Breaking: Margaret Thatcher passes away

[Valin]

Margaret Thatcher, Friend Of Freedom, Did Not Go Wobbly

By LAWRENCE KUDLOW

 

Many profound and detailed admiration pieces will be written about the late Margaret Thatcher, and they'll be much deeper than this one. But I want to get on record with my own esteem for Thatcher, whose character, philosophy and achievements made her one of Britain's greatest prime ministers.

 

 

She was a leader, she knew what she believed and said so forthrightly. Not a lot of fingers in the wind with her.

3 strong leader (Thatcher, JPII, Reagan) all come on the stage at the same time...almost leads one to think there might be something this God business...but that's just crazy talk of course.

 

[Valin]

Gorbachev: ‘Exceptional’ Thatcher Helped End Cold War

 

Margaret Thatcher was “a great politician and an exceptional person” who helped end the Cold War, said Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union.

 

(Snip)

 

“Thatcher was a politician whose word carried great weight,” Gorbachev, who sought to reform the Soviet Union and improved its ties with the West but failed to avert the collapse of the nuclear-armed superpower, said on his website.

 

“Our first meeting in 1984 marked the beginning of a relationship that was at times difficult, not always smooth, but was treated seriously and responsibly by both sides,” Gorbachev, 82, said.

 

(Snip)

[clearvision]

“She specifically did not want a state funeral and nor did her family,” Lord Bell said. “She particularly did not wish to lie in state as she thought that was not appropriate.

“And she didn’t want a fly-past as she thought that was a waste of money — somewhat in character you might think.”

LINK

[Valin]

The World-Changing Margaret Thatcher

Not since Catherine the Great has there been a woman of such consequence.

PAUL JOHNSON

4/8/13

 

Margaret Thatcher had more impact on the world than any woman ruler since Catherine the Great of Russia. Not only did she turn around—decisively—the British economy in the 1980s, she also saw her methods copied in more than 50 countries. "Thatcherism" was the most popular and successful way of running a country in the last quarter of the 20th century and into the 21st.

 

Her origins were humble. Born Oct. 13, 1925, she was the daughter of a grocer in the Lincolnshire town of Grantham. Alfred Roberts was no ordinary shopkeeper. He was prominent in local government and a man of decided economic and political views. Thatcher later claimed her views had been shaped by gurus like Karl Popper and Friedrich Hayek, but these were clearly the icing on a cake baked in her childhood by Councillor Roberts. This was a blend of Adam Smith and the Ten Commandments, the three most important elements being *hard work, telling the truth, and paying bills on time.

 

(Snip)

 

Her political success once again demonstrates the importance of holding two or three simple ideas with fervor and tenacity, a virtue she shared with Ronald Reagan. One of these ideas was that the "evil empire" of communism could be and would be destroyed, and together with Reagan and Pope John Paul II she must be given the credit for doing it.

 

Among the British public she aroused fervent admiration and intense dislike in almost equal proportions, but in the world beyond she was recognized for what she was: a great, creative stateswoman who left the world a better and more prosperous place, and whose influence will reverberate well into the 21st century.

 

 

* Always good advise.....too bad more people/politicians don't take it.

[Valin]

Margaret Thatcher funeral set for next week

 

LONDON -- The British government on Tuesday said that Lady Margaret Thatcher will receive a ceremonial funeral with military honors on April 17 at St. Paul's Cathedral.

 

(Snip)

 

Buckingham Palace said the queen and duke of Edinburgh would attend the funeral. Many world leaders and dignitaries are also expected to attend.

 

The service will be televised and on the day of the funeral, a Wednesday, Thatcher's coffin will move in procession from the Palace of Westminster to St. Paul's, effectively tracing a line along the River

 

(Snip)

[nickydog]

In the meantime, many ungrateful Brits seem to be celebrating her death in several cities around the country.

[Valin]

In the meantime, many ungrateful Brits seem to be celebrating her death in several cities around the country.

 

You know I bet she would wear their scorn as a badge of honor.

[Valin]

Maggie Thatcher Versus the Establishment

Walter Russell Mead

4/9/13

 

She was, beyond a doubt, the greatest British political leader since Winston Churchill and, like him, she was cordially hated by many grandees of the party she led.

 

The entire British establishment, from the royal family down, often wished she would just go away. In the end, a Cabinet cabal proved too much for her and drove her into exile.

 

Britain hates talent, at least in its rulers. Maggie Roberts wasn’t just talented – she was the incarnation of everything the 20th century British establishment loathed.

 

She was female, a trained scientist, aggressively middle class, personally assertive, openly nationalist, got on well with Jews and was utterly opposed to the mix of tepid socialism and stale one-nation Toryism that constituted the middle ground of British politics during the disastrous generation following World War Two.

 

 

(Snip)

 

 

The social welfare policies of the mid-20th century no longer work very well, and more and more countries don’t have the money to pay for them even if they did. Thatcher was brilliantly right that the old road led nowhere. But 34 years after Queen Elizabeth appointed her prime minister, we still don’t know what new road we should take.

[Valin]

Baroness Thatcher died sitting up in "a top suite" at the Ritz Hotel in London.

Ann Althouse

 

She was in bed, reading a book. She'd been staying there since Christmas, where she'd moved after a hospital stay. It was "one of her favourite places – and she was invited by its owners the Barclay brothers to stay there for the foreseeable future."

 

(Snip)

 

Sitting up reading in bed — would you not want that to be your final moment? What book do you like to think you would be reading? If you say the Bible, name the chapter.

[nickydog]

Hard to choose, but in the end I would have to narrow it down to the Gospel of John chapter 15 about abiding.

[Valin]

Hard to choose, but in the end I would have to narrow it down to the Gospel of John chapter 15 about abiding.

 

I was thinking there are worse way to go than in a nice bed reading a (big thick history) book. I have this picture of her closing the book closing her eyes...and BANG she's in real reality.

[Valin]

Thatcher family will not go wobbly on Argentina

Paul Mirengoff

4/11/13

 

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez will not be invited to attend Margaret Thatcher’s state funeral. Every other country with whom Britain enjoys “normal” diplomatic relations will be invited. However, Thatcher’s family objected to Fernandez attending and the British government is honoring its wish. Argentina’s ambassador to Britain will be invited, in keeping with protocol.

 

(Snip)

 

Good, then, for the Thatcher family, and good for the British government. Thatcher’s life was about firm adherence to principle, rather than taking the easy, amiable approach. It thus seems fitting and proper to exclude from her funeral an Argentine leader who actively attempts to overturn the outcome of the Falklands War and the will of Falkland residents.