I thought Gibson was raided in 2009 for supposed illegal purchase of imported mahogany from Madagascar, which Gibson claims it has all of the proper and official documentation from Madagascar which authorized the sale of the the mahogany as being perfectly legal. Gibson is still awaiting the results of a counter-suit for the return of those wood assets.
Plexi59, don't you know a political shakedown when you see one? Let's play devil's advocate and assume that Gibson is in the wrong. This is about wood, for chrissakes. Talk about heavy-handed and misguided. Jeez! Wouldn't a healthy punitive fine do the job? Maybe some SEIU members picketing in front of Gibson's production facilities with some very willing MSNBC/ABC/CBS/CNN coverage to "shame" Gibson to do the right thing? Instead, what winds up happening is the workers bear the brunt of decisions made at the upper management level, assuming that Gibson even did anything wrong. Where is the presumed "innocence before guilt" and due process here? Gibson is due a fair trial and their day in court to defend themselves against their accuser (the Federal Government).
It's really funny how things work in places like Washington D.C., and where I live in Massachusetts. Perhaps you heard about the 23 yr. old kid who was riding his motorcycle and hit by a drunk driver illegal alien from Ecuador, and dragged to his death. A good kid who had his light snuffed out in the prime of his life by a POS who already had a rap sheet that included multiple serious offenses such as B&E, assaulting a police officer, as well as previous DUI offenses. Massachusetts government immigration officials (as well as federal) WOULD NOT DEPORT HIM for those previous offenses, and so he roamed the streets until he finally committed a crime (vehicular homicide) for which the government couldn't turn its back. Ain't that swell. We can't get illegal alien dirtbags deported for "minor crimes" of theft, B&E, drunk driving, etc., but we send the Feds in to shut down a guitar manufacturer for alleged illegal purchase of freaking MAHOGANY! Doesn't take a genius to see that there is something very wrong going on here.
The current administration knows exactly what it is doing. They aren't stupid. However, they are thuggish and like to kick sand in the face of their so-called domestic "enemies" who happen to believe in the right to non-union labor and something that resembles capitalism. The current administration knows that this harassment of Gibson will piss off a whole lot of people, and that's exactly what they want. They are agitating the system. They believe in the radical 1960s modus operandi of how to achieve social change. I'm just old enough to remember the violent social upheaval that took place in the late sixties. It wasn't pretty, and I fear that this is precisely what the current administration has in mind, coming soon to a town near you. Just ask Barry O's buddy, William Ayers - that really nice guy who liked to blow up buildings where some unfortunate innocent people happened to get killed, all in the name of social change.
Other than that, I have no strong opinions...(sorry about the rant)
