[Ok, that last one wasn't the last update...LOL, this hopefully is] Statement from Eugene B. Casey Foundation, via Neocon news:
“The Eugene B. Casey Foundation believes freedom of speech is a basic right of every citizen of this country. The purchase of the smear letter was to demonstrate their belief in this right and to support Rush Limbaugh, his views, and his continued education of us.”
A win for Free Speech, Rush Limbaugh and a screw you to Harry Reid, who tried to weasel his way into claiming some sort of credit for this Rush Limbaugh success.
How about matching the bid Dingy Harry? Rush challenged you to, but obviously you don't care about those children of our fallen Marines and law enforcement officers, or you would have stood up like a man, as Rush did by matching the bid with his own money.
Some claim to "support" the troops, others prove it, as Rush did.
Rush's comments to Harry Reid talking about this auction in the terms of "we" instead of Rush's efforts, trying to claim some sort of credit for this whole auction thing.
RUSH: I wasn't going to go back and relive this because it's ancient history, and we've been moving forward. Senator Reid, you did not mention that I am matching whatever the final total is. That is "we." You were offered an invitation to come on this program and say to my face what we just replayed you saying, that I am unpatriotic, and all of the other smears and lies that you believed from Media Matters for America or whether you knew were smears and lies and just went ahead with it anyway. So now, all of a sudden, this is "we"? You and I have buried the hatchet? You haven't even apologized for this yet and now he wants credit for helping raise this money, as though he's been involved in it all along. It's Orwellian. It's surreal. It's alternate universe. It continues. Senator Reid, I asked you, I suggested that you and Senators in the Senate who could afford this match it. I haven't heard whether you want to match the final total. I pledged to do so from the get-go. By the way, one more time, it's Mays. It's Mark Mays. There's an "S" on the end of his name.
[End Update]
[LAST UPDATE] The bidding has ended and the highest bid was $2,100,100.00 for a smear letter from Harry Reid to Rush Limbaugh's boss, Mark Mays. All previous posts catching you up on the whole situation from the beginning to this wonderful conclusion are listed at the bottom of this page. GREAT JOB RUSH LIMBAUGH.
Noted philanthropist Betty Casey is now the proud owner of the Harry Reid letter, at $2,100,100.00. Rush will match that amount, bringing the total donation to the The Marine Corps - Law Enforcement Foundation to $4,200,200.00.
[End Update]
Original post from 10/14/07.
[Update]10/18/07-More from Rush about how the bids for this letter are skyrocketing.
[Update] Rush Limbaugh is going to match the highest bid and his donation will also go to the children of fallen Marines and law enforcement officers and has challenged Harry Reid to put his money (False claims of support) where his mouth is.
RUSH: Let me cover with you the latest on the eBay auction of the Dingy Harry smear letter. Let me check it here: $45,100. The auction will last until Friday at 1 p.m., and you can go to RushLimbaugh.com and see the link there. We have a little eBay widget there on our home page, which constantly updates the number of hits and the current bid. We're getting a lot of e-mails. And, by the way, folks, I forgot to announce this on Friday. Of course, I'm going to match whatever this is. Of course, I always do. Whatever it ends up, I'm going to match the dollar figure, and I have suggested that Senator Reid and the 40 other Democrats who signed the smear letter to Mark Mays, the CEO of Clear Channel, also match the donation that's going to Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. It provides college scholarships for the children of Marines and law enforcement officials killed in action. I've suggested they should show their support for the military also by matching whatever the high bid is.Rush has offered a PDF version of Harry Reid's letter that can be found here. (Added at the request of a reader.)
Second part of this update is that Rush Limbaugh has higher approval rating than Harry Reid, in Nevada...Reids own state!!!!! LOL
RUSH: Did you people happen to see the latest polling data out of Nevada? "Molly Ball of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Senator Harry Reid's favorable rating in Nevada has 'plunged dramatically,' according to a new poll. Currently, Reid's favorable rating is at 32%, while his unfavorable rating is at 51%, a net 23-point drop from the last poll taken in early May when Reid scored a 46/42 favorable/unfavorable rating. Ball reports this is the first time Reid's unfavorable rating has eclipsed his favorable rating. It also puts him below the favorable ratings recorded by President Bush and," me! They put me in this poll! Yes. I have a higher approval rating in Nevada than Dingy Harry. Here are the names in this poll in order: approval-disapproval.[End Update]
Remember when Media Matters lied about Rush Limbaugh and misrepresented his words about "phony soldiers"?
A firestorm ensued and the Democratic politicians that fell for that lie, hook, line and sinker, deciding to write a letter to whine to Rush Limbaugh's boss, to which Clear Channel CEO, Mark Mays, sent a very respectful letter back to Reid, basically telling him to pound sand.
Soldiers then wrote in supporting Rush against Reid's attacks as well as left comments here at Wake up America and we and thousands of others, sent citizens letters to Reid & Co. also.
Wellllllll, that original letter from Reid is now on the auction block and the latest bid is [Updated amount (10/17/07) is now over $110,000] and 100% of the proceeds will go to educate the children of Marines and law enforcement officers who died while on duty.
Good for you Rush and Clear Channel.
Bids will continue until Friday for the letter signed by 41 Democratic senators and sent on Oct. 2 to Mark P. Mays, president of Clear Channel, the parent company of the conservative talk show host's radio broadcast. The winning bidder will get the letter, the "Halliburton briefcase in which this letter is secured 24 hours a day;" a letter of thanks from Limbaugh and a picture of the talkmeister announcing the auction at a speech in Philadelphia delivered last Thursday.
"This historic document may well represent the first time in the history of America that this large a group of U.S. senators attempted to demonize a private citizen by lying about his views. As such, it is a priceless memento of the folly of (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid and his 40 senatorial co-signers," reads the eBay announcement.
As of midday Sunday, 95 bids by 36 bidders had been made on the letter, whose opening bid price was $100.
Playing up the controversy over comments Limbaugh made last month in which he used the term "phony soldiers," seemingly to describe U.S. troops opposed to the Iraq war, Limbaugh told his audience last week that he is going to turn lemons into lemonade.
"Over the last 20 years, I've been called a chicken hawk. I have been accused of being blindly supportive of the military. Now, all of a sudden, I hate the military. All of a sudden, I'm critical of soldiers who are critical of the war — which I have never been," Limbaugh said in his Friday broadcast.
"I would like to issue this challenge to Senator Reid and the 41 senators who signed his letter. You say you support the military. You say you're big, and you think it's patriotic, and that I was unpatriotic. Well, I would like for each of you, Senator Reid, and the 40 senators who signed, to match whatever the winning bid is. Show us your support for the U.S. military by all 41 of you pro-military people, Democrats in the Senate, match whatever the winning bid is and send that amount to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation," Limbaugh said. Limbaugh sits on the board of the foundation that has dispersed $29 million for scholarships.
Here is Rush Limbaugh's announcement from his show about the auction.
The best part, they are taking measures to see to it that Reid & Co. cannot be the ones to buy the original letter back....LOL
RUSH: I am now right here in the broadcast complex. I have in front of me the titanium briefcase containing the official real letter from Senator Reid, signed by 41 Democrat senators to Mark Mays, the CEO of Clear Channel, my syndication partner. This titanium case -- I hold it up now for those of you on the Dittocam to see -- is manufactured by Halliburton. Inside the titanium case -- I'm opening it here just as I did last night in Philadelphia -- this is the original letter. There are four pages to this letter. This letter is going to whoever bids the highest amount on eBay. It is available now to be bid upon. Simply go to RushLimbaugh.com, and there's a direct link from our website to the eBay page on which this is explained. There are pictures of the four pages of the letter, official documentation of where the money is going and so forth. The one thing that we are asking you to do, and I hope you understand this, is when you place a bid on this auction, you will be asked before your bid is accepted to prequalify. Now, the reason we're doing this is not to collect information on you. We are doing this to make sure that no operative of Senator Reid nor the Democrat National Committee can attempt to buy back their own deceitful words here.
We want this letter to remain with somebody in the public, and we fully expect that operatives from Senator Reid's office and the Democrat National Committee will try to enter the auction and buy it back. So the prequalification, there will be no credit card information asked, anything like this. The information on this page will be used for no other purpose other than to prequalify you to bid. It will be destroyed, all the information you give will be destroyed at the end of the auction, which will go until next Friday at this time. The auction will be up for one week, and it will end at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time next Friday, one week from now.
Here is his announcement of the auction in Philadelphia.
Hysterical.
Talk about hoisted by your own petard.
More from the Radio Equalizer.
Previously:
Phony Soldiers & Rush Limbaugh.
Rush Limbaugh & Phony Soldiers #2: The Anatomy of a Smear: "Phony Soldiers" Is a Phony Story.
Rush Limbaugh Challenges Harry Reid.
Rush Limbaugh, Harry Reid and Clear Channel CEO's Response--Text.
Rush Limbaugh, Harry Reid, Phony Soldiers and Real Soldiers emails supporting Rush.
Help Support El Rushbo...Sign The Petition...NOW NOW NOW.
Citizen Letter Condemning Harry Reid’s Attack On Rush Limbaugh, Free Speech.
[Update] 10/19/07
Reader, M. Roberts wants to know what Senators signed Reid's smear letter against Rush:
Rush has offered a PDF version of Harry Reid's letter that can be found here.
Senators that signed are listed below.
Senator Harry Reid, Majority Leader
Senator Richard Durbin, Assistant Majority Leader
Senator Charles Schumer, Vice Chairman, Democratic Conference
Senator Patty Murray, Secretary, Democratic Conference
Senator Daniel Akaka
Senator Max Baucus
Senator Joseph Biden
Senator Barbara Boxer
Senator Sherrod Brown
Senator Robert Byrd
Senator Benjamin Cardin
Senator Tom Carper
Senator Bob Casey
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Senator Kent Conrad
Senator Christopher Dodd
Senator Byron Dorgan
Senator Dianne Feinstein
Senator Tom Harkin
Senator Daniel Inouye
Senator Edward M. Kennedy
Senator John Kerry
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Senator Mary Landrieu
Senator Frank Lautenberg
Senator Patrick Leahy
Senator Carl Levin
Senator Blanche Lincoln
Senator Bob Menendez
Senator Barbara Mikulski
Senator Bill Nelson
Senator Barack Obama
Senator Jack Reed
Senator Jay Rockefeller
Senator Ken Salazar
Senator Bernie Sanders
Senator Debbie Stabenow
Senator Jon Tester
Senator Jim Webb
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
Senator Ron Wyden
Tracked back by:
Limbaugh Letter goes for $2,100,100.00! Update: Foundation purchases letter STATEMENT ADDED from Neocon News...
Harry Reid's Letter to Rush Limbaugh's Boss Worth from Miss Beth's Victory Dance...
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