Posted By:
AaronCome on, Jay, say it with me now... "The Leader is good, The Leader is great, surrender your money as of this date..."
Still not moved, eh? Okay, how about... "Na na na na na na Leader-Leader-Leader..."
BTW, I haven't vilified Bushing (your Leader) about anything. I still don't know the truth behind the "streak" bat, but I do know for a fact that Bushing commonly practiced undisclosed conflict of interest (and apparently will continue to do so), which I do have a problem with.
You, OTOH, believe Bushing that the "streak" bat is legit based on a one-sided, unchallenged biased presentation given by the same people who bought you lunch and let you tour their facility, and having met the guy and deemed upstanding and the best at what he does (after he gave you a magnifying glass) have no beef with his practicing undisclosed conflict of interest (and actually prefer that he's an authenticator who is also a dealer of his own material).
So we disagree. What's the confusion? Heck, maybe if I got a tour of Mastro and free lunch, I'd agree with Bushing, too. (Well, if he threw in the magnifying glass.)
As far as this "Master's degree" stuff, I think it's comical. The guy lied on his resume and claimed to have an advanced degree that he really didn't. How cheesy for someone whose income and position in the hobby is dependent on his credibility. I mean do we even know he went to graduate school? Didn't you think it odd, that his bio didn't even say where he went to graduate school?
Anyway, unlike you, I have thousands of dollars in memorabilia that's financial value is contingent on Bushing's LOA's, so on the one hand, I'd love for this whole thing to just blow over and everybody to forget about it, or better yet, Bushing to try to take a public stance against undisclosed conflict of interest or give up dealing (or authenticating), or Bushing himself clarifying the situation with his degree.
But he's silent, which to me says he has no reasonable defense (or he has people giving him really bad advice). He's going to continue dealing and continue withholding from bidders if he has a conflict of interest on items offered at auction, and he just got caught in a pretty egregious lie on his resume (claiming to be fluent in Microsoft excel when you only know the basics is a common exaggeration, claiming to hold an advance college degree when you don't is how people lose jobs).
So to you, it's vilifying, to me it's not congratulating someone for hiding the fact he owned material he was authenticating or for lying on their resume about having an advanced degree that he really didn't. (Although I'm still waiting for my tour invite...)