Today marks a sad milestone in the long history of the Waco Tribune-Herald.

My colleague, John Young, 56, is bound for Colorado after a quarter-century as Trib opinion page editor and columnist, a period that has seen him regularly challenge many in this community about their ideology, their principles, even their beliefs.

Those who couldn’t deal with the challenge that John routinely issued resorted to character assassination, ugly generalizations, outright rants (in print and in person) and demagoguery.

That’s what one does when he or she can’t argue or debate something intelligently.

Meanwhile, those of us up to the challenge pondered the wonderful variety of ideas Americans have always benefited from in something as supreme as a democracy. Maybe we didn’t change our minds about John’s liberal views, but the best of us appreciated his opinions and ideas.

After all, isn’t that what we’re supposed to be all about? Opinions? Debate? Political discourse?

Yet, during the two months since John announced his decision to move back to his native Colorado with his family to pursue an academic profession, I’ve had cause to wonder about those who sounded off about his departure.

Those who praised him from the bottom of their bleeding liberal hearts — well, that was thoughtful, generous and, frankly, entirely expected.

Appreciating discourse

But the letters to the editor I especially enjoyed came from those who disagreed heartily with John’s politics, yet appreciated his societal and patriotic contributions to our community and our nation, and wished him the very best.

The ones I don’t understand and can’t stomach: those wishing this thoughtful, quietly compassionate, community-oriented gentleman the worst because they didn’t like his liberal politics.

I’m aware of one so-called Christian who told fellow church members that he wished John Young ill will — actually, it was something more malignant than that — because of John’s political stances.

Is this the Religious Right? Condemning a fellow American because his politics aren’t like your politics? Are these family values? Are these what conservatives are about today?

Frankly, I don’t think Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Barry Goldwater and Everett Dirksen, to cite four of my Republican idols, would tolerate such vermin, let alone their careless, thoughtless damnations.

John’s interest in fairness and balance in the Fourth Estate, so fundamental to a thriving democracy, has been practiced daily for 25 years. I saw him spend tedious hours editing and correcting copy by the most rabidly conservative of our guest columnists and letter-writers, just so their thoughts would have impact and meaning and would resonate with the public.

Yes, John — who has probably won more journalism awards from more different groups than any other journalist in Central Texas — worked hard to ensure conservatives got their opinions across with eloquence, even as some maligned him.

I remember once, after we interviewed candidates for the State Board of Education, John surprised all of us on the Trib editorial board by personally endorsing a decidedly conservative Republican candidate because the Democratic candidate was so obviously unqualified.

And I know of more than one occasion when the Trib editorial board settled on a fairly conservative position that John personally disagreed with. Yet, because he believed in the precious idea of political consensus, he went back to his office and wrote the most persuasive, moving editorial touting that very viewpoint.

Few people I know are capable of that.

True, John had strong opinions of his own, and his mastery of the English language allowed him to argue them with great force in his column and those editorials where he swayed the thinking of Trib editorial board colleagues.

During his going-away party in the newsroom the other day, John apologized for the backlash his colleagues had suffered over the years because of his sometimes pointed pieces on the opinion page, including (but not limited to) a 2004 endorsement of John Kerry that enraged many Central Texans proud that President George W. Bush, then seeking re-election, was their neighbor.

“And,” he then told co-workers as he wound up his newsroom apology, suddenly referring back to his sometimes controversial editorials and columns, “I meant every word!”

And during a small dinner party that some of us threw for John a few nights later, he exclaimed with great pride and emotion as he prepared to leave a town he had obviously come to love and care about: “Boys, I’ve stood as long as I can at the urinal of truth!”

Politics works many of us into a lather. But at day’s end, my departing colleague never forgot the principles of being an American — shared experiences, consensus, community involvement, humor, culture, compassion and a love of liberty.

More of us would do well to remember these principles — if not for our troubled nation’s sake, then for our own.