Palin Critic Frozen Out of Auction After Identity Revealed
[cross-posted at The Huffington Post]
I have a confession to make. I’ve been watching the Sarah Palin Ebay dinner auction with somewhat of an obsession. Newsworthy? Probably not. More important things to think about? You betcha. But I’ve been doing it anyway. It’s cheap entertainment when you’re sitting around sick with the flu. Blame it on the Nyquil.
The best part about my frivolous obsession, is that shortly after I started watching, I became privvy (thanks to a couple of the bidders) to the strange and mysterious back story of the bidding wars. There were seven bidders total. And we know for a fact that at least two of them were not of the “Palinbot” persuasion. And we know that both successfully passed the “pre-approval” process.
First, there’s Ken Morris - Wall Street whiz, trader-turned-financial-thriller-novelist, whose top bid exceeded $50,000. What was he hoping if he won “the experience?” He explained it this way.
There exists an emotional divide in this country that I’ve not experienced since I attended the University of California near the end of the Vietnam War. As a protester who took to the streets post the bombings of Cambodia and being tear-gassed on three occasions and nearly arrested twice, I was part of the schism that ripped apart our generation. While leaving scars that thickened the hearts of many from that era, the ending of the war allowed for a healing to begin. Painful, but now mostly a distant memory.
Today’s rancor, however, troubles me more profoundly. Why? Maybe it’s because I don’t see a catalyst—like the end to a tragic war—that will magically lead us to end this political divide. Politically biased “news” channels, over-heated rhetoric by bloggers, and (in my view at least) the demise of investigative mainstream journalism and the role of Watergate-like Fourth Estate, are here to stay. This period has more the odor of the Civil Rights debate that ripped apart the South during the administrations of President Kennedy and Johnson. A rift that has never been bridged.
How, I’ll ask Ms. Palin, can we work together (“we” meaning not just her and me, but all people on both sides of the political fence) to begin to fix this? I’ll ask her a few questions that might seem harsh, but aren’t intended to offend—after all, we must be honest, no? Do your regret saying several hundred times that our president “…palled around with terrorists…”? Do you really believe that providing health insurance to all Americans is socialism or fascism or Nazism or that there are truly ‘death squads’ in these proposals?
Wow. So, that pretty much would have ruled him out, even if he had been the top bidder. Why? The auction rules clearly state that:
Governor Palin reserves the right to refuse dinner with a winning bidder if, in her sole discretion, the winning bidder is not a suitable bidder based on her subjective standards of suitability, professionalism, background and other factors. In the event the high bidder is rejected for this reason, the high bidder’s bid will be refunded, if paid, and the next highest bidder shall be notified, and thereafter, until a suitable match is determined.
Bridging divides? Pallin’ around with terrorists? Serious discussion about policy? Death panels? We can almost imagine Palin’s handlers smacking down a big red rubber stamp on Ken Morris’ application: “REJECTED.”
That brings us to our second candidate, dubbed c***i by the Ebay alias assignment team, and known to those in the outside world as Joe McGinniss. McGinniss, also an author by trade is best known for his books The Selling of the President about Richard Nixon, and Going to Extremes, about Alaska, oil and the 1970s pipeline boom. McGinniss is an outspoken critic of Palin, evidenced most recently by his article for Conde Nast’s Portfolio entitled Pipe Dreams, which cast a critical eye on Palin’s handling of the ever-elusive Alaska gasline. McGinniss is currently working on a book whose focus will be the ex-governor herself.
McGinniss, hoping to win the auction had the high bid at one point close to the end. The amount was a whopping $60,101.01, and he was willing to go higher. And then something interesting happened. The Alaska Dispatch came out with a story identifying McGinniss as one of the bidders. When c***i went to place his next bid in the amount of $60,301.01, he was met with this message:
Despite his previous pre=approval, his dreams of sniping the auction were dashed. McGinniss was unapproved, with only an hour to go, and the brief and glorious career of c***i was cut off at the knees. Presumably this untimely freeze-out allowed the Palin camp to avoid future embarrassment.
So, who did win? Cathy Maples, the owner of a defense contracting company in Alabama. She thinks Sarah Palin is pretty swell, and hopes she gets to be president some day. McGinniss passed on the following note to the lucky winner:
Ms. Maples,
As one of the underbidders, I salute you and congratulate you on winning the dinner with Sarah Palin.
I’m pleased that my bids helped increase the total proceeds that will go to our wounded veterans through Ride2Recovery. I wish you the best for your forthcoming trip to Alaska.
Although I would have enjoyed the opportunity for a frank exchange of views with Gov. Palin, I’m pleased that someone with your record of accomplishment will grace her table.
Sincerely,
Joe McGinniss
Ken Morris, says he’ll make a donation to Ride2Recovery anyway, despite the fact that his bid was not high enough to win “the experience” with Ms. Palin.
And as for Ms. Maples, she’ll be planning a long trip to Alaska soon to collect on that dinner. Or maybe she won’t have to. A few hours after the auction was posted on September 8, there was a revision made to the listing.
Alabama? Why would the “experience” happen in Alabama? That would be pretty inconvenient, unless you, like our lucky winner, perchance happen to live in…. wait for it … Hunstville, Alabama.
Perhaps they thought AL was Alaska? That mistake’s been known to happen, but it says “Alabama” all spelled out like that. Pretty weird.
Well, one great thing that came out of all this reality auction drama is that Ride2Recovery made a whopping pile of cash for a really good cause. I think if I ever cross paths with Joe McGinniss or Ken Morris, I’m going to take them out to dinner. They’ve got to be cheaper dates than Sarah Palin, and a whole lot more fun.
Actually, the announcement that it would be in Alabama was made before the auction ended. Verrrrrrrrrrry interesting !!!!! Surprising? No.
I had a feeling when the location was changed to Alabama, that the rigged winning bidder would be from…..ALABAMA. No other reason to have dinner in Alabama. It all was just too weird.
Probably there are a group of people behind the bid, prepared to make sure the correct bid won. So it was a no-brainer to be able to choose the location ahead of time. I imagine the same group who underwrite the bid will be completely acceptable to Sarah as dinner guests, and will undergo a vetting process similar to the one that John McCain developed just for Sarah.
However, it is still for charity, so what’s the harm? It’s worth a chuckle, but ultimately it’s the wounded vets that come out ahead.
What a very great pity it is that somebody who wasn’t in the public eye and whose views weren’t known but who would have given our little sarah an earful wasn’t the winning bidder.
Reinforces the fact that she is a coward.
Changing the dinner location to Alabama on Sept. 8th, waaaay ahead of the final outcome, SP can’t even rig something in an intelligent manner.
AKM, thanks for the entertainment of the bidding, and Irishgirl, I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. We’ve known for a while that behind all that bluster, Palin really is a coward and now we have proof.
This all reminds me of a classic exchange, attributed to Oscar Wilde and some vapid society lady:
“Madam, would you consent to spend the night with me for a thousand pounds?”
“Well I would certainly consider your offer.”
:Wouuld you spend the night with me for one pound?”
“What do you think I am, a common harlot?”
“We have already determined what you are. Now we are merely establishing your price.”
*****************************************
But considering that dear Oscar was a secret poufty who had a deep reverence for women, I doubt he said it. I suspect that other naughty Irishman, Bernard Shaw.
Mag the Mick,
I could listen to Oscar Wildes’ quotes all night. Me heartie..arr
It’s all a big sham. Murdoch’s way of keeping the ignorant little twit in the news. Go to nailinpalin for pics of silly sarah & rupert’s wife hanging out.
Her attempt to stay relevant is quite nauseating. Creepy old murdoch likes to
have a younger woman on each arm. Wonder if his wife is as empty headed as princess winky. Both of these women’s motto is “follow the money.” Just a different definition than usual.
I live in Nashville and used to drive for a Limo Company. I have driven clients to Huntsville more than a few times. Mostly to one of their private airports.
There is a wealthy part of Huntsville. Most likely, they’ll be having dinner at a Private Country Club. There is at least one Plantation that has been converted into a Country Club. Seems like Palin would fit right in at a Plantation.
Pretty Ironic (if I’m right, huh?)
Could you even imagine Palin being President if she couldn’t even handle dinner with someone who doesn’t idolize her?
We would surely be in the middle of the last great war, as every perceived slight would upset her so bad, she’d be bombing every nation that pissed her off. And the ones that aren’t her brand of Christianity.
how nice, two ladies that that are all to thrilled to send their boys and girls off to be maimed and slaughtered in a manufactured war now want to help the soldiers who weren’t lucky enough to die for their country, only wounded.
both are profiting from war, one politically and the other monetarily. praise Jesus.
P.S. i bet Jesus would not have been allowed to win that auction.
Kind of ironic…. din, din, with a war profiteer, to support the troops.
i thought for sure she was scoping the bidders as one would a love match type site..
but figures.. she chose and old biddy (granny) older and uglier than her
and, as mentioned by others.. another holler out to the Troops
Track is home now.. her beloved idolized Troop prop
wonder if he will go back to his wild ways.. as I am sure the paparazzi are ready with their lenses
Troop this.. troop that .. Im a mama of a Troop.. me me me
Then watch her “troop” pull a Michael Phelps
That fourth bottle of rum, shouldn’t have had it. Nite me mateys.
Defense Contractor makes millions on wars, at least some of the victims are going to benefit…how ironic!
Irishgirl:
I adore Oscar as well.
“Well, the good lived happily, and the bad lived unhappily. That is why they call it fiction.”
Cheers to all.
…and I would wager that Sarahpac-o-lies helped to fund and anny up the foreseen winning bid.
Yep, I agree with all of those who believe that Palin is a coward. The dunce can’t think on her feet so of course she’s not going to have discourse with anyone who doesn’t agree with her. Remember – this is one of the very best things about her that we who oppose her can relish!
What I also relished (sorry AKM) is the very few comments at HuffPo. Now that someone (Murdoch?) is sitting on her head to shut her snarky mouth up, many folks are losing interest. You know, the ones loving the train wreckiness of the whole Palin Mistake. I know she’ll re-emerge with a new face, literally I’m sure, and do her trained monkey thing for whoever is now pulling her strings, but I now relish the peace and quiet. Maybe she’ll dupe them all and leave the country with her millions – SWEE-EET! I can dream…
Night
Why wouldn’t a defense contractor want to meet the crusading Palin, now that she’s officially enlisted with Murdoch’s neocons. It would be much more interesting than dining with the stodgy Wall Street mormon.
seriously vapid, rigged though and through and I would bet most of what money I have to my name the dinner never happens.
Figures she’d only want to dine with someone who’ll kiss her ass. I think Mr. Previous Bidder was expecting a bit too much from Sarah Palin by somehow dreaming of her wanting to have an intelligent discourse with someone else.
This is SOoooo funny! She really blew this one big time! I imagine she’s sitting there screaming at how this all (ebay) backfired on her! (we caught you!!)
Too bad she couldn’t have done this last year during the campaign…BEFORE she called ‘the crazies out”. It’s really not as funny as i (originally) thought.
Obviously rigged from the start to only have a follower win, but the lengths to which they fudged the thing (changing the venue to Alabama before the end of the auction) is phenomenal. And, as someone said, done so poorly as to be slap-in-the-face obvious. Nothing we don’t expect from her camp in the end. Bah humbug!
A few years ago I discovered that Joe McGinniss lived in my town, but I don’t know if that’s still true. Hafta ask around.
@14 – wayney – Let’s respect Track and not bring him in to negative chat as you did . And why refer to Cathy Maples as an “old biddy” ? imo – it’s rude and beyond the pale.
I SOOOO agree with Carol.Seattle above – I mean, come on, if you are going to fix something – can’t you be clever enough to not leave giant fingerprints all over it?
Well they probably changed the venue ahead of time because the Palinista, for all of her cooperativeness as being the perfect “chosen one” (female, businessperson, gun/weapons profile, deep south) probably balked at having to fly to Alaska, and said she’d like Palin to come to her instead. So they changed the rule about the venue to accomodate her.
They probably didn’t count on the interest of a reporter, ’cause why think ahead like that? Someone in charge of the bottome line is probably cursing under their breath that the bid got upped like that, ’cause in the end, I don’t believe for a second that the “winner” is actually paying for anything but dinner. This is simply a pr stunt paid for by the Murdoch/Palin machine.
But the Oscar Wilde quote above has made it fun reading about it at least for me!
Mag the Mick. That Wilde quote so has the flavor of Churchill. Ol’ Winston would certainly say something like that.
My favorite Churchill quote is a woman telling him that he is drunk. He replied “And you, madam are ugly. But tomorrow I will be sober.”
Track got out of jail ? When ? That was a short sentence for vandalizing school buses.
“at least some of the victims are going to benefit”
And since it is for a nonprofit, Mrs. Alabama can take it off her taxes as a charitable donation! She ash to pay for the dinner and the high bid. Plus her company gets tons of free publicity. Wins all around!!!
Let hope some of the palinwatchers make sure the dinner bid really goes to Ride2Recovery and not to PalinFinancialRecovery. Delicious irony, a defense contractor forking over profits to assist those who fought.
So much for honesty and transparency…*snicker*
Get well soon, AKM.
I don’t know about track being out. I hear about people being sent back 2 and 3 times so how could he get out of that when others couldn’t?
It is kind of ironic that a person who would make money if the wars were kept ongoing won the selling of Ms palin!!!!!Maybe someone who wants to keep us at war a hundred years or more as McCain said one time and wants to be on the side of the People who profit from wars.JMO
I think the powers that be at e-Bay should be called out for unfair auctioneering. What if ordinary sellers tried to pull a bait-and-switch subjective decision about who “won” the privilege of purchasing their merchandise and changing the merchandise description at will? I, like others, think it is beyond ironic that a war profiteer was chosen, and I’d bet my dollar on the entire process being rigged from the beginning.
Those who hath protested too much include: Richard “I’m not a crook” Nixon, Bill “I never had sex with that woman” Clinton, John “that baby can’t be mine” Edwards. I won’t fill in the quotes for Sarah “…” Palin, but I’ll betcha there is more than one phrase already in the denied rumor mill that would fit the protestation bill. Power brokering makes the world go ’round, it seems. AKM, you coulda saved yourself a lotta time if you’d had this cynical point of view ’bout the auction, but then, again, why deny yourself the entertainment? (wink wink)
I’m actually more concerned at the moment about the worms in the woodwork screaming, “I am not racist.”
I’m afraid Irishgirl is a bonafide pirate. And the good news is…if she shows up for dinner in Alabama I’m sure there will be photographers & we will at least get to see the work she’s done on her face. Good on you AKM for getting off your sick bed & doing the Huff article. Plenty of eyes to see it there. Hope you are feeling better.
I don’t think publicity will be that good for this.Sure it will benifit the vererans but the bidder was someone who profits by keeping the war going,IMO that can’t be a good thing for anyone.
I’m not sure this is a good thing for Ms. Alabama & her “non-profit” company. There are plenty of watchdog groups out there & this could make things a little sticky for her. I worked for a non-profit years ago & if people call attention to their accounting etc. it better be legit.
Forgive me for being so cynical, but the auction- as far as dinner with Sarah is concerned- looks contrived. Well, what’s new? According to Levi’s article in VF, Sarah’s marriage, family life and hunting stories might have been, well, an illusion. She was a terrible VP candidate, failing to appear on any of the Sunday morning talk shows, failing to appear for a real press conference. I will leave it to people in Alaska to decide if she was a real governor; she fooled people for at least two years. Even Sarah’s political press releases following her departure from office appeared to be the work of some one else. The trouble with been authentic is that it is so hard to fake.
Mae
I’m not even sure she exists anymore. Maybe she is an illusion & this has all been a bad dream. Please oh please!!
woah now, buffalo gal
hey your right
Downing Track and Downing Cathy M. was wrong
I was downing Palin’s “tools”
Her choice of dining was so dang particular. The joke about wanting a stud muffin Repub Money man was serious. She wants someone that makes her look/feel good. Since she didn’t do that route but caught me by surprise with the lady choice… I can only guess the War Spin and the fact that she is older (from the photo not very lipsticky) helped her along. I could not see her choosing to dine with an up and coming young scrumptious repub lady.. so that was my jab at Cathy .. well at Palin’s choosing
and Track.. yeah keep the boy outta it
but as for all her Troop talk.. her own child has had his issues.. he is her ticket to this war affiliations which she thinks she is queen of because her own son was there
When he comes home.. and if returns to his old ways.. which is very likely.. it will be one more of her props.. tickets.. whatever you want to call them.. another thorn in her perfect image story
forgive any offense please
Too bad the auction was run as such a sham. The charity could have raised so much more money had Sarah Palin put them before her massive ego and egg-shell personality.
As for Track and his tour in Iraq, he did go. He served. Which is more than what I can truly or honestly say about his mother. But his mother, by virtue of his honorable service, should not be bashed for that. Regardless of how big an arse she may be. She is the mother of a veteran. My humble opinion, of course.
Throughout history, war has always generated huge profits for certain sectors of the economy. Ms. Maples’ company makes its money off the government, and probably with highly-inflated figures as so many of the contractors have. Then she donates some of that taxpayers’ money to a charity, and gets to write the donation off when she files her taxes. Ironic, eh?
I’ve been doing a little math on what comes off the top of that $63,500 paid. First off, the company handling the deal takes their cut which comes out to about $2210. Then e-bay has an insertion fee plus other small fees relating to the format and photo, plus the final value fee, and those that I was able to determine come to about $1075. The last chunk to come off the top is PayPal which would be about $1905 (unless the buyer used a bank wire transfer). If my math is correct, that’s about $5190. that R2R will not receive, but the roughly $58,000 is nothing for them to sneeze at.
I think Palin will emerge with a make-over that includes her wardrobe. I doubt her handlers will let her do any choosing on her own. It will probably be a totally professional look, but nothing sexy like her red monkey shoes. If they are trying to promote her as another Carley Fiorini (sp?), they definitely can’t let her go out looking too hot.
Quick comment on son Track – he is in the National Guard and if his unit re-deploys, then he’ll go also. I don’t think anyone’s influence would keep him from going back if the unit was called up. I don’t know much about his prior indiscretions, but if he is like many young men suddenly sent off to a war zone, he’s probably grown up fast and has a much different outlook on life than before. I agree that he should be left alone. The bottom line is that he went and did what was asked of him.
I bet Track is thrilled with the pile of sh*t his mother built around the family while was he was serving. Maybe he started smelling the sh*t his mother was spewing and left before he got stained. Either way, he should be proud for serving and I respect him for going.
*******wayney****** no offense taken. track may home for good or perhaps only for a leave. i don’t see how he could serve only one term ‘in country’ while the rest of his battalion is rotated back under arms unless he has been wounded or is unfit for duty for some undisclosed reason. mrs. palin has used his military service as a prop for her own political interests and for that alone
*******wayney****** no offense taken. track may home for good or perhaps only for a leave. i don’t see how he could serve only one term ‘in country’ while the rest of his battalion is rotated back under arms unless he has been wounded or is unfit for duty for some undisclosed reason. mrs. palin has used his military service as a prop for her own political interests and for that alone,she incurs my dislike..bubs
sorry. double post. don’t know how or why that happened.
My husband works for eBay, and rigging an auction, if that can be proven, is definitely against their auction policies, but it is not shilling, which is when people put in bids to force the bids up to a higher amount. Even though their policies frown upon ‘fraudulent behavior’ like contacting the seller after bidding is closed (usually when the reserve price has not been met and there is no sale), there is little that eBay can do.
Continuing tonight’s Wilde kick, I must say this dinner auction brings to mind one of my favorite of his quips:
“The Unspeakable In Pursuit Of The Uneatable”
Wilde was refering to fox hunting, but a rabid Palinbot willing to shell out big bucks for the chance to slurp up XINO’s word salad seems to fit the quote just as well.
The event was rigged so she could go have dinner with this woman.
http://www.rdelect.com/about_us.html
I would like to ask Ms Maples “How many of our mil have been electocuted by your power distribution systems?”
The event was rigged so she could go have dinner with this woman.
http://www.rdelect.com/about_us.html
I would like to ask Ms Maples “How many of our military personnel have been electocuted by your power distribution systems?”
@Jane in NC Says:
September 19th, 2009 at 2:11 PM
I think the powers that be at e-Bay should be called out for unfair auctioneering.
My husband works for eBay, and rigging an auction, if that can be proven, is definitely against their auction policies, but it is not shill.ing, which is when people put in bids to force the bids up to a higher amount. Even though their policies frown upon ‘fraudulent behavior,’ like contacting the seller after bidding is closed (usually when the reserve price has not been met and there is no sale), there is little that eBay can do about this ‘rigging’ except cancel the seller’s account.
Would that not be illegal if the auction was fixed?
Because if it were then it was never a fair auction in every sense of the word.
I would be doing some complaining.
Very cool. AKM’s Huffington Post entry (this article) made Palin google alerts tonight.
Hope you are feeling tons better by now AKM.
AKM: if you go to http://www.al.com, select news, then Huntsville News, scroll down to the story about Cathy Maples winning the dinner with SP, there is a picture of Cathy Maples with Sarah Palin. According to one reporting of the story, they have met twice before, once in VA at a political event, once in AK. The picture on al.com is referenced as being in July, during a visit to Alaska by Ms. Maples. At first, I thought it could not be July 2009. SP is dressed as we have seen her sometime before: blue windbreaker and what appears to be a black skirt. I zoomed in on the picture but as I did so, the picture became fuzzier and fuzzier and I could not determine any details. I didn’t remember SP’s hair as being that long this past summer either, but I went to the video and stills of her resignation speech and it was. If it was taken in July 2009, it may have been taken at about the same time as the resignation as Ms. Maples is obviously dressed in a patriotic top. Question is, how long have they known each other? Do they, did they, have a prior relationship other than just a fan based one, again perhaps proving that the “auction” on e-bay was indeed fixed. If you go to the PD site, to a post on Wednesday, January 21, 2009, and scroll down to pictures, SP is in a blue windbreaker, but I am not sure the hair is the same in this picture.
I am waiting to see what other local coverage is given this story as you see, Huntsville, AL is my home town. There have been many comments made today relative to this city and I may address those separately at some point. Right now for me the place is not important. But the principal figures in the story are. I am torn between not wanting SP to come anywhere near where I live and feeling like, ok, she’s going to be here, is there something I can do to express my feelings about the adversarial role she has played and is playing in the political arena right now. I do not know Cathy Maples. I have heard of her company. Currently, the story I heard reported on NPR locally is that Ms. Maples (and family: she apparently wants to include two grandchildren) will be going to Alaska for the dinner. Thank you for your time posting this story and any followup you might be able to do. Any information that anyone can glean relative to Ms. Maples and/or Palin and their relationship will be appreciated.
The Right is hard-up for heroes. I can guarantee that if a Democrat walked away from a Governorship for no particular good reason, there is no way in hell that person would continue to enjoy any sort of celebrity role, and they sure wouldn’t be offered lucrative speaking engagements in Hong Kong, for chrissakes. They would be discarded and forgotten as fast as yesterday’s mackerel. The fact that Palin is still a star for the wingnuts ought to be a source of embarrassment for them. If they were capable of being embarrassed….
What a set-up. That auction was rigged from the beginning and now the location was changed to Alabama? Why would Palin agree to travel to Alabama unless it wasn’t part of some prearranged deal? Plus, the winner is someone who Palin “conveniently” knows.
She is a walking-talking ethics violation. What a loser.
I think ebay needs to look into this rigged auction. Seriously.
This morning I woke to find this AP video on the front page of my local newspaper in Sydney, Australia:
http://media.smh.com.au/national/breaking-news/fan-wins-dinner-with-sarah-palin-741824.html
The voiceover hits all the talking points:
* Sarah Palin is popular
* Sarah Palin has “a lot of morals”
* People want Sarah Palin to be president one day
* Sarah Palin supports the troops
So that message goes worldwide for $63 grand? Makes the people who pulled this stunt seem pretty smart, actually. (The editors who decided it’s front page news, not so much).
To make it worse, in Australia about half our media is Murdoch owned. This is from the OTHER half
I would rather eat a can of spagetti-o’s with Levi.
What is ex-governor McQuittyPants serving for dinner….crow?