Atlas Shrugs
Is it even remotely possible that Lord Black of Cross Harbour might conceivably entertain a vestige of humility, of self-doubt, of second thought, post-trial verdict? Not likely. And who might have expected otherwise, after all? The man is who he is. The man is in the boy, was the motto of his alma mater, the very school from which he was summarily removed for the offence of selling examination answers. A trivial matter in and of itself, since, as he later remarked, he realized a healthy profit from that early venture.So, hasn't he proven more than amply that the man does indeed reside in the boy? Careful, now, although the verdict has been passed, the sentence has not yet, and won't be until November. And the judge, as judges have a tendency to do, may just hand down a harsher sentence if she perceives that the defendant, the accused, now found guilty, now with the legal status of a criminal offence on his record, a felon, is not sufficiently contrite.
Contrition is not one of his things; Conrad Black doesn't do 'contrite'. He does arrogant more than adequately. He is unabashedly self-confident, proud and absolute in his faith in himself. He's heard that old adage of pride going before a fall, but that applies, needless to say, to the great unwashed, not those such as he. Well, it's true he has much to pride himself on. His business acumen to be sure, although he upended that with his sense of entitlement.
All right, his intelligence then, no one can take that away from him. Other than that he has himself muddied his mind and his reputation with unethical scheming that, in the end, has been his undoing. This man has a creative, questing mind, and he has put it to good use. He is capable of wielding an opinion pen with the best of those who recognize journalism their calling. As a military and political historian he publishes in competition with academic scholars of repute.
He will not be cowed. His head unbowed, he pontificates on his trial, the error of the ways of juries, the aggressively corrupt manner of prosecutors, and his own incapacity for error. Yes, he has hired another team of expensive lawyers, all salivating at the opportunity to divest this grand man of more of his rapidly diminishing fortune. They will appeal the unfortunate decision of this jury not of his peers.
He seeks justice, and why should he not? He will appeal to reason against "this tiresome miscarriage of justice". Anticipating that the matter will be resolved handily, and he will be free to resume his former lifestyle. In fact, a trip to Europe in the coming spring is already on his agenda. It truly is a pity that he has been forced to sell off many of his sumptuous assets for the purpose of funding his legal fees and bail, amounting thus far to $38-million.
"This war has gone on for nearly four years and the original allegations have been worn down to a fraction of where they started", he informed reporters confidently, after his four-month trial wound up. "While it could have been worse, any conviction is unsatisfactory" he huffed. True, it is all so dreadfully tedious. And, dare we say, unfair...?
Still, Lord Black has his legion of supporters. He does have tried and true friends. As well as those who shiver in delight at his comeuppance. He has friends in high places. Recently having dined with Frances Cardinal George, archbishop of Chicago. People in the business of news coverage, those with whom he worked in the past, many of whom worked for him, universally credit him with vastly improving the content and quality of the newspapers his company published.
Even I, a faithful newspaper reader, can credit his unerring eye and love and respect for the world of journalism, the publishing and dissemination of news, made my own personal experience of newspaper coverage more worthwhile, instructive, entertaining, even trustworthy. He himself wrote quite excellent editorials from time to time, and later personal views of news events with great pithiness, elegance of language and observation.
Sad, so sad that this man proved to be his own undoing.
Labels: Human Fallibility
posted by Pieface @ Sunday, July 15, 2007
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