Lady Thatcher is dead

[Josquius]

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/091111/K11119AU.html

OTTAWA - A brief message about a felled feline really caused the fur to fly this week, prompting erroneous rumours about the demise of no less than Margaret Thatcher.

The brouhaha at a gala Toronto tribute to Canada's military is a cautionary tale about how modern instant messaging and good old-fashioned gossip can combine to shake things up at even the highest levels.

Some 1,700 luminaries, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, were in the middle of dinner Tuesday night when smart phones throughout the room began to buzz with the news: "Lady Thatcher has passed away."

Dinner chatter abruptly veered to expressions of shock and reminiscences of Margaret Thatcher, the 84-year-old former British prime minister, as news of her apparent passing spread like wildfire.

It eventually reached the ears of Harper, or someone close to him. Harper aide Dimitri Soudas, back in Ottawa, was dispatched to confirm the news and start preparing an official statement mourning the death of the Iron Lady, an icon to many in Harper's Conservative party.

Soudas immediately emailed his contacts at Buckingham Palace and in British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's office.

They had no idea what he was talking about. Lady Thatcher, they informed an embarrassed Soudas, was still very much alive.

About 20 minutes after the rumour mill started churning, a corrective email message began to circulate among the diners at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Turns out it was Transport Minister John Baird's beloved 16-year-old cat - whom he'd named Thatcher out of admiration for one of his political heroes - who had ceased to be.

Soudas is said to have quipped since: "If the cat wasn't dead, I'd have killed it by now."

[Neil]

You know, when the real Thatcher dies, she's going to be remembered as the greatest Briton since Churchill.

[garbon]

You know, when the real Thatcher dies, she's going to be remembered as the greatest Briton since Churchill.

[grumbler]

You know, when the real Thatcher dies, she's going to be remembered as the greatest Briton since Churchill.

Kinda strange to think about it after so many years, but you are probably correct.

The same fate awaits Tony Blair, unless he blots his escutcheon somehow in the future.

[Razgovory]

You know, when the real Thatcher dies, she's going to be remembered as the greatest Briton since Churchill.

I thought that was Attlee.

[Neil]

You know, when the real Thatcher dies, she's going to be remembered as the greatest Briton since Churchill.

I thought that was Attlee.

You thought wrong.

[grumbler]

You know, when the real Thatcher dies, she's going to be remembered as the greatest Briton since Churchill.

I thought that was Attlee.

Who named their cat "Attlee?"

[HisMajestyBOB]

You know, when the real Thatcher dies, she's going to be remembered as the greatest Briton since Churchill.

I thought that was Attlee.

Who named their cat "Attlee?"

Yeah, he strikes me as more of a dog-type.

[CountDeMoney]

You know, when the real Thatcher dies, she's going to be remembered as the greatest Briton since Churchill.

Yup.
For a brief, shining moment, she made Britain relevant again.  If only for a while.

[grumbler]

You know, when the real Thatcher dies, she's going to be remembered as the greatest Briton since Churchill.

Yup.
For a brief, shining moment, she made Britain relevant again.  If only for a while.

She made Britain appear relevant. Her role in breaking Old Labor and forcing the creation of New Labor should not be underestimated.  Britain is politically a far, far different place than it was when I lived there, thanks to her and most especially to the reaction to her.

"Catalyst" is a word too often used for politicians, but it applies to her.

Ronald Reagon was a non-entity compared to her.

[CountDeMoney]

She made Britain appear relevant. Her role in breaking Old Labor and forcing the creation of New Labor should not be underestimated.  Britain is politically a far, far different place than it was when I lived there, thanks to her and most especially to the reaction to her.

"Catalyst" is a word too often used for politicians, but it applies to her.

Ronald Reagon was a non-entity compared to her.

I would agree.  She was the first of the wave of modern western conservatism.
And she fought the last colonial war.  So hawt.

[grumbler]

I would agree.  She was the first of the wave of modern western conservatism.
And she fought the last colonial war.  So hawt.

I think her role in defending British sovereignty, like GWB's in defending US sovereignty, will be a mere footnote. Her impact on history will be seen as what she did to Britain, not what she did to the junta in Argentina.

[Barrister]

Fuck you you pinko commie bastard.

[Syt]

Fuck you you pinko commie bastard.

I thought Canadians were always friendly and kind to everyone

[Alexandru H.]

Along Jeanne d'Arc, my favourite woman of history.