Cashman: *Thank you* for the honest reply.

You say you have no idea what I believe in. I suggest it's because I do NOT believe there is any SINGLE organization under who's banner one can find all the answers.

We used to turn to religion for that and look where it got us. I was raised Catholic. Even though I haven't been Catholic since the early 1980s, the revulsion and insult I feel at what's been coming out of the Vatican for over 10 years is at a level that words cannot describe.

In my career, I believe in the right tool for the right job. As I'm in software, I don't act like a zealot for any one particular flavor-of-the-month. You won't see me getting involved in Mac vs. PC vs. Linux debates, as an example (to me, each have their place).

I look at each issue on it's merits and flaws and make my decision based on the infromation I gather from all three sides (proponents, opponents, neutral) or more if there happen to be more (i.e. "I'm for it so long as...")

There was an show on ABC a long time ago, put out by Jim Henson's Creature Shop called "Dinosaurs" and the lead character was asked what he thought of a particular issue. His reply? "I don't know what I think until TV tells me what to think" Sadly, I think a lot of people are being influenced by sound-bite demagogues. The so-called news agencies aren't exactly taking the high road here, either.

A big story this morning was yesterday's Tea Party stop in Boston (I'm currently sitting about 10 miles from the city limits). It was talking about the anger and resentment that fueled the Tea Partiers (and let me make a side note that, just because I don't believe in everything the Tea Partiers stand for, it doesn't mean I will descend to the insult of calling them "Tea *******" - that's classless and does nobody any favors).

One woman in particular was saying "we're taxed too much and spend too much". But I wonder, and I don't mean this as an insult, if she honestly knows what she's talking about. Does she know how much revenue the country brings in? What ideas does she have to make things better? Where would she wield the budget cutting knife? How would she cut the programs that are uncuttable (that make up the majority of the budget)?

The 'grass roots' genesis of the Tea Party is it's greatest strength (honest belief and enthusiasm) and it's greatest weakness (so far a lack of direction or proposals).

There are places the government belongs. This is clear. There are many more places where the government should just be a referee.

You don't know where I stand on any give topic? Ask me. I'll tell you. And what's more, I'll tell you why. If you think I'm wrong - don't just say "You're wrong" but tell me why you think I'm wrong. If you think I'm missing something important - educate me. I'm not so proud that I can't change my mind.

I'm not a priest. I don't stubbornly stick to dogma when evidence mounts to the contrary. I'm more the scientist who changes his conclusions when contrary facts come into play - though it might take a while

One other thing. I don't believe in black-and-white (most of the time). There's gray in most cases. Exceptions to virtually every rule. Take abortion - just to use an inflammatory example. Someone will call me a liberal because I don't believe in an all-out ban on abortions. Another will call me a conservative becuase I don't believe in late-term abortion on-demand. Gray areas. Situational ethics. Sound bites just don't work anymore.