[greymule]

This offends me, because it disrespects people like my nephew, whose Navy pilot's callsign was "Lefty" and who is currently in Baghdad, Iraq, on loan to the U.S. Army because of a shortage of officers, fighting to defend your right to call him unpatriotic because your political views disagree with his.

At first I thought you were being facetious in your post, Dave, but since I'm not absolutely sure, I will state my views in plain English, with no sarcasm, no irony, no attempts at humor.

I am 100% behind our troops, and I support what they are doing. The "lefties" I like to annoy are the many local left-wing intellectuals who hate the American flag and complain when the town flies flags on Independence Day, who loudly and proudly proclaim that the American flag stands for war and imperialism and stealing oil and oppressing people. The "lefties" I'm talking about are the people who, when the twin towers went down, filled the local papers with letters about how we had it coming because we had somehow offended "them." To me, the people who fight for America are patriotic. The people who want to undermine their effort are traitors. Any Navy pilot in Iraq is OK by me, whatever his political views.

I would never tar anyone with the label "unpatriotic" simply for being against the war or for disagreeing with me. I would label as unpatriotic the people who live here and take advantage of our liberty and then blame America for all the ills of the world.

And around here, there are plenty of such people. Some of them even make a point of remaining seated when the national anthem is played.