Reid's letter condemning Limbaugh fetches $50K on eBay

[sabra]

Source: CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) — It may turn out to be the most valuable letter Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ever sent.

The Nevada Democrat's correspondence-in-question was sent earlier this month to Clear Channel CEO Mark Mays, officially calling on him to condemn popular conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh's controversial 'phony soldiers' remark. Clear Channel syndicates Limbaugh's show.

Mays refused to condemn the remarks and Limbaugh recently placed Reid's letter on eBay, pledging to match whatever it fetched and donate it all to The Marine Corps - Law Enforcement Foundation.

As of Tuesday morning, the top bid for the letter was over $50,000. The bidding ends Friday.

Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/10/16/reids-letter-condemning-limbaugh-fetches-46k-on-ebay/

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[1620rock]

1. A fool and his money are soon parted. eom

[Bluebear]

2. That will buy a lot of OxyContin.

[rodeodance]

3. so, once again Rush has managed to make a laughing stock out of the Dems!

[chelsea0011]

4. There is the possibility that the auction could be pulled.

He has many political signatures that haven't been authorized for sale purposes. If there is a question of ownership to the letter he may not have the right to sell this letter. I've made my concerns known to EBay at it's complaint line. Since it all goes to a charity, it will be a question as to whether or not any of the signature people want to challenge this sale.

[John Kerry VonErich]

5. Perfectly legal to sell.

Clear Channel President has given the letter to Limbaugh to sell on EBay. If it is a complaint about the signitures, they can't do anything about it since it is designated as "autographs".

[onenote]

7. no there is not

the letter was sent to clear channel and then given to limbaugh. There is no ownership issue at all.

[KneelBeforeZod]

8. Authorized?

>> He has many political signatures that haven't been authorized for sale purposes.

Why would anyone need authorization to sell a document with "political signatures"?

>> If there is a question of ownership to the letter he may not have the right to sell this letter.

The letter was sent to Clear Channel to get Oxy-Limbaugh removed. The Clear Channel President gave it to Limbaugh ... why wouldn't he have the right to sell it? I see no legitimate ownership question.

>> Since it all goes to a charity, it will be a question as to whether or not any of the signature people want to challenge this sale.

On what basis? "Signature people" have no particular rights to dictate whether items they've signed are sold. Once they sent the letter, they relinquished any rights they might've had. There is simply no legal basis for them to "challenge" this. If each and every "signature person" objects ... there isn't anything they can do about it.

>> I've made my concerns known to EBay at it's complaint line.

I'd venture a guess that you'll get no response. This is a baseless complaint. Oxy-Limbaugh has the right to sell this letter, with or without the consent of the 41 Democrats that signed it.

Overall, despite my disdain for Oxy-Limbaugh, this is an absolutely brilliant stunt. On top of the auction value going to charity, Limbaugh is matching the donation out of pocket ... and he's challenged each of the 41 signatories to match the value as well.

Limbaugh is a windbag, but he's a master of making Democrats look foolish (even when we were clearly in the right on his "phony soldiers" comments).

This is possibly the most brilliant response to a "foot-in-mouth" scandal that I've seen in a while. We should take a page from his playbook on this ... he's turned a unpatriotic PR nightmare into a PR victory in which he raised $50K+ (and $50K matching) for the families of fallen Marines.

We should do exactly the same thing next time he takes aim at one of ours. Turn it around on him ... make him look like the fool.

Z

[Ian David]

6. Give me a fucking break...

On Your Behalf, Rush Accepts Award From Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation
Posted - March 31, 2003
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/eib15th/leuk_award.guest.html

[tanyev]

9. So a law enforcement foundation is giving an award to a drug-addicted law-breaker.

Gotta love those conservative values.