Baroness Thatcher Departs

She was elected at a time of very strong leaders, and also at a time of some very specific violence. President Sadat was assassinated, President Reagan and Pope John Paul II were seriously wounded, someone fired blank rounds at the Queen -- all within a few months of each other in 1981; PM Thatcher escaped a bombing intended for hera few years later but members of her cabinet did not.

It was quite the time in history, I don't know if we'll see anything like it again in our lifetime.

May she rest in peace :asian:
 
The thing that occurs to me, personally, as I reflect on the bitterly poor life Thatcherism inflicted on a great many working people in Britain (including me), is that the older 'me' is no longer so sure that she was wrong in everything she did.

She was a Strong Leader and they are inevitably bad news for democracies as, for a time at least, you end up with a legitimised dictatorship. But sometimes hard changes that really do need to be made can only get made with a hand like that of the Iron Lady at the helm. Someone has to have the courage of their convictions and enact what they think is right, accepting that they will be hated for what they do.
 
We had a pretty positive view of her from her during her tenure and it was only later I came to appreciate that she was not being as well received back home.
 
arnisador said:
We had a pretty positive view of her from her during her tenure and it was only later I came to appreciate that she was not being as well received back home.
Click to expand...

Same here. Sympathies for the UK.
 
And some delightful Spitting Image moments that tell the truth through mockery:

[video=youtube_share;jINZBOxdja8]http://youtu.be/jINZBOxdja8[/video]

[video=youtube_share;R1jY5fYjV-U]http://youtu.be/R1jY5fYjV-U[/video]

[video=youtube_share;3TFx9u1t1LY]http://youtu.be/3TFx9u1t1LY[/video]

[video=youtube_share;pt8zr8sqC94]http://youtu.be/pt8zr8sqC94[/video]

[video=youtube_share;OyU8qmzGsEg]http://youtu.be/OyU8qmzGsEg[/video]

[video=youtube_share;dRm26YqdtEI]http://youtu.be/dRm26YqdtEI[/video]


 
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To round off the less-than-reverential sequence here, a quote I saw elsewhere on the web amused me as a reaction to the news of Baroness Thatcher's passing:

"Christina Kirchner will be found ice-cold and strangled in her sleep with a Royal Marine beret."
 
Glorious days when you could mock the powerful! :)

And yet, I wonder: To make it this far in politics, I am all but certain the good Lady was at least time and a half as good as the nearest man. What could she have accomplished as gent with the same set of abilities?!
 
Sukerkin said:
To round off the less-than-reverential sequence here, a quote I saw elsewhere on the web amused me as a reaction to the news of Baroness Thatcher's passing:

"Christina Kirchner will be found ice-cold and strangled in her sleep with a Royal Marine beret."
Click to expand...

Irreverent indeed.

Instead, Christina Kirchner will merely be ice-cold :D

*did I type that out loud? ducks for cover*
 
Sukerkin said:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22067155

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10364876

Whilst I have a lot of very negative things to say about the domestic policies she carried out in her time there is no doubt she was a significant figure in our modern history.
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That sounds a little bit left of centre! :p

But, more seriously, she certainly made an impact. She picked Britain up by the scruff of the neck and shook her. You might disagree with some of her domestic politics but she did achieve a great deal on the international stage. :asian:
 
You never accomplish great things while keeping everyone happy....
 
Sukerkin said:
The thing that occurs to me, personally, as I reflect on the bitterly poor life Thatcherism inflicted on a great many working people in Britain (including me), is that the older 'me' is no longer so sure that she was wrong in everything she did.

Scary isn't it?

She was a Strong Leader and they are inevitably bad news for democracies as, for a time at least, you end up with a legitimised dictatorship. But sometimes hard changes that really do need to be made can only get made with a hand like that of the Iron Lady at the helm. Someone has to have the courage of their convictions and enact what they think is right, accepting that they will be hated for what they do.
Click to expand...
Actually it's far more than that. It is the sign of a great system that when s#1t happens and a country is on its knees the system allows a strong leader and government to assume power and right the ship. Sometimes there is significant collateral damage but at the other end, the country emerges much stronger for the pain. Not that the end always justifies the means but in this case Britain had wandered a long way from the path. The upside is, at the end of the day, if the pain is too great, you can change horses. I can think of a major player on the world stage having a huge problem with weak leadership, and no strong leader in sight.
 
Just to show how she even now raises temperatures:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22076397

That sort of talking over each other and raised voices happens very rarely indeed on Radio Four!

But this small incident I had forgotten about and I confess I have to give her the nod for it. Not many world leaders would get on the phone that way, on their own initiative and without all the trappings of spin and oversight, to the radio station they had been listening to :). Indeed, I now have an amused mental image of what would have happened to any of the later infamous Spin Doctors if they had tried to manage or handle her - there would have been a handbag round the back of the head right sharpish I reckon :lol:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22079043
 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22080238

Like Tony Blair, I too have been deeply ashamed to hear of the reactions of some of my countrymen, tho' I do understand them :bows head:.

I have said on more than one occasion on these fora that, at home, she was a very hated figure; now I am sad to say you see just how hated in some quarters. She conspired in the killing of the Midlands and the North to feed the maw of the South and people who lived through it have never found forgiveness in their hearts for she they hold chiefly responsible.
 
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