La dame de fer(the iron lady) has departed with her coat buttoned and her dignity intact, as my mother might have said.
A few days ago, on the streets around Trafalgar Square, it was an entirely other matter.
The antagonism the Iron Lady Prime Minister provoked was amazing.
Glenda Jackson spewed venom in the house of commons, mob demonstrations took place on London streets, anger not displayed since the poll tax days.
Unbridled hatred from men and women of all rungs along the rickety social ladder, united by intense, and longstanding grudges against MT.
Bile from all classes, and the usual outpourings from the usual gentlemen with the rotten teeth, a scene Dickens would have relished.
With 4000 police and cameras watching every step, the protesters had no luck at the parade. As the coffin made its way along the route, shouts and boos were drowned with applause.
The Iron Lady Prime Minister was not some kind of she-devil.
Her limitations and prejudices were on show, yes, indeed they were; never hidden, and to her credit, she never flinched from criticism. Her ambition was obvious; Margaret Thatcher owned up to and expressed her ideas to the hilt; she was often unbearable.
She was a decisive, if at times, misguided and obstinate leader. My ancestors in Ireland may spin in their graves, I'm supposed to dislike her yet I admire her great spirit. Perhaps Margaret didn't spare much of a thought for those who stumbled outside of her ideology; people such asthe Irish, or those whom she regarded as 'terrorists',people like Nelson Mandela (and maybe also the Scots, was the Baroness of Kilmarnock at St Pauls I wonder?).
This is the common legend, and we base our hatred on her 'cruel and callous' personality.
But how much of this anti-Thatcherism is rhetoric, stemming from an equally vicious left wing, a branch of seething 'socialism', stripped of its innate power and dignity, reduced to mere rabble rousing hatred of individuality, untenable as that individuality may appear in their eyes. Did Margaret Thatcher do this?
Or was socialism already in decline by the time she put the final nail in the lid of its coffin.
In Brighton, her stance against the bombers was brave, foolhardy, and politically brilliant. I believe she was right in facing down the IRA, and who cannot admire such a show of strength against the extortionists of fear.
Her political reign was filled with conflict and social change. Yet, when the dust settles we may remember her differently, or not.
If nothing else, great leaders, powerful leaders ought to be examined. We should probe their hearts, and their minds, try to understand their characters, observe their greatnesses and their flaws; learn from them in a balanced, detached, and yes, scientific way, as cold as that seems.
Adopting political hate slogans is not the answer; it's a strategy of the hopeless. Why not acknowledge the artfulness of a distinctive mind. Whatever else she was, Margaret Thatcher was one of the most remarkable people on the planet, at least during the latter half of the 20th Century.
That may be her legend.
A few days ago, on the streets around Trafalgar Square, it was an entirely other matter.
The antagonism the Iron Lady Prime Minister provoked was amazing.
Glenda Jackson spewed venom in the house of commons, mob demonstrations took place on London streets, anger not displayed since the poll tax days.
Unbridled hatred from men and women of all rungs along the rickety social ladder, united by intense, and longstanding grudges against MT.
Bile from all classes, and the usual outpourings from the usual gentlemen with the rotten teeth, a scene Dickens would have relished.
With 4000 police and cameras watching every step, the protesters had no luck at the parade. As the coffin made its way along the route, shouts and boos were drowned with applause.
The Iron Lady Prime Minister was not some kind of she-devil.
Her limitations and prejudices were on show, yes, indeed they were; never hidden, and to her credit, she never flinched from criticism. Her ambition was obvious; Margaret Thatcher owned up to and expressed her ideas to the hilt; she was often unbearable.
She was a decisive, if at times, misguided and obstinate leader. My ancestors in Ireland may spin in their graves, I'm supposed to dislike her yet I admire her great spirit. Perhaps Margaret didn't spare much of a thought for those who stumbled outside of her ideology; people such asthe Irish, or those whom she regarded as 'terrorists',people like Nelson Mandela (and maybe also the Scots, was the Baroness of Kilmarnock at St Pauls I wonder?).
This is the common legend, and we base our hatred on her 'cruel and callous' personality.
But how much of this anti-Thatcherism is rhetoric, stemming from an equally vicious left wing, a branch of seething 'socialism', stripped of its innate power and dignity, reduced to mere rabble rousing hatred of individuality, untenable as that individuality may appear in their eyes. Did Margaret Thatcher do this?
Or was socialism already in decline by the time she put the final nail in the lid of its coffin.
In Brighton, her stance against the bombers was brave, foolhardy, and politically brilliant. I believe she was right in facing down the IRA, and who cannot admire such a show of strength against the extortionists of fear.
Her political reign was filled with conflict and social change. Yet, when the dust settles we may remember her differently, or not.
If nothing else, great leaders, powerful leaders ought to be examined. We should probe their hearts, and their minds, try to understand their characters, observe their greatnesses and their flaws; learn from them in a balanced, detached, and yes, scientific way, as cold as that seems.
Adopting political hate slogans is not the answer; it's a strategy of the hopeless. Why not acknowledge the artfulness of a distinctive mind. Whatever else she was, Margaret Thatcher was one of the most remarkable people on the planet, at least during the latter half of the 20th Century.
That may be her legend.
About the Author:
Read more thoughts about Margaret Thatcher. Stop by Olive Onion's page or visit Nick Bibbyat New London Bloggers. We print fresh new articles.
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