Breaking news: Margaret Thatcher has died

[garbon]

Wow.  Even the goofballs whose lives were defined by him didn't act that way when Nixon died.  And only the goofiest Hansmeister fucks would do that with Jimmy Carter or Obama.

Stay classy, England.

Are you really surprised? It has been pretty well established over the years that a significative amount of people in Britain truly despised her, even decades after her governments. You can't honestly say that you didn't expect it.

Except as been raised earlier, a lot of the people that are going attend such events are people Tyr's age and younger - i.e. people who really know little about her.

[CountDeMoney]

Are you really surprised? It has been pretty well established over the years that a significative amount of people in Britain truly despised her, even decades after her governments. You can't honestly say that you didn't expect it.

Not surprised as much as disappointed.  I knew she was a divisive politician, but I expect that sort of thing from hot-blooded, wildly gesturing Mediterranean continentals, not the polite and reserved English.  Especially when it was 30 years ago.

You'd think she played soccer or something with reactions like that.

[Sheilbh]

I think she's the only politician since Churchill who's gone into myth. I don't remember Thatcher but my family were always political and they hated her. Stories of Thatcher were passed on, I think probably by those who loved her and those who didn't. That sort of thing simply didn't happen with lesser figures like Wilson, or Heath.

[Josquius]

Fucking with her private funeral and making fun of her family at a time like this would be unacceptable.
Since the establishment sees fit to make it a big public event in which they glorify her 'work' then the people have no choice really but to act counter to this.

[Sheilbh]

Not surprised as much as disappointed.  I knew she was a divisive politician, but I expect that sort of thing from hot-blooded, wildly gesturing Mediterranean continentals, not the polite and reserved English.  Especially when it was 30 years ago.

If the reaction to Princess Di's death didn't undermine our reputation for being polite and reserved, then nothing will.

[Jacob]

Yeah, it's not like lots of Brits aren't on record as saying they'll be breaking out the champagne or otherwise celebrating Maggie's death. Lots and lots of people think she fucked up their lives, or the lives of people they cared about.

CC commented recently about being surprised about Billy Elliot being so blatantly anti-Thatcher, IIRC. In my observation, it's pretty much the baseline of sentiment re: Thatcher amongst huge swathes of the British population. Ask in Glasgow or Liverpool or Sheffield or indeed Brixton what people think of her, and you'll find that Tyr's opinions here are fairly mild and measured in comparison. At least that's my impression.

[garbon]

Fucking with her private funeral and making fun of her family at a time like this would be unacceptable.
Since the establishment sees fit to make it a big public event in which they glorify her 'work' then the people have no choice really but to act counter to this.

Yep, no choice. Must act like classless hooligans!

[OttoVonBismarck]

The difference is this, Thatcher's policies hurt a group of essentially adult babies. People whose lives simply were not sustainable and whom expected government to artificially keep the flowers blooming and the sun rising for them til the end of time. Their anger is childish and stupid.

Jimmy Carter took the greatest country on earth in terms of economic, political, and military might and made it dance to the tune of whatever shit hole country in the world felt like playing the pipes. He followed up his ignominious period as a failure of a President with a long career overseas fomenting anti-Americanism and support for Palestinian terrorists, Hugo Chavez etc. Carter is easily the worst President we've had since Tyler who actively joined the Confederacy or Pierce who secretly supported the traitors.

[The Larch]

Wow.  Even the goofballs whose lives were defined by him didn't act that way when Nixon died.  And only the goofiest Hansmeister fucks would do that with Jimmy Carter or Obama.

Stay classy, England.

Are you really surprised? It has been pretty well established over the years that a significative amount of people in Britain truly despised her, even decades after her governments. You can't honestly say that you didn't expect it.

Except as been raised earlier, a lot of the people that are going attend such events are people Tyr's age and younger - i.e. people who really know little about her.

That's called having a legacy. 

I mean, there are even Spotify lists for such parties. http://open.spotify.com/user/antoniojl/playlist/2gTc87eWMlNB6IzQSECrA4

[The Larch]

Are you really surprised? It has been pretty well established over the years that a significative amount of people in Britain truly despised her, even decades after her governments. You can't honestly say that you didn't expect it.

Not surprised as much as disappointed.  I knew she was a divisive politician, but I expect that sort of thing from hot-blooded, wildly gesturing Mediterranean continentals, not the polite and reserved English.  Especially when it was 30 years ago.

You'd think she played soccer or something with reactions like that.

Guess what, plenty of Brits are not polite and reserved.

[mongers]

I bet the North Koreans are damned pissed, what with this knocking them off the front pages, they'll have to resort to offing another Dear Leader or threatening Venus with nuclear conflagration. 

[Josquius]

Wow.  Even the goofballs whose lives were defined by him didn't act that way when Nixon died.  And only the goofiest Hansmeister fucks would do that with Jimmy Carter or Obama.

Stay classy, England.

Are you really surprised? It has been pretty well established over the years that a significative amount of people in Britain truly despised her, even decades after her governments. You can't honestly say that you didn't expect it.

Except as been raised earlier, a lot of the people that are going attend such events are people Tyr's age and younger - i.e. people who really know little about her.

I was just a kid when she was actually in power, that much is true, but I was born during her reign and all throughout my childhood I lived in the shadow of her destruction. Major didn't come in and then suddenly everything was better again, even Blair didn't undo too much of her mess. Its stupid to say that because we weren't around at the time we can't hate what she did. So much of what is wrong in this country today can be traced squarely back to her.

Yep, no choice. Must act like classless hooligans!

Having a party is acting like a hooligan?

[Jacob]

Fucking with her private funeral and making fun of her family at a time like this would be unacceptable.
Since the establishment sees fit to make it a big public event in which they glorify her 'work' then the people have no choice really but to act counter to this.

Yep, no choice. Must act like classless working class hooligans!

Pretty much, yeah.

[The Larch]

Yeah, it's not like lots of Brits aren't on record as saying they'll be breaking out the champagne or otherwise celebrating Maggie's death. Lots and lots of people think she fucked up their lives, or the lives of people they cared about.

CC commented recently about being surprised about Billy Elliot being so blatantly anti-Thatcher, IIRC. In my observation, it's pretty much the baseline of sentiment re: Thatcher amongst huge swathes of the British population. Ask in Glasgow or Liverpool or Sheffield or indeed Brixton what people think of her, and you'll find that Tyr's opinions here are fairly mild and measured in comparison. At least that's my impression.

I guess CC hasn't watched any Ken Loach movies, then.

[OttoVonBismarck]

And lest anyone think it is just clownish Carter bashing, Carter at a time of great national crisis (after 9/11) was openly criticizing the Bush administration. Now, I'm fine with the facts lots of Americans or foreigners criticized Bush, that's not only fine but necessary--as he deserved it many times. But there was an age old understanding that Presidents once out of office were to be statesmen, it is not your job to criticize whoever holds the office after you. There will always be enough people in line to do any necessary criticism, doing it as an ex-President is far out of sync with how ex-Presidents traditionally behave, especially when you do it from overseas. When Bush gave his first set of post-Presidency interviews he said he had absolutely nothing but respect for every ex-President save one, and while he wouldn't say the name of the one he had a problem with he said, "I never had a problem with 42." Note that Bush hasn't said a damn negative word about Obama, in stark contrast to Cheney who as Vice President sort of straddles the line and who has repeatedly blasted Obama in public.