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Media Falsely Spin Rumsfeld Episode

Regarding last week's article by Mr. Ryskind, ["Ugly Reporting Wrongs Rumsfeld," HUMAN EVENTS, December 20, cover story], I have another take on the situation.

The armored Humvee issue is placing some undeserved disingenuous blame on Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld. When Armor Holdings first began the up-armor process they could produce only about 45 units per month. Since then they have expanded and improved techniques and are now producing 450 units per month-a substantial increase brought about by pressure from the Department of Defense (DOD).

The biased media push a slanted statement that the company can produce at a faster rate and that they told the government this. The media spin it as if Rumsfeld should have known of the production rate increase ability. Many on the left are too ignorant to find out the real facts.

The Army ordered 8,105 of the armored Humvees, and 5,910 are in Iraq, Afghanistan, and nearby countries. The total number of Humvees that have been armored is over 14,000. But the issue is related to discussion with members of the Army.

Armor Holdings spokesman Michael Fox said that the company recently completed an analysis after the Marines inquired about buying 50 to 100 armored vehicles each month. Fox said, "We determined it was doable."

From that analysis, Armor Holdings informed the Marines that they could accommodate the order. They did not contact Rumsfeld's office and say they now could increase production. Further, if the increase is to accommodate the Marines, order it will not affect the rate of production for the Army's order. If they gear up and apply the production increase to the Army's order then the Marines will not get their units.

When Fox said, "We determined it was doable," he also said "if they get an order, meaning the order from the Marines. The biased press, in some articles, spun this to make it sound like the DOD had not even ordered the retro-fits for the Army. In other words they made it sound like Rumsfeld knew of a greater production capability and had not given an order to make it happen.

-Lee Kington

Tue son, Ariz.

Add lnglis To Conservative List

Your recent article ["Five Promising Conservatives," HUMAN EVENTS, November 15, page 5] should have been expanded to six to ioclude Rep.-elect Bob Inglis (R.S.C.).

A former congressman who honored his self-imposed three-term limit, he was elected again after a six-year hiatus by a huge margin.

I would compare his conservative credentials with any of the five on your list and he would equal or best them.

Rep.-elect Inglis is of sterling character and a brilliant lawmaker. Keep your eye on him.

-C. Russell Farmer

Spartariburg, S. C

David Brudnoy, R.I.P.

David Brudnoy, a conservative-libertarian broadcaster on Boston WBZ-AM Radio, died December 10, only two days after he told listeners from his sickbed that cancer had spread to his liver and kidneys, and that the end was near. The 64-year-old Brudnoy was mourned by his fans nationwide as an increasingly rare person in the modern talk radio world of shouting hosts and "shock jocks"-a gentleman. Urbane, erudite, and thoroughly informed (he always read books of authors he interviewed), Brudnoy never changed his style. Even after his dramatic, on-air, revelation a decade ago that he was homosexual and battling AIDS.

A native of Minneapolis, Minn., Brudnoy earned degrees from Yale, Harvard, and Brandeis, where he held a doctorate in history. Rather than turning to academia, however, Brudnoy deployed his passion for history and culture on radio. For nearly 20 years, the self-styled "libertarian with a conservative perspective" was heard in 38 states and Canada over WBZ. Brudnoy remained one of the most popular radio personalities in New England right up to his twilight days, when illness forced him to broadcast his threehour program from his Back Bay apartment (where he frequently mixed drinks for on-air guests).

HUMAN EVENTS readers will recall Brudnoy's humorous and sometimes biting reviews of motion pictures during the 1990s. The longtime HE subscriber also hosted HE Political Editor John Gizzi on his program, where the two debated the abortion plank in the national GOP platform in 1992. (For all his conservative stands and the conservative social circles he moved in, Brudnoy was adamantly pro-choice.)

Even as his health declined and was compounded by skin cancer in 2003, Brudnoy continued his workhorse pace. Along with his program, the broadcaster taught at Boston University. His autobiography Life Is Not a Rehearsal was published in 1996.

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