Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The Iron Lady speaks

The UK’s first (and still only) female Prime Minister arrived in 1979 determined to reverse a “precipitous national decline” similar to the one encroaching our nation today. And she succeeded. So take a moment to observe the manner and conviction in which The Right Honourable Margaret Thatcher responded to the opposition during her final Q&A in the British House of Commons on November 22, 1990 – and then consider how these brief exchanges compare to the debate raging here in America today.


“Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope.”
– Margaret Thatcher; May 4, 1979

3 comments:

Jonathan said...

Thatcher and Reagan were unlike any others. Thanks for the reminder.

Ipmilat said...

Saint Francis's prayer did not come true for most Brits. The eighties under Thatcher was a decade of 'survival of the fittest' rapacity - usual shit where the rich got vastly richer and the poor considerably poorer, for all Thatcher's rhetoric here at Prime Minister's Question Time. This latter is a weekly 30 minute theatre of predictable mud-slinging and self-congratulation which we could do without.

AMW said...

In the words of economist and author Thomas Sowell, “No society ever thrived because it had a large and growing class of parasites living off those who produce.” That said, neither Thatcher nor Reagan remain well-regarded for their faultlessness. They are extolled for accomplishments that far outnumber their disappointments.

Indeed one might argue that these titans of Conservatism set the bar a little too high, as each so-called leader who’s followed since have yet to equal – let alone surpass – the overall success and fortitude typified by Ronnie (God rest his soul) and the Baroness.