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| REYNOLDS: Back in the U.S. of A. |
For
we’re approaching the deadline by which the American public is expected to
acknowledge our incomes and just how much our tax obligation is (and also to
pay up any debt owed, if that is the case).
FOR
THOSE OF us who might be inclined to think that no one would miss it if their
return wasn’t amongst the millions that the Internal Revenue Service will have
to go through, Reynolds becomes the prime example of how to get caught
For
it seems the former representative from the far South Side and surrounding
suburbs is facing criminal charges for what federal officials say was his
failure to even file income tax returns from 2009 to 2012.
He
doesn’t have much of an income these days. I’m sure he’ll offer up some grandiose
attempt at justifying his behavior when he goes on trial next month in U.S.
District Court.
But
Reynolds, whose case has been pending for over a year, has missed recent court
appearances. Officials admit there was actually a 10-day time period in which
they couldn’t account for where Mel was physically.
THAT
LED TO an arrest warrant being issued by a federal judge demanding Reynolds’
arrest. That warrant was served on Monday.
For
it seems that Reynolds was out of the country. In South Africa, to be exact. It
seems one of his daughters is ill and undergoing medical treatment there. He
says that’s why he wasn’t in court in Chicago.
As
it turns out, upon arriving back in the United States at Hartsfield
International Airport in Atlanta, he was picked out of the returning masses at
the airport, and placed under arrest.
He
had to appear before a federal magistrate in Atlanta, who ultimately decided to
accept the fact he was back in the U.S. of A. and not impose any additional
penalties.
IN
THEORY, REYNOLDS could have been ordered held in federal custody between now
and May 5 – the date upon which his trial is scheduled to begin. Or he could
have been ordered to post a significant bond to provide further incentive for
Mel to show up in court for his trial.
I
don’t know what to think of Reynolds’ latest predicament – other than to say it
shows further evidence of a man who, despite his Ivy League education and
Rhodes Scholar credentials is one of those kinds of people who is just a
screw-up in life.
And
that it adds to the list of laughable moments we have of the man we once
thought was the significant step up from political people such as one-time
Congressman Gus Savage.
Just
think of the lotto or peach panties. You’re either smirking at the memory of
Reynolds, or else you’re a snot-nosed punk kid who’s too young to remember what
happened between the congressman and his one-time teenaged admirer.
ALTHOUGH
THE FACT is that it is the latter round of criminal charges that came up in
federal court in Chicago (bank fraud and deceiving FEC investigators for
improper use of campaign funds) are the ones that are the more serious blot on
Reynolds’ legacy.
Not
being able to file tax returns for several years only adds to the impression of
a man whose lengthy political career (he was only a member of Congress for 2 ½ years)
we, the people, were seriously spared.
Just
think what could have been accomplished if he had been a government official
for a significant length of time.
Certainly
more than a horror story of how the federal government really will go after you
if you think it isn’t worth your while to file that tax return – which this
year won’t be due until Monday instead of Friday.
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