To say that the Justice Department's priorities are out of whack would be a severe understatement:

Federal agents swooped in on Gibson Guitar Wednesday, raiding factories and offices in Memphis and Nashville, seizing several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars. The Feds are keeping mum, but in a statement yesterday Gibson's chairman and CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, defended his company's manufacturing policies, accusing the Justice Department of bullying the company. "The wood the government seized Wednesday is from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier," he said, suggesting the Feds are using the aggressive enforcement of overly broad laws to make the company cry uncle.

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The King Prawn
Joined
Dec '10
The King Prawn

 Attacking guitars? Now they've gone too far!

Diane Ellis, Ed.
The King Prawn:  Attacking guitars? Now they've gone too far! · Aug 26 at 2:21pm

Hm. Now I wish I would've titled the post "Obama Attacks Guitars!" or "Obama to Guitarists: You Must Die!"

The Great Adventure!
Joined
Dec '10
The Great Adventure!

How many lefty rock starts use Gibsons?  Do I smell a massive backlash from the left?

raycon
Joined
Oct '10
raycon

When do we get to call a tyrant a tyrant?  Or are we to say nice things so we don't upset the brain dead folks in the middle?

Crab bait
Joined
Apr '11
Crab bait

We all know that federal confiscation of that wood and those guitars will put it right back up on the tree from which it came.

Why punish Gibson? They didn't cut the trees.  The Justice department appears to be going after an easy target.  Luckily they've covered themselves in something other than glory doing so.


Joined
Nov '10
Copperfield

If he's lost the sex, drugs, and rock & roll crowd, well...

DrewInWisconsin
Joined
Aug '11
DrewInWisconsin

Whether they're swooping down on guitar makers or health food clubs, it seems that one effect is to instill a sense of fear. Is that a bug or a feature?

And Americans are right to fear the overreach of the federal government. After all, we commit, on average, three felonies a day.


Joined
Jun '10
karenwtn

First they took our light bulbs, then they took our guitars. See where this is going!!

wilber forge
Joined
Oct '10
wilber forge

As this shakes out, Gibson did comply with all the legal hoops to obtain the materials. The U.S. Customs folks have to buy off on all documentation prior to allowing release of the materials to Gibson. In other words, if it were not Kosher, Gibson would never have had access to the imported wood.

The crux of the issue is that the DOJ is attempting to redefine what existing Indian laws define as a finished product for export. A very strange tack by the DOJ.

For what its worth, Gibson is Non Union and contributes to Republicans. I seriously hope that has nothing to do with the DOJ actions. That is just too creepy...

CJRun
Joined
Dec '10
CJRun

 Haven't you ever been to a magic show?  You are watching the DOJ, while the minions are scurrying about, slashing achilles tendons from behind.  I promise you that this is purpposeful.  As a biologist, I actually have people say, to my face, that, "We are just going to have to change people's attitudes and lifestyles."  That's a quote, and oft heard.  It's oft heard, beacuse they are all being told that and they believe it.

There is no branch of our regulatory apparatus that is not similarly motivated.  Sure, everybody was dismayed when the USFWS brought a cop to a kid's house, last week, and cited him for saving a woodpecker, but that is merely a white cap on the waves they will be pounding you with.  This, seriously, is what they have in store for you.  There is almost nothing they won't be able to bring a cop to your door over, as they implement their new "Five Year Plan", (I am actually blushing, just typing that).

It's not the DOJ, folks, it's the socialists that have captured our institutions.

wilber forge
Joined
Oct '10
wilber forge

Re. CJRun.  The statement ..

" We are just going to have to change people's attitudes and lifestyles."  

The WE part is truly a comment used by the Royal Elites to control the masses. Sadly history bears this out over and over.

Andrew
Joined
Sep '10
Andrew

"Yes We Can," said Will.I.Am.
"I Will Not," said Sam.I.Am.
All for one and one for all.
But not for Gibson and Les Paul.
It's time to vote Republican.

Sorry about this.  Andrew

Edited on Aug 26, 2011 at 4:06pm

Joined
Nov '10
Elizabeth Dunn

Eric Holder should go and so must the man who appointed him. The two should not be discussed in the media as separate entities.

show RB's comment (#14)
RB
Joined
Feb '11
RB

I do believe Ted Nugent,arch -conservative gonzo guitarist, is a staunch Gibson guitar user. Perhaps he'll have a few pithy commments on this.

G.A. Dean
Joined
May '10
G.A. Dean

wilber forge:

For what its worth, Gibson is Non Union and contributes to Republicans. I seriously hope that has nothing to do with the DOJ actions. That is just too creepy... · Aug 26 at 3:29pm

C'mon Wilber, let's admit it, that has everything to do with the DOJ's actions in this case, and probably many other similar cases. The superficial reason for this action is so obscure and beyond Gibson's control that there can be no real hope of compliance. The DOJ has dug around looking for some technicality to justify trouble-making, or perhaps a fishing expedition.

This is not at all the first action against Gibson or other guitar makers, or anyone making use of exotic woods. This is a perfect case-study on how careless regulation can lead to outrageous abuse of power.

Forrest Cox
Joined
Sep '10
Forrest Cox

This is amazing, even by the (already rock-bottom) standards of this Justice Dept. 

Can anyone here name any instances where the Reagan, Bush I or Bush II Departments of Justice acted in such an overtly political manner?  

CJRun
Joined
Dec '10
CJRun

 Reagan had his contributions, as did Bush I.  You should focus on the actual source, the entrenched bureaucracies that build upon this stuff and infect every administration.  The Chief Executives that do not micro-manage will be rolled by the staffers and bureaucrats.  Bush II tried to rein some of this in, but also signed the bill that makes it unaffordable to purchase incandescent light bulbs, beginning next year.

The opposition strategy is the Death Of A Thousand Cuts.  They have a strategy and normal people do not, because normal people have ordinary existences.

For decades, I have tried to encourage ordinary Americans in industry, commerce, and even residential development, to work with me and help find a path forward where everybody wins.  My field has been turned upside down by activists that are joyfully ruining ordinary people and the repercussions will be long felt.  My work is funded, ultimately, by ndustry, commerce, and residential development.  The activists are Merry Pranksters that are funded by bad actors that desire turmoil.  The money is very easy on the other side and the best part is, they never need to show results.

The King Prawn
Joined
Dec '10
The King Prawn
karenwtn: First they took our light bulbs, then they took our guitars. See where this is going!! · Aug 26 at 3:02pm

Soon they'll have us manually cultivating the corn to fuel their bullet proof and steel plated SUVs.

Charles Gordon
Joined
Dec '10
Charles Gordon

In the same way that, in the beginning, when the Founding Fathers gathered to assemble our Constitution, they devised it in accordance with their view it had to constrain man’s natural avidity for power, that it had more of a chance of surviving if it assumed devils would be governing, not angels, we must today, centuries later, assume that many of its founding principles have been so thoroughly contravened by administrative diktat, that so many haphazard amendments to it have corrupted the original coherence it once had that now it not only accommodates devils running our government, it serves their purposes when they use it in the abuse of power.

“The Lacey Act combats trafficking in “illegal” wildlife, fish, and plants. The 2008 Farm Bill (the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008), effective May 22, 2008, amended the Lacey Act by expanding its protection to a broader range of plants and plant products. The Lacey Act now, among other things, makes it unlawful, beginning December 15, 2008, to import certain plants and plant products without an import declaration.”

We have to slay Leviathan. Tea party movement: Faster please.

Jimmy Carter
Joined
Jul '10
Jimmy Carter

"Sting Proves No Strings Attached"


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