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Blog of Adam Daifallah -- author, journalist, law student. Lover of politics, writing, golf, curling, fitness, fashion, bacon and maple products -- not necessarily (but probably) in that order. Partisan of the Anglosphere. Contact me via email at adam@daifallah.com. This summer I am joined by Keir Wilmut and Omar Soliman.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Black trial update
Following the daily twists and turns of the Conrad Black trial was fun for a while, but it's gotten a bit tedious. It's been clear for weeks that the government's case was a joke. (This was established long before David Radler took the stand, but confirmed by his testimony.) You hear different perspectives coming out of the courtroom from different observers, but the overwhelming consensus amongst credible sources (this excludes Tom Bower's pontifications and the online coverage of Toronto Life magazine, which has been nothing short of embarassing) is that the prosecution's witnesses have nearly all left the stand limping after undergoing not one but four cross-examinations -- one by each of the four co-accused's legal teams.
Still, while I'm convinced no crimes were committed here, and that this has been a giant waste of time and money for every party concerned -- including the US taxpayer -- I'm not 100% sure the jury will report back with a not-guilty verdict. With some of the inflammatory stuff intdroduced by the prosecution -- a lavish birthday party for Barbara Amiel, a holiday in French Polynesia, some of Black's colourful use of English in email correspondance -- the emotions of the jurors could possibly overtake reason and lead them to convict. I don't think the chances of this are high, but they are still there. This trial has accomplished nothing other than to ruin a once-powerful and profitable company and nearly destroy several people's lives.
Some readers may recall that last summer I blogged for a few weeks from Washington. I was there doing some minor reasearch at the National Archives for Black's Nixon biography, which is on shelves beginning today. The reviews, even from some unexpected sources, have been fawning. No matter what happens in the coming weeks, no one will be able to take away Conrad Black's accomplishments of writing two seminal presidential biographies, the defining biography of Québec most's consequential premier, the revitalization of the moribund Canadian newspaper industry, the mainstreaming of small-c conservative thought in the Canadian press, the building from scratch of what was one of the world's great newspaper companies, and much more.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 5:00 PM
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