Edward Hum – 12/31/08

This page was last updated on January 6, 2009.

Time to leave Iraq and Afghanistan; Edward J. Hum; Beaver County Times; December 31, 2008.

Mr. Hum was a regular contributor (at least 28 letters) from mid-2004 through September 2007. After about 10 months, Mr. Hum came out of “retirement” to bash President Bush’s Air National Guard service with two letters in less than two weeks. Mr. Hum concluded 2008 with a total of six letters, only about two-thirds of his previous yearly average. It will be no surprise most of Mr. Hum’s letters have been no more than exercises in bashing President Bush and/or other Republicans. I wonder what Mr. Hum will do now that Barack Obama will become President. Mr. Hum’s letters are also flame-throwing exercises. I don’t know if Mr. Hum actually believes what he writes, or if he simply likes to stir things up to call attention to himself.

Mr. Hum is one of a group of local Republican impersonators (The group also includes Messrs. William A. Alexander, Arthur Brown, William G. Horter, and George Reese.) who write claiming to be disgruntled Republicans. You have to give Mr. Hum “credit,” however, for going the extra mile to further his impersonation. As of September 2006, Mr. Hum was actually registered as a Republican despite the fact he’s no more a Republican than is Dennis Kucinich.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“It seems as if — finally — most agree on getting out of Iraq. However, President-elect Barack Obama says more troops are needed in Afghanistan.”

[RWC] What happened to Mr. Hum’s usual “Fellow Republicans” greeting?

Regarding Iraq, what Mr. Hum fails to note is “most agree on getting out of Iraq” because we’ve nearly accomplished our goals.

Regarding Afghanistan, Mr. Obama took this position quite a while ago. As one of Mr. Obama’s supporters, is Mr. Hum saying he didn’t know this? Did you notice Mr. Hum didn’t get into calling Mr. Obama names as he did President Bush?

“Wait a minute.

“We have been in Afghanistan for seven years looking for Osama bin Laden and haven’t gotten him. Haven’t seen him, and he might be dead.

“It is time to leave Iraq and Afghanistan. There is no more reason to remake Afghanistan than there was to change Iraq.”

[RWC] Hmm, doesn’t leftist mythology tell us everyone was in favor of going to Afghanistan to eliminate the Taliban and al-Qaida and prevent them from returning?

“The last time we won a battle in the Khyber Pass we had Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Cary Grant and the rest of the Bengal Lancers, with help from Gunga Din.”

[RWC] “We?” Mr. Hum does realize the movie to which he referred was fiction (loosely based on a Rudyard Kipling poem) and the army was British, not American, right?

“Let bin Laden come out of his cave. When we see him, we will get him. In the meantime, good intelligence and international police work will control terrorism.”

[RWC] Sure, just like on 9/11, the 1993 WTC bombing, the bombings in London and Madrid, et cetera. Mr. Hum made this same claim in his letter entitled “Terrorists have no native land.”