Why is Helio immune from public scorn?

When Michael Vick was led toward a federal courthouse, weighted down by handcuffs, leg shackles and several charges involving the depraved sport of dogfighting, protesters and unaffiliated citizens stood on the sidewalk and hurled invective at the doomed NFL quarterback.

When Helio Castroneves was led toward a federal courthouse Friday in Miami, also weighted down by handcuffs, leg shackles and felony charges of tax evasion, curious onlookers and IndyCar fans around the country prayed that the charges were false, and that Castroneves would eventually be found guilty of nothing more than ignorance.

So where's the righteous rage this time?

Part of the disparity in the way America has reacted to these stories has a racial tint. I would like to think, though, that most of this is a reflection of the way we view the crimes in question.

In Vick's case, we've all seen the underground dogfighting footage, usually on one of the undercover TV news shows, of pit bulls let loose on one another and tearing each other apart for the entertainment and wagering pleasure of the subhumans involved.

In Castroneves' case, there's no blood, no clear victim, no underground footage. This is as pasty as white-collar crime gets. While there are victims any time a rich man hides his money from the government, those victims are not readily identifiable. And keep in mind, there is a segment of society that despises the government and specifically the Internal Revenue Service, and in whispered voices they are saying, "Yeah, stick it to those SOBs."

I would like to think that if Castroneves was indicted on dogfighting charges and Vick was hit with tax-evasion charges, our reaction would reflect the crime, and not the skin color of the men charged with the crime.

Is that naive? More…..