Black back

July 19, 2010 6:41 PM

Conrad Black has been granted bail. Some are saying that he might be free as early as this week, and that he might not end up back in jail again -- instead, being sentenced to time served. He gave up his Canadian citizenship in 2001 so that he could serve in the British House of Lords: where, oh where, will the poor guy live? Here he is either packing, or removing boxes that helped get him into trouble in the first place.
posted by anothermug (16 comments total)

Black presumably has American residency, and doesn't he share a house with Barbara Amiel someplace in Florida?
posted by KokuRyu at 6:55 PM on July 19, 2010

The system works!
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:00 PM on July 19, 2010

Oh no. And here I was hoping we were free from having to hear from that pompous windbag for few more years. I wonder if Barbara Amiel will compare their situation (unfavourably! Because "at least [they] weren't alone") to that of Jews during the Holocaust in the pages of Macleans again.
posted by orange swan at 7:01 PM on July 19, 2010

Macleans is fucking awesome! They actually have a special "Royal Visit Commemorative Issue" out on the stands as we speak! I didn't mind when Macleans adopted a more right-wing editorial stance - at least the articles were well-written, if a little misguided - but the mag now reads like Hello! for men.
posted by KokuRyu at 7:09 PM on July 19, 2010

My guess is that he won't be heading Down Under (thank goodness).
posted by unliteral at 7:39 PM on July 19, 2010

If a scumbag like Conrad Black had to go free in order for the government prosecutors' consistent abuse of the honest services law to be reined in then I guess I'm okay with it. Maybe now they'll have to build proper cases instead of throwing every charge they can think of at someone and hoping a jury will convict on enough of them to put someone away.
posted by IanMorr at 8:07 PM on July 19, 2010

I adopted Conrad Blackcat on the day Conrad Black was found guilty. I suppose I could set him free, too, but he seems very happy to be asleep on my feet.

I really hope that Harper doesn't give Black citizenship. It's not something you give up and get back as it is more convenient for you.

Do not get me started on Barbara "abused women want to be beat up, just ask my friends!" Amiel.
posted by jeather at 8:35 PM on July 19, 2010

he seems very happy to be asleep on my feet

Barbara, on the other hand, prefers to remain fully conscious
posted by CynicalKnight at 8:44 PM on July 19, 2010

The National Post claims he had Canadian residency at the time he was jailed. I don't know if he has lost his (presumably Permanent Resident) status by virtue of submitting to the foreign prison sentence.

I think they put the Palm Beach home up for sale. They probably still have the one on the Bridle Path in Toronto.
posted by maledictory at 9:12 PM on July 19, 2010

I'd be upset about this if I thought for even a moment that he wasn't going to get caught violating his bail conditions.
posted by srboisvert at 3:43 AM on July 20, 2010

Why are they letting him out at all? The man is called Lord Black, for goodness' sake! It is going to be mere minutes before he's safely in his wing-backed chair in front of the roaring fireplace in his Tower Of Doom*, cackling horribly at his evil machinations and reviewing the plans for his Unstoppable Superweapon (also Of Doom).

Or he might go back to being a media tycoon. Same difference, really.

*Conrad Black may or may not in fact own a Tower Of Doom
posted by ZsigE at 6:32 AM on July 20, 2010

I think Conrad Black should be allowed the same rights as any other non-Canadian citizen. If he would like to be a citizen there's already a procedure in place for that.

When he's lived in Canada for three years (I assume he either has residency or that Barbara Amiel can sponsor his immigration application), he can put in his application to naturalize like anyone else. Of course, he won't be granted citizenship with a serious criminal offence on his record, nor with criminal charges pending in another country. So at best (from his point of view) this would take a while.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:02 AM on July 20, 2010

When your name is Lord Black and you say things like "Your proletarian posturing on behalf of those threatening to strike the Sun-Times and your base ingratitude are very tiresome," people are naturally going to think you are a bit evil.
posted by Snyder at 7:52 AM on July 20, 2010 [3 favorites]

And here I was hoping we were free from having to hear from that pompous windbag for few more years.

Black's been writing a lot while incarcerated. I just did a search of his articles in Canadian newspapers and magazines over the past twelve months - there are 66 of them. Nearly all in the National Post.
posted by Clandestine Outlawry at 8:50 AM on July 20, 2010

Nearly all in the National Post.

Of course.
posted by jgirl at 12:13 PM on July 20, 2010

That would be why I've been blessedly free from having to listen to Conflab Black. I don't read the National Pest.
posted by orange swan at 1:05 PM on July 20, 2010