Nepe asks: "What is happening with Ashu ? Is he changing or is it just a temporary lapse of judgment on his part?" Nepe, NOTHING is happening to or with me. I remain today what I was yesterday. The fundamental difference between you and me is this: You see things in black and white. I see them in color. Based on that difference, here is how you and I interpret the world. Seeing things in black and white allows you to feel that you are very clear about what is good for everyone. And that certainty makes you feel bold to start calling names to others or making (false) assumptions about people who do NOT see things your way. Seeing things in color allows me to accept different and disagreeable viewpoints as additional data-sets that need to be factored into my decisions/judgment. You can't imagine working together with people who do NOT share your politics. This makes you one-politics-fits-all sort of an ideologue. I remain politics-neutral so long as what gets defended are principles. This makes me able to work on a CASE-By-CASE basis with even those who are my (political) opposites. And, compared to you, that makes me a pragmatist. You appear to hate ambiguities, ambivalence, nuances and complexities when it comes to propounding a particular political philosophy. I revel in all that messiness; while tossing and turning and agonizing over them before reaching a decision after having a brutal yet non-personal contest-of-ideas in my mind or with my friends. I don't know who your role-models are when it comes to making decisions that require interpretation of available evidence and balancing that with judgement. Mine are many -- among them a few of the US Supreme Court Justices. [And speaking of that, I do hope that John Roberts, who strikes me as an excellent candidate who is likely to decide issues on a CASE-by-CASE basis, gets confirmed soon.] So, in summation? You see things in black and white. I see them in color. As the song goes, in its non-romantic strain: "Hamee nadi ka dui kinara . . ." oohi ashu