Talk radio show host Rush Limbaugh auctioned off the letter from Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) for The Marine Corp - Law Enforcement Foundation. Limbaugh said he would match the winning bid. The winning bid was $2,100,000 which means the charity will receive a total of $4,200,200, making the letter one of the most valuable documents, historically.

Petty bickering about patriotism and Who Loves Our Troops More has never been seen as a financial growth industry, but there's no stopping American capitalism. This is why a perfunctory bit of political grandstanding, committed to U.S. Senate letterhead this month, became worth a reported $4.2 million yesterday, instantly becoming one of the most valuable printed documents of the modern era.

The columnist then gives some of the underlying facts.

"Phony soldiers," blasted Limbaugh.

"Beyond the pale," Reid blasted back. "Unpatriotic," he added.

Forty-one Democratic senators signed the thing, put it in the mail and, really, that should have been the end.

I beg your pardon, but since when does Washington Post writer, Neely Tucker, get to decide what constitutes the end? Honestly, where does this guy get off?

Sticks and stones - sure, I can understand that. But this was a matter of principle. This was about the attempt of politicians (who, for the record, swear to "be bound by Oath or Affirmation to support this constitution"), to intimidate a company into restricting the free speech rights of one of its employees. Of all people, someone writing for a major newspaper should understand and appreciate that concept. The audacity of that statement alone is outrageous.

The letter drew bids from more than 60 people and was bought yesterday for $2.1 million by reclusive D.C. philanthropist Betty Brown Casey, who has heretofore shown more of an interest in the Washington National Opera than Washington mudslinging. Limbaugh said yesterday on his radio show that Casey was a longtime fan, that he would match her bid (bringing the total raised by the letter to $4.2 million) and, on his show, he graciously poked Reid in the eye:

"It got this kind of money because it represents one of the most outrageous abuses
of federal power in modern American history, and that is what makes it a collector's item. This letter that Senator Reid wrote will forever memorialize him as a demagogue."

Exactly. Maybe next time Mr. Tucker should re-read the quotes he inserts into his columns before arrogantly blathering on about when these one-upmanship contests should end.

Besides, the real end of the story is that hundreds of children will now benefit from the charitable results. Who can deny the appeal of that ending? Good thing the MSM doesn't get to call the shots.