Opinion of Margaret Thachter

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I'm curious what the Brits think....

Horrible Person

[Mr. Paleoconservative]

Thatcher was a great leader who showed a magnificent combination of brains, guts, and fortitude.  She lead Great Britain through a very difficult time, and made reforms (though sometimes painful) that were necessary to preserve Great Britain's standard of living and position in the world community.

Freedom Fighter.   

[Nym90]

I don't have a strong opinion of her either way.

Overall I'd have to vote against her based on some of what Al has said, but as always there are two sides to any story.

[© tweed]

Freedom Fighter

[WalterMitty]

freedom fighter (normal)

[Gabu]

She's the most well-known person of whom I have very little knowledge, so I can't really form any opinion as things currently stand.

[bullmoose88]

In aggregate, I think she's a freedom fighter; however, even in areas where I agree with her, I think some people definitely have solid ground to call her horrible.

[nclib]

Horrible person.

[TeePee4Prez]

For me Horrible Person isn't strong enough.  Plain old bitch whom I'd laugh at if someone punched her in the face.  Strong supporter of Oliver Cromwell and sucked up to Augusto Pinochet.

[DanielX]

For me Horrible Person isn't strong enough.  Plain old bitch whom I'd laugh at if someone punched her in the face.  Strong supporter of Oliver Cromwell and sucked up to Augusto Pinochet.

I've never heard the Cromwell thing, and Thatcher being pro-Pinochet might just have had to do with Chile's hostile neighbor, you know, Argentina, deciding to seize the Falklands.

Personally, Brian, if I saw you laughing at someone who punched an old lady in the face (assuming the old lady wasn't, say, Frau Goebbels or someone of similar evil), I'd punch you in the face. To be honest, I think I'll do that anyway <punches Brian in the face, hard, breaking his nose>.

Freedom Fighter. Probably didn't have a perfect policy record (few do), but she was a great ally for Reagan and Bush I.

[Keystone Phil]

Personally, Brian, if I saw you laughing at someone who punched an old lady in the face (assuming the old lady wasn't, say, Frau Goebbels or someone of similar evil), I'd punch you in the face. To be honest, I think I'll do that anyway <punches Brian in the face, hard, breaking his nose>.

His lack of class is not surprising. We really have try ignoring the drunken trash.

[Cubby]

For me Horrible Person isn't strong enough.  Plain old bitch whom I'd laugh at if someone punched her in the face.  Strong supporter of Oliver Cromwell and sucked up to Augusto Pinochet.

While I might not do the same, I hate her just as much, your candor is admirable. Naked on a cold day indeed.

I hate her for Section 28. What an evil scumbag that woman is. And since Britain doesn't have a religious right (yeah England!!) she had no excuse to pass it. I see the usual Reagan cheering section is falling over themselves to praise her. She could deregulate and privatise all she wanted too, but the woman had no soul, she didn't care how much suffering her policies caused, such as the '84 Coal Miners strike.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I think you all know what I think

I should add that her policies did not reinvigorate the economy of the U.K... the idea that she did is just total nonsense; Thatcherite policies did create several finanical-services-led booms in the Southeast, but throughout her time in power, the economy of the North kept on collapsing and she never lifted a finger to stop it happening (even though the main cause was her own absurd fiscal policies in the very early '80's, which directly resulted in the collapse of the manufacturing industries).

To give a little rundown of a few things... in 1970 the incoming Conservative government of Ted Heath inherited an economy that was actually in a very good shape (in fact the best that any incoming Government had had since before the First World War) and over the next three-and-a-half years managed to completely and utterly f*** it up to the point that the U.K was put onto a "three day week", had mass unemployment for the first time since the War, hyper-inflation and also one hell of a recession. When Labour took office again in 1974, the outgoing Tory Chancellor is alledged to have apologised to the incoming Labour one.
While it has (until recently*) gone against the grain to say this, the Labour government of 1974 to 1979 was the one that made the hard and painful choices that dragged us out of the pit Heath had landed us into. And as we now know, throughout it's time in office it was being continually plotted against and underminded by certain elements in the intelligence services (it's become increasingly clear in recent years, that the U.K came frighteningly close to seeing a military coup in the mid '70's. That's not a joke.) and in 1979 it was finally betrayed by the public sector unions, resulting in the Winter of Discontent and the loss of a vote of no-confidence in the House (but that's a different rant).

O.K, so I went a wee bit off topic there. As I've said before, Thatcher was and is an extremely polarising figure, and is always going to be an extremely polarising figure. True, the South had some booms under Thatcher (each interspaced with a bust o/c) and is a more affluent place for having her as P.M, but the North was devastated by her time in power and hasn't recovered yet. Maybe it never really will.

[MasterJedi]

Freedom Fighter

[afleitch]

I have a neutral opinion of Margaret Thatcher.

[Democratic Hawk]

When I think of Margaret Thatcher, I think of someone who had the audacity to quote St Francis of Assisi and deliver the complete opposite. "Labour isn't working" and what do we get mass unemployment and urban/industrial decline. Of course, a lot of people did very well out of her policies, but others didn't and are still suffering the consequences of her abolishing society

For a woman, who's neo-liberalism was instincively anti-welfare, the 1980s sure saw an acceleration in welfare dependency as jobs were lossed, pride was lost, family's broke down and entire communities were confined to the scap heap

Horrible Person. Thoroughly, disrespectful woman too. "We are a grandmother" . Who the hell does she think she is? There's only one lady, who can use that style and it, sure as hell, ain't Thatcher

That said, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't agree with her on a few things

Dave

[Bono]

neo-liberalism

As opposed to what?

Seriusly, few labels annoy me as much as that one.
It doesn't mean anything, and you'll rarely find anyone who identifies with it, but it is used as a moniker by the left to demonize anyone who goes against their orthodoxy.
"Let's raise user fees for the National HEalth Service.
Why, you neo-liberal."
"Let's untighten our labour laws.
What a heartlesss, anti-social neo-liberal"



Anyways, Tatcher is my political hero, only thing I can oint out is that she tried to centralize power in Westminster.

[dazzleman]

Freedom fighter.

She was magnificent as prime minister, and contributed to the reinvigoration of the west, after the somnabulent 1970s.

The Britain she inherited was an economic basket case.  She took many tough measures that needed to be taken, smashing intransigent unions who expected taxpayers to subsidize their unprofitable nationalized industries.

But there has been a great long-term result from having endured the short-term pain that some of her policies caused.

[opebo]

Obvious Horrible Person.

[Democratic Hawk]

Anyways, Tatcher is my political hero, only thing I can oint out is that she tried to centralize power in Westminster.

Not something I'd boast about

Dave

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Obvious Horrible Person.

Strange; it was people like you who gained the most from her time as P.M.

[Michael Z]

I think you all know what I think

I should add that her policies did not reinvigorate the economy of the U.K... the idea that she did is just total nonsense; Thatcherite policies did create several finanical-services-led booms in the Southeast, but throughout her time in power, the economy of the North kept on collapsing and she never lifted a finger to stop it happening (even though the main cause was her own absurd fiscal policies in the very early '80's, which directly resulted in the collapse of the manufacturing industries).

To give a little rundown of a few things... in 1970 the incoming Conservative government of Ted Heath inherited an economy that was actually in a very good shape (in fact the best that any incoming Government had had since before the First World War) and over the next three-and-a-half years managed to completely and utterly f*** it up to the point that the U.K was put onto a "three day week", had mass unemployment for the first time since the War, hyper-inflation and also one hell of a recession. When Labour took office again in 1974, the outgoing Tory Chancellor is alledged to have apologised to the incoming Labour one.
While it has (until recently*) gone against the grain to say this, the Labour government of 1974 to 1979 was the one that made the hard and painful choices that dragged us out of the pit Heath had landed us into. And as we now know, throughout it's time in office it was being continually plotted against and underminded by certain elements in the intelligence services (it's become increasingly clear in recent years, that the U.K came frighteningly close to seeing a military coup in the mid '70's. That's not a joke.) and in 1979 it was finally betrayed by the public sector unions, resulting in the Winter of Discontent and the loss of a vote of no-confidence in the House (but that's a different rant).

O.K, so I went a wee bit off topic there. As I've said before, Thatcher was and is an extremely polarising figure, and is always going to be an extremely polarising figure. True, the South had some booms under Thatcher (each interspaced with a bust o/c) and is a more affluent place for having her as P.M, but the North was devastated by her time in power and hasn't recovered yet. Maybe it never really will.

* applause *

[HardRCafé]

When I think of Margaret Thatcher, I think of someone who had the audacity to quote St Francis of Assisi and deliver the complete opposite. "Labour isn't working" and what do we get mass unemployment and urban/industrial decline. Of course, a lot of people did very well out of her policies, but others didn't and are still suffering the consequences of her abolishing society

For a woman, who's neo-liberalism was instincively anti-welfare, the 1980s sure saw an acceleration in welfare dependency as jobs were lossed, pride was lost, family's broke down and entire communities were confined to the scap heap

Horrible Person. Thoroughly, disrespectful woman too. "We are a grandmother" . Who the hell does she think she is? There's only one lady, who can use that style and it, sure as hell, ain't Thatcher

Yep, you'd definitely be a Democrat if you were here.

[Democratic Hawk]

When I think of Margaret Thatcher, I think of someone who had the audacity to quote St Francis of Assisi and deliver the complete opposite. "Labour isn't working" and what do we get mass unemployment and urban/industrial decline. Of course, a lot of people did very well out of her policies, but others didn't and are still suffering the consequences of her abolishing society

For a woman, who's neo-liberalism was instincively anti-welfare, the 1980s sure saw an acceleration in welfare dependency as jobs were lossed, pride was lost, family's broke down and entire communities were confined to the scap heap

Horrible Person. Thoroughly, disrespectful woman too. "We are a grandmother" . Who the hell does she think she is? There's only one lady, who can use that style and it, sure as hell, ain't Thatcher

Yep, you'd definitely be a Democrat if you were here.

Yes, indeed . BTW, I forgot to mention that had I even, by and large, agreed with Thatcher, she'd still be a Horrible Person

Dave