, but they are only suggestions.  Today, you can be the decider, but you need to tell us what you want to discuss.

The first suggested topic that I have concerns the amazing news this week from Leon Panetta, the Director of the CIA, that admitted that the CIA has repeatedly lied to Congress since 2001. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/08/house-%20democrats-cia-director-testified-that-agency-misled-congress/.  This news just shook me to the core and I have been amazed how little play it has gotten in the major media outlets.  We have the Director of the CIA admitting that his agents have lied to the U.S. Congress in its classified briefings for almost 8 years and there have been no calls for investigations by the the usual Liberal, progressive sources. Even though Panetta hasn’t retracted his claims that Speaker Pelosi was fully briefed on the torture used in its interrogations of detainees, one has to wonder if he is telling the truth now that he has admitted that his folks have been lying for years.  This is especially interesting in light of the fact that the Obama Administration is warning of a presidential veto of a proposed new bill that would enlarge the number of Senators and U.S. Representatives who would be briefed on covert activities. “In a related development, President Obama threatened to veto the pending Intelligence Authorization Bill if it included a provision that would allow information about covert actions to be given to the entire House and Senate Intelligence Committees, rather than the so-called Gang of Eight — the Democratic and Republican leaders of both houses of Congress and the two Intelligence Committees.” http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/us/politics/09intel.html?_r=1&hp.  I know I am slow, but I don’t get it.  If the CIA has just admitted to lying to Congress, why wouldn’t President Obama want more Congressional oversight of these lying sacks of human excrement?  Why do you think the CIA was lying and who ordered it and why doesn’t Obama want more oversight?  Let us know what you think.

My second suggested topic of discussion is the lawsuit that the State of Massachusetts filed against the U. S. Government, challenging the Federal Defense of Marriage Act that defines marriage as a union between a man a woman only. http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/massachusetts-challenge-constitutiona &  http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/07/mass_to_challen.html.   Massachusetts claims that the Feds overstepped their bounds by telling the States who they could approve to get married.  I have been against the Defense of Marriage Act from day one and now that several states have legalized same sex marriages, the battle lines are drawn.  The state argues that the DOMA illegally prevents legally married couples in Massachusetts from taking advantage of benefits and protections that other married couples are legally entitled to.  “The suit alleges that the law violates the 10th Amendment to the Constitution, which reserves to the states all powers except those granted to the federal government. It also alleges that the law violates Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, which limits the power of Congress to attach conditions to the receipt of federal funds.” http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/07/mass_to_challen.html.  What do you think of he DOMA and what do you think of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ action to challenge this Federal act?  I see this as a Civil Rights issue and taking away any person’s right to marry whomever they wish is unconstitutional.  Let’s hear your take on this important issue!

I have given you two possible topics to discuss, but now it is your turn to let us know what you want to talk about.  I can’t make you join in the discussion, but if you try it, you just might enjoy it.  So get going and give us your opinion and give us a topic that you want to discuss.  I and the rest of the arguewithmydad.com nation will be waiting.