GOP Inviting as Guest to Obama Speech the CEO of Company Raided by Feds

Andrea Johnson is an idiot!

Gibson , be careful. Mike Huckabee might be your only sell next year if you decide to become a raving repub. He might get to #1 in the charts. Not much competition out there. I think all the greats have died. So RIP Gibson & all the bad ass guitar players who have passed….starting with the great Mr Les Paul. Music will newer be as creative as it was before the year 2000. Funny how technology is making music worse these days.

Gibson Guitars is representing the Repubs. I’m selling my Les Paul & J-45. Very sad. How can all GOP make Obama look like a monster. He IS fair & balanced & tries to work across the isle. He tries to uphold environmental issues…all the while GOP is crying he’s some sinister mad man. The only people squaking are the corporations who are used to getting their way by paying the politicians handsomely & the infamous GOP who is large corporation over people.
Gibson , you make great guitars, but if you become political & especially republican, there are other nice guitars…too bad.

POSTED BY: HHH | SEPTEMBER 7, 2011, 4:24 PM 4:24 PM

As posted before by ABC, the other Guitar makers donated money to the BHO Camp. Gibson did not. Wonder if that had anything to do with it?

Bruce Mitchell is not being honest in his quotes in the article. Read the government’s affidavit. It has detailed information about the laws in question. The issue is not whether the wood is finished, but simply its thickness. The wood could still be finished in the US. Even if Gibson disagrees with the law, how do they explain their alleged falsification of the import documents? The law in question may very well be stupid. In such cases, you hire lawyers and/or lobby members of Congress. You don’t simply break the law and submit false documents. Gibson’s attempt to turn this into a Tea Party issue is almost worse then their apparent legal violations.

“As posted before by ABC, the other Guitar makers donated money to the BHO Camp. Gibson did not. Wonder if that had anything to do with it?”

Nothing at all. Why do you ask? And no, there was no federal loan guarantee either.

The Republicans showing disrepect for the office of president, and by extension, for the Constitution. They may not like PBHO, but if they are unwilling to respect the office of president they need to resign.

Holder defends his position on this, yet during the 2008 election, a clear case of voter intimidation by the New Black Panthers in Philadelphia is passed over.

Posted by: afraid4me | September 7, 2011, 4:58 pm 4:58 pm

The criminal charges were dropped by the Bush administration. Stop perpetrating this lie.

They need to be investigating themselves. Fast and Furious is enough to get them all kicked out of the WH. If we had anyone who would do something.
Why does this dumb thing keep telling me to Slow Down!? UGH!

“The criminal charges [against the New Black Panthers] were dropped by the Bush administration.”

Posted by: John | September 7, 2011, 5:37 pm 5:37 pm

That’s an outright lie. The charges were dropped by the Obama DOJ.

From Wikipedia…

“On January 7, 2009, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil suit against the New Black Panther Party and three of its members alleging violations of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 over the incident at the Philadelphia polling place. The suit accused members King Samir Shabazz and Jerry Jackson of being outside a polling location wearing the uniform of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, and said “that Shabazz repeatedly brandished a police-style baton weapon. The suit sought an injunction preventing further violations of the Voting Rights Act. After the defendants did not appear for court, a default judgment was entered. On May 29, 2009, the Department of Justice requested and received an injunction against the member who had carried the nightstick, but against the advice of prosecutors who had worked on the case, department superiors ordered the suit dropped against the remaining members.”

Posted by: John | September 7, 2011, 6:48 pm 6:48 pm

The suit against against four defendants, Minister King Samir Shabazz, Jerry Jackson, NBPP chairman Malik Zulu Shabazz, and the NBPP itself, was dropped on May 29, 2009. The DOJ at that time was run by Eric Holder.

The suit against against four defendants, Minister King Samir Shabazz, Jerry Jackson, NBPP chairman Malik Zulu Shabazz, and the NBPP itself, was dropped on May 29, 2009. The DOJ at that time was run by Eric Holder.

Posted by: Susan | September 7, 2011, 7:00 pm 7:00 pm

No, all criminal charges were dropped by the Bush administration.

There were only two people involved in the incident, one a certified poll watcher who was allowed to stay at the poll the day of the election – and the other the guy with the night stick

The Obama Justice Department sought and obtained a default judgment against King Samir Shabazz (the guy with the night stick). The injunction prohibited Shabazz from displaying a weapon within 100 feet of a Philadelphia polling place.

It was the Bush administration that dropped all criminal charges, not the Obama administration. The Obama administration sought and got an injunction against the dude with the night stick. The other guy was allowed to stay at the poll all day – he was a certified poll watcher and had no weapon at all.

So stop the phony lies about the Obama administration dropping criminal charges against the Black Panthers – it’s a lie.

Do you remember the whackos showing up at political rallies with guns and automatic weaponry?

Posted by: steel rod | September 7, 2011, 7:53 pm 7:53 pm

Read the government’s affidavit. It has detailed information about the laws in question. The issue is not whether the wood is finished, but simply its thickness. The wood could still be finished in the US. Even if Gibson disagrees with the law, how do they explain their alleged falsification of the import documents? The law in question may very well be stupid. In such cases, you hire lawyers and/or lobby members of Congress. You don’t simply break the law and submit false documents. Gibson’s attempt to turn this into a Tea Party issue is almost worse then their apparent legal violations.

Posted by: Jeff | September 7, 2011, 4:35 pm 4:35 pm

Of ALL the CRAP coming into This Country from Companies that have pulled up US roots and moved Overseas, You Pick on a Small AMERICAN Co. about a friggin piece of wood. Why Don’t you worry about putting high Tariffs on the CRAP that WallyWorld(wal-mart) imports from CHINA. You know, the stuff that makes everyone SICK. Instead you worry about a Piece of WOOD. IDIOTS IN CHARGE..

Stop lying. The Bush administration wasn’t in power when the charges were dropped.

Posted by: Susan | September 7, 2011, 8:03 pm 8:03 pm

It is a clearly documented matter of record that the Bush administration decided to drop all criminal charges against these Black Panthers. They completely dropped the criminal investigations.

It was not the Obama administration that dropped criminal charges – it was the Bush administration.

So stop lying and saying it was the Obama administration that dropped criminal charges.

The Obama administration sought and got an injunction against the man with the night stick.

Posted by: John | September 7, 2011, 8:12 pm 8:12 pm

Wrong again. It’s clearly documented the charges were dropped in May 2009. It was the Obama DOJ. Spending too much time at Media Matters will lower your IQ.

“This is clearly documented from many sources.”

Posted by: John | September 7, 2011, 8:23 pm 8:23 pm

Then cite your sources and include text with the exact date the charges were dropped in 2009.

Posted by: John | September 7, 2011, 8:48 pm 8:48 pm

You’re only telling part of the story. More than one New Black Panter was involved.

“On January 7, 2009, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil suit against the New Black Panther Party and three of its members alleging violations of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 over the incident at the Philadelphia polling place. The suit accused members King Samir Shabazz and Jerry Jackson of being outside a polling location wearing the uniform of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, and said “that Shabazz repeatedly brandished a police-style baton weapon. The suit sought an injunction preventing further violations of the Voting Rights Act. After the defendants did not appear for court, a default judgment was entered. On May 29, 2009, the Department of Justice requested and received an injunction against the member who had carried the nightstick, but against the advice of prosecutors who had worked on the case, department superiors ordered the suit dropped against the remaining members.”

The suit was dropped by Holder.

Posted by: John | September 7, 2011, 8:59 pm 8:59 pm

Who dropped the civil suit in May 2009? Bush?

Posted by: John | September 7, 2011, 9:03 pm 9:03 pm

There were TWO suits, genius.

Posted by: Susan | September 7, 2011, 9:04 pm 9:04 pm

By the way, ignorance of the law is no excuse.

The black panther incident is a non-issue to this story…
Bush vs Obama…….who cares…..history will show these two clowns as being inept..

Big gov’t is what we should be concerned about. It is the problem.

I will buy a Gibson and hang it on my wall. I can’t play it but I love their views.

Didn’t Mrs. Obama give the French First Lady a Gibson??

We used to make piano keys from elephant tusks. In hindsight, it was a bad idea.
Gibson is breaking the law and the fact that they are creating jobs, paying people to break the law, is no more an excuse for them than for any other organized crime.

Illegal wood? Illegal where? The government told his lawyers that the company’s use of unfinished wood from India is illegal, not because of U.S. law, but because of the Justice Department’s interpretation of a law in India and labor stipulations. While the feds say the wood – as imported – is illegal, had it been ‘finished’ by workers in India, it would have been perfectly legal to import. The wood itself was not banned, just the manufacturing process – or lack of it.
“I think they’re taking the position that we should be shifting these jobs overseas,” says Bruce Mitchell, the chief legal counsel for Gibson. “We have – probably 40 people in our factory here just at USA who are doing the inlays into the fingerboard … that are putting the fret on. If all that was to be done over in India, then …. those jobs would be lost. What’s most puzzling about this case is that India is perfectly happy to ship the fingerboard ‘blanks’ to the United States. In a letter dated July 13, the deputy director general of foreign trade for India confirmed that “fingerboards made of rosewood and ebony is (sic) freely exportable.”

Gee, that’s pretty inconvenient to you folks who don’t like facts.

I’m normally not a large contributor to online comment forums, but as a very satisfied Gibson owner for many years, I feel compelled to comment.

I was originally very disappointed in Gibson’s leadership for agreeing to participate in this very silly act of political theater. While I’m fairly confident that Mr. J’s attendance is not going to alter American politics in any meaningful way, I was upset because the gesture seems to stand in stark contrast to what Gibson, as a brand, as an idea, means to many of its very loyal customers. So many of the company’s solid body guitars (Les Paul, Flying V, Explorer, et al) have come to embody a true-to-form “American” brand of cultural rebellion, malcontedness, community, and achievement. The guitars are fetishized the world over and the Gibson brand has achieved a full-on metonymic relationship to American Rock and Roll and the history of (mostly) left-leaning “radical” artists who use their guitars. Granted, I don’t care that much about Slash’s political affiliation when I listen to him shred through Appetite for Destruction, but it seems pretty clear that he probably wasn’t breaking the door down to run out and support Reagan.

Nevertheless, while it would be disheartening for a leader of a company that has achieved such iconic status within the culture it so proudly serves to align with ANY political cause, aligning with the right seems to conflict with the reputation that Gibson has so painstakingly crafted over the last several decades. Part of the appeal of the Gibson guitar (and many others made in the USA) was that it was a wholly neutral thing; it was something a person made in Nashville (or Kalamazoo) that anyone could use to express anything s/he wanted to say. The player certainly never felt any kind of ideological “friction” because the company’s admin openly identifies one way or another. The guitar was a blank slate, ready for the musician to mold. After this gesture, though, I can certainly see why many Gibson owners are upset (though I can’t understand why you’d want to get rid of your guitars over something like this; I mean, c’mon).