Guest commentary: Left is as patriotic as right

Just before Veterans Day for instance, I wrote a column for my hometown newspaper in Colorado about the big gap between what President Bush promises and what he delivers. Meantime, a conservative columnist in the same paper wrote a plain, unvarnished tribute to America's veterans, present and past.

He didn't write anything I don't feel too, but he wrote it, I didn't. I wish I had. It made it seem like only one side truly transcends politics and sincerely supports our troops.

Likewise, the congressman who represents my Colorado district, the conservative and controversial Tom Tancredo, who alienates his own Republican party almost as much as he alienates Democrats, made a pretty decent suggestion a couple of weeks ago, to create a service medal to award to soldiers who served in the Cold War.

But my first impulse wasn't to support Tancredo's proposal; it was to make fun of it, not because of the idea itself but because of the man who had it. I'm as grateful as the next guy for those Americans who gave up years of their lives, and in some cases potentially lucrative jobs, to serve our country when we seemed sometimes on the edge of nuclear war.

Between the cost of the medals--- multiply $20 by the millions of men and women who deserve them--- and the appearance of pandering to veterans, my initial inclination was ridicule. It shouldn't have been. Cold War soldiers probably don't get the recognition they earned.

The point is, plenty of people on the left are as grateful as those on the right for the sacrifices, the value and the heroism of men and women who serve. But we have not articulated our appreciation. We have not figured out how to show our support for the troops but object to how they sometimes are used.

So we focus mainly on the objection, which plays straight into the hands of the right, which focuses on the president's oft-stated axiom, "If you're not with us, you're against us." I'd like to think that when he first said it, the president's targets were countries that support terrorism, not Americans who support free speech. But the American right twisted it to mean everyone who doesn't support the president. As if opposing the president means opposing the troops. I reject the notion, and resent it.

A wonderful story circulated on the Internet a few days ago, about a United Airlines flight from Baltimore to Denver. As Baltimore is the first stop for soldiers traveling home from Iraq for two weeks of rest and relaxation, the waiting area was jammed with men and women in uniform--- in some cases, dirty, dusty uniforms. Typically, the flight was overbooked, and the gate agent got on the loudspeaker and asked ticketed passengers to surrender their seats for a later flight. But since the departure already was delayed and the crowd already was frustrated, there were almost no takers. So she made a second announcement, pointing out to civilians waiting to board that these soldiers had just come home from Iraq, and that their time on American soil was short and precious. She asked whether anyone wished to change his mind and take a later plane.

Darned near every civilian lined up to volunteer. And every last soldier made the flight. I'd like to think that as many liberals got in line as conservatives. Actually, I'm sure of it.

Greg Dobbs was an Emmy Award-winning correspondent for ABC News and now hosts a radio talk show in Denver. E-mail to dobbsnews@yahoo.com.