Ed Hum – 9/18/05

This page was last updated on September 19, 2005.

Bush’s character flawed; Edward J. Hum; Beaver County Times; September 18, 2005.

This is at least the 8^th anti-Bush/anti-Republican letter from Mr. Hum since July 2004. As usual he claims to be a Republican, though I have my doubts.

Based on his letter, I think Mr. Hum believes this is 2004 and we’re in the middle of the presidential campaign.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Fellow Republicans, this is my last letter about George W. Bush.”

[RWC] Anyone taking bets?

“Forget about creating terrorists in Iraq or cutting the Corps of Engineers’ budget for New Orleans’ levees. Some have said he joined the National Guard to stay out of Vietnam.”

[RWC] “Creating terrorists in Iraq?” Oh that’s right; Iraq was a terrorist-free country before 2003. What a bunch of BS!

During President Bush’s five years, the Corps of Engineers spent more in Louisiana than during the last five years of the Clinton administration. Further, the Corps of Engineers spent more on Louisiana than any other state.

“Of course he did. If we hadn’t had protesters like Bush we might be there yet. Imagine, still in Vietnam in 2005.

“We must honor the men and women who served in Vietnam. But we also should be thankful for the kids who protested on college campuses, the kids who went to Canada to avoid the draft, Jane Fonda and kids like George W. Bush who joined the National Guard. His protest and the protest of Jane Fonda and the others helped get us out of ‘Nam.”

[RWC] You have to give folks like Mr. Hum credit for wearing blinders. In his blind hate for President Bush, Mr. Hum equates National Guard service with draft dodgers, as did John and Teresa Kerry and other liberals during the 2004 campaign.

“However, when Bush ran for office in 2004 and allowed his people to degrade a man who did serve in Vietnam, and when he didn’t have the guts to stand up to his own people and tell them to ditch the Swift Boat ads, that tells me all I need to know about the character of George W. Bush.”

[RWC] The Bush campaign didn’t smear John Kerry’s military record. Both President Bush and VP Cheney said Kerry served honorably and should be proud of that service. Here’s a specific example from an August 30, 2004, interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer. Lauer asked, “Do you think you both act — served on the same level of heroism?” President Bush replied, “That no, I don’t. I think his going to Vietnam was more heroic than my flying fighter jets. I mean he was in harm’s way. I wasn’t. On the other hand, I served my country. Had my unit been called up, I would have gone.” That was a pretty gracious response given that Kerry – and his wife – likened Bush’s National Guard service to running away to Canada.

Not that it makes a difference, but John Kerry admits he tried to avoid Vietnam. After graduating from Yale, Kerry applied for a deferment to study in Paris. The draft board denied his request. It was then Kerry enlisted in the Naval Reserves. No one doubts that Kerry served honorably, though some who served with Kerry – Swift Boat Veterans for Truth – claim he lied about some points and exaggerated others.

Why should President Bush – or anyone for that matter – tell a bunch of Swift Boat vets what they can and can’t say? Didn’t Kerry start the whole thing by bringing in his own “Band of Brothers?”

Oh, one other point. It would have been illegal for anyone in the Bush campaign to tell the Swift Boat vets – or any other 527 group – what they could or could not say. One of the rules of the 527 designation is there can be no coordination between the 527s and the candidate campaign committees.