Ah the lovely major news media. Rarely has there been a more jaded and fickle industry, exceeded by perhaps the Hollywood machine only. Once again they have proven why I dislike their actions.
Wesley Snipes won another major blow against the Government and it’s silly case about tax evasion. The major news media acted in its usual biased and obtuse form. They avoided the story.
The major news media wasted neither time nor space in alleging that Wesley Snipes was hiding from the Government when this case first became public. They were like flies around feces when they manipulated the perceptions of Snipes previously agreed upon surrender to authorities – once he got news of problems in America while he was filming in remote areas in Africa. And Snipes stood his ground, claiming his innocence as the Government tried to allege that he was a mastermind behind 42 people evading taxes – which included his accountants that filed the taxes for him.
In the end Wesley Snipes faced a potential sentence of 16 years in Federal prison. A jury found him innocent of all charges except 3 misdemeanors. It was a slap in the face of the Government, and the media that was pounding away with pundits claiming his absolute guilt. But the Government fought back, giving Snipes an over-the-top and unprecedented (for anyone that wasn’t Black) sentence of 3 years and a fine.
Today the fine was announced, $217,000. Wesley Snipes trial claimed that he owed in excess of $14 million. That all that Wesley Snipes owes the IRS.
So in retrospect it seems that the Government, and the major news media, lied to the American public. Since the same reaction never occurred from Willie Nelson (who owed and lost a case for $35 million in taxes he evaded) and others, I am left with the thought that race and stardom were the driving factors of this farce. And rather than face criticism or have the general public realize what they’ve done, they buried this latest piece of news, just as they buried the fact that every serious and important charge against Wesley Snipes was found to be wrongly charged against Wesley Snipes.
Snipes is currently appealing the incredibly, and potentially racially driven, overreaching punishment. The fine is sure to be added to that appeal. A realistic penalty for what he did get found guilty for, given to most Americans – and definitely White Entertainers that the media likes, is 6 months of probation. Think about it, entertainers have been caught with excessive amounts of drugs, intoxicated while driving, and/or armed with illegal weapons and walked away with less time. What reason can you think of for this penalty?
I’ve followed this case from the beginning, and I continue to do so. The major news media may have a bias and care nothing about truthful reporting, but I do.
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