Black on Murdoch.
October 24, 2011 7:10 AM Subscribe
Pot meet kettle: Conrad Black describes Rupert Murdoch.
God, his writing definitely hasn't gotten any better; too self-important to stand being copy-edited, too rich to need one, I guess. "Gaze, in, awe, at, my, ponderous, vocabulary".
Mr. Black needs to get out of the straining-for-gravitas industry before the bubble bursts. Maybe he should diversify is portfolio towards the comma sector, which seems to be straining to meet the enormous demand he generates, by employing, them, pointlessly, in, every, sentence.
posted by mhoye at 7:42 AM on October 24, 2011 [4 favorites]
Mr. Black needs to get out of the straining-for-gravitas industry before the bubble bursts. Maybe he should diversify is portfolio towards the comma sector, which seems to be straining to meet the enormous demand he generates, by employing, them, pointlessly, in, every, sentence.
posted by mhoye at 7:42 AM on October 24, 2011 [4 favorites]
God, his writing definitely hasn't gotten any better
Oh, you're absolutely right overall, mhoye.
But I confess a twinge of pleasure at Black's last line - ripe as it is!
In the extreme winter of his days, Rupert Murdoch's failing hands have dropped the mask; he is a malignant force and it would be a good thing for the world to be done with him.
posted by Jody Tresidder at 7:50 AM on October 24, 2011
Oh, you're absolutely right overall, mhoye.
But I confess a twinge of pleasure at Black's last line - ripe as it is!
In the extreme winter of his days, Rupert Murdoch's failing hands have dropped the mask; he is a malignant force and it would be a good thing for the world to be done with him.
posted by Jody Tresidder at 7:50 AM on October 24, 2011
I still think I'd have picked Black over the Aspers in retrospect.
posted by Hoopo at 8:21 AM on October 24, 2011
posted by Hoopo at 8:21 AM on October 24, 2011
Not that I had much respect for HuffPo to begin with, but holy shit, they actually gave this asshole a regular column? Funny how his page doesn't mention the fuckface going to jail for fraud.
I suppose if it came down to it, I do hate Black less than Murdoch, but really it's like being asked to pick a least favorite tropical disease.
Related: Ebert put Black in his place previously.
posted by kmz at 8:35 AM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
I suppose if it came down to it, I do hate Black less than Murdoch, but really it's like being asked to pick a least favorite tropical disease.
Related: Ebert put Black in his place previously.
posted by kmz at 8:35 AM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
Funny how his page doesn't mention the fuckface going to jail for fraud.
Well, the entire first half of the article is about precisely this - his own crimes. Which I think says a lot - an article that is supposed to be about Murdoch is half about Black.
posted by spicynuts at 8:42 AM on October 24, 2011
Well, the entire first half of the article is about precisely this - his own crimes. Which I think says a lot - an article that is supposed to be about Murdoch is half about Black.
posted by spicynuts at 8:42 AM on October 24, 2011
The entire first half of the article are about going to jail for fraud charges that were so weak and Lord Black was so clearly railroaded in a miscarriage of justice and hey look at what Murdoch did.
posted by Hoopo at 8:45 AM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Hoopo at 8:45 AM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
He's a son of a bitch, but he's *our* son of a bitch.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:49 AM on October 24, 2011
posted by KokuRyu at 9:49 AM on October 24, 2011
The title of this post should be "Pot calls the kettle Conrad".
posted by Edgewise at 9:49 AM on October 24, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by Edgewise at 9:49 AM on October 24, 2011 [4 favorites]
And yet, you're the one in prison. How does that feel, Conrad?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 10:17 AM on October 24, 2011
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 10:17 AM on October 24, 2011
Is this like female mud wrestling, only with guys in suits?
posted by Xoebe at 10:20 AM on October 24, 2011
posted by Xoebe at 10:20 AM on October 24, 2011
Mr. Black needs to get out of the straining-for-gravitas industry before the bubble bursts.
Actually this is what I love about ole Conrad. Didn't matter how rich or famous or powerful he got, doesn't matter now how fully disgraced he's been, he just doesn't have it in him to go find his Rosebud before it's too late. He'll go out the same preening, insecure, class-climbing, pompous bloviating windbag he's always been.
The first sentence of this piece, for example, shows the old blowhard's hand:
On Oct. 14, the Wall Street Journal, in reporting on the main sentence in the Galleon insider information case, ran a series of five photographs of what were described as "corporate criminals" with their sentences attached, from Bernard Madoff (150 years), down even unto me at six-and-a-half years.
Marvellous. A simple declarative sentence, but you can just feel his itch for pretention kicking in, and so instead of letting it be, he tosses in "down even unto me." Gotta give 'em a taste of his Lordship, give 'em a bit of anachronistic structure and antique diction to let 'em know they're dealing with someone who mingles with royalty.
That's his whole career their in a word choice: Accumulating more power and influence as he fluffs up every sentence he writes, still desperate, in his final act, to cover over the fact he's just some untitled bumpkin from the colonies who started out on local papers in smalltown Quebec.
posted by gompa at 10:20 AM on October 24, 2011 [2 favorites]
Actually this is what I love about ole Conrad. Didn't matter how rich or famous or powerful he got, doesn't matter now how fully disgraced he's been, he just doesn't have it in him to go find his Rosebud before it's too late. He'll go out the same preening, insecure, class-climbing, pompous bloviating windbag he's always been.
The first sentence of this piece, for example, shows the old blowhard's hand:
On Oct. 14, the Wall Street Journal, in reporting on the main sentence in the Galleon insider information case, ran a series of five photographs of what were described as "corporate criminals" with their sentences attached, from Bernard Madoff (150 years), down even unto me at six-and-a-half years.
Marvellous. A simple declarative sentence, but you can just feel his itch for pretention kicking in, and so instead of letting it be, he tosses in "down even unto me." Gotta give 'em a taste of his Lordship, give 'em a bit of anachronistic structure and antique diction to let 'em know they're dealing with someone who mingles with royalty.
That's his whole career their in a word choice: Accumulating more power and influence as he fluffs up every sentence he writes, still desperate, in his final act, to cover over the fact he's just some untitled bumpkin from the colonies who started out on local papers in smalltown Quebec.
posted by gompa at 10:20 AM on October 24, 2011 [2 favorites]
Don't say "bumpkin", that makes me like him more!
posted by Theta States at 11:22 AM on October 24, 2011
posted by Theta States at 11:22 AM on October 24, 2011
Pig vs Pig.
posted by Liquidwolf at 12:41 PM on October 24, 2011
posted by Liquidwolf at 12:41 PM on October 24, 2011
The title lead me to believe this was slash fiction.
Look, Conrad Black is just an ex-con trying to go straight and get his kids back.
posted by Smedleyman at 1:41 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
Look, Conrad Black is just an ex-con trying to go straight and get his kids back.
posted by Smedleyman at 1:41 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
When I first heard of Conrad Black, I didn't believe that was his real name; it sounded like the sort of transparent pseudonym a hack magic-realist author would have the Devil travel under whilst performing his mischief.
posted by acb at 3:41 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by acb at 3:41 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
Lord Black, Lord Adonis, Lord Judge, Baroness Blood - I think we need some better scriptwriters in Britain, really.
posted by dng at 5:55 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by dng at 5:55 PM on October 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
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He [Black] was scared poopless of Rupert just like everybody else. He's found the pair of peanuts hiding in his pants now that Murdoch's back is against the wall.
posted by spicynuts at 7:19 AM on October 24, 2011