[speechlesstx]

Margaret Thatcher passed away.

Margaret Thatcher, the first woman ever to serve as prime minister of Great Britain and the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century, has died at age 87.

"It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning," Lord Timothy Bell, her former adviser, said today. "A further statement will be made later."

Thatcher had significant health problems in her later years, suffering several small strokes and, according to her daughter, struggling with dementia.

In December 2012, she was underwent an operation to remove a bladder growth, longtime adviser Tim Bell told The Associated Press.

But during her long career on the political stage, Thatcher was known as the Iron Lady. She led Great Britain as prime minister from 1979 to 1990, a champion of free-market policies and adversary of the Soviet Union.

Many considered her Britain's Ronald Reagan. Indeed, Reagan and Thatcher were political soul mates. Reagan called her the "best man in England" and she called him "the second most important man in my life."

The two shared a hatred of communism and a passion for small government. What America knew as "Reaganomics" is still called "Thatcherism" in Britain.

Like Reagan, Thatcher was an outsider in the old boys' club. Just as it was unlikely for an actor to lead the Republicans, the party of Lincoln, it was unthinkable that a grocer's daughter could lead the Conservatives, the party of Churchill and William Pitt -- that is, until Thatcher. She led the Conservatives from 1975 to 1990, the only woman ever to do so.

We need more Margaret Thatchers in this world.

[speechlesstx]

And already it starts...

[tomder55]

Margaret Thatcher on Socialism - YouTube

[cdad]

RIP to her and another that was taken with her. Annette Funicello.

Annette Funicello Dies at 70 - The Hollywood Reporter

[paraclete]

Thatcher was responsible for introducing much of the very bad thinking we have in government, particularly the emphasis on user pays for government services, we still have a legacy from her times in the unresolved confrontation with Argentina

[tomder55]

Yeah she should've surrendered the Falklands to Argentina... right ? Even though everyone on the Island wants to remain a Brit.
She also made the decisive argument to GHW Bush after Iraq invaded Kuwait.. Bush was undecided about intervention until Thatcher told him "Look, George, this is no time to go wobbly!"

[paraclete]

yeah she should've surrendered the Falklands to Argentina ...right ? Even though everyone on the Island wants to remain a Brit.
She also made the decisive argument to GHW Bush after Iraq invaded Kuwait .. Bush was undecided about intervention until Thatcher told him "Look, George, this is no time to go wobbly!"

Are you a ding bat or what? No she should have pursued a much more aggressive campaign against Argentina, put those upstarts in their place and forced a treaty that settled the issue once and for all. As to GHWB being wobbly, Thatcher couldn't prevent that and he never pursued the campaign to its logical conclusion leaving another unresolved issue to be dealt with later. There are a lot of wimps and whusses in the world and the legacies of that era we are still dealing with in many ways. Thatcherism is very bad thinking and even your Republican party still hasn't seen it and clings to these outmoded ideas

[tomder55]

The way she settled it left the issue settled for 30 years. The Versailles treaty by contrast lasted 16 years . Cristina Kirchner is using this settled issue as a smoke screen to cover for one of the worse economies in the region. Her war like rhetoric is less convincing than the un-Kim 's

[paraclete]

The way she settled it left the issue settled for 30 years. The Versailles treaty by contrast lasted 16 years . Cristina Kirchner is using this settled issue as a smoke screen to cover for one of the worse economies in the region. Her war like rhetoric is less convincing than the un-Kim 's

Well perhaps it is less convincing because she has nothing but a few blowhard fellow travellers to back it up. Britain may not be what it was but it represents far superior military capability and experience than the Argentinians, but it wasn't settled any more than the Korean issue was settled. They stopped shotting at each other, that's all. Argentina has been a basket case economy for a long time, and no reason why it shouldn't have been the show case economy of South America. Too many right wing ideas gone beserk. Proximity doesn't confer rights and lets hope the US is on the right side of the argument from the start this time

[tomder55]

The Falkland War in effect took down a military junta in Argentina . The protests after their defeat hastened their downfall. They returned to democratic rule after a decade of rule by the dictatorship . Even today the loony Kirchner is there because of democratic elections .
During their decade reign of terror ,the junta made up to 30,000 people disappear.

The Brits will never "force"Argentina to believe the Falkland Islands aren't their territory any more than the Chinese will believe Taiwan isn't their territory.

and lets hope the US is on the right side of the argument from the start this time

Not with Emperor 0 in charge . He refers to the islands by their Argentine name 'Malvinas' ;so you know where his sympathies are.

[paraclete]

Big difference Tom the Falklands were in Argentine hands for a relatively short time and actually in spanish not Argentine hands so their claim is false, whereas Taiwan was part of China for centuries and became the home of a defeated nationalist government which once ruled China. As I said proximity, 400 miles? doesn't confer soveriegnty it isn't like they are offshore. Precident, Madagascar is a soveriegn nation. It's like saying Greenland belongs to Canada

[Curlyben]

As a Brit I can honestly say Maggie did a lot of GOOD for the country as a whole.
If she didn't have the courage to carry through with her policies we would now be run by the unions, with all that entails..

There has not been a more influential, post war leader, anywhere !

[Curlyben]

Pssst guys: The Falklands Issue

[Curlyben]

A good piece here: BBC News - Viewpoint: What if Margaret Thatcher had never been?

[speechlesstx]

Another good piece.

Thatcher, Liberator « The Dish

[tomder55]

Here is a lecture she gave at Hillsdale College circa 1995 . She was a giant who came on the scene at the right time in history . (Lengthy ,but worthwhile read )
Hillsdale College - Imprimis Issue

[speechlesstx]

So, did anyone attend a street party celebrating Thatcher's death? Drink some champagne, smash a few windows, sing "Ding Dong the Witch is dead?"

I'm betting they'll go right back to being champions of tolerance soon now.

[paraclete]

Why would we do that speech? I can understand some in Britain doing it but elsewhere, nah

[paraclete]

They are saying this woman was great but we shouldn't consider racists great, forthright maybe, but not great.
Bob Carr Recalls Racist Margaret Thatcher Comment

Xenophopia is a real problem and no doubt Britain got more than it bargained for when it opened its doors, but projecting your racist views on someoneelse is very poor. Indians are, in general, hard working and industrious somewhat unlike some of the natives who have been protected from the realities. I certainly would prefer them to the Muslims from the middle east who seem to be trouble makers

[tomder55]

You are really searching hard for something negative to pin on her.