AN APPEAL FROM THE AD HOC COMMITTEE FOR CONRAD BLACK

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to View Letters of Support for Lord Black

WHAT THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST ARE SAYING ABOUT LORD BLACK AND HIS CURRENT CHALLENGES

"In Canada, the received wisdom was so stultifying that conforming to it meant mental death. Conrad Black was one of those unusual people who decided early on that he was not going to be afraid and that he was going to live the truth."

David Frum, quoted in Slate

"Lord Black of Crossharbour has chutzpah."

Michael Sneed, Chicago Sun-Times

"I wish there were more people like Conrad Black."

Baroness Thatcher

"He is a terribly lively guy. He's most extraordinary."

William F. Buckley, Jr

"It seems to me that what really gets up Canadian noses about Conrad Black is that he is rich (or was, at least, before legal fees drained him) and successful; he is also intelligent and outspoken. Elsewhere, these might be considered attributes and evoke admiration. In Canada they mostly evoke envy."

Ian Hunter, professor emeritus, faculty of law, University of Western Ontario, National Post

"I wonder if Mr. Black knew how he tapped into that great wide streak of dissatisfaction that runs quiet and deep in many Canadians, the rising weariness with mediocrity and the hunger for excellence."

Christie Blatchford, Globe and Mail

"Black invested in dozens of Canadian newspapers and magazines, he donated to Canadian causes, he represented Canada abroad and was famous as a Canadian proprietor of numerous international publications. He was the best friend that thousands of British, American and Canadian journalists ever had. And for this they have now turned on him. A biting of the hand that fed them, like some petulant and spoiled child laughing as a parent slips on the ice and is obviously hurt."

Michael Coren, Toronto Sun

"…I am proud of my association with Hollinger, and I think that those who, throughout the world, hitched a ride on the Hollinger express should be proud as well."

Martin Newland, The Independent

"Many of the charges are completely ridiculous. They include racketeering -- a charge that was intended to catch Al Capone."

Andrew Roberts, historian, author Hitler and Churchill: Secrets of Leadership

"Conrad Black is innocent. No, I don't know Conrad Black, never met him. No, I have made no examination of the evidence against him. Nor do I need to in order to assert his innocence."

Ian Hunter

"[A]ll the evidence points to Black being only temporarily dented. He is surely innocent of the charges leveled at him and, I am confident, will walk away from his current legal troubles."

Michael Coren

"I'd be happy to appear as a witness for the defence."

Mark Steyn, Maclean's

"The trial by attrition of Conrad Black has exposed the dark underbelly of the legal system, where the government can ruin a man, take his property, his means of livelihood and make him a social pariah -- all without the hassle of securing a conviction. An iconoclastic mentality has emerged in the legal system that is focused less on securing justice than on bringing down the high and mighty while pandering to the politics of envy."

Alykhan Velshi, New English Review

This Web site is dedicated to the support of Conrad Moffat Black in his current battle with grandstanding U.S. prosecutors and a hostile left-wing press. More than that, it is our grateful and long overdue acknowledgement of His Lordship's life's struggle to confront, with unflagging courage, the Brobdingnagian forces of Canadian small-mindedness, parochialism, mediocrity and failure.

From the outset, let us be clear about several matters concerning The Ad Hoc Committee for Conrad Black. First, none of us boasts the pleasure of knowing His Lordship personally, nor are we beholden to him in any manner, financial or otherwise. Several amongst us, however, have had the honour of an introduction to and a fleeting conversation with His Lordship in one social context or another.

No, we are not, strictly speaking, "friends of Conrad Black." We are simply admirers of the man, beneficiaries in the broadest sense of his commitment to excellence, and--dare we say--fans of his indomitable style. Whatever transpires in the life of His Lordship over the next few months, he shall remain a blazing beacon of hope to those of us on this dull and dreary northern plain.

Second, let us be clear that we are not soliciting funds to assist Lord Black in his defence against the scurrilous and unfounded charges, including fraud, racketeering, money laundering, obstruction of justice, and tax evasion, he currently faces. Despite having the vast powers and resources of the state arrayed against him, despite facing legal bills potentially in excess of $20 million, despite having had his own financial hands tied, his assets frozen, and the proceeds from their sale confiscated without any finding of guilt, and despite the prospect of more than 100 years of incarceration, we are confident His Lordship would unhesitatingly wave off any offers of charity on his behalf. "No one should shed tears for me," he has famously said. As always, we take him at his word.

No, we are not asking for money. We are merely asking for your support.

You can demonstrate your support for Lord Black in a number of ways.

First, you can, using the electronic mail attachment above, post your words of encouragement on our Web site.

Second, you can join a significant number of us in our On-to-Chicago Caravan, departing Toronto by chartered aircraft on March 13, 2007 (details TBA), and arriving in Chicago in time for Lord Black's show trial, which begins on March 14. (Please remember that a valid passport is now required for entry into the United States.) Use the electronic mail attachment below to be placed on our email list. We will send you details of the On-to-Chicago Caravan as they firm up.

Third, you can make a purely symbolic financial pledge to the Lord Black Defence Fund. How much would you be willing to contribute to help fight what is already a profoundly disturbing miscarriage of justice, in the highly unlikely event its primary victim should some day need and accept financial assistance? Let Lord Black--and the world--know how much the principles he unflinchingly defends matter to you. Again, please use the electronic mail attachment above.

The Ad Hoc Committee for Conrad Black
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
January 2007

Symbolic Pledge Goal

In support of one of the rare sovereign individuals to have risen above the morass of envious mediocrity that is his home and native land:

"The destructive fixation of the envious English-Canadian mind requires that the highest, happiest, most agile flyers be laid low. [It is] a sadistic desire corroded by soul-destroying envy, to intimidate all those who might aspire to anything the slightest exceptional."

Conrad Black
A Life in Progress

"Great men can't be ruled."

Ayn Rand

"Great men are meteors, consuming themselves to light the world."

Napoleon Bonaparte

THE WIT AND DEFIANT WISDOM OF CONRAD BLACK, UNDIMINISHED IN THESE DARK DAYS

"[Hollinger] was a magnificent company that the people who have seized it and used it as a platform from which to persecute and defame the people who built it have torn apart and destroyed, to the expense of the shareholder."

"Like all fads, corporate governance has its zealots and its tendency to excess… We will do our best to ensure that the corporate governance crusaders don't inadvertently throw the baby out with the bathwater."

"I have no doubt that mothers in America use my name to frighten their children into finishing their vegetables."

"The champions of civil liberties on the left can normally be relied upon, especially if the victim is a person of any means at all, to be majestically silent."

"While few judges or prosecutors would be afraid to exercise their perfectly legitimate discretion in favour of an ordinary man, not to mention a minority group member, most would be terrified to exercise the same discretion for someone politically, financially or socially powerful."

"[T]his has been one massive smear job from A to Z and it will have a surprise ending, a complete vindication of eth defendants and an exposure of their persecutors."

"I want to get on with it… I want to expose this case for the complete fraud that it is."

"Absolute nonsense. There's no truth or substance whatsoever to these charges."