Monday, May 18, 2009

Brian Mulroney And Tony Blair Pled Dubya For A Conrad Black Pardon



(image via dailymail)

Lord Black of Crossharbour -- aka Conrad Black, aka Prisoner 18330-424, aka the former Hollinger Inc. Chairman and writer of big-ass books on large historical personalities -- was jailed for six-and-a-half years for fraud and obstruction of justice in 2007. The Supreme Court today agreed to hear Black's appeal during their 2009-10 term, which starts in October.

Curiously, brocialite Taki Theodoracopulos writes that Black, who has many powerful friends -- and some noteworthy enemies -- had two not insignificant politicians plead his case at the tailend of Dubya's Presidency. From Takimag:

"Not that I had any doubts about how pig-headed, stubborn and ungrateful George W. Bush is, but confirmation of it never hurts. A friend of long standing revealed to me how Brian Mulroney, the ex-prime minister of Canada, and Tony Blair both went to see Dubya in order to plead Conrad Black’s case during the closing days of the Bush presidency. The two men went separately, and neither asked for a Black pardon. They were after a commutation of Lord Black’s outrageous and unfair sentence of six years in a tough prison. ‘I don’t pardon well-connected folk,’ was the answer, which sounds good, just like weapons of mass destruction did, except for the fact that the moron did pardon a black guy caught with 21 pounds of liquid cocaine because his well-connected friend Carly Simon asked him to."


That "black guy" -- Jesus, Taki -- being Fugees producer John Forte. It is curious how the behavior of Presidents is -- how shall we call it? -- governed by the behavior of his predecessors (unfortunately our Presidents have only been "he"). We like to call this "The Conversation of Presidents," because it takes place above the public marketplace, and it explains, to a degree, why Obama perceived flip-flop on torture (That, and how so many ex-Presidents could engage in that spectacular magnum of chloroform, the sport of golf). In another world, absent Mark Rich, Lord Black might have been pardoned.

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