MSNBC had similar thoughts as Smoking Gun with a headline that reads Wesley Snipes blames racism for tax charges.
In piecing together the facts as they appear to be I gather that Mr. Rosile and Mr. Khan have not been charged, though they have 2000 clients that have allegedly made false claims with the IRS, exactly the same as Mr. Snipes though for less money. Yet only Mr. Snipes has been singled out as a ‘co-conspirator’.
Does any of this ring as odd to anyone else besides me? From the first day Mr. Snipes has been made out to be a thuggish rogue [in the worst meaning of the words] hiding from the government that he has wronged. Yet even a casual reading of several of the news releases shows that this is not the case.
The government apparently indicted Mr. Snipes while he was away working, without bothering to ask his publicist or manager if he was working. He was picked out of 2000 clients to be the poster child of government acting tough on taxes. When Mr. Snipes arranged to meet the cops to be taken on the charges made when he had no voice in the country (nor knowledge that he needed one) the media jumped on the story as if he were a fugitive, like he was a crackhead running from the police with 2 strikes over their head.
Rather than applying justice for this crime equally on all those suspected of committing it, only Mr. Snipes has been charged. Others that acted in exactly the same manner seemingly have walked away clean. And it should be noted that if the charges are correct, the IRS received a tax return that requested a $7 million return, which they paid and not a single red flag popped up for 5 years. Yet they are on me if my quarterly taxes are late.
This appears to be a set-up of classic proportions. Media and hoopla on charges made when there can be no response, near sensationalism on negotiated actions that occur without resistance. An atmosphere of implied guilt, and a brush off when potentially credible reasons for racial bias are voiced.
Where is the preferential treatment that ALL entertainers are supposed to get? Where is the media covering his side of the story? Actually where is the media since the moment they got photos of Mr. Snipes in handcuffs? Where are the petitions asking that the charges be dropped? Where are the cable news networks spending a week discussing every angle and public view of the case. What about the pundits speculating how this affects the Dow Jones. Anna Nicole Smith, Paris Hilton and several other entertainers and celebrities got this kind of treatment. Even during the Imus debacle, Snoop Dogg got more attention.
No matter what the outcome of this case, and I am still following it, this feels wrong. But I’m sure that the media isn’t doing anything different just because of the race of this one entertainer?
This is what I think, what do you think?
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