Conrad Black: A misguided attempt to restore his reputation

If you want to convince the world you’re not a criminal, here’s a tip: don’t appear on television and call people a--hole and jackass. Definitely don’t threaten to smash someone’s face in. If that seems like obvious advice to you, you are probably not Conrad Black.

The former media baron spent this week attempting to give his reputation what he insists he never needed: rehabilitation. Black appeared on several British television shows in support of his new book, A Matter of Principle, in which he argues that he was falsely accused of fraud and obstruction of justice, falsely convicted and unfairly imprisoned in a Florida penitentiary for three years.

But if Black had hoped the tour would restore his standing among the British elite — and perhaps set him up to resume his seat in the House of Lords — he picked the wrong tone. “Jackass” was the word he used for one interviewer who dared question his innocence; he reserved a more vulgar label for another. Under tough questioning from BBC journalist Jeremy Paxman, Black derided the presenter (with typical verbal panache) as “a priggish, gullible British fool,” before expressing self-admiration for “being able to endure a discussion like this without getting up and smashing your face in.”

The Lord doth protest too violently.

And absurdly. When one interviewer called him a “convicted fraudster,” Black bewilderingly rejected the label. “Under British and Canadian rules, none of this would stand up,” he said. “Ninety-nine point five per cent of prosecutions in the U.S. are convicted. The whole system is a fraudulent, fascistic conveyor belt of a prison system.” It’s a strange defence. American convicts, he seems to be saying, should be presumed innocent even after proven guilty.

Black’s woes in recent weeks went beyond his botched attempts at PR. He lost his legal bid Thursday for an opportunity to speak to the Order of Canada advisory council before they decide whether to strip him of the honour. And earlier this month, he was fined $6.1 million for violating American securities laws. In that decision, the judge cited Black’s constant attacks on the American legal system, calling him “intransigent.”

Evidently his campaign to discredit his accusers and rebuild his reputation is only making things worse for Lord Black. But in his desperation to keep what he has and get what he wants, he appears compelled to behave in anti-social ways.

That sounds a lot like what got him into this mess in the first place.

Intransigent indeed.

Original Article
Source: the star
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