Gibson Guitar uses Twitter to tap into Tea Party anger over

WaveCameCrashin

:Gibson Guitar uses Twitter to tap into Tea Party anger over federal overreach:





http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valle ... ment-probe



First coal plants now Gibson guitars what next? This is not a representative republic anymore. So much of our society is being destroyed by federal regulations. :( if this isn't a imperial president than what is?



Gibson Guitar, the maker of the iconic Les Paul electric guitar, is appealing to anti-government Tea Party anger as it fights a government investigation into the wood it uses.

The company has used Twitter and Facebook to argue the government overreached when federal agents raided Gibson factories in Tennessee last week and seized several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars.

According to a government affidavit, Fish and Wildlife Service agents were investigating whether wood used in Gibson guitars was illegally imported from India.



Although the guitar company says it cooperated with agents, it has turned to new media to complain of bullying by the federal government. 
Gibson's official Twitter account uses the hashtag "ThisWillNotStand" for posts about the raids, and on its Facebook page, the company promised, "We are fighting this tooth and nail."

“We believe the arrogance of federal power is impacting me personally, our company personally and the employees here in Tennessee, and it’s just plain wrong,” said Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz at a press conference last week. 

The company accused the Justice Department of "bullying" and "harassment." Juszkiewicz said the raids temporarily shut down the factories, costing the company money.

In a statement, the company insisted it was innocent and vowed to "fight to protect its rights."

Conservative websites quickly picked up the story, suggesting the company's social-media campaign was effective.

"Whatever the specious merits of the government’s investigation, the broader lesson is that federal regulatory authority is so expansive and vague, it enables corrupt bureaucrats to intimidate and punish nearly any honest business that falls under Washington’s crosshairs," wrote a blogger on the conservative website RedState on Monday.

Other conservative websites have suggested a nefarious political motivation behind the raid, pointing to the fact that the Gibson CEO donated to Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee in 2007. According to campaign finance data on Open Secrets, he also donated to Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) in March.

On Monday, Juszkiewicz appeared on conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt's show to discuss the investigation. Hewitt asked Juszkiewicz whether he believed the raids were political, who replied that it is "clear to me that there is some terrific motivation because we are not the only company that uses this type of wood."

Juszkiewicz also appeared on the show of conservative radio host Dana Loesch last week. On Monday night, he called into National Rifle Association Radio to talk about the raids.

Wyn Hornbuckle, a Justice Department spokesman, said the raids were part of an ongoing investigation.

The Fish and Wildlife Service declined to comment.

gimmesometruth27

it is not the decision of "the imperialist president"..

international laws may have been breached...

are you angry that the president might actually be enforcing a law?

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=167056

mikepegg44

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

it is not the decision of "the imperialist president"..

international laws may have been breached...

are you angry that the president might actually be enforcing a law?

http://community.pearljam.com/viewtopic ... 8&t=167056

this certainly seems like an odd thing to be mad about. If it is illegal to import the wood, they broke the law on the books. Don't see why that would be a problem. If they didn't do anything wrong they will be fine

gimmesometruth27

mikepegg44 wrote:

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

it is not the decision of "the imperialist president"..

international laws may have been breached...

are you angry that the president might actually be enforcing a law?

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=167056

this certainly seems like an odd thing to be mad about. If it is illegal to import the wood, they broke the law on the books. Don't see why that would be a problem. If they didn't do anything wrong they will be fine

some of that wood has to be finished by people of indian descent, or in the country of india itself.

there was a much better informed discussion on this topic on "the gear page" forum the other day..

if you are importing materials you have to abide by international law. and as you said, if gibson did nothing wrong then they have nothing to worry about.

personally i have 5 gibson guitars. i love the tone. they are very costly, but when you play one you know where that money went. i thought they were doing a good thing several years ago with the "smartwood" series, but for some reason those guitars are no longer available....

cincybearcat

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

some of that wood has to be finished by people of indian descent, or in the country of india itself.

What is the purpose of this law? Is it Indian law, US law, or International law?

gimmesometruth27

cincybearcat wrote:

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

some of that wood has to be finished by people of indian descent, or in the country of india itself.

What is the purpose of this law? Is it Indian law, US law, or International law?

indian law, which makes it an international matter, since it happned on another continent..

SatansFuton

The law is the law. And while I'm not entirely sure what the laws on this Indian wood all entail, or why they are in place, if they broke it then I don't see why they're all angry. You got busted, end of story.

According to the story I read, the wood was not just smuggled out of India in order to get around their laws, but also broke U.S. customs laws by mislabeling the wood as being finished parts and veneer, and using a false name for the recipient of the shipment.

SatansFuton

Oh by the way, when looking through stories about this on the net I came across a pretty funny story from a Conservative website. Of course it makes the whole thing out to be political saying that C.F. Martin & Company use the same wood and aren't in trouble, and the reason being that the C.E.O. has contributed to Democratic campaigns, and the Gibson C.E.O. is a Republican supporter.

Of course it doesn't go into the details of the laws, it just makes it sound like Gibson got in trouble for simply possessing this type of wood, and that Martin should be in the same boat because they use it to. But the fact is that it's not illegal to buy, possess, or use Indian wood. You just have to follow their laws about how much, how it is processed, etc. The issue isn't that they have and used Indian wood, it's the fact that it was smuggled out of India and smuggled into the U.S.

gimmesometruth27

gibson has been in legal trouble before.

back in the 80s or 90s they were buying rosewood from cartel style gangs in brazil i think it was. the rainforest was being mowed down, the land was being raped, and animals and civilians were being killed. that is why the smartwood program started because they actually planted trees to replenish those that they were taking to make the guitars, making it a renewable forest.

gimmesometruth27

and yes it is fitting that they are crying foul because martin donted to democrats while the gibson ceo donated to republicans... everyone is always getting picked on by the big bad gubmint...

hell if i had known that i would have never bought any of my gibsons

everything always becomes a political issue when you get caught breaking the law...

SatansFuton

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

and yes it is fitting that they are crying foul because martin donted to democrats while the gibson ceo donated to republicans... everyone is always getting picked on by the big bad gubmint...

hell if i had known that i would have never bought any of my gibsons

everything always becomes a political issue when you get caught breaking the law...

You should do the right thing gimmesometruth, and give them to me. I know you can't in good conscience keep playing those conservative, right-wing guitars. I bet right now they're talking about building a giant fence around your house to keep those dirty Fender's out. Fender's take jobs away from good hardworking Gibsons.

gimmesometruth27

SatansFuton wrote:

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

and yes it is fitting that they are crying foul because martin donted to democrats while the gibson ceo donated to republicans... everyone is always getting picked on by the big bad gubmint...

hell if i had known that i would have never bought any of my gibsons

everything always becomes a political issue when you get caught breaking the law...

You should do the right thing gimmesometruth, and give them to me. I know you can't in good conscience keep playing those conservative, right-wing guitars. I bet right now they're talking about building a giant fence around your house to keep those dirty Fender's out. Fender's take jobs away from good hardworking Gibsons.

i can't just give them away, that is $15,000 tied up in those things... if my bands ever break up i'll sell them to you though...this is a capitalistic society, i can't just share them with you

i have 2 american strats too, so they might be illegal for having passed under the planned fence..

SatansFuton

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

i can't just give them away, that is $15,000 tied up in those things... if my bands ever break up i'll sell them to you though...this is a capitalistic society, i can't just share them with you

i have 2 american strats too, so they might be illegal for having passed under the planned fence..

OK, I'll pay. But I'll only pay in Confederate dollars.

haffajappa

Did someone say.... Free advertising?

cincybearcat

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

SatansFuton wrote:

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

and yes it is fitting that they are crying foul because martin donted to democrats while the gibson ceo donated to republicans... everyone is always getting picked on by the big bad gubmint...

hell if i had known that i would have never bought any of my gibsons

everything always becomes a political issue when you get caught breaking the law...

You should do the right thing gimmesometruth, and give them to me. I know you can't in good conscience keep playing those conservative, right-wing guitars. I bet right now they're talking about building a giant fence around your house to keep those dirty Fender's out. Fender's take jobs away from good hardworking Gibsons.

i can't just give them away, that is $15,000 tied up in those things... if my bands ever break up i'll sell them to you though...this is a capitalistic society, i can't just share them with you

i have 2 american strats too, so they might be illegal for having passed under the planned fence..

Reported.

cincybearcat

haffajappa wrote:

Did someone say.... Free advertising?

Free advertising? To shut down your manufacturing facility? Are you serious? Where exactly is the free?

gimmesometruth27

press coverage = free.

also, should the feds just let them continue to produce the guitars with the wood in question, or stop that process while the investigation continues? i would think that they want to stop production so as potential law violations are not continued during the investigation...

cincybearcat

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

press coverage = free.

also, should the feds just let them continue to produce the guitars with the wood in question, or stop that process while the investigation continues? i would think that they want to stop production so as potential law violations are not continued during the investigation...

I never said what was happening was wrong. I don't know enough about it to say anything. But this is hardly free advertising for the company. In fact, it is costing them some serious $. And being in the news for this could cost them future sales, not help them. Look what you have already said in your own posts.

In the corporate world it's not the same as the entertainment industry.

Thorns2010

Well.... with your own employees talking like this.....

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Gibson ... -E6869.htm

A 1.8 out of 5 average based on 97 reviews is pretty bad.

At the very least its a company you wouldn't want to work for.

unsung

The Gibson Guitar saga has taken a sinister turn.

It seems that the Department of Justice wasn’t satisfied with merely raiding the law abiding factories of Gibson Guitar with armed agents, shutting down their operation costing them millions, and leaving the American company in the dark as to how to proceed without going out of business.

Now, according to CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, agents of the United States government are bluntly informing them that they’d be better off shipping their manufacturing labor overseas.

In an interview with KMJ AM’s “The Chris Daniel Show,” Juszkiewicz revealed some startling information.

CHRIS DANIEL: Mr. Juszkiewicz, did an agent of the US government suggest to you that your problems would go away if you used Madagascar labor instead of American labor?

HENRY JUSZKIEWICZ: They actually wrote that in a pleading.

blackredyellow

unsung wrote:

The Gibson Guitar saga has taken a sinister turn.

It seems that the Department of Justice wasn’t satisfied with merely raiding the law abiding factories of Gibson Guitar with armed agents, shutting down their operation costing them millions, and leaving the American company in the dark as to how to proceed without going out of business.

Now, according to CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, agents of the United States government are bluntly informing them that they’d be better off shipping their manufacturing labor overseas.

In an interview with KMJ AM’s “The Chris Daniel Show,” Juszkiewicz revealed some startling information.

CHRIS DANIEL: Mr. Juszkiewicz, did an agent of the US government suggest to you that your problems would go away if you used Madagascar labor instead of American labor?

HENRY JUSZKIEWICZ: They actually wrote that in a pleading.

No offense, but after reading a clearly biased line that line to start an article, I usually take what follows with a grain of salt.