- Vikings Fit Brett Favre For LifeGuard Alert
- Palin Names "The Situation" As 2012 Running Mate
- New "Speed Humping" All The Rage Among Singles
Bush Personally Removes Every New Orleans Resident Himself
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (CAP) - Rumors of financial difficulties within the Clinton presidential campaign gained credibility today when officials for the online auction site eBay confirmed that a listing placing the William J. Clinton Library up for sale was not a hoax.
"We've been in contact with the seller and can confirm that the auction is indeed legitimate and within our listing guidelines," said an eBay spokeswoman. "eBay is proud to be the official lister for this historic sale."
According to the online description, the auction's collections include 76.8 million pages of paper documents, 1.85 million photographs and tens of thousands of museum artifacts from the eight years of the William J. Clinton presidency.
Special exhibits such as the 19th Century Antebellum Erotica Collection, a Waco diorama and replicas of both the Oval Office and Cabinet Room are also included in the auction price.
"It certainly is a first, although I understand that Richard Nixon almost lost his library in a poker game in 1977," said noted White House historian Dr. Cecil Melon. "I think it sets a bad precedent, to be honest. These are supposed to be sacrosanct institutions, living representations of historical periods, priceless heirlooms.
"Well, maybe not the Clinton Library so much, but it's really the idea behind the thing that's important," Melon added.
For many, the library's auction is more a body blow to the present, and not the past. At least for one Clinton, anyways.
"I think Bill Clinton tried unsuccessfully to get a wet t-shirt Tuesdays thing going when the library first opened, but he's really been hands off every since," said Donna Saville of the political think-tank The Cheshire Institute. "This is more an indication of just how badly in trouble Hillary Clinton's campaign is. You know the fundraising is bad when you have to start dumping national treasures."
But is Mrs. Clinton really behind the sale of her husband's legacy, or is it someone behind the scenes at her campaign? eBay's privacy guidelines forbid them from disclosing who the seller - going by the alias thechosenone08 - really is, but a look at other current thechosenone08 auctions provides some tantalizing, albeit probably meaningless, clues: towels and ashtrays embroidered or stamped with "US Senate"; a yellow "I survived the Tuzla Petting Zoo and Dancing Goat Review!" t-shirt, size large; and several slightly used J.C. Penny pantsuits, various styles and sizes.
The William J. Clinton Library auction is scheduled to run through April 30.
