On eBay: Reid's "Phony soldiers" Letter to Clear Channel

Remember the letter Harry Reid wrote to clear Channel Communications, asking Rush Limbaugh to apologize for his "phony soldiers" comment?

It's for sale on eBay:

When "Dingy Harry" Reid and the U.S. Senate turned away from the business of the nation to instead smear a private citizen, forty-one of them sent a letter demanding the "repudiation" of their inaccurate interpretation of Rush Limbaugh's comments about Jesse Al-Zaid (a.k.a. Jesse MacBeth) and other "phony soldiers" who falsify their service. This letter was delivered to Mark Mays of Clear Channel Communications, Rush Limbaugh's syndication partner, and widely quoted in the Drive-By Media.

Up for auction is the original letter signed by 41 Democrat senators. 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 Harry Reid and his 40 senatorial co-signers.

The seller has no history on ebay And: "Current bid: US $117,300.00."

So, if I'm understanding this, Reid sent a letter to Mark P. Mays, CEO of Clear Channel, and Mays either gave it to someone who put it up for auction, or he put it up for auction himself.

UPDATE: Looks like this is Limbaugh himself, in one of his "funny" (The 1/2 Hour News Hour kind of funny) moments:

Rush first publicly displayed this letter on the night of October 11th during a speech in Philadelphia, having a security operative carry it on stage, with the letter itself safely encased in a Halliburton Attache case handcuffed to the agent's right wrist. Included in this auction is that same Halliburton briefcase, as well as a personal letter from Rush Limbaugh, thanking the winning bidder for his donation. The special handcuffs may not be distributed outside of law enforcement and security officers, and thus are not included in this auction.

As winning bidder, you get:
- The original and infamous "Harry Reid Smear" letter, signed by 41 Democat senators
- The Halliburton briefcase in which this letter is secured 24 hours a day
- A personal letter of thanks from the Man Who Runs America, Rush Limbaugh
- A photograph of Rush displaying the letter on stage in Philadelphia on October 11th




Serving Soldier Echoes Harry Reid

You can go back and forth showing military members with opposing views on the war, rendering it basically meaningless, but given the amount of smearing being done to Harry Reid lately, this is worth listening to.

"...the war is lost."

Context is important. Here's what Harry Reid said on April 19 that has caused such an outcry:


I believe myself that the secretary of state, secretary of defense and - you have to make your own decisions as to what the president knows - (know) this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq yesterday.

You can call that putting his foot in his mouth if you like, but Reid's been clear and consistent about this. Nine days earlier - nine days earlier - Reid spoke on the Senate floor and said this:

Virtually all the experts -- military and civilian -- agree that the war cannot be won militarily. Success can only come when all the political leaders in Iraq reach a settlement.

Kinda puts the "war is lost" thing in a different light, doesn't it? And note that it caused no outcry at the time. Reid and Murtha and anybody with guts and brains have been saying this for a very long time.

On April 19, Reid followed up his initial remarks:

As long as we follow the president's path in Iraq, the war is lost. But there is still a chance to change course -- and we must change course.

And later:

The war can only be won diplomatically, politically and economically, and the president needs to come to that realization.

There's nothing inconsistent about any of that. The war - virtually all the experts agree - is lost as Bush is fighting it. Who can argue with that? Even Republicans regularly call it a debacle of the worst kind.

Reid's right.