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.  So what do you want to talk about?

The first suggested topic that I have is a story that I just saw earlier today.  It seems that our friends in Texas are up to their old tricks when it comes to pushing religion into the public school curriculum.   According to The Dallas Morning News, Conservative leaders are trying to push Civil Rights leaders out of Texas textbooks and replace them with more information on how religion has impacted life in the United States. “The recommendations are part of a long process as the State Board of Education prepares to write new social studies curriculum standards for public schools. Debate on the issue, which will also include questions of the role of religion in public life, could be as intense as that on new science standards that were adopted by the board in March, when evolution was a major flashpoint.”  http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/education/stories/DN-socialstudies_09tex.ART0.State.Edition1.4bfaaf7.html  & http://thinkprogress.org/2009/07/16/conservative-texas-jesus-lincoln/.  This attempt by conservatives to force religion into the public school curriculum is dangerous for all of us because many of the companies that produce books for Texas, use those same books throughout the country.  One of these so-called experts suggested that Republican values need to be added to the curriculum because the U.S. is a republic!  These are the intellectuals that are designing our social studies books that our kids will be reading for the next 5-10 years.  Do you think Religion belongs in the public school curriculum?  If you do, let us know why you think that is a good idea. 

The next suggested topic that I have concerns today’s op ed in the Wall Street Journal by former OLC attorney, John Yoo. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124770304290648701.html.  It seems that Professor Yoo still thinks that he can rewrite history and lie about what FISA allows or doesn’t allow.  Mr.Yoo tries to spank the Inspector General’s report that recently took exception to his sloppy and unprofessional legal memos during the Bush regime.  According to Scott Horton, a contributing editor with Harper’s, Yoo is playing loose with the facts.  “Holding up Yoo’s legal opinion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Shuster asked,’ “Is this dishonesty, incompetence or something else going on here?” ‘  “It’s total dishonesty. He knows very well the FISA statute doesn’t require a warrant in the sense of a criminal probe, which is probable cause. The only thing that’s required is that the government has to show relevance that there actually is reason; a national security concern that motivates the request for surveillance. [...] It gives much more flexibility than Yoo suggests in his op-ed piece. ” http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/07/17/shuster-slams-yoo-for-dishonesty-incompetence/.  Take a look at what Mr. Yoo writes and then compare it to what Scott Horton tells us in the Raw Story article.  Let’s not forget that Mr. Yoo declined to be interviewed for the Inspector General’s report that he is complaining about.  I think maybe it is time for Attorney General Holder to have Mr. Yoo sworn in under oath to discuss his faulty and dishonest legal memos and how they approved of illegal torture and the violation of FISA.  What is your opinion about Mr. Yoo and his legal work?  Let us know if you think he should be talking to a grand jury or a special prosecutor. 

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 to hear what you want to talk about.

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