The Right Scoop
A criminal enforcement agreement defers prosecution it's like PBJ they were not cleared of anything.
Prime example of how Obama administration treats smell businesses. It favors large corporations that can afford to hire legal firms. People have to wake up to what is going on. Soon, individuals will not have any rights.
Opposed to the Alice in Wonderland world that the environmentalist fringe and Fish & Wildlife agents inhabit----a world distorted by runaway emotions, the pursuit of self-interest and an unbridled quest for power----is a world of objective truth and reason. For those interested in exploring this latter world I suggest reading the settlement Agreement, which can be found here:
What one finds is that the only thing the feds had to hang their hat on was their own narrow interpretation of some arcane technicality in Madagascar law. What the Lacey Act, which is the law Gibson was accused of violating, does is to allow the U.S. federal government to prosecute violations of other countries' laws. Madagascar law (the justification for the 2009 raid) allows the export of ebony, but only if that wood is "finished," otherwise the export is deemed illegal. So this entire imbroglio boiled down to whether the ebony that Gibson imported was "finished" or not. The law was promulgated by the Madagascar government to protect the interests of manufacturers and labor in Madagascar, and has nothing to do with the protection or preservation of forests or illegal logging.
The feds also alleged illegal import of wood from India (the justification for the 2011 raid). But that part of the government's case fell apart when Gibson, as Gibson has stated in previous press statements, obtained an affidavit from the Indian government confirming that they had violated no Indian law.
So the STATEMENT OF FACTS portion of the Agreement is a confirmation of what Gibson has been arguing all along, and that is that this had nothing to do with curtailing illegal logging, and everything to do with enforcing India's and Madagascar's labor laws. That was quite an admission that Gibson won from the government.
Of course these police state tactics which the Fish & Wildlife Service employs against individuals and small businesses do not come billed as political repression, but come cloaked as some noble cause like saving the forests, saving the elephants, or saving the whales. But one should not assume that Fish & Wildlife and its cohort of fanatical, fringe environmentalist supporters have a monopoly on the moral high ground. While they always attempt to portray themselves as being on the side of the angels, "evil" self-serving business interests are lined up on Fish & Wildlife's side as well, as this quote from "The Tennessean" confirms:
**quote**
There was praise for the Gibson agreement from the U.S. hardwood industry, which strongly supports the Lacey Act because of provisions that disallow importation of some woods that the industry contends might unfairly compete with American lumber.
‘I feel those of us who have been working hard to defend the Lacey Act have been somewhat vindicated by the agreement and Gibson’s acknowledgment that they imported illegal materials and did not follow due care,’ said Jamison French, chairman of the Washington, D.C.-based Hardwood Federation and chief executive of Northland Forest Products.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012308070032&nclick_check=1
According to opensecrets.org, the U.S. forestry industry spent more than $17 million last year alone in lobbying and campaign contributions.
Any delusions that Fish & Wildlife is a sincere and genuine guardian of the environment, and not just the handmaiden of corporate interests, should have been dispelled long ago when, a couple of years before the BP Gulf blowout, it placed its imprimatur upon "the conclusion that deepwater drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico posed no significant risk to wildlife, despite evidence that a spill of even moderate size could be disastrous, according to federal documents," as reported by the NY Times:
The real crime here was Gibson donating to the R's. It's a shot over the bow of any company that that leans right.
2.4 Million ... really. I guess that does sound like something Juszkiewizc would say. Makes you wonder how much they spent on legal fees trying to sue PRS (an American guitar company) you'd think it would have to several times more. Of course that's one of Henry's main business tactics. Trying to bully smaller competitors. PRS is a purely American guitar company unlike Gibson who only makes the Gibson brand in the US. The vast majority of the instruments Gibson makes under the various brands they own are made in Asia and Eastern Europe.
Demonstrating perfectly....Obama-ism is nothing more than a replication old Soviet style dictatorship.
If someone with the resources to do so (The Right Scoop?) would compile a list of all the incidents such as this one so they could all be seen together it would be a wake up call for for a drowsy America.
If this can happen to Gibson ,, then the Government can do this to ANYBODY .
Where are the People,, that took the OATH to Defend the Constitution ,, in Congress? ?
OMG I just saw Denesh's new documentary this morning and this is what Denesh demonstrates in his movie. Obama believes that America has become wealthy by using the 3rd worlds resources and it is Obama's job to redistribute those riches back to the 3rd world. Those guitars should be made in India not the US.
Go see 2012themovie.com when it is near you. You will be shocked about what you don't know about Obama's background.
THEIR GOVERNMENT didn't give a shit!! Yet another example of obama KILLING JOBS.
"Despite Gibson playing the environmentalist game, they are being singled-out. They follow the rules of the Forest Stewardship Council, they consult with environmentalist groups like Green Peace and still .. STILL the government goes after them.
"The GOVERNMENT OF MADAGASCAR has signed affidavits that Gibson has complied with their laws and the Obama administration then decides that Madagascar is not a real government .. but still tries to enforce their laws.
What’s even worse is that in the same interview, Gibson’s CEO relays that the Obama administration does not even recognize the government of Madagascar, but is somehow interpreting their laws differently than they do. You’ll have to listen to the audio to believe the inane behavior of Eric Holder, the Dept. of Justice and the rest of the Obama administration.
This is exactly how you kill jobs – American jobs – and send them overseas."
Are Gibson's attorneys friends of O'Bambi and Holder? Attorneys give to one another all of the time.
When a business is put under such stress, sometimes people just cave unto corruption to avoid total destruction.
Hey DOJ, Does the Lacey Act apply to giving lots of guns to Mexican terrorists?I pretty sure it does because guns are illegal in Mexico. Maybe you should bust the people who approved that operation. SCUM
What the Obama administration did to Gibson, they can definitely do to any other American business too. The reprisals by this government have come swift and without warning. Their law suits against individual states is unprecedented. The mainstream media, by their refusal to make public the attacks by Obama and his thugs, are a willing accomplice to these attacks and the circumventing of laws by executive privilege. The attack on our country from within will continue until the people wake up and address it at the ballot box.
My family has been very blesssed with singers and musicians who've played Gibsons through their musical careers sum 70 years, to us this is very troubling.
There was no Reports of danger from Company. why assault teams?
I think a US Marshall could have handled this job without problems.
It's clear the feds didn't understand the law they said they were protecting, and even after their raid, feds attorneys took a payoff to settle, guilty before sanity.
(something seriously wrong with this picture.)
I found a Senate hearing with Mr Rogers on google, but no senate hearings about the feds raid on the Gibson Company.
I hope gibson will decide to sue.
Just one note, Sen. Rand Paul did held his on hearing, looks to be at the capital , but a full senate hearing No, The Paul hearing was held on 10.12.11 it was called the:
Property Wrongs Hearing. On Youtube. Mr Zuszkiewicz gave testified.
Tea Party Patriot
Never Forget
*just wondering, has the Feds raided the Black Panthers HQ? or The Communist Head HQ?their commerce may be truly illegal.
*please if you know "when and where" please let me know, I'd love to read, see, and hear, all the high lights.
This is our "Community Organizer" President in action. It's all about being fair. Is it fair that Gibson has some money and the government spenders don't have enough? It does not matter that the Gibson Guitar Company really did nothing wrong. Obama and Holder, his cheif juice collector, get to decide what is fair, right and just. After all, they won didn't they? If they can get away with this there is not a citizen or company in America that is safe.
I'd like to see a SWAT team storm the White House... but I digress.
Dictatorship... that's our future under Obama. And this could become the norm.
I saw this interview, and I feel like we are living in Russia - police raid you! Govt takes your product, you don't get it back and then your forced to pay fines!
I wonder if the DOJ would have raided Gibson if it was owned and run by liberals.
I believe that was addressed in one of the interviews. Apparently Gibson is supportive of conservatives and conservative issues.
All I can remember is during one of dearleader's addresses, STOTU? Henry Juszkiewicz, who was being harrassed by progressives, was sitting as guest of republicans, and Immelt of GE, who shipped off jobs to China, was in the presidential box with michelleantoinette. That there was a picture.
And to be honest, I didn't hear the part about the ebony. It seemed to me they focused on the Rosewood from India as the major issue.
Thanks.
Oh, sorry, I see what you are saying.
In all of my comments I have referred to the Madagascar ebony that was seized in the first raid. The second raid, I understand, involved the Indian rosewood that was found to have been obtained legally and was returned to Gibson.
What is your point?
They were found to be in violation of the Lacey Act for the Madagascar ebony they imported, not the Indian rosewood.
"The guitar maker agreed to pay a $300,000 fine and to donate $50,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to promote the protection of endangered hardwood trees, like ebony and rosewood. In return, the government deferred prosecution of the company for criminal violations of the Lacey Act, which since May 2008 has made it illegal to import wood that was harvested and exported illegally under another country’s laws."
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/06/gibson-guitar-settles-claim-over-imported-ebony/
“As a result of this investigation and criminal enforcement agreement, Gibson has acknowledged that it failed to act on information that the Madagascar ebony it was purchasing may have violated laws intended to limit overharvesting and conserve valuable wood species from Madagascar, a country which has been severely impacted by deforestation,” said Assistant Attorney General Moreno. “Gibson has ceased acquisitions of wood species from Madagascar and recognizes its duty under the U.S. Lacey Act to guard against the acquisition of wood of illegal origin by verifying the circumstances of its harvest and export, which is good for American business and American consumers.”
dear cousins, unstated is the fact that there are "so called americans" willing to abuse us. so called americans willing to branish guns in the face of law abiding productive americans, who just want to be left alone, to persue their happiness. this country is over ran with little obama wanabes
This guy was on the AJ show a day or so after it happened. This was the second time that they had done this. The feds came in and raided Gibson in the same manner that they are raiding small farms and co-ops. What this guy didn't say in this interview, but did in the AJ interview, was that he was told by a government entity that all he had to do was move out of the country, and his problems would go away.
I am interested to see if Romney does anything different concerning these things, because I don't believe that this is a temporary Obama administration agenda, but rather a long term shutdown of the country.
@ librtifirst,
I agree when you say that you "don't believe that this is a temporary Obama administration agenda, but rather a long term shutdown of the country."
As Christian Parenti documents so beautifully in "Lockdown America: Police and Prison in the Age of Crisis," the American police empire was born with the passage of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968.
Since then it has grown inexorably, cheered along by the electioneering histrionics of Democrat and Republican alike. And since 9/11, it has taken on a life of its own. The police empire has become completely disconnected from any underlying social or economic reason raison d'être. Even when the enemy ceased to be menacing, the desire to use power persisted, inebriating, addictive.
Meanwhile the Untied States has become a poor empire, debt-ridden, incapable of solving its internal problems while insistent on playing an imperial role overseas, but begging alms from other, surplus-wealthy nations in order to finance its expensive role as a world policeman.
Well said. It appears that China is backing out of funding our debt spending, and the fed has had to step up and destroy the currency further. We should see more of that, and soon.
It has become undeniably apparent that the feds are preparing for the collapse that they are orchestrating.
National elections, as I see it, are nothing more than a theatrical event. One that is orchestrated from behind the scenes, and in collusion with the MSM. They have become so confident with their sell, that they have become sloppy. This is partly due to the alternative media, and the growing Liberty movement that is getting harder to ignore. Though, they were quit successful in co-opting the Tea Party movement.
Sometimes, it baffles me how the American people can be so fearful that they allow our government to get away with taking so much of our liberties, and fail to see the big picture overseas. It is sad that we have become so weak minded that we cannot muster up the courage to simply defend ourselves without preemptive and offensive killing and manipulation in foreign countries.
As a Bible prophesy believer, I expect such things to happen. Terrorism is simply a means to an end, and not an imminent or fatal threat to our country. A government that is willing to sell us out, and use such things to destroy our sovereignty is the imminent and fatal threat.
Okay, assuming for a moment that the DOJ did tell Gibson that it would be easier to move to Madagascar in order to build their guitars with Madagascar ebony fretboards... so what? It's true!
It is a 2006 Madagascan law that forbids the export of unfinished ebony. Get it? It's THEIR law!
THEIR GOVERNMENT didn't give a shit. Get it? Our government has gotten so big it has turned into a BULLY and ABUSER. Time to protect the INNOCENT CITIZENS against TYRANNY!!
"Despite Gibson playing the environmentalist game, they are being singled-out. They follow the rules of the Forest Stewardship Council, they consult with environmentalist groups like Green Peace and still .. STILL the government goes after them.
The GOVERNMENT OF MADAGASCAR has signed affidavits that Gibson has complied with their laws and the Obama administration then decides that Madagascar is not a real government .. but still tries to enforce their laws.
What’s even worse is that in the same interview, Gibson’s CEO relays that the Obama administration does not even recognize the government of Madagascar, but is somehow interpreting their laws differently than they do. You’ll have to listen to the audio to believe the inane behavior of Eric Holder, the Dept. of Justice and the rest of the Obama administration.
This is exactly how you kill jobs – American jobs – and send them overseas.
Gibson had permission from the country in question to process the wood. They made sure of it after the first raid. The feds were not prosecuting this on behalf of this country, they were simply using another country's law to take down an American company, and in the process told Gibson that they should move.
Gibson had no charges levied against them, they were dropped. Gibson simply settled because of the court costs. This is gangster style criminality on behalf of the feds. The feds took their product and cost them millions of dollars just to get them to move out of the country, it had nothing to do with legitimate law.
Watch the interviews and you will get a good idea of what transpired. The feds went into a perfectly legal company and SWAT teamed them. They then took their employees into rooms, after shutting down their surveillance cameras, and interrogated them without council present or charges being brought on them.
The whole thing was an illegal strong arming of a good American company to terrorize them into moving out of America.
Awesome stuff, my friend. I have argued often that the modern interpretation of Romans 13, as it pertains to obeying "government", is a false teaching, and is used by government, quite literally, to promote this idea within the Christian right community. In short, we are to obey righteous rulers. Simple as that.
I agree whole heartily that there are many unjust laws in this country, and many of them are from local municipal rule makers who have power trips. I recently watched many youtube videos of people open carrying, and was amazed at how ignorant much of our law enforcement is of our constitution and bill of rights. Subsequently, many churches have given up their right to free speech by filing for 501C3 status, which was created for that specific purpose.
Thank you much, for the information.
The cognitive dissonance emanating from the environmentalist fringe does get a little deafening at times. It's amazing how illiberal those crusading for liberal causes can get once they're firmly mounted upon their moral high horses.
Ironically, unclechopper and the little cohort of environmentalist zealots who unconditionally support the police state tactics of Fish & Wildlife seem to always end up channelling Richard Nixon.
Richard Nixon----inveterate red-baiter, enforcer in the McCarthyite mob, and unabashed champion of police state methods---- was the intellectual father of the federal government takeover of law enforcement in the United States. Christian Parenti did a great job of documenting this, as well as the inexorable expansion of the American police empire at the behest of Democrat and Republican alike, in “Lockdown America.”
So I suppose it should come as no surprise that the New McCarthyism should invoke the same rhetoric as the old McCarthyism.
Here’s Richard Nixon, as quoted by Parenti:
**quote**
[T]he deterioration [of respect for law and order] can be traced directly back to the spread of the corrosive doctrine that every citizen possesses an inherent right to decide for himself which laws to obey and when to disobey them.
RICHARD NIXON, “If mob rule takes hold in the US: a warning from Richard Nixon,” U.S. News and World Report, August 15, 1966
**end of quote**
And here’s Andrea Johnson, one of the New McCarthyites, regurgitating Nixon. But it’s Nixon on steroids, because the New McCarthyism not only demands respect for American law, but respect for every law of every foreign nation in the world as well:
**quote**
It’s not up to Gibson or any other company to decide which laws in India or Madagascar or whatever country they want to respect. This is an issue about mutual respect for the rule of law around the world, and that’s what the Lacey Act says. That’s the principle behind the Lacey Act.
ANDREA JOHNSON, Environmental Investigation Agency
http://reason.com/blog/2012/02/23/the-great-gibson-guitar-raid-months-late
**end of quote**
Nixon was responding to Martin Luther King, Jr., who in his “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” had thrown down the gauntlet to the law and order hawks like Nixon. Here’s what King had written:
**quote**
You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, it is rather strange and paradoxical to find us consciously breaking laws. One may well ask, “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: there are just and there are unjust laws. I would agree with Saint Augustine that “An unjust law is no law at all.”
Now what is the difference between the two? How does one determine when a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law….
There are some instances when a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I was arrested Friday on a charge of parading without a permit. Now there is nothing wrong with an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade, but when the ordinance is used to preserve segregation and to deny citizens the First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and peaceful protest, then it becomes unjust…
We can never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was “legal” and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was “illegal.”
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., “Letter from Birmingham City Jail”
**end of quote**
"Gibson did not have approval from "the country in question" to "process the wood". That is completely false. They DON'T have permission because it's export has been expressly banned! Whoever told you they had approval is lying"
Do you have anything to back that up?
Well, first of all, allow me to say that I myself would find that a SWAT style raid with doors being kicked in, people being corralled at gunpoint - yes, I would find that objectionable, if that in fact really happened.
But I just am not in the mood to take Henry's word for it after witnessing his dancing around the truth on the Huckabee program. Did the officers have guns? I am pretty sure they would have! Were they being pointed at people whilst orders were being barked at them? I doubt it. I'll need some proof on this one.
Gibson have needlessly politicised their situation and have only themselves to blame.
Even Alex Jones is pulling your leg when he says that musicians homes are being raided, and that 50 year old guitars are being confiscated at the airport because of the Lacey Act. This is rubbish! This has not happened once, ever, nor does the Lacey Act intend for it to happen.
So, what were the SWAT style raids all about? Is that how a government should deal with this company? Breaking down doors and pointing guns at people because of wood being used in a guitar plant is not a reasonable tactic. It is not a reasonable tactic for a government to use on small farms and co-ops either. Nor is is a reasonable tactic to use on Americans in their homes who are reported as having a little pot.
By the way, living in Oregon, I have witnessed the feds come into our state and negate the voters will. We passed a ban on log exports to keep jobs here in the nineties, and they shot it down. So it isn't about respecting laws of other countries, or the states in this country, it is about shutting down the country.
There is a bigger picture here. Now, if you are a Statist that thinks government has a right to terrorize the general public in the name of national security, or just "the greater good", then it makes sense that you would defend them.
I get what you are saying, and I can accept that there were problems with the purchases and use of wood, but I cannot accept government that is out of control against the American people, and companies that have been established for many decades.
Government breaks the law all the time. Our politicians break the Logan act, and pass illegal legislation. Posse Comotatus was never repealed, yet we have troops patrolling our streets and highways all the time. One of their most important responsibilities is protecting the border, but they purposely fail in doing it. They sign treaties that are nothing short of treasonous. They take orders from foreign entities such as the UN. They overthrow foreign governments that have never attacked us. They supply terrorists with arms to do so. They completely ignore the ninth and tenth amendments and run rough shot over the states. They take our income and use it to control the states via unfunded mandates, then forcing their will on us with the money they steal from us. They pass legislation that they never even read, and which is written by insurance companies and other corporations. They negate our bill of rights and walk all over our liberties.
This government has no credibility any longer. Good luck in your future authoritarian society. I hope that you don't mind totalitarianism, because that is where we are headed.
Gibson did not have approval from "the country in question" to "process the wood". That is completely false. They DON'T have permission because it's export has been expressly banned! Whoever told you they had approval is lying.
Gibson's claim is that their third party supplier had told them that the wood had been legally acquired, even when they knew that the export of ebony in unfinished form had been outright banned.
The law in Madagascar is designed to protect native rainforests and local industry. It is easier for Gibson to set up in Madagascar to finish the fretboards as it is REQUIRED BY MADAGASCAN LAW if they wish to continue to use their wood. It is their law that forbids the exports of the fretboards in unfinished form, not American law.
The Lacey Act merely respects the laws of foreign countries by not allowing American companies to participate in ILLEGAL INTERNATIONAL TRADE.
Surely this is sinking in?
And as far as your videos go, let's just say that I got tired of Alex Jones' schtick about 6-7 years ago. I like to deal in facts, not paranoid delusional fantasies.
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