Patterico's Pontifications

4/8/2013

Margaret Thatcher, RIP

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:47 am



CNN:

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a towering figure in postwar British and world politics and the only woman to become British prime minister, has died at the age of 87.

She suffered a stroke Monday, her spokeswoman said.

Thatcher’s funeral will be at St. Paul’s Cathedral, with full military honors, followed by a private cremation, the British prime minister’s office announced.

Start collecting the joyful comments from fringe leftists and leave them in comments. We’ll likely have a roundup later.

57 Responses to “Margaret Thatcher, RIP”

  1. RIP.

    redc1c4 (403dff)

  2. i wonder if food stamp will go to the funeral

    happyfeet (8ce051)

  3. Yep. I expect the War on Women (leftist style) to be out in force today.

    elissa (597457)

  4. What a remarkable woman. Sadly, it may turn out that she indeed was the Last Lion(ess) of the British Empire.

    I hope Argentina is smart enough to figure out that this would be the absolute worst time to start making noise about the Falkland Islands.

    JVW (4826a9)

  5. i wonder if food stamp will go to the funeral
    Comment by happyfeet (8ce051) — 4/8/2013 @ 7:51 am

    — Now that ^^^ is funny!

    Icy (f26d3c)

  6. Marc Thiessen:
    One of the great tragedies of Margaret Thatcher’s passing is that Ronald Reagan is not here to eulogize her. Of all the tributes we will hear in the coming days, none will match what Reagan would have said about his dear friend and steadfast ally at 10 Downing Street.

    Fortunately, Lady Thatcher was with us to pay tribute to the life of her friend Ronald Reagan when he passed in 2004. The Iron Lady was already too frail to deliver her remarks in person, but she watched from the audience in the National Cathedral as her recorded eulogy was played. She declared:

    “I worked closely with Ronald Reagan for eight of the most important years of all our lives. We talked regularly both before and after his presidency. And I have had time and cause to reflect on what made him a great president. Ronald Reagan knew his own mind. He had firm principles — and, I believe, right ones. He expounded them clearly, he acted upon them decisively. When the world threw problems at the White House, he was not baffled, or disorientated, or overwhelmed. He knew almost instinctively what to do…. When his allies came under Soviet or domestic pressure, they could look confidently to Washington for firm leadership. And when his enemies tested American resolve, they soon discovered that his resolve was firm and unyielding…

    For the final years of his life, Ronnie’s mind was clouded by illness. That cloud has now lifted. He is himself again — more himself than at any time on this earth. For we may be sure that the Big Fella Upstairs never forgets those who remember Him. And as the last journey of this faithful pilgrim took him beyond the sunset, and as heaven’s morning broke, I like to think — in the words of Bunyan — that ‘all the trumpets sounded on the other side.’

    We here still move in twilight. But we have one beacon to guide us that Ronald Reagan never had. We have his example. Let us give thanks today for a life that achieved so much for all of God’s children.”

    Were Ronald Reagan with us today, I suspect he would say precisely the same about Margaret Thatcher.

    http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/04/what-reagan-would-have-said-about-thatcher/

    elissa (597457)

  7. Anyone looking for a fine book about Margaret Thatcher’s years in power and what the Britain she took the reins of was like as the Sick Man of Europe should get Claire Berlinski’s fine ‘There is No Alternative.’

    We could really use someone with comparable insights on OPM and creating lifelong dependency right now in the US.

    Robin (801f44)

  8. There’s a celebratory hashtag trending on Twitter: #nowthatchersdead.

    Unfortunately, some Cher fans are misreading it as “Now that Cher’s dead”

    Source

    Kman (5576bf)

  9. Over at PowerLine they have a number of clips of various speeches or interchanges at Parliament. I imagine some of it may be British style and sensibility compared to the US, but my goodness how wonderful she was with verbal exchanges. To me she was much more gracious in her use of phrases like “the gentleman from…”, much more lighthearted/humerous/not taking herself too seriously, and yet much more pointed, direct, and forceful in her arguments than just about anybody I’ve ever seen in the US.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  10. A great leader, who saved her nation in spite of itself. Rest in honored peace, Ma’am.

    htom (412a17)

  11. Some people are great, and others have greatness thrust upon them.

    One wonders what our mother country would be like today, were someone like Mrs Thatcher still at the helm.

    The respectful Dana (3e4784)

  12. J P Freire noted the difference in the ways the oh-so-nonpartisan Associated Press has treated the deaths of Margaret Thatcher, and Hugo Chavez.

    The unsurprised Dana (3e4784)

  13. MD in Philly, note the lack of a teleprompter….

    SPQR (768505)

  14. As good as the great Communicator was, I’d rather have had Thatcher in a fight, like the one prepared for us.

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  15. Like Churchill, she saved Britain. Only the enemy she faced down was domestic. Sadly, Britain is up against it again, and there is no one left. Even the next King is on the other side.

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  16. Thatcher at her best:

    slam dunking a critic at Question Time.

    From Firing Line: Capitalism and a Free Economy

    Kevin M (bf8ad7)

  17. In every case, Mrs Thatcher was better than her critics. In death, she still puts to shame the lowlifes who try to tarnish a reputation that they will never achieve themselves.

    The Dana who recognizes them for what they are (3e4784)

  18. Of course she ranked low on the list of feminists who changed the world. This is no surprise as feminism has its own litmus tests one must pass in order to belong to the club. Happily, Thatcher didn’t think much of the movement, rather wishing to be judged on her own merits and nothing else.

    I hate feminism. It is poison,” she reportedly told adviser Paul Johnson. Margaret Thatcher didn’t believe in Women. She believed in Margaret Thatcher. Assisting the Sisterhood did not rank on her list of priorities. She wasn’t about rhetoric.

    She was a strong-willed woman with unwavering principles, confidence in her beliefs, and a balls-to-the-wall strength and surety in her commitment that was – and I would estimate continues to be – unparalleled by any politician since.

    Ironically, she was the ultimate feminist breaking traditional gender roles, glass ceilings, all the while wearing her pearls and femininity with the subtle softness of a flower in bloom and the grit and determination of a iron willed lady. That modern feminists eschew her only reinforces their hypocrisy and stunning lack of integrity about their moribund movement.

    Dana (292dcf)

  19. What comes to mind is the history of the kings of Israel and Judah. The bad kings and bad times, the punctuations of good kings who led times of renewal/revival, the destruction by Babylon.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  20. 6. I hope Argentina is smart enough to figure out that this would be the absolute worst time to start making noise about the Falkland Islands.

    Comment by JVW (4826a9) — 4/8/2013 @ 8:21 am

    Unfortunately Argentina could make noise about the Falkland Islands anytime it wants.

    Britain isn’t what it was in 1982.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-387939/The-mission-impossible-Falklands-War.html

    The gauge spun up to 7,000 gallons – just a fraction of its total fuel capacity of 36,000 – and then the tanker signalled that it could give them no more. Withers was baffled and furious. Just as he was approaching his target, he was being left in the lurch.

    He had no way of knowing that the tanker was even lower on fuel than the Vulcan and had probably sacrificed its crew to give the Vulcan a fighting chance of making the rendezvous.

    “We don’t have the fuel to carry out the mission,” radioed the electronics officer from the back of the Vulcan. “I’m sorry, that’s it. I have no more fuel to give you,” replied the Victor’s pilot, Bob Tuxford, as the tanker decoupled and turned north into the night. That was that.

    …In the Vulcan, Withers was furious. They were already 37 minutes behind plan. But as Russell warned him to turn back, Withers consulted the others and made his decision. “We’re short of fuel, but we’ve come this far,” he told them. “I’m not turning back now.” At 290 miles away from the target, 607 began a shallow descent towards Port Stanley.

    …A radar contact appeared: 607 was dead on target. It was 4.30 in the morning, local time, when the Vulcan roared upwards, straight into view of the Argentine search radars. But the young radar operators were unperturbed. The bomber could only be one of theirs – this had not been a shooting war so far.

    During the few minutes it took the Argentinians to wake up to the fact that this was in fact an enemy aircraft, the Vulcan had soared to its 10,000ft altitude and levelled off for the bomb run.

    Read the book.

    http://www.britains-smallwars.com/swbooks/Vulcan-607.html

    Britain can’t do anymore what it could do in 1982. It’s a shadow of its former self. I seriously doubt Lady Thatcher would have made it happen.

    The same goes for its leaders. I seriously doubt David Cameron would have the testicular fortitude to take decisive action like Thatcher did.

    R.I.P.Margaret Thatcher. You will be missed. You already have been missed.

    Steve57 (be3310)

  21. *I seriously doubt Lady Thatcher would have made it let that happen.*

    Steve57 (be3310)

  22. No, Cameron is as blanc mange as Heath, they were both Etonians btw.

    narciso (3fec35)

  23. Steve57, the Brits could do that mission today, but it would be done by SSN launched Tomahawks, which the RN did not have during the Falklands War.

    The real problem is that they can’t put together a task force capable of landing infantry any longer.

    SPQR (768505)

  24. I imagine some of it may be British style and sensibility compared to the US,

    Hey MD. “Question Time” is the most powerful argument for a Parliamentary system of government that I have ever seen. It’s awesome. “Back benchers” (junior members of parliament) can ask questions of the PM, and all kinds of good stuff ensues.

    I’m becoming less enthused about our 2-party system, but am still not a full convert to proportional representation. Maybe there is something in the middle.

    carlitos (49ef9f)

  25. Well, it’s not like the Argentines are any more prepared to attack the Falklands.

    Of course, Prime Minister thatcher had the support of President Ronald Reagan. Does anyone think that, were the Argentinians to again invade the Falklands, Prime Minister Cameron would get similar support from President Barack Hussein Obama?

    No, I didn’t think so.

    The seafaring Dana (3e4784)

  26. You mean the Maldives, snark;

    narciso (3fec35)

  27. Why the middle name reference, Dana?

    The carlitos who hates birthers and wishes they would go away (49ef9f)

  28. re; Richard Dana, Two years before the Mast

    narciso (3fec35)

  29. With her passing, there are no more men in England. — Sanford Begley on Facebook

    SPQR (768505)

  30. 29. Of course, Prime Minister thatcher had the support of President Ronald Reagan. Does anyone think that, were the Argentinians to again invade the Falklands, Prime Minister Cameron would get similar support from President Barack Hussein Obama?

    No, I didn’t think so.

    Comment by The seafaring Dana (3e4784) — 4/8/2013 @ 12:39 pm

    Oh, I’m sure he’d support Cameron if the British conflict with Argentina heats up. Based upon President Obama’s public comments at the Summit of the Americas last year he’s ready at a moment’s notice to dispatch a Carrier Strike Group to the Maldives.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/9207183/Barack-Obama-makes-Falklands-gaffe-by-calling-Malvinas-the-Maldives.html

    Steve57 (be3310)

  31. I’m a huge Jack Higgins fan — I’m thinking of re-reading Exocet in Mrs. Thatcher’s honour.

    There is something about the ‘special relationship’ that just hits me viscerally. We ought to be close with our British friends. It’s good for the world. What Mark Steyn calls the ‘anglosphere’ needs to stick together.

    The carlitos who hates birthers and wishes they would go away (49ef9f)

  32. Fixing my name before I forget.

    carlitos (49ef9f)

  33. “I’m becoming less enthused about our 2-party system, but am still not a full convert to proportional representation.”

    – carlitos

    Somewhere in the desert, Leviticus perked up his ears.

    Leviticus (1aca67)

  34. In case anyone had forgotten that Ted Rall is a vile, lying, despicable POS:

    Goodbye, Maggie, and good riddance. Along with Reagan, Thatcher destroyed the safety net and the social contract in the West.

    SPQR (768505)

  35. Like all cultural Marxists, Rall hates conservatives like Reagan and Thatcher for seeing through their fake compassion for what it is. Hatred for Western civilization. The “safety net” is one of their efforts to enact their cloward-piven strategy to destroy it.

    It really doesn’t help anyone. It just a) let’s them demand we spend less on our ability to defend ourselves and b) expand entitlement spending until it bankrupts us. Thatcher once said the problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people’s money. I believe she also understood that was the goal of the left’s attempt to graft the socialist agenda onto the Western capitalist society they hate.

    As Arnold Toynbee said, “Civilizations die by suicide, not by murder.”

    Yes, Rall is vile scum. Destroying his suicidal ideology is the best way to pay tribute to Reagan and Thatcher.

    Steve57 (be3310)

  36. SPQR, the death of Mrs. Thatcher has attracted worldwide attention. What sort of notice do you think the death of Ted Rall will attract?

    Ted Rall in comparison to Margaret Thatcher is the equivalent of a zit on a gnat’s ass when compared to an elephant.

    JVW (4826a9)

  37. The bad thing about Ted Rall is … well, everything.

    Hey Leviticus!

    carlitos (49ef9f)

  38. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ6TgaPJcR0

    Worth the click through.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  39. Ted Rall is a boil on the ass of the gay sex partner of Saddam Hussein’s son.

    SPQR (495a51)

  40. I was never more impressed by her than when, recognizing the onset of her illness and its progression, she pre-taped her tribute to Ronald Reagan to have it played at his funeral years later. She was an exceptional human being. Few people are important to the world and she certainly was one of those few.

    nk (d4662f)

  41. *months* later

    nk (d4662f)

  42. Did you notice how the Slimes picked out the worst pictures they could find of her?

    The one on Drudge is smashing!

    Patricia (be0117)

  43. The Daily Mail does a lengthy piece on Thatcher including worldwide tributes and tons of pictures some of which I’ve never seen before. Worth a look.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2305754/America-lost-true-friend-Obama-leads-tributes-British-prime-minister-Margaret-Thatcher-dies-aged-87-stroke.html

    elissa (597457)

  44. J P Freire noted the difference in the ways the oh-so-nonpartisan Associated Press has treated the deaths of Margaret Thatcher, and Hugo Chavez.

    The desire to judge Margaret Thatcher more harshly than a Hugo Chavez is analogous to all the idiots on the left who also create moral equivalencies between Christianity and Islamism, or modern industrialized civilization and Third World-ism.

    People who are poor judges of what’s truly good or bad about their fellow humans, and what’s truly good or bad about situations they’re witnessing, are the most likely to be unreliable, dishonest and flat-out corrupt. I think that’s why some of the worst communities and societies, with a few exceptions, all tend to be of the left.

    their fake compassion

    I don’t think the false or superficial biases of various liberals is a point that’s emphasized enough. I suspect few people in casual conversations or in formal debates even raise the fact that studies and surveys indicate a good percentage of liberals — in reality — actually are exactly what they perceive their ideological opponents to be.

    The two-faced, hollow, phony-baloney nature of liberal sentiment becomes more and more evident to me as each year goes by. And the way it manifests when a major story like the death of Margaret Thatcher crops up illustrates that perfectly.

    Mark (d8d476)

  45. 28. Steve57, the Brits could do that mission today, but it would be done by SSN launched Tomahawks, which the RN did not have during the Falklands War.

    The real problem is that they can’t put together a task force capable of landing infantry any longer.

    Comment by SPQR (768505) — 4/8/2013 @ 12:38 pm

    Somehow I missed this.

    Yes, of course. I wasn’t suggesting the Brits should have kept the Vulcan in the inventory.

    This mission they could do. And certainly more quickly if they already have a sub on station.

    But do you recall this from our mutual Libyan adventure?

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8400079/Libya-Navy-running-short-of-Tomahawk-missiles.html

    Libya: Navy running short of Tomahawk missilesThe Navy could run out of Tomahawk missiles after a fifth of the Navy stockpile has been used against Libya, sources disclosed yesterday.

    Defence insiders say as many as 12 of the weapons have been fired from the hunter–killer submarine Triumph in the past four days.

    If this is correct, the Navy will have used up to 20 per cent of its 64 Tomahawks in the opening salvos of the war, leading to fears that it is “burning through” its armoury.

    … “At this rate we are using up five or ten per cent of our stock per day and soon it could become unsustainable,” a defence industry source said. “What if the strikes go beyond a second week? We will simply run out of ammunition.”

    Several of the 64 Tomahawks are being serviced because their fuel and computers need to be regularly checked.

    …The Navy has also indicated that it could rely on the American fleet to provide emergency stocks of Tomahawks if they ran out.

    They don’t have a great many Tomahawks. And I don’t claim to know how many are TLAM-Cs with the solid warhead and how many are TLAM-Ds with the submunitions, but obviously they have different capabilities.

    In addition to not being able to put together a task force capable of landing infantry, they can’t put together a task force that can provide its own air cover. All RAF and RN Harriers have been retired.

    So when it comes to land attack, the subs are it. Well, maybe not. I’ve heard the type 45 destroyer can fire the Tomahawk.

    But if they run out of bullets, and we’re not they’re to resupply them, what then?

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/the_queens_diamond_jubilee/9305678/Diamond-Jubilee-The-Queen-no-longer-rules-the-waves.html

    Diamond Jubilee: The Queen no longer rules the wavesThe Coronation was marked by a Spithead Review – but Her Majesty is being denied one now because the Royal Navy has been sunk by wave upon wave of spending cuts.

    …A serving commander in the Royal Navy, recently returned from operations, says the MoD has made it clear that no comment is to be made in public on the subject. “It would have been just too embarrassing,” he says. “There aren’t many ships and those we do have are a long way away. It was just too difficult to mount a spectacle worth having.” Lord West, a former First Sea Lord, the professional head of the Navy, says an attempt to stage a review would result only in national humiliation. “I suppose now we could get a couple of submarines out and five or six frigates and destroyers, but it would be very small and not very splendid,” he says. “That gives one a feel for how things have changed. Because the number of ships has reduced so dramatically the event would be too small to make a meaningful and sensible fleet review.”

    … And today? Allowing for inflation, Britain’s GDP is four times greater than in 1953 but the country appears incapable of maintaining a viable fleet. Today it comprises two helicopter carriers, 1 active assault ship, six destroyers, 13 frigates, 42 minor vessels and 13 auxiliaries. Take away escorts on operations or in refit and the Navy would, as Lord West says, struggle to field more than a handful for a review. But one thing our increasingly Ruritanian fleet is not short of is admirals. There are 28 full, vice and rear admirals, one per major combat unit, surely the most over-managed structure in the country.

    “I don’t think it’s particularly likely that we could muster another fleet review,” says Sir Sandy Woodward, commander of the task force that in 1982 retook the Falklands. “A diamond jubilee review should be a grand thing.”

    In contrast, the navies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, are growing. Last year the Indian navy staged its presidential fleet review off Mumbai. There were 81 vessels, 10 more than the entire Royal Navy, including the carrier Viraat (ex British carrier Hermes). She still flies Sea Harriers, giving India a lead over its former naval mentor.

    David Cameron must take his share of the blame for the parlous state of the Navy. It was he who did away with the carrier Ark Royal and the Harrier force, effectively ending the Navy’s ability to mount independent expeditionary operations – until the (alleged) introduction of a new carrier in 2020. He also did away with nine new RAF Nimrods as they were about to be introduced into service, denuding the fleet of long-range aerial surveillance and anti-submarine protection.

    It’s a sad state of affairs. A Lady Thatcher wouldn’t have let it happen.

    Steve57 (be3310)

  46. The UK Daily Telegraph has a beautiful photo honoring Margaret Thatcher. (Matt Drudge termed it the best.) The Telegraph’s editor notes the paper had to close comments because of the incredible level of vitriol directed at Thatcher.

    Meanwhile, the opening and closing paragraphs from the Thatcher “tribute” at the LA Times’ Music Blog:

    Margaret Thatcher, the so-called Iron Lady, was one of God’s gifts to music. In the history of popular music, there probably never has been a head of state more reviled in song than the former Conservative Party British prime minister, who died today at 87.
    ***
    Historians will debate for centuries whether Thatcher’s legacy left Britain better or worse than before. But the gleam from the creative fury that Thatcherism ignited among the young Britons who bore the brunt of her policies still burns brightly today.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  47. “There are dangers in consensus: It could be an attempt to satisfy people holding no particular views about anything. No great party can survive except of firm beliefs about what it wants to do.”
    M. Thatcher at a 1968 conservative conference.
    The republicans have lost control.

    mg (31009b)

  48. I have understood that Baroness Thatcher will be accorded a “ceremonial” funeral, the highest funeral honor available to any except a monarch. This is the same honor as accorded to Sir Winston Churchill and to the Queen’s own mother, the late Queen Mother. Of course the UK military services will take part.
    This is not “full military honors”. Any servicemember may be buried with full military honors. I may be wrong here, but I believe the term “full military honors” would only apply to a veteran or military member. Baroness Thatcher was not a veteran, as far as I know, although the Queen is a veteran.

    MT Geoff (a67ef4)

  49. She was a great leader and a great person. If only there were more like her. And if only there weren’t so damn many who are the opposite of her.

    Alan (098693)

  50. Patterico and other Republican Conservatives on here quickly forget that the late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had what you would call “Socialist” policies, quite a long list of them. Check it out!

    Perry (299c3e)


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