STOLEN GUITARS AND RARE ROSEWOOD
On August 19, the White House announced that they would halt the deportations of some 300,000 illegal immigrants to go after more serious criminals. Who are those serious criminals? We now know.
On August 24, 26 members of the Department of “Justice” armed with automatic rifles raided the Gibson Guitars plant in Nashville, Tennessee. Were they there to arrest a terrorist cell? No.
They were there because of allegations that Gibson was using fingerboard blanks made of rare Indian rosewood.
The Justice Department claims that Gibson violated the amended Lacey Act of 2008, which prohibits the importation of plant material that was illegally harvested. Yet even India has placed no restriction on its export.
It is important to note that all U.S. guitar makers use Indian rosewood for their fret boards. They get them from the same suppliers, and use the same shippers. Yet none of the others have been raided.
Which begs the question, why is Gibson being singled out? Attorney General Eric Holder’s claim that, “No politics were involved,” isn’t credible. Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz is a Republican and donor to the Republican Party.
To the Obama administration’s way of thinking, that’s strike one. They are also a non-union company.
Strikes two and three: Gibson says six guitars and $1,000,000 worth of wood were confiscated. This huge loss of raw material will severely impact and even jeopardize the survival of this American icon.
Ironically, if they manufactured them in India, they would not be in trouble. Obama kills jobs.
Thomas Kieffer
Undergraduate
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