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Florida Today published a thoroughly sensible editorial decrying the state legislature's intent to waste time on the "academic freedom" bill (and other nonsense) when it faces the need to make as much as $3.7 billion in cuts in the state's $70 billion budget for the coming year. Jason Steele, a self-described "Conservative Republican with Traditional Values" running for the legislature, felt so strongly about the editorial that he issued a press release:

In the same editorial a number of issues that the editorial board has deemed "frivolous bills" such as insuring creationism is included in classrooms and a person's right to bear arms was also labeled as "wasting time".

"As a 'social conservative' it is my opinion that allowing for diverging ideas is the stuff this country was founded on. Creationism is a part of many individuals' beliefs and the editorial staff should not fear this inclusion in the classroom. Freedom of speech is a fundamental right that does not only belong to the media but to the people as a whole," said Mr. Steele.

As Wes Elsberry said at The Austringer, it was most helpful for Mr. Steele to contribute to the documentation of how widely understood it is in Florida that the academic freedom bill's intent is to inject creationism into the public schools for religious rather than secular purposes. It will be of great assistance if this bill becomes law and the ACLU needs to bring suit.

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