Spectator

Two rich white guys face a higher power

Posted on June 9, 2008 by Douglas Bell


Here are a couple of stray observations on a steamy Toronto Monday. Friday night, Peter C. Newman won a National Magazine Award for his magisterial take on the Conrad Black trial in the pages of Toronto Life. From the podium, he thanked the man himself. Mr. Black noted in the pages of Saturday’s Post that, to his mind, this “outpouring of sentimental celebration…is a nostalgic re-enactment of the leftist ritual of self-indulgent historical myth-making.” He was writing about the 40th anniversary of student rioting in France, but as an expression of his likely take on Newman’s triumph, it’ll do just fine.

Writing in The Observer yesterday, media editor James Robinson noted Black’s continued ownership of the small circulation weekly the Catholic Herald:

A publication that has always punched above its weight, exerting an influence that belies its relatively modest weekly circulation of 20,000….

If Black is forced to sell, the biggest worry for employees is that the Catholic church might buy it, turning it into a mouthpiece for the church and silencing it as an independent voice. That is one reason Black, for all his faults, might try hard to resist a sale, even as he serves out the rest of his sentence.

And speaking of God and Mammon, The Globe and Mail reported last week that the Catholic Church hereabouts has turned away Magna magnate Frank Stronach’s $19-million donation:

The reasons given by Father Hanley and the archdiocese state variously that Mr. Stronach insisted on exterior architectural control and having a major say on what the inside would look like, proposed a building that was too grand, refused to give the parishioners sufficient input, and rejected a proposal from the archdiocese that he only provide funds matching whatever the congregation raised and not pay for the whole thing.

All of which reminds us of Matthew 19:24: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Though Lord knows they try.

• Conrad Black on Charles de Gaulle, the man who saved France from anarchy [National Post]
• Black may sell the final part of his media empire [The Guardian]
• Why Frank Stronach and his money got left at the altar [Globe and Mail]
• Looking a $19-million gift horse in the mouth [Globe and Mail]
• Walrus, Toronto Life split magazine awards [Toronto Star]

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JONES June 9, 2008 at 8:57 p.m.

I am glad I don't subscribe to the National. Took one look at that masterpiece written by C.B. and decided to pass.

dr June 10, 2008 at 6:41 a.m.

Again, Black cannot keep his face shut:

http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/sto...

Judges don't understand case, Black says
In an e-mail from prison, convicted fraudster says they seem at times to be 'essentially part of the prosecution...

What a pathetic character.

Barbara_in_BC June 10, 2008 at 11:38 a.m.

Reading the article in the previous post it appears Black thinks the judges are not only stupid but dead set against him. Imagine that. Well Blackie, when it comes to crime that's just the way it is. Judges are not very open-minded about murderers either, even if they have a great excuse for why it was necessary to kill a particularly annoying person.

He'll stick to his story to the end. I can see him knocking on heaven's door trying to get in. "But God, it was a non-compete, I say!".

Fintan June 10, 2008 at 12:05 p.m.

Barbara in BC: Very droll: "I can see him knocking on heaven's door trying to get in. "But God, it was a non-compete, I say!".

The Pearly Gates thing reminds me of my favourite Mother Teresa/Princess Diana joke, but I'll spare you all it for now.

I could imagine what the priest will likely say at his burial ceremony though:

"ashes to ashes,
dust to dust,
if God doesn't take him,
the Devil must."

He certainly is a good wordsmith, but his attitude is far too slanted; everything is just too black-and-white. His article on de Gaulle is a typical example.

There was nothing in it that I haven't read before. Incidentally, I have the same birth date as de Gaulle.

He might have added something on a personal note, like the story about mme. de Gaulle, thinking she is alone in the house and going to the bathroom, where she pulls aside the shower curtain and finds her husband, stark naked, behind it.

Startled, she exclaims: "Mon Dieu!", to which he replies: "Ma cher Yvonne, you can call me Charles when we are in private."

Or maybe His Lardship is a bit touchy about the subject of showers.

kjopc June 10, 2008 at 10:10 p.m.

The appeal court should do like Black did in his glory days - issue a defamation writ!

charley June 11, 2008 at 9:48 p.m.

Fintan: Please share M Teresa /Princess D joke- don't leave us hanging...

Jeanne June 11, 2008 at 10:41 p.m.

Here we see the compleat narcissist (CB) up against the immovable object (Appeals Court).

After the hearing, His Lardship knew he would lose on appeal. With his pathetic email, he tries to accomplish the following:
Tries to create the impression he knew it was all a judicial farce from the get-go;
Impugns the capacity of the appeal judges;
Tries to make his lame case again;
Assures all of us that his current lodgings are pretty much to his liking.

I was raised in a household of narcissisists. They will never give up in their vision of their own superiority until they die. It is the breath of life to them.

Fintan June 12, 2008 at 11:16 a.m.

charley June 11, 2008 at 9:48 p.m.

"Fintan: Please share M Teresa /Princess D joke- don't leave us hanging..."

Oh, well, since you twist my arm! LOL

When Mother Teresa reaches the Pearly Gates, St. Peter is there and effusively welcomes her. Then he ushers her into a vast entrance hall with hundreds of people strolling around it.

He says. "Mother Teresa, walk with me and I'll show you your quarters - they're celestial - and you'll find your wings and harp waiting for you there."

They stroll along for a while and then Mother Teresa asks. "When will I be getting my halo?"

He replies: "Oh Mother Teresa, people only get haloes after they've been here for a long time, years, decades or even centuries. It's a very special distinction."

She looks across the hall again and says. "I don't want to quibble, but I see my friend Princess Diana over there. She's only been here for six days, but she's wearing a halo."

St. Peter glances across and says. "That's not a halo, Mother Teresa, it's a steering wheel.

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