Iron Lady has died

[$tevie]

On a side note, I think it is ludicrous that there is an effort to have a "non-political" thread about her death on the other side. If a musician dies do we not discuss their music? If an actor dies do we not discuss their movies? I fail to see the point of a thread where everyone is meant to post fond farewells, or neutral farewells let's say, to someone that none of us knew. What is the point, exactly? To bask in the warmth of non-genuine non-reflective grief for a total stranger?

[$tevie]

Obama's statement was sick-making in its effusiveness. WTF.


Here's a good comment on this Don't Speak Ill Of The Dead nonsense as applied to public figures:
http://m.guardiannews.com/commentisfree/...-etiquette

I am on my iPhone and the Guardian refuses to give me the desktop link, Sorry.

[Lux Interior]

CNN classic:



Two great British icons!

[Lemon Drop]

$tevie wrote:
Obama's statement was sick-making in its effusiveness. WTF.


Here's a good comment on this Don't Speak Ill Of The Dead nonsense as applied to public figures:
http://m.guardiannews.com/commentisfree/...-etiquette

I am on my iPhone and the Guardian refuses to give me the desktop link, Sorry.

"As prime minister, she helped restore the confidence and pride that has always been the hallmark of Britain at its best

The president could've left out that absurd and probably offensive statement, if you're a Brit who didn't care for her politics, the rest would've been OK I think. She was an important female first, as a leader.

The Queen handled it best, as usual.

[$tevie]

That's nice for the conservatives because now they have something concrete to focus their rage onto.

EDIT: I'm referring to the cnn screen shot.

[Black]

Speedy wrote:
"Margaret Thatcher, the first woman to ever serve as prime minister of the United Kingdom, has died at the age of 87. A spokesperson announced that she had a stroke, though she had been in poor health in recent years and was reportedly suffering from Alzheimer's disease."

I hadn't heard about her Alzheimer's Disease.

Suerly you're aware of the link between early Alzheimer's and political conservatism though?

[cbelt3]

$tevie-

To the US, she was our staunchest ally during the cold war, and was material in the eventual breakup of the Soviet Union. The US always remembers her that way. Hence the effusiveness.

Remember that national interest always defines how governments feel when people are eulogized. Obama's liberal-leaning political affiliation may cause you to believe he would wish her cast into Hell, but he is the President of the United States, Not the Democratic Party of the United States.

[Black]

voodoopenguin wrote:
Obviously there will be people here who are more knowledgeable about the events than myself but to answer Will Collier's "Ludicrous" I will say a few things.

At the end of of her premiership the people of the UK were actually paying a higher percentage of their income in taxes than at the beginning and this was after 12 years so you couldn't blame the previous government.

During those years there were two recessions caused by the Tory government's deliberate policies.

We had the return to mass unemployment not seen since the 1930s.

Their financial deregulation laid the basis for the credit bubble of 2000s and subsequent credit crisis.

To help the balance of payments most of the publicly owned industries were sold off in the belief that in private hands they would be run more efficiently. That didn't work and our transport system is still poor and fares, especially on the trains, is ludicrously high. (As an aside that was actually good for me back then as for a while I was a Private Hire Driver and it was very much cheaper for businesses to get me in London to go and pick up a couple of managers from their homes and drive them to the doors of their businesses they were visiting in Newcastle or Manchester two to three hundred miles away than for them to use the train).

^^Make this about Reagan and the US and you don't have to change a word^^

[Black]

$tevie wrote:
Obama's statement was sick-making in its effusiveness. WTF.


Here's a good comment on this Don't Speak Ill Of The Dead nonsense as applied to public figures:
http://m.guardiannews.com/commentisfree/...-etiquette

I am on my iPhone and the Guardian refuses to give me the desktop link, Sorry.

Wow-- I feel bad for whatever poor schlub at The Guardian took your call...

[Lemon Drop]

cbelt3 wrote:
$tevie-

To the US, she was our staunchest ally during the cold war, and was material in the eventual breakup of the Soviet Union. The US always remembers her that way. Hence the effusiveness.

Remember that national interest always defines how governments feel when people are eulogized. Obama's liberal-leaning political affiliation may cause you to believe he would wish her cast into Hell, but he is the President of the United States, Not the Democratic Party of the United States.

He could have paid his official respects without implying that all of her countrymen admire her, which is something that is obviously false and did not need to be said, particularly by a President of the United States. He needed to pay her respect as a deceased political leader, but he didn't need to insult half of another nation in doing so.
This would be like PM Cameron, upon the death of Jimmy Carter, saying that Pres. Carter had restored pride and confidence to the United States, the suggestion being that we were miserable under his predecessor. How absurd would that be??
It would not happen.

The Pres. screwed the pooch on this obit - I wonder who wrote that.