"It will startle an entire burgeoning industry of pundits, eulogists and curio-vendors, but I'm far from dead. When everyone is finished dancing on my grave, they may be disconcerted to find I am not in it." - Conrad Black email to journalist and all journalists everywhere.
The terrible reign wanes in a Chicago courtroom. Judge Amy St. Eve's assumed the role of Dorothy and used the power to drop the Castle on the cruel magician.
Dancing, the Munchkins cheer. And it happens, at this moment, the old boy’s apparently still quiescent underfoot.
A list grows. The mound on his mortuary pit grows smaller as thousands of tiny feet tamp the granules of dirt into concrete compaction. After the trail St. Eve's could likely come into Canada and get any golden praise. She could consume all the lecture dollars for two lifetimes.
As the days wander away from that memorable Friday, the real stories seep out of swamp mists of fear. The fog of libel threats finally abate in the reality that clear.
Oh the total irony. Lord Black always threatened court action against any journalist who threatened to, or spoke the truth in Canada about the peer.
Of the few who defied his obtuse regality, Linda McQuaig (picture top right) deserves the right to be the chief soprano of the Munchkin chorus. Her editors, even though they might be staff of a publication unowned by the noble baron still quaked in fear of his perceived wrath. Canadian media existed a desert of political thought of honest criticism.
Many others than the ever defiant, always editorial dampened Linda McQuaig, pestered away in the background. They came out today.
In addition to the choir leader McQuaig, ...Jay Bryan, Romina Maurino, and Chris Cobb sang different phrases. A very unique day.
I've spent the last few days perusing the journalistic spread of literary output from a variety of sources. Before and during the trial the information input consisted of expanded newswire material. Journalists tended to portray Black in a neutral image. One story from paper to paper was all the same.
After the trial, there seemed a moment where the newswire continued with the same churning. But Monday morning, the sun rose and journalists crawled out from their hiding places for the first time in almost two decades to actually feel liberated enough to register an opinion or story on the Canadian exile. Every story, every paper, almost every writer had completely different anecdotes, viewpoints. A rainburst on a parched landscape and the flowers bloomed on the desert scape of a latent media.
The long drought is over. The Munchkins cheer the rain as it hits the shriveling magician.
One must appreciate the Canadian view. In the short history it retained a British government system and monarchy but developed its own nobility. The British and European possess blood line nobles. The USA elected Senators assumed the baronial equal. In Canada very successful business people sated the need for this homegrown nobility.
It is why Canadian businessmen get away with crimes that any other class would be convicted of. When people ask why the Canadians didn't prosecute Black it is not because there isn't any laws against what they do, no contrary. Canada possesses a quite up to date list of legislation. Black almost got arrested for a variety of crimes including tax evasion, and those boxes. But the Crown Attorneys in Canada have their positions assured by the friends of the powerful so Black and his ilk can do almost anything short of murder and sexual assault.
Indeed the Canadians would have taken action but Jean Chretien the popular Prime Minister, familiar with the here to for hidden cases of Black's tax evasions decided to deny him the peerage offered by the very same monarch who ruled Canada. Black as it is known finally opted to severe his Canadian ties and on the way out gave comment to the effect that Canada was an unfit place to live.
To reflect the Canadian attitude over the lordship affair, by far the attitude was shared by all. Britain appeared overjoyed that they would steal such a brilliant powerful economic baron like Conrad Black. Most Canadians (not all) could be culled into a single phrase regarding Black. "Don't let the saloon door slap yer ass on the way out!"
For the first couple of years the former Canadians trashed their former country obliquely. Later astounding all to find that Lord Black wanted back into the Canadian Club public opinion even threatened its minority government if his credentials returned. Wasn't a British title good enough?
Still many neutral journalists cowered in fear of his worshipfully. Nary the stories emerged before. Now the winds of change continue slowly crushing the House of Crossharbour. The Munchkins cheer.
Give leave to McQuaig her obvious joy. She fought that large cruel shadow for years. A convicted felon, Lord Black can be legally denied re-entry to Canada. If it happens the government lasts only to the next ballot. Kudos to McQuaig. A hip hooray to St. Eves.
Dance on.
*********
Note: -
With all that said. There is another reality. While many cheer the strength of American penalties, one cannot appreciate that at Lord Black's age of 62 even an eight year sentence carries an onerous tone.
If the American prosecutor's suggestion of 15 to 20 years is upheld, personally I think its inappropriate. It is a life term in effect. Indeed a man of his gentility could find sufficient cause for self immolation. If he committed suicide then he might become celebrated and his memory mourned the wrong way.
Modern media doesn't lead. It twitches from popular to popular. It lacks the sense of a Metronome of society any more because of medias need for the advertising dollar. Its popular to bash Lord Black. He can not retalliate. He is a convicted felon regardless of, or until, the success of any appeal.
If you or I went to jail for the same thing it would be far less according to the modern themes of American justice sentencing. Go to jail. Its like tripping over a curb. I have nothing. Comparatively, Black's demise equals a rapid uncontrolled descent from the top of the CN Tower.
Black has an absurd sense of history. He considered himself a historical figure not one that causes hysteria. Considering this I believe that Black is not a flight risk, however he is a suicide risk. A man with his sense of history must be sensing that fate, thinking that fate right now.
This man must live. Yes a tortuous shamed existence albeit. But hey, join the club with us impoverished mushrooms.
More appropriately this man who always threatened the weapon of litigation upon litigation, faces total torture. Even without prison from now on this man is a prisoner. He will certainly face decades of litigation, constant attacks on his declining fortune. Even without jail, justice is certain. However none of these convictions deserve a life sentence.
1 comment:
Terrific picture! Now that's something worth looking at!
As far as the quote from Mr. Black's email is concerned, that's exactly why the defense didn't put him on the stand during the trial. The American jury would have listened to him saying something like that, blinked and then found him guilty on all thirteen charges.
On the other hand, he may be at least partially correct. It was a complex case and it's entirely possible the jury erred on a few of the charges. Still, in spite of popular opinion to the contrary, judges in the U.S. don't like to totally contradict the findings of a jury and I expect a few of the convictions will stick.
Eventually Conrad may have to develop some severe health problems that will make incarceration cruel and unusual punishment or he may have to take a long holiday without his passport but with his money to some South American country like Venezuela.
By the way, he's not a 'Canadian exile'. If anything, he's an 'English exile'. I sure that's a very common slip of the tongue.
You're correct about the fear (and loathing) of the press towards this former press baron. He fired many hundreds of excellent journalists and editors in his time, replacing them with advertising salespeople. It was his way of focusing the remaining staff on what was really and truly important in journalism - selling advertisements and making profits for Conrad.
As an editor, I once had a publisher tell me the news and the photographs were 'just something to wrap around the ads' and he could easily fire all the reporters and use CP, AP and press releases to publish the entire paper. He said that's why news people never went on strike --- and he was probably correct.
That doesn't excuse the so-called journalists who kowtowed to Mr. Black during his heyday. The real journalists with real guts (like Ms. McQuaig) usually either quit or got fired, so by a process of evolution, we ended up with a generation of gutless hacks on all of the Black papers.
Perhaps journalists now need to re-learn the fact they are in the business of printing the truth and getting sued, if that's what it takes. I know the publishers who pay the bills don't like it but then again, they could have chosen something else to purchase and profit from - other than a newspaper or newspapers.
If I'm just a munchkin, pounding down the earth of an empty grave, so be it.
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