October 13, 2006

Happy Birthday, Baroness Thatcher!

Thatcher.jpg

The Rt Hon. Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, FRS, aka "the Iron Lady" was born this day in 1925. Along with Dutch Reagan and John Paul II, she will be forever honored for helping to win the Cold War and causing the collapse of the Soviet Empire.

Two things come to mind about Mrs. Thatcher.

The first is the Monty Python episode entitled "How to Recognize Different Parts of the Body." In a snide little political dig, the Team throws this one in:

Cut to Gilliam-type open-head picture, with arrow superimposed.
Voice Over: Number twenty-five. The brain.
Cut to picture of Magaret Thatcher. Arrow points to her knee.
Voice Over: Number twenty-six. Magaret Thatcher's brain.

Ha, ha. As much as I love Python, every time I see that bit, I can't help thinking "jackasses."

The second is that I got to see Mrs. Thatcher at the top of her game when I was knocking about Parliament as a research assistant. One memorable afternoon during Prime Minister's Question Time, Neil Kinnock, then the head of the Labour Party, got up and asked some snide, snarky question about some policy or other that was designed solely to embarass the PM and score some cheap debating points. Mrs. Thatcher took that shot and volleyed it right back down Kinnock's throat. Her reply was so masterful that it left the man literally speechless. He simply slumped back down shaking his head dazedly, as the Tory back benches erupted in cheers. It was the most amazing bit of political combat I've ever seen.

Iron Lady, indeed.

YIPS from Steve-O: No, the most amazing bit of political comedy I've ever seen was watching from the Senate gallery the following year Joe Biden deliver the same harrangue, only to have Bob Dole rise up and say, "Why is the gentleman from Delaware calling me 'Madame Prime Minister'? Bob Dole don't like anyone calling him a woman. Bob Dole's going to come over and stick this pencil in your throat."

Posted by Robert at October 13, 2006 09:10 AM | TrackBack
Comments

I love the give and take in Parliament. I often wonder how Congress would fare if they were a bit more free from the restricted procedures. Where the Brits are polite in their rowdiness, I feat our Yankee politicos would end up in a profanity-laden brawl.

Posted by: jen at October 13, 2006 09:47 AM

feat = fear

Posted by: jen at October 13, 2006 09:47 AM

You'd have to go back a long ways to find someone better at Question Time than her. Even if you read the record, as opposed to watching it, her wit and her intelligence are on full display.

It also helps to have her voice in your head when reading it, too. That enhances the effect. ;)

Posted by: Kathy at October 13, 2006 10:21 AM

Not long ago, I re-watched The Meaning of Life, and right off the bat I was irked by the Pythons' update of one of their classic lines: "In 1983, the British Empire lay in ruins under a disastrous monetarist economic policy..."

In fact, there were several bits in the film that annoyed me, not one of which bothered me when it was first released. That says a lot about how drastically my social and political views have changed since those days. Also, it says a lot about how grumpy I am.

Posted by: utron at October 13, 2006 02:59 PM

I've often wondered if that nickname was somehow associated with that hairstyle.

(BTW, did once have a chance to hear her speak in person - it was about 91-92 and she spoke about Russia and the fall of the iron curtain - and to say that she completely rocks would be an understatement.)

Posted by: bobgirrl at October 13, 2006 11:41 PM

Many Happy Returns, Maggie.

Posted by: Boy Named Sous at October 14, 2006 01:55 PM