Black, watch your back

Is Conrad Black in danger of getting the boot from the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy? We've posted before about some of the financial problems at his multi-layered newspaper group Hollinger. And for the last few days, the lead in reporting gossip about the turmoil has been taken by fellow VRC member, the New York Post. Even as the Post was asleep at the editorial wheel on baseball, extending its sympathies to the New York Yankees on their Game 7 loss, they seem to have excellent insider sourcing for a claim that Mrs Henry Kravis (i.e. the Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts dude) has quit the Hollinger board in dismay at Black's legal and financial problems.

Mrs Kravis and husband feature prominently in other operations of the VRC (e.g. the Hudson Institute) so a contretemps with them would be serious news for Conrad. Meanwhile, his London Telegraph has seemed a bit subdued on the political front recently, as another Tory leader heads for the exits. Only the devotion to Liz Hurley remains a constant. It may suggest that Conrad is preparing his publications for life after the VRC. Perhaps he has just enough trace of normality left to be embarrassed by what the VRC has been reduced to these days; wouldn't anyone normal find this sentence from the VRC charter members at OpinionJournal today just a tad weird?

The serene masculinity of the president and the governor-elect [Arnie] is especially appealing when compared with the other party, which is desperate to prove its manhood by fielding a presidential candidate who's served in uniform.