Wow! As a Yank I never realized how much bitterness there is across the pond towards her. I am in absolutely no position to speak pro or con about her domestic policies so I defer to you but on the international front (Faulklands aside) she, Reagan and the German chancellor (forget his name atm...dam* senior moment!) were the backbone of the west standing up to Soviet intimidation. Remember those short/intermediate range missiles deployed along western european borders? Those three leaders, in particular, took huge amounts of heat from the press and the "peace movements". German leadership, more so than the US and UK, had to deal with enormous public outcries.

She may be what you say she is, but for helping bring down the Iron Curtain she deserves at least this Yank's thanks. Ducks for cover...

quote:

Originally posted by sgilewicz:
Wow! As a Yank I never realized how much bitterness there is across the pond towards her. I am in absolutely no position to speak pro or con about her domestic policies so I defer to you but on the international front (Faulklands aside) she, Reagan and the German chancellor (forget his name atm...dam* senior moment!) were the backbone of the west standing up to Soviet intimidation. Remember those short/intermediate range missiles deployed along western european borders? Those three leaders, in particular, took huge amounts of heat from the press and the "peace movements". German leadership, more so than the US and UK, had to deal with enormous public outcries.

She may be what you say she is, but for helping bring down the Iron Curtain she deserves at least this Yank's thanks. Ducks for cover...

You are referring to Helmut Kohl. Don't get me started over him.

OMG him too! Is there anyone over there you guys like? Tough audience!

You guys brought down the Iron curtain yourselves just by forcing Russia into economic collapse by consatnly upping the ante of the arms race.

We played a part but If we hadn't it would have still come down.

quote:

You guys brought down the Iron curtain yourselves just by forcing Russia into economic collapse by consatnly upping the ante of the arms race.

We played a part but If we hadn't it would have still come down.

That's true to a great extent Aimail but remember this played out on your home countries. Calling the Soviets bluff would only work if the western European nations allowed retaliatory weapons to be placed on their home turfs. You guys had some pretty big cajones staring down that threat. It wasn't the USA that was looking at annihilation within a matter of a minute or two. It was one of Europe's finer hours and should be respected for the great risk that it was.

Tough thread. Public mainstream grants Thatcherism at least partial merit for why Great Britain is better of today than Germany economically, greater GDP per capita in UK and - surprise - low-pay job sector greater in D than in UK.

However, no German chancellor, not even Angie, ever claimed that there was nothing as society.

Pinochet was to be extradited to Spain because his orders had led to the savage torture and murder of Spanish citizens. I guess that's the same the UK or US courts would have done had the victims been British or US citizens.

But this lady (?) not only protected this Klaus Barbie wannabe, and helped him fake his feigned inability to stand a trial, but publicly insulted the Spanish people and gave him a nice present when he was sent again to Chile to 'miraculously' recover: a silver tray, engraved with a scene of Battle of Trafalgar.

Well, I have nothing against this episode in History and its relevance and brilliancy as a fair British victory. But her intention: to make it look as a symbol and mockery because the old farts could now laugh together at Spanish victims and law system, was so clear and outrageous that I'd have her strangled with my bare hands, should I have her near.

If Pinochet once supported the UK in the Falklands affair, sure it was not because out of love for Britain, but because he sought interests in the Antartida against Argentina. In any case, a very doubtful friend to have, and one nobody should like to have a photo with.

I can't believe the British could one day support this ugly nazi b*tch as their leader. It's beyond my understanding.

quote:

Originally posted by sgilewicz:
Wow! As a Yank I never realized how much bitterness there is across the pond towards her. ...

Alan Bleasdale's TV series "The Boys From The Blackstuff" said everything that needed to be said about the Thatcher era ,a horribly depressing watch,I think you can still find it on You Tube the complete series broken up into parts of course, his quote on the series "I believe with a passion Margaret Thatcher contributed hugely to a decline in care, community and decency of values."

quote:

Originally posted by sgilewicz:
Wow! As a Yank I never realized how much bitterness there is across the pond towards her. I am in absolutely no position to speak pro or con about her domestic policies so I defer to you but on the international front (Faulklands aside) she, Reagan and the German chancellor (forget his name atm...dam* senior moment!) were the backbone of the west standing up to Soviet intimidation. Remember those short/intermediate range missiles deployed along western european borders? Those three leaders, in particular, took huge amounts of heat from the press and the "peace movements". German leadership, more so than the US and UK, had to deal with enormous public outcries.

She may be what you say she is, but for helping bring down the Iron Curtain she deserves at least this Yank's thanks. Ducks for cover...

Things always look greener from the otherside. But we could see how the US thought Thatcher was wonderful. Of course, she wasn`t ruling you or you may have thought differently. While you guys thought she was a goddess, civil war in England was on the verge of breaking out...

I also agree with Aimail, that wall would`ve come down regardless.

And then theres the poll tax..............

I think that Elvis Costello summed up what many people would do when the old hag finally kicks the bucket in his song Tramp The Dirt Down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy3-R97wDKs

Cant! Oh, sorry, I misspelt it.

Never said I liked her.
Maybe I should explain a bit!
Back in '82 I worked for a company that had quite a bit of overtime making stuff for the war.Most of it went down on the Atlantic Conveyor.
A few years later I was working for another company that was making stuff for the Iraq war.
Only thing was,that stuff was going to Saddam.
Different government in charge,different war,same sh*te!
It really doesn't matter who the government is,they are all pretty much the same.

quote:

Originally posted by Aimail101:
And then theres the poll tax..............

I still remember throwing rocks!

Last post for a while


1: You're quite happily walking down the street with your friend when, from nowhere, said friend gets inexplicably hit over the head and spat on by a ****ed 15 yr old in rolled up tracksuit bottoms inches away from an Asbo and you think to yourself "Perhaps if we hadn't had a Prime Minister who for 11 years determinedly went about destroying the working classes and declaring them as lazy, uncouth and anti-social, their children wouldn't be behaving this way and have some hope of a secure job, a stable family and a future. Perhaps it would also have been nice for him if his grandparents hadn't been ripped off when their council homes were sold back to them just in time for them to lose everything they had ever owned anyway when the economy crashed through the floor. That would be the bust immediately following the boom then. Yep, that was a good idea." Still, all is well, comrade, because his more privileged contemporaries have taken on ole scraggy-face's view of the "underclass" and can now have hours and hours of smashing fun by dressing up as such "chavs" for the night and thus perpetuate a level of alienation that will continue to manifest itself in random acts of violence for the foreseeable future.

2: You're quite happily driving along and you approach one of the many pointless mini-roundabouts cluttering up wherever you live. As you've been musing over one of the many other problems in which blame can be ascribed to the Evil One, you have only just noticed the chaos surrounding said mini-roundabout. Two separate companies are digging up the road on different sides of the little ball of confusion and you think to yourself "I can be pretty sure if Thatcher's love affair with privatisation hadn't led to the constant sub-delegation of local authorities' powers then that crazy loony left-wing notion of communication may have pervaded and they would have carried out the works at different times, having acknowledged the problems that two sets of temporary traffic lights within spitting distance of one another could cause for the local council (cough *poll* cough) tax-payers." This one can really go on, as what would have been a 15 minute journey edges on an hour.

3: And go on it does, as you are sat quite unhappily in your car, rueing the fact that your contribution to global warming for the day has just quadrupled, you notice that figure of obnoxiousness, the 4x4, in front of you. As you watch your windscreen clog up with filth from the offending exhaust before your very eyes, you think, "If it wasn't for the rampant individualism (nb. very effective euphemism for selfishness, there) that Thatcherism unashamedly promoted, then perhaps we may have stopped to think that "choice" was not necessarily a peremptory right - particularly when applied to all aspects of the consumer sphere. And if we had stopped to think of this, it may not now be the case that it's ****ing 20 degrees in the middle of February." You can stop to console yourself with the fact that when their "off-roader" fails to drive underwater, this polluting Thatcherite may have to concede on the society/individuals point.

4: But for now the concession is yours and, as the socially responsible individual you are, you accept the dangers of global warming and get the bus. On this bus, you are quietly thinking to yourself about how Thatcher's promotion of business in politics and consumer choice arguably gave birth to 'spin'. A woman behind you, who can only be returning from a hard day's work as a banshee, answers her phone when the Pussycat Dolls alert her to an imminent call from a friend who you suspect was one of the worst affected by Maggie's milk-snatching antics. She answers and instantly treats an entire bus-load of people to a one-sided discussion on the world-shattering issue of "last night". You think to yourself, "if it weren't for the same rampant individualism that has led to me being on this bus, then I wouldn't have to listen to this harpee who has no idea that her sonic imposition is actually really ****ing rude actually and that everyone else in the world hates her. Scratch that, she knows, but she doesn't care, because Thatcher taught us, somewhat ironically, that balls count. They count above reason, consideration and compassion for other people. You go for it, lady! Because then you can do whatever you want and ****ting all over people instead of just giving a **** about them is, quite simply,just the spirit needed for you to go out and make lots and lots and lots of money - most of which will go to people who were born much richer than you will ever be. All because of Thatcher. The bitch.

However one thing Thatcher didn't do was erode personal responsibility, our current government did that whilst managing to continue Thatcherite policies.