Wednesday morning, federal agents stormed Gibson’s Guitar Manufacturing facility in Nashville.
A new scandal has left red-faced officials of the U.S. Department of Justice scrambling to explain a multi-agency program to put Illegal Guitars in hands of Mexican Drug Lords. After what was described as a wild battle of the bands, the steady barrage of power chords and piercing solo attacks attracted the attention of nearby U.S. Border Patrol agents, who arrived at the scene just as Los Zetas drug gang broke into Led Zeppelin’s ‘Immigrant Song.’ By the time the dust had cleared, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Oscar Jimenez was found in a catatonic state of headbanging. He was later flown to University of Arizona Hospitals, where his condition is listed as seriously rawked.
“Usually these guys are armed with Mexican Strats and Squires, Epiphones, small caliber stuff like that,” said Pedro Ochoa, 36, an eye witness to the sonic melee. “This time they were packing the heavy firepower.” IowaHawk has more on this breaking story.
Heh. Great satire.
Omigod…Gibson on a fender-bender!
blood wood?
the onion couldn’t write this stuff!
Nice to see the DOJ doing it’s best to kill off an industry where America leads.The amount of wood used by the guitar industry is miniscule.
CITIES is like the UN, out of control.
“small caliber stuff like that”
Ouch, embarrassing. I have two examples within reach.
BTW, I read this morning the C.F.Martin company uses the same woods…and their CEO is a major democratic donor.
Meanwhile they are running interference for the financial sector.
Gibson needs to fire everyone first thing Monday morning, and just import Chinese guitars.
It seems incredibly overblown to me. They conducted a similar raid a few years ago. Obviously it was fruitless as nothing came of it. This time around though, Gibson was shuttered for a day and had to send employees home. There is a big cost to Gibson for this witch hunt.
The issue at hand is that they Indian rosewood they are using may not have been ‘finished’ according to Indian law by Indian labour. The Indians have not raised any issue about this; it’s all been the US DOJ’s initiative.
The states are beyond help…….
Hardly overblown Warren.
The DOJ still has not returned the half million dollars worth of wood they stole in 2009. And now this?
Atlantic Jim
I meant the investigation/accusations were overblown. I think it’s ridiculous.
Couldn’t you tell by the way I called it witch hunt?
We’re on the same page.
They will have to rip my treasured Gibson from my dying hands, one on a C chord and the other holding an unregistered pick.
and the other holding an unregistered pick.
Hey, isn’t that made of tortoise shell?
Uh…no. It’s plastic–for sure. Yes. The pick is plastic. Pure, unadulterated, environmentally-unfriendly plastic.
Ann Althouse’s blog was linked from another item and this story is covered there too:
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2011/08/what-coincidence-ceo-of-gibson-guitar.html
Commenter Mark: “In all seriousness, if the decision to prosecute this originated in the Oval Office, Obama needs to be impeached. This is inexcusable.”
hopefully all the eco-nuts will switch to air guitar
I would have never guessed that this would have become so politically relevant:
http://video.adultswim.com/harvey-birdman-attorney-at-law/guitar-control.html
I read this IHawk piece over the weekend and thought it was all a satire over the guns/druglords fiasco…. sadly ….
I’d say that a lawsuit against the eco freaks and DoJ would be in order… failing that … I’m sure I could set up a plant for Gibson and Fender here in Canada…………..
It rachets up a notch.
blood wood?
the onion couldn’t write this stuff!
I’ve got a Dana Loesch radio piece on my MP3 in which she discusses this with Gibson’s CEO. She queries him regarding the ‘co-incidence’ of Gibson’s being a non-union shop based in Tennesee and the fact that he is a contributor to the Republican Party.
Like most square-shooting, honest conservatives he says he can’t comment on the motives of the DOJ, absent any evidence to support her theory.
Then a listener phoned in, claiming to have been in the wood importation business for many years and having supplied most of the big instrument manufacturers. He humourously made the point that if the controls on illegal immigration began to approach those of the USDA in respect to ‘endangered wood’, that there would be no illegal immigration problem whatsoever. According to the caller, NO exotic wood imports get into the country without USDA approval and that if it shows up at Gibson’s warehouse, all of the T’s have been crossed and the I’s have been dotted.
The fact that the DOJ is claiming that Indian labour law was circumvented – yet the Indian Gov’t has yet to file a complaint – would appear to confirm that Att. General Eric Holder’s dept is using the power of the state to harass those whose politics do not align with their own.
What’s the term for that again?
Obama hates Night Ranger!
The government offered Gibson a plea deal, but there were strings attached.
For Pete Townshend’s sake! This is Johnny Rotten to the core and just plain Sid Vicious!