Margaret Thatcher, 1925-2013

Annoying the same way it will be when Nancy Reagan goes – lots of Reagan worship. As for the Iron Lady herself, she was a hideous human being who ruined the lives of hundreds of thousands. She was Paul Ryan with more power. Like us with Bush, the British people were stupid enough to give her power, and they didn’t learn a thing – David Cameron is now fucking their country up.

What he said. And also feh!

If only we had more women in power…

Religion and gender are irrelevant to the state of things. A government that reflects its nation is surely welcome, but no demographic has a lock on the corrupt exercise of power. Bastardy is an equal-opportunity condition.

I do hope she’ll be buried under the floor of a large dance hall for the convenience of the millions of people who wish to dance on her grave.

There will be long lines for decades before everyone has had their chance.

Probably should make sure the floor is concrete so it will last.

A college friend who’s lived in England since the mid-80s learned of Thatcher’s death when a colleague walked up to her desk and said “Ding Dong.” Nothing else, but she knew at once.

@jaycubed: Elvis is everywhere.

@nojo:
Exactly.

OT/ I was right. The plant I’m working at exports a lot to US America. Thanks Obamacare, I got my job (indirectly) because of it.

@ManchuCandidate: Old beef. You can accuse Sarah Palin of “false consciousness” all you want, but she would still be an ignorant asshole in power.

Just watched some Americans trying to understand Thatcher. One, tying in to the US log-cabin legend, described her as being a working class woman who rose to the ranks of the aristocracy. No. She was a lower middle-class woman who rose to the ranks of the upper middle-class. A much more difficult journey. It accounts for the preposterous accent never before heard in captivity or, as it is also known, Knightsbridge.

@Benedick: if you aren’t a member of the aristocracy at birth, can you become one?

@blogenfreude: You can marry into the aristocracy (see Downton Abbey), you can be elevated to a peerage (see ALW), I don’t know what the rules are about inheriting that title. So-called life peers sit in the Lords as political appointees but those titles can’t be inherited. But as with most things, if you have enough money all bets are off. Look at Di and Dodi. A way will be found to include you. It’s also considered ‘com’ to use titles. Or at least it was. Having a knighthood bestowed on you for pulling off the LIBOR scam does not elevate one to the aristocracy. That’s just so the help won’t sneer at one in Harrod’s fish hall. I seem to think it’s true that the English nobility all dates from 1066 unlike the Scottish nobility which can be older.

The nation is, of course, run by the upper middle-class (see Brideshead or almost anything by Forster.).

@nojo: Yep.

So, like. Kratom. Whoa. I need a lava lamp.

I was Margaret Thatcher in a school play once. I was maybe eight or nine years old at the time, so it — much like the story of the teacher-written play — meant absolutely nothing.

p.s. Love the blurb. Betty never lets you forget where she came from.

@Benedick: I was at Harrod’s before the Dodi/Diana memorial was taken down by the new owner. Odd thing to see from an escalator.

@blogenfreude: Odd thing period

I remember John Lithgow’s rendition of MT on SNL, or I at least remember laughing uproariously at it. Unfortunately, that’s one of those video clips you don’t find online. Sad, because it would probably be a fitting elegy.