Margaret Thatcher Passes Away

[Anonymous]

My work is in a highly specialized field. There are programs in London, Lieden, Canberra and Honolulu. (Not sure why it matters, but there you go.)

[Anonymous]

Love her or hate her, this sadly foreshadows how the left will react when W meets his maker. Or worse Cheney.

Here I would have thought people would be silent out of respect.

[Anonymous]

Sad. Our world is safer and better--but the haters hate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My work is in a highly specialized field. There are programs in London, Lieden, Canberra and Honolulu. (Not sure why it matters, but there you go.)

So you have the freedom of choice. Why here?

[Anonymous]

it's funny that Joe Scarborough LOVES Maggie Tatcher and is a Liverpool FC fan.

They would kick his head in at anfield for those views. I HATE liverpool but if there is one football club/set of supporters that despises Thatcher, it is them.

Scarborough comes off as a bumbling murkan idiot in professing his support for Liverpool.

[Anonymous]

Russell Brand hit is on the head with a 10-pound sledgehammer:

The blunt, pathetic reality today is that a little old lady has died, who in the winter of her life had to water roses alone under police supervision. If you behave like there's no such thing as society, in the end there isn't. Her death must be sad for the handful of people she was nice to and the rich people who got richer under her stewardship. It isn't sad for anyone else. There are pangs of nostalgia, yes, because for me she's all tied up with Hi-De-Hi and Speak and Spell and Blockbusters and "follow the bear". What is more troubling is my inability to ascertain where my own selfishness ends and her neo-liberal inculcation begins. All of us that grew up under Thatcher were taught that it is good to be selfish, that other people's pain is not your problem, that pain is in fact a weakness and suffering is deserved and shameful. Perhaps there is resentment because the clemency and respect that are being mawkishly displayed now by some and haughtily demanded of the rest of us at the impending, solemn ceremonial funeral, are values that her government and policies sought to annihilate.

I can't articulate with the skill of either of "the Marks" – Steel or Thomas – why Thatcher and Thatcherism were so bad for Britain but I do recall that even to a child her demeanour and every discernible action seemed to be to the detriment of our national spirit and identity. Her refusal to stand against apartheid, her civil war against the unions, her aggression towards our neighbours in Ireland and a taxation system that was devised in the dark ages, the bombing of a retreating ship – it's just not British.

(http://m.guardiannews.com/politics/2013/apr/09/russell-brand-margaret-thatcher)

[Anonymous]

I agree about the un-British thing. The UK had always been a place where moderation was valued, and under her it was stripped away. Now maybe to some extent this was necessary, but clearly she went too far towards the end. The Poll Tax was unfair and unsustainable, and this was clear to everyone in the country apart from her.

[Anonymous]

She was far from perfect. However, her accomplishments were massive compared to her failures. She brought the economy back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Russell Brand hit is on the head with a 10-pound sledgehammer:

The blunt, pathetic reality today is that a little old lady has died, who in the winter of her life had to water roses alone under police supervision. If you behave like there's no such thing as society, in the end there isn't. Her death must be sad for the handful of people she was nice to and the rich people who got richer under her stewardship. It isn't sad for anyone else. There are pangs of nostalgia, yes, because for me she's all tied up with Hi-De-Hi and Speak and Spell and Blockbusters and "follow the bear". What is more troubling is my inability to ascertain where my own selfishness ends and her neo-liberal inculcation begins. All of us that grew up under Thatcher were taught that it is good to be selfish, that other people's pain is not your problem, that pain is in fact a weakness and suffering is deserved and shameful. Perhaps there is resentment because the clemency and respect that are being mawkishly displayed now by some and haughtily demanded of the rest of us at the impending, solemn ceremonial funeral, are values that her government and policies sought to annihilate.

I can't articulate with the skill of either of "the Marks" – Steel or Thomas – why Thatcher and Thatcherism were so bad for Britain but I do recall that even to a child her demeanour and every discernible action seemed to be to the detriment of our national spirit and identity. Her refusal to stand against apartheid, her civil war against the unions, her aggression towards our neighbours in Ireland and a taxation system that was devised in the dark ages, the bombing of a retreating ship – it's just not British.

(http://m.guardiannews.com/politics/2013/apr/09/russell-brand-margaret-thatcher)

I'm curious. She's been out of power for several decades. Why has nothing in the UK been nationalized since then? His statement is also rather sexist, but that's probably only directed towards a right leaning woman in power. Surely he wouldn't think those characteristics as bad of other certain female leaders mentioned as being the President's successor would he?

"Thinking about it now, when I was a child she was just a strict woman telling everyone off and selling everything off. I didn't know what to think of this fearsome woman."


Most find Russell Brand to be really annoying, I actually love his humor.