INTIMIDATION PURE AND SIMPLE

Tools

By Steve Moore

Story Published: Sep 7, 2011 at 7:10 PM CDT

Story Updated: Sep 7, 2011 at 7:10 PM CDT

 How about this as a glaring example of the desire to control people and destroy American jobs?  It's the Obama regime at its diabolical worst. It's the Obama administration's drive to hold the people of the United States hostage.  A group of domestic terrorists has taken refuge in Washington, D.C.

      The Feds raided the Gibson Guitar manufacturing plants in Nashville and Memphis recently. People who are of sound and rational thinking minds would ask why?  No, it's not because of illegal alien workers, failure to pay business taxes or embezzlement of money.  It seems as though the Fish & Wildlife Agency thinks that the company is illegally using ebony wood imported from the Rain Forest (read Jungle) of Madagascar, an island off the southeast coast of Africa and west of India in the Indian Ocean.  It was formerly a French Colony.  The Feds raided the company in late 2009 and initiated a civil suit over wood importation.  This time there is a possibility that criminal charges might be pursued.

      In November 2009 the Feds seized some finished guitars and a pallet of ebony wood saying that the wood was imported in violation of the Lacey Act.  This Act makes it illegal to import the wood because Indian Law says the wood can't be exported.  So, in essence, the Lacey Act makes it illegal to violate the Indian Law.  Guess what?  If the guitars had been made by Indian workers, there would be nothing illegal going on.  But, the damage has been done.  Gibson was hit hard by the May 2010 flood.  They have lost millions.  The Department of Justice has also threatened to track down owners of Gibson guitars and to prosecute them.  Now, that's domestic terrorism.  And Gibson provides lots of jobs for American workers.  This is the same Department of Justice that has prosecuted Pennsylvania Amish for transporting raw milk over State lines.  The same bunch who wants to regulate cow methane and to force commercial driver's licenses on farmers. Other Federal offices may initiate actions, but it's the D.O.J. that prosecutes and enforces.  Think about that!

      You ought to be struck by the glaring Federal Agent pictured in the media.  This pot-bellied guy hiding behind aviator sunglasses personifies intimidation by the Federal Government.

      Hos does this happen in my America?  Armed agents with drawn weapons burst in on the Nashville office and factories in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Montana.  They're looking for illegally imported wood used in guitars.  They say that each guitar is a separate criminal offense.  Funny, Democrat companies that use the same imported wood haven't been raided.  This is blatant terrorism by Federal agents acting as thugs.

      It's the Obama way.  It's all about jobs and the moving of jobs offshore.  It's the Obama way.  1200 jobs will be in jeopardy.

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Jugernaut said on Tuesday, Sep 20 at 3:23 PM

While the Lacey Act is called the Lacey Act of 1900 it has been amended a number of times. The problem with the Lacey Act that Gibson ran afoul of is an amendment of 2008. Here are the facts of the 2008 amendment. 1) The amendments to the Lacey Act were -introduced- by Earl Blumenauer [D] and Ron Wyden [D] while Congress was controlled by a Democrat majority. 2) Democrats voted for the 2008 bill by margins of 92% in the House and 88% in the Senate - Republicans supported it by 25% YES and 71% NO. 3) President Bush vetoed the bill, but Congress overrode the veto. 4) Both Obama and McCain were absent for the votes, but Sen. Obama supported the bill while Sen. McCain opposed it. 5) The Obama administration supports the amended Lacey Act. The administration went to Congress to request additional tax dollars to expand enforcement activities. Lets forget about party and fix this mess.

Orwell said on Thursday, Sep 8 at 10:48 AM

Do your homework Steve. None of you jokers, nor myself is acquainted with Indian law, so lets stop acting like it. Looks like you're working for a newspaper so I'd at least expect that. The federal case against Gibson from the 2009 raid is filed in PACER under United States of America Vs. Ebony Wood in Various Forms, and this case is continuing. The August 2011 raid of wood seized at Gibson's factory was imported under a false tariff schedule and is also illegal to import out of India based on the thickness of the wood, which, according to the search affidavit was fraudulently presented as legal to export. Some might call that smuggling. Let me tell you too, I sleep a little better at night knowing that if a container of cocaine or elephant tusks comes into port in the U.S., the feds can pick that needle out of a container haystack. That's what they get paid to do.

Orwell said on Thursday, Sep 8 at 10:39 AM

Also, the amendments to the Lacey Act were passed in 2008, while Bush was still in office. Republican President William McKinnley was the president who signed the Lacey Act into law to help preserve wildlife.

Nick said on Thursday, Sep 8 at 10:28 AM

Steve - I support Gibson in this matter. But your article seems to be a jumble of mis-information. The feds DID NOT initiate a civil suit over wood importation. Gibson was raided in November of 2009. No charges have ever been filed as a result of that raid. GIBSON initiated a civil suit against the government to get their property returned. The wood seized in 2009 was from Madagascar. The recent raid involved wood from India. The issue is an Indian law that states the wood must be finished by Indian laborers. But India approved the wood for export. Any way you look at this case. Gibson is being intimidated by the DOJ.

MaduraMi said on Thursday, Sep 8 at 8:37 AM

Actually it wasn't illegally imported. India isn't claiming it was. It is the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the DOJ's interpretation of Indian law that says that the wood needs to be finished in India. These were shipped as finished veneer blanks for fretboards in the sense that they were cut and milled to size. It was all done legally except that now the DOJ has twisted it to mean that the frets and inlays should have bee installed in India. No charges were ever filed from the 2009 raid but the private property of Gibson that was confiscated was never returned. No charges have been filed in this case either. This prevents Gibson from being able to mount any kind of defense. This is simply an abuse of government power to intimidate a manufacturer in a right-to-work state run by a republican. All other guitar manufacturers big and small import the same wood blanks from the same sources. Why was Gibson singled out? If it can happen to them, it can happen to you.

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