Magna Carta to be Auctioned

Sotheby's, the New York based auction house, announced Tuesday it would place a rare 710-year-old copy of the Magna Carta up for bid in December. The Magna Carta -- currently owned by the Perot Foundation -- is expected to fetch upwards of $30 million.

Agreed to by King John of England in 1215, the Magna Carta established the rights of English people while limiting the King's power. The U.S. constitution barrows phrases and ideas from the charter.

The Magna Carta was ratified and reaffirmed, through the 13th century, with every monarch who succeeded King John. When it was reissued by King Edward I in 1297 it was also enacted into law by parliament.

It is the only copy in the U.S. and it's also the only privately held copy. The 16 other copies are owned either by British governments, Australian governments or by churches or educational institutions in England.

Up until last week, this copy was on display at the National Archives in Washington.

Leta of The Fibbertigibbet blog shares some personal Magna Carta related info:

And I really need to spend more time at the National Archive. When I was about 12 my Mom bought me a membership in the Archive and, packrat that I am, I still have some of the membership documents they sent me. At least, I think I do. But they've had Ross Perot's Carta on loan and on display for several years now and I ... I don't think I've seen it. I've admired the Declaration of Independence, but, heck, that's an 18th century document, practically yesterday.

Opinions abound about who should buy the historical artifact. Simon Fodden of www.Slaw.ca recommends the country of Canada:

This is a great opportunity for Canada to acknowledge this seminal event in its legal heritage by buying the Perot copy. It would take flair and a decent slice of some otherwise grey budget: is the government up to it? After all, it would only cost the price of one fighter jet. (Speaking of fighter jets and Australia, that country plans to buy 100 F-35’s at a cost of AUD16 billion — we don’t want to look like pikers all round, do we?)

But let’s say we feel we really need every last fighter aircraft we can scrounge; an alternative would be for each of us to cough up a loonie, a small price to pay for a slice of history like this. My buck’s already in an envelope, ready to mail in whenever the government kicks off it’s Carta for Canada Campaign.

If you’d like to paw over the goods before deciding to purchase, you’ll have to make do with the British Library’s online version of the original.

Other potential buyers seem to want to use the sale as an opportunity to make a political statement. Wolfrum of Shakesville:

. . . several potential buyers have come forward saying they plan on "Bondsifying" the document with a large asterisk before donating it back to the National Archives.

"Being that Habeas Corpus is essentially meaningless in the U.S., so is the Magna Carta, really," said one anonymous potential buyer. "It really needs an asterisk so everyone knows it's not something we take seriously anymore."

UPDATE: The document sold for $21.3 million to Washington businessman David Rubenstein "who said he was determined to see it remain in the United States."

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Governor's Association Focuses on Smart Energy

In hopes of inciting federal action on global warming policy, Governors are wanting to increase state regulation of greenhouse gases, said the chairman for the National Governors Association (NGA) on Wednesday.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn., said getting more states to limit greenhouse gases is a priority for the NGA. Others include energy conservation and increasing use of renewable fuels like ethanol.

Pawlenty believes the federal government isn't moving as quickly as many would like on these issues. And if enough states act to taper greenhouse gases, "it becomes a de facto national policy," he said.

Twelve states have enacted plans to require carbon dioxide emission reductions from cars and trucks. Three other states are considering similar moves. Auto companies are concerned they may not be able to meet such requirements.

On Wednesday, a federal Judge in Vermont ruled that states have the right to regulate emissions from vehicles and rejected arguments that only the federal government can do so.

Summer writes on the blog Alternative Energy in the 21 Century, that alternative energy seems to be on the front burner now, but may be so for the wrong reason:

Alternative energy is hot right now. Governors are touring ethanol plants to appear to be sensitive to issues rather than really being sensitive to getting enough good press so that the next election is easier.

The NGA announced a task force, headed by eight governors, to advance, at the state level, the development of clean energy and potentially "alter the landscape of clean energy policy in the United States." To support the effort, the Energy Department will be providing the association with $610,000.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Try This Candidate Calculator

Know where you stand on certain issues but not sure what candidate(s) share your beliefs? Yes? Then try the Candidate Calculator at VAjoe.com. All you do is choose yes, no or unsure on 23 different issues then rate each issue's importance as high, medium or low. Hit enter and voila, it's the candidate you should vote for and support.

My top match for Presidential candidate, according to this calculator, is Mike Gravel -- a 100 percent match. If I am reading the results right, at the time I completed the calculator, Gravel is the most top-matched candidate at 25 percent. Kucinich is at 12.5 percent, Clinton at 8.33 percent and so on. Hardly the results one would expect from a military site, but my guess is that the calculator just went live and not too many have had a shot at it.

Of course, no system of this kind can be completely cogent. There is no good way to take into account each candidate's varying degree of support for each issue. For example, say one candidate is for a border fence, but only wants a partial one while another candidate wants an all out barricade making the Great Wall of China look like some traffic cones.

So go give it a try for yourself. Even if you are already dead set on a candidate, it will display other candidates closely matched to your stance on the issues in case Mike Gravel is somehow eliminated.

-Dippold

Online Political Reputation