271. This is nonsense. OJ is still lurking around hoping to get on reality t.v. and Snipes is supposed to sit in jail for 3 years.!!!? From what I understand he just wasn't paying enough attention to his business people. True, he should pay his taxes and probably a hefty fine but sitting in Jail is harsh. We read enough about the substance abusers, Dui's etc. I've never seen negative press about this actor. Unfortunate.....

Posted at 12:13AM on Apr 28th 2008 by Jemima

272. #13 Two words for you "MARTHA STEWART!!!" #10 Hit the nail on the head with his comment!

Posted at 11:38AM on Apr 28th 2008 by Carter

273. WE HAVE TO PAY TAXES. SO WHAT MAKES HIM THINK HE DOESN'T HAVE TO .WHAT WORLD IS HE LIVING IN.

Posted at 11:40AM on Apr 28th 2008 by SKY

274. If I have to pay taxes on the piddley amount of income, why shouldn't Wesley Snipes pay taxes on his income? Where does he come off being above the law? Go to Prison, get a # and sit in your cell 23 hours a day, maybe this will humble you.

Posted at 7:16PM on Apr 28th 2008 by Janet Spann

275. the government should got to prison for the cheap rebate checks their giving out

Posted at 12:41PM on Apr 29th 2008 by bhop

276.
The Hidden Upside to the End of Constitutional Protections

We have been dismayed by the parlor game going on in the halls of power, true enough. An anti-torture bill designed to codify torture; the acceptance and legalization of domestic espionage without court order or demonstrable cause; the removal of habeas corpus, one of those petty legal terms that the entire arc of American law relies upon. The Republican Party decided that their election-year strategy, this September, would be to take boxcutters to the Constitution, and they found just enough accomplices to do it.

But there are upsides, here. And the primary upside is that, after being a movement dominated by the terror of government ready to go amok, people who carried the Bill of Rights on cards in their wallets and stockpiled guns with the belief that only guns would save them, the conservative and far-right movements have finally given us the precise legal tools to remove the far-right from the national landscape. Forever.

Before Osama bin Laden, there was the American citizen and terrorist Timothy McVeigh, who drove a truck full of explosives to the front of a government building and detonated it, as an act of terrorism against the United States. Before the Cole bombing, there was an organized series of mail bombings against judges, bombings of abortion clinics, assassinations of abortion doctors, conducted by those affiliated with Operation Rescue and an assortment of domestic terrorist organizations. Weaponized anthrax, sent to news outlets and liberal politicians. The Atlanta Olympics were attacked by terrorists as well, a shrapnel-laced explosive detonated in the crowded Olympic village in order to cause as many deaths as possible. Even if al Qaeda had not existed, the unholy wraith of terrorism against Americans, on American soil, still would be a compounding and urgent problem. And all of those acts were perpetrated by Americans, and specifically by the American far-right.

These acts of conservative terrorism have been all but forgotten, after bin Laden's crimes. But they are domestic terrorism, and were explicitly intended as such, and of the sort that these new Republican, conservative laws are precisely aimed at taking on.

The advantage of these new laws in these new times is, bluntly, that normal rules of evidence no longer apply, and that those charged with aiding terrorism need not be granted a trial; no actual crime need be alleged; no evidence need be presented against them; nobody else is required to be even informed of their imprisonment; there is no appeal. If the President of the United States determines them to be affiliated with terrorism -- and it does not matter if that President is Republican or Democrat -- the judgment is final. All that is required to strip an American citizen of their Constitutional rights, strip them of their citizenship itself, and declare them an enemy combatant in the fight against terrorism is the say-so of the President. That's it.

So if we are dejected, today, that Americans no longer are protected by the Constitution, cheer up just a bit. Because from now on, American terrorists and their conservative supporters aren't protected by the Constitution either. It has been changed, in this time of war, according to their own new laws -- and that means that at the first point in which the Republicans lose power, these same new laws can be used to imprison those that all reasonable men agree are terrorists, and their supporters, and those giving them assistance and comfort.

The entire far-right conservative movement is tied, in no more than two or three degrees of separation, to U.S. terrorist Timothy McVeigh. His roots and his support were based in the conservative militia movement, a collection of far-right groups and organizations, many of them white supremacist in nature or affiliated with the even more noxious Christian Identity movement. Many of these groups stockpile guns and ammunition in the direct belief that those guns will be required against the U.S. government, and in places like Ruby Ridge and Waco, have brought those weapons to bear. They are proven terrorists; this much is indisputable. Under the new laws, future Attorneys General will be able to mark these individuals as enemy combatants, and no further Constitutional protections will apply. Janet Reno will be marked as the last Attorney General to have had to deal with terrorism unequipped with the new laws designed to strip such figures of their citizenship and trial rights.

A mere presidential finding, now, is now sufficient to determine which men among these conservative militia groups are the terrorist leaders, and which are the followers, and which are supporters. The acts of Timothy McVeigh were praised by many, on the right. Those men are themselves terrorists; arrest them. The men supporting the militia movements through word and deed; they, too are terrorists. Arrest them as well. Then there are merely the abettors. The Timothy McVeighs of the movement are supported by figures such as right-wing radio hosts Hal Turner; Turner himself is a right-wing racist figure who rose to fame because of the support and endorsement of his "good friend", Sean Hannity. The links between Sean Hannity and the dozens of militia members who have shaken his hand, repeatedly, are more than enough to prove complicity.

Posted at 9:12PM on Apr 29th 2008 by Truth

277. Karma is a b-----...remember the comment in "Ebony" years ago, he did not like black women, they were to brash. Now he wants to say that this is about race. How convenient...oh and I am a black woman.....

Posted at 10:58AM on Apr 30th 2008 by BWare

278. McCain Left His Crippled Wife for a 25 Year-Old

Everyone's heard about Bill Clinton's blow job. Everyone's heard about Rudy Giuliani's divorces and affairs. But, strangely enough, the media has mostly ignored the fact that John McCain, while in his 40's, cheated on his wife (who had been crippled in a car accident) and left her for a 25 year-old. His new young wife then went on to become addicted to drugs and stole pills on a regular basis from a charity she had created called the American Voluntary Medical Team.

All the dirty details are in this article.

McCain is a war hero. True. But he's not exactly as squeaky-clean as the mainstream media would like you to believe.

If this becomes a Clinton vs McCain election, anytime someone brings up Bill's infidelity, you can point out that at least he stayed with his wife. This is better than John McCain, who left his crippled wife for a women almost twenty years younger who ended up a Limbaugh-like-pill-popper.

Posted at 2:55PM on Apr 30th 2008 by John Mccain Left his crippled wife for Cindy

279. #13 - CELEBS ARE HELD FOR APPROX 80 MNS IN JAIL..... FOR UR INFORMATION... WHY WESLEY.????????IS IT HIS COLOR?????????????????? I PRESUME SO,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Posted at 8:09PM on Apr 30th 2008 by Shirliana

280. OK Karen...you said you didn't follow the story so let me enlighten you because he was not acquitted of ALL felony charges. He has evaded the IRS for MANY years and I mean like 10 years of tax evasion - has not filed a return. He was acquitted of ALL but 3 of the felony charges. Yes, they may be using him as an example but we all know that the rich only get richer and the poor get poorer because there used to be a huge middle class in America but because of the economy we have more of a huge poor population than we do middle class now. With that said, Wesley Snipes and, I don't care what color they are...black, white, red, green, ALL should pay when not paying taxes. Most people do. Most people end up paying a huge penalty for tax evasion but Mr. Snipes would not work with the IRS, hid his money in overseas accounts, had instructed his employees to quit paying taxes, threatened government officials (which I really don't care about that part because some need to be slapped around), and thought he was too good to be contributing to the country that helped make him the big STAR that he is today. If you want to work in this country then you need to pay! He has done nothing but help put a burden on the fans that have helped put him in the position that he is in now because who do you think pay the most taxes in this country and support this country? Not the rich!

Posted at 2:58PM on May 1st 2008 by mrstude

281. How many times have other celebrities gotten away with far worse things? I think as many times as Paris Hilton has been in trouble with the law not to mention Lindsey Lohan and gotten off scott free that Mr. Snipe should be afforded the same courtesy. Im sure there are other celebrities doing the same thing, they just haven't got caught yet,

Posted at 9:01PM on May 1st 2008 by cougar

282. #8 anyone who takes joy in anothers misfortune whether deserved or not has screws missing. You don't know anything and are excited to say he will have his --------(0) to (0) is not only disgusting but a horrible thing to say and put into print. You must have experienced this type of treatment and enjoyed it. and to #13 I feel it's racist as well, no one white is jailed, just let the man pay the fine and be done with it. He doesn't need jail time to make the taxpayers feel better and the government. What is the jail time for???? Sounds like another lynching by the government instead of restoration.

Posted at 12:57AM on May 2nd 2008 by Disgusted in Jersey

283. This comment is for ME #214 who wrote on April 25 th that they just hate it that blacks always stick up for blacks. If we don't support each other as you do, who will? And why shouln't we??? Should we wait for the likes of you to stick up for us??? We have the same rights as anyone else and when you wake up and realize that we'll stick up for you too! Had enough of Closet Racism and Open Racism. America is the land of opportunity for EVERYONE So Get over it.

Posted at 1:13AM on May 2nd 2008 by Disgusted in Jersey

284. The IRS is run by private banks...period. It is NOT a part of the government. It is its own entity. There is NOT a law anywhere that states that you have to pay taxes on wages earned. There are many, many $$$$$ bounties out there if ANYONE can find a law that states you have to pay taxes. It is a scam and all the little sheep will continue to be led......pitiful. There are many people who have beat this in court, stating the very thing I have typed above. You have to know what is going on sometimes.... Wesley was made an example of, because of his "status". It won't change the minds of all of us that won't ever pay.... Continue on sheep.......

Posted at 12:52AM on May 3rd 2008 by Texas Pike

285. As of my post (10:51 EST), it's split 50/50 between "too harsh" and "just right." That's amazing.

It totally sucks. Unfair.

Posted at 12:53PM on May 3rd 2008 by Gwen