Margaret Thatcher (13 October 1925 – 8 April 2013), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1979-1990
"To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the 'U-turn', I have only one thing to say: "You turn [U-turn] if you want to. The lady's not for turning." Margaret Thatcher speaking at the British Conservative Party Conference on 10 October 1980.
P.S. There are only two things I believe we should honor her for. The first is that she succeeded in becoming the first female P.M. in the U.K. (and the longest serving one in the 20th century too). The second is that she managed to outplay all her competitors in this mans world by being more of a
"man's man" than any of the other men.
Margaret Thatcher was a bit of a mixed bag as far as I am concerned, and notoriously nasty to anyone who did not kowtow to her.
ReplyDeleteShe turned the U.K. around economically but was extremely anti-LGBT people and pushed through the infamous Section 28, repealed 10 years ago, which banned the mention of anything positive said about equality in public schools. She was also pro the South African Apartheid Regime, a position which brought her into conflict with Buckingham Palace since The Queen refused to have her Commonwealth dismantled, and is famously non racist herself.
She did have much to do with opening the iron curtain and bringing freedom to Eastern Europe, together with her buddy Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul 2, and most importantly, Mr. Gorbachev himself. She was the one who convinced Reagan (who adored her) to trust Gorbachev in negations-- she said that "she could do business with him".
She did take on the Argentinians in the Falkland Islands, and brought back British Pride to levels not seen since in World War 2.
Her state funeral, the first to be held for a commoner in 50 years (Winston Churchill was the last one) will be interesting to watch. But as a British citizen, I am not shedding any tears this morning.
On another interesting note, I used to work for a publishing company in London owned by Michael Heseltine, the former Conservative Defense Minister, who was the main person responsible for dumping her as Prime Minister. She apparently talked down to him in a cabinet meeting one day and he stormed out and told her that she was out. He then lined up his forces against her.
Yay! Been celebrating all day =^^=
ReplyDeleteSarge sirhc
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DeleteLOL
DeleteIron lady, rust in peace. (No, that is not a mistyping)
ReplyDeleteLOL sneaky, now I am upset with myself for not using that in the post title!
DeletePeter Thatchell, the LGBT rights leader in the UK summed it up best this morning saying “she was extraordinary for mostly the wrong reasons”, but going on to say: “I don’t rejoice in her death. I commiserate, as I do with the death of any person.”
ReplyDeleteHe continued: “In 1988, the Thatcher government legislated Britain’s first new anti-gay law in 100 years: Section 28. At the 1987 Conservative party conference she mocked people who defended the right to be gay, insinuating that there was no such right.
“During her rule, arrests and convictions for consenting same-sex behaviour rocketed, as did queer bashing violence and murder. Gay men were widely demonised and scapegoated for the AIDS pandemic and Thatcher did nothing to challenge this vilification. ”
Pushes back her blonde hair to reveal the gray -which is substantial. Granted, Margaret wasn't my favorite either. Please don't blame her for being just as bad as most of the straight men were back in the 1980s. On the other hand and while I don't share her politics, I say good for you girlfriend! You certainly showed those men what a woman could do in a world where most men thought women should be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. :)
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