love

Friday May 17, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday May 17, 2019

Conrad Black says he won’t answer to criticism of his pardon because it’s not ‘worthy of response’

‘On anything like this you’re going to get people saying it’s a back-scratching job and he’s just rewarding me for writing nice things about him, but so what?’

Conrad Black Cartoon Gallery

Media mogul and former rival Rupert Murdoch was among the well-wishers who called Conrad Black after he received a pardon Wednesday from U.S. President Donald Trump that wiped away convictions for fraud and obstruction of justice dating back to 2007.

“I had a very nice phone call from Rupert Murdoch. I hadn’t spoken with him for many years. Most thoughtful of him to call,” Black said in an interview Thursday in the living room of his home in Toronto.

“He congratulated me and he said he’d congratulated the President for doing it.”

Calls have been coming in “from all over the place, from people I knew when I was a guest of the American people (in prison) and from people I went to Grade 2 with, and all stages since then,” said Black.

“And all but one or two were really very gracious, quite affecting many of them.”

Asked how he would respond to people who say he received the pardon because of Trump’s tendency to view only facts that suit him, or due to the past business dealings the two men had, or the flattering articles and book Black has written about Trump, Black said he wouldn’t respond directly to such critics because he doesn’t find their position “worthy of response.”

“Look, on anything like this you’re going to get people saying it’s a back-scratching job and he’s just rewarding me for writing nice things about him, but so what? Some people criticize Santa Claus, some people find fault with everything,” he said.

“The President and the very gracious message the White House issued last night was very clear in saying what the motives were, and that they were an analysis by his legal counsel and their legal team of the facts of the case, analyzing the particular materials submitted on my behalf by (lawyer) Alan Dershowitz and others.”

Black views the pardon as a total exoneration. “It’s a complete final decision of not guilty. That is finally a fully just verdict,” Black told The Canadian Press on Thursday. (Source: National Post) 

 

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Tuesday, January 21, 2014Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Harper’s bromance with Netanyahu designed to shift focus from PM’s domestic troubles

If Hollywood hadn’t already coined a bromance called I Love You, Man, they could have made a movie about the prettiest love story in international politics — namely, the one between Benjamin Netanyahu and Stephen Harper.

Mr. Harper thanked him in return, while saying that he would save his more substantive remarks for when he addresses the Knesset Monday.

But this is a relationship based upon mutual back-scratching. Mr. Netanyahu is being forced to address the prospect that Israel’s regional hegemony is under threat. At the same time, his hawkish policies on settlements in the West Bank mean Israel is increasingly isolated and ostracized. It needs friends and there have been none more unconditional than Mr. Harper.

Reminders that this is a tough neighbourhood are everywhere you look — when the media were being cleared for entry to the official welcome ceremony, a cherubic looking member of the security staff asked if we had any weapons to declare. Gulp.

The Canadian leader has his own reasons for indulging in a little bromance. Standing alongside a strongman like Mr. Netanyahu reinforces the impression that Canada is back on the world stage, with a “principled” foreign policy that does not require us to “go along, to get along.”

The Israeli prime minister welcomed his Canadian counterpart to Jerusalem Sunday, and was gushing in his praise.

“In a world that is often cynical and hypocritical, you have shown great moral leadership in fighting terrorism and not engaging in politically-correct double-talk,” he said.

Canada under Mr. Harper has stood unabashedly at the side of the Jewish people “and on the side of decency,” particularly in the face of threats from an Iranian regime set on developing nuclear weapons. “You’ve stood on the right side of history,” he said.

The Canadian government has recognized that lasting peace depends on mutual recognition and sound security arrangements. “You’ve been an indispensable voice,” the Israeli leader concluded. (Source: National Post)

SOCIAL MEDIA


 

Tuesday July 24, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday July 24, 2012

Toronto police funding ‘huge victory,’ says Mayor Ford

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford declared victory after getting an assurance Monday from the province that funding would continue for a special police unit charged with addressing the root causes of violence.

Funding for the Toronto anti-violence intervention strategy (TAVIS) unit comes from the province, and Ford said Monday that Premier Dalton McGuinty committed to extending that funding on a permanent basis.

“I think that’s a huge victory for the taxpayers of Toronto,” Ford said in brief remarks after a meeting Monday afternoon with the premier and Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair that was called in the wake of a recent spate of violent gun crime in the city.

“I take Mr. McGuinty at his word. He told me straight out and no, there was no BS. I wasn’t going to sit there and listen to it,” Ford said.

“I asked for funding for TAVIS and he said, ‘Yes, we’re going to continue funding TAVIS.’ That’s what the people want. People want to live in this great city, which it is, and people want to come here and create jobs and have a safe environment to create jobs.”

Chief Blair said the funding commitment from the province will allow police to build on what TAVIS has already accomplished and to plan future deployments.

The mayor has previously disparaged youth outreach initiatives as “hug-a-thug” programs, while the premier has said a balanced approach is needed, with a need to invest in both social programs and police initiatives.

In another development, Ford will meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Toronto on Tuesday to discuss gun crime. (Source: CBC News)