Margaret Thatcher has died

[Huw the Poo]

By the way, she's the only modern prime minister who legislated against homosexuality.  The dear old thing.

[undercovergeek]

Not your cup of tea huw?

Its the welsh coal mines isn't it.  ;)

[LongBlade]

I've gotta say I've never quite seen a reaction to a politician the way Margaret Thatcher got one.

Folks seemed to either love her or hate her. First time I really understood this was when I bought an Elvis Costello album. Tramp the Dirt Down was rather stronger than I would have thought a politician would warrant.

There are politicians I like and those I don't, but I can't say I actually *hate* any of them. I really don't know many people who feel that strongly about them, either. Thatcher, however, seems to have cities full of people who genuinely hated her. And many that loved her.

Not sure what she did to earn that kind of polarizing reaction, but it sure seemed to be there.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

I think a lot of the world hated Bush jr. As in "who the F put this cretin in charge?" Bush Sr seemed like a decent guy. I don't care if he strafed enemy pilots. Sons of Biotches had it commin!

[undercovergeek]

I've gotta say I've never quite seen a reaction to a politician the way Margaret Thatcher got one.

Folks seemed to either love her or hate her. First time I really understood this was when I bought an Elvis Costello album. Tramp the Dirt Down was rather stronger than I would have thought a politician would warrant.

There are politicians I like and those I don't, but I can't say I actually *hate* any of them. I really don't know many people who feel that strongly about them, either. Thatcher, however, seems to have cities full of people who genuinely hated her. And many that loved her.

Not sure what she did to earn that kind of polarizing reaction, but it sure seemed to be there.

This from Wikipedia -

Margaret Thatcher revitalised Britain's economy, curbed the trade unions, and re-established the nation as a world power.[235] She oversaw an increase from 7 per cent to 25 per cent of adults owning shares, and more than a million families bought their council houses, giving an increase from 55 per cent to 67 per cent in owner-occupiers. Total personal wealth rose by 80 per cent,[236] and women's pay rose dramatically to the highest level on record and stayed there.[237]

Thatcher's premiership was also marked by high unemployment and social unrest,[235] a legacy of mismanagement by the previous government [237] and many critics on the Left of the political spectrum fault her economic policies for the unemployment level; many of the areas affected by high unemployment as a result of previous government policy as well as her monetarist economic policies have still not fully recovered and are blighted by social problems such as drug abuse and family breakdown.[238] Speaking in Scotland in April 2009, before the 30th anniversary of her election as Prime Minister, Thatcher insisted she had no regrets and was right to introduce the poll tax, and to withdraw subsidies from "outdated industries, whose markets were in terminal decline", subsidies that created "the culture of dependency, which had done such damage to Britain".[239] Political economist Susan Strange called the new financial growth model "casino capitalism", reflecting her view that speculation and financial trading were becoming more important to the economy than industry.[240]

She has been criticised as being divisive[241] and for promoting greed and selfishness.[235] Many recent biographers have been critical of aspects of the Thatcher years and Michael White, writing in the Left-Wing New Statesman in February 2009, challenged the view that her reforms had brought a net benefit.[242] Despite being Britain's first woman Prime Minister, some critics contend Thatcher did "little to advance the political cause of women",[243] either within her party or the government, and some British feminists regarded her as "an enemy".[244] Her stance on immigration was perceived by some as part of a rising racist public discourse, which Left-Wing[245] Professor Martin Barker has called "new racism".[246]

Influenced at the outset by Keith Joseph,[247] the term "Thatcherism" came to refer to her policies as well as aspects of her ethical outlook and personal style, including moral absolutism, nationalism, interest in the individual, and an uncompromising approach to achieving political goals.[nb 5] The nickname "Iron Lady", originally given to her by the Soviets, became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style.[248][249][250]

In 2011, Labour leader Ed Miliband praised some of Thatcher's key policies, stating: "Some of what happened in the 1980s was right. It was right to let people buy their council houses. It was right to cut tax rates of 60, 70, 80 per cent. And it was right to change the rules on the closed shop, on strikes before ballots. These changes were right, and we were wrong to oppose it at the time."[251] In September 2012 Miliband was reported to have praised Thatcher for creating an era of aspiration in the 1980s,[252] and is quoted as having said "My dad was sceptical of all the Thatcher aspirational stuff. But I felt you sort of had to recognise that what she was talking about struck a chord."[253]

id pretty much agree with most of the that - some say she made the rich richer and the poor poorer and those traditional leftwing, working class communities became bitter at the shift in the social scales - liverpool, practically all of scotland, and many traditional mining communities are the parts of the country that will not be sad today - whilst not sad, for the first time in a long time and not since her departure she made me and a lot of Britain proud to be british

[Huw the Poo]

Longblade: It's because she completely ruined half the country, to such an extent that we're still living with the consequences today.  That you can't think of another politician so reviled should tell you something in itself.

Mind you, I've seen plenty of politicians come and go who I wouldn't piss on if they were on fire.  But Thatcher is the worst by far.

Undercovergeek: I'm from south Wales.  What do you think? :P

[Windigo]

Uh yeah, she was also the woman who stopped milk for schoolchildren, privatised everything in sight, and brought such tremendous ruin on the housing market that nobody can afford to buy a house any more without help from elsewhere.

She was a vile, poisonous bitch.  I'm not gloating that she's dead - the day for gloating was when she was forced out of office (and gloat I did) - but I'm shedding no fucking tears here.

sounds like you think it wasn't a good trade

[Longdan]

I think a lot of the world hated Bush jr. As in "who the F put this cretin in charge?" Bush Sr seemed like a decent guy. I don't care if he strafed enemy pilots. Sons of Biotches had it commin!

I think Bush Sr. will be treated kindly by History.  He had a policy and he followed it and even now, except for not strangling that kid of his when he pretended to be
in the Air Guard, I cannot recall any big bad things he did.  There are positives.  He specifically did not invade Iraq and articulated the reasons.  They made sense.
His kid, well the less said the better.  I was amazed by how much the Europeans loathed him.  They aren't that big on loathing.

[Windigo]

but Jr. loves bass fishing....

[GDS_Starfury]

[undercovergeek]

It's because she completely ruined half the country

but totally transformed the other half
made us all believe we could aspire to something better instead of waiting for the state to give us it
allowed even the poorest working class to believe they could get out of the shit and make a better life for themselves - if one couldnt be bothered, didnt have the will, didnt know how to - then that was your loss and youre still living in Durham, Newcastle and Liverpool pissing and moaning about it because you thought the government should look after your family and not you
allowed piss poor working class to buy their own council houses
and the Falklands

legend!

[Longdan]

Oh My.  I picture Huw trying to sneak into the funeral procession with a hammer and a paper bag of nails.

[Staggerwing]

Or a necklace of garlic cloves.  :D

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22073454

[Gusington]

What was Thatcher's approach to the IRA? I can take a guess...