Ed Hum – 6/6/07

This page was last updated on June 18, 2007.

Bush, Cheney and Fonda; Edward J. Hum; Beaver County Times; June 6, 2007.

Most of Mr. Hum’s at least 26 letters since July 2004 have been exercises in bashing President Bush and/or other Republicans. Though Mr. Hum regularly identifies himself as a Republican in his letters, that would be like me claiming to be a Democrat.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“I want to commend President Bush and Vice President Cheney for helping to end the Vietnam War.

“At the time, many of us thought the war protesters were unpatriotic. Now, we see they were right, although no one should have been against the men and women who served there.”

[RWC] Why were they right? Mr. Hum said, “no one should have been against the men and women who served there,” yet that was a major part of the protests. Indeed, John Kerry (D-MA) himself participated in a smear of our men that turned out to be a complete fabrication.

“Kids protested on college campuses. Kids went to Canada to avoid the draft. Kids like Cheney got educational deferments to avoid the draft. Kids like joined the National Guard to avoid the draft.”

[RWC] Note how Mr. Hum equates illegally evading the draft by running off to Canada with legally obtaining a deferment. Worse, Mr. Hum equates fighter pilot service in the Air National Guard with evading the draft. This is an old song by Mr. Hum I addressed in his letter of October 6, 2006.

Strangely, Mr. Hum seems to forget John Kerry also applied for a deferment. After graduating from Yale, Kerry applied for a deferment to study in Paris. The draft board denied his request. It was only then Kerry enlisted in the Naval Reserves.

Let’s not forget Jimmy Carter. If Mr. Hum were consistent, he should also bash Mr. Carter for not serving during World War II. As a reminder, Mr. Carter turned 18 in 1942. Instead of enlisting, Mr. Carter apparently obtained some kind of draft deferment that allowed him to attend Georgia Southwestern College, Georgia Tech, and the Naval Academy until he graduated in 1946, nearly one year after WWII ended. In comparison, though he was only six months older than Mr. Carter, George H.W. Bush (President Bush #1) enlisted and became the youngest naval aviator to that time. While Mr. Carter was attending college during WWII, Mr. Bush flew 58 combat missions for which he received the Distinguished Flying Cross, three Air Medals, and a Presidential Unit Citation.

Then there’s the evader-in-chief, Bill Clinton. Mr. Clinton evaded (an illegal act) the Vietnam draft by deceiving an Army colonel into admitting him to the ROTC program. Mr. Clinton then ran back to school in England and actively protested the U.S. government. To make it even better – and after he was 100% sure he could not longer be drafted, Mr. Clinton wrote a letter to the aforementioned colonel describing how Mr. Clinton duped him.¹

“Again, I commend Bush, Jane Fonda (who should have stayed in Hanoi), Cheney and the other Vietnam war protestors.”

[RWC] Yep, flying F-102 fighter jets for the Air National Guard is equivalent to posing for pictures on the same enemy anti-aircraft guns used to shoot down our flight crews.

“What about Iraq? Even seven or eight troop deaths a day don’t make the front pages. The surge will never have enough troops.

“As Bush’s term winds down in 19 months with troop deaths at 6,000, will Iraq be peaceful?”

[RWC] I forget; what was the stop-loss death level for World War II?

“Will there be any Army and Marines Corps ground forces left who are still combat ready?

“It does look as though thoughtful people are starting to implement the Iraq Study Group report.

“We will survive Bush. We honor our men and women in uniform, but where are the Iraq war protesters like Bush, Fonda and Cheney?”

[RWC] I hope I meet Mr. Hum someday.

1. Clinton Letter to Colonel Holmes; Bill Clinton; December 3, 1969.