Well that depends on who you talk to.....

I knew folks in the UK might have a different outlook as politicians are always controversial. Why do you say that, DL? What do you think she should have done differently?

Ummm, how about not selling off all the country's assets.

I don't know - I think it's *definitely* a scary thought to lose a mind like that.


You never know *WHERE* it might show up next.




*edit* and why the downvotes for DL?

I personally think she was a great mind and a good leader. What I meant by the comment I made was that if you talk to the unions and people involved in the unions when Thatcher was in power then they might not agree that a mind like hers is a terrible thing to lose.

Thatcher managed to destroy the power of the trade unions for almost a generation. Her policies and strategies led to the miners strikes in 1984, that were a big deal in British politics and the way Thatcher orchestrated the handling of them and indeed the initiation of them was very controversial

Only recently have the unions begun to find their feet again.

Like I say I think she did a lot of good for Britain but she was a hard lady and a controversial figure hence my first comment. I overlooked the fact that any non-Brits may not know the controversial side of her.

Personal grudge downvote maybe dude, not to do with the actual comment I don't think?

That said maybe some thought I was being uncaring towards Thatchers mental decline, if that's the case then they obviously didn't realize the full background of Thatcher and the fact that a lot of people despised her, which is why I made my initial comment.

Thank you!

Ah - quite right.

Thatcher's always been a very controversial figure with people either loving or hating her depending on your background.

I came from a conservative family in a working class village, so I really got both sides of Thatcher.

That being said, yes - it is an absolute tragedy to suffer from any sort of mental illness, regardless of who you are or what you've done.

I downvoted you, Doggy. It was a mean, spiteful thing to say. Even if you don't like the woman, it is an insidious thing to happen to anyone.
I'm going to guess you have never had to deal with it.

I have no idea about her politics, I just never kept up on the UK. I do know that you either loved her or hated her, there didn't seem to be a middle. But this article was not about her politics.

Like I said in my subsequent comment, I actually thought she was a great mind and a good leader. There's many of people who don't/didn't think she was a great mind but rather did Britain a lot of damage during her time as PM.

It was a comment on peoples perceptions on whether she had a great mind or not, not a ""spiteful, mean comment". It was stating a fact not a mean, spiteful opinion.

Spiteful and mean would have been something like, "Well, she never had a great mind to begin with".

My nan suffered Alzheimer's for a good deal of years so why would I be making "mean" and "spiteful" comments about dementia?!

The comments HERE about a politicians health are mean and spiteful on the other hand!

I have to admit, my first reaction to the "mind like hers is a terrible thing to lose" comment was exactly the same as DLs. Nothing to do with her condition but more to do with "minds like hers".

There *are* plenty of people out there who wish this would have happened 20 years ago which I think was the root of the comment.

Ah, you verbalised the meaning behind my comment far better than I did, lol.

My initial comment was a social commentary type comment as opposed to a "Haha, isn't mental illness funny" kind of a comment.

Alright, fair enough.
I actually upvoted your second comment. I just saw no reason for the first one.

Bingo your downvote was completely unjust. Doggy never said anything about the woman. He said that some people might not agree.... not him, not anyone else on here, just some people.

Personally growing up in Scotland in the 80's I would say that she didn't have a "brilliant" mind. She ran the country into the ground and sold of all of our national assets. Sad that she is going loopy but a loss to the country? I don't think so.

Alright everyone. I took back the downvote. There is no need to gang up on me.

My perception was that he was being mean spirited. Apparently I was wrong.

The downvote didn't even figure into my comments to you, I was annoyed at the "mean and spiteful" comment for the reasons we've just discussed in pm's.

Wow, seems Thatcher can cause controversy still then :D

Just to flip sides for a minute, I can see how DLs comments *appeared* mean and spiteful when viewed from a certain angle and comments that are nothing but mean and spiteful *should* be downvoted IMO.

I just didn't read DLs comments as mean and spiteful.

It's ok Bingo - everyone's cool :-D

I've been on plime too much. I read that as "during her time as Plime Message."

*goes to log off/lay down* Oye.

I don't particularly care if I get downvoted here but I will say that I am not fond of Thatcher. Sure I am a 21 year old American, perhaps too young and not entirely educated in British history to form a more coherent opinion, but I have read enough to know that she was a cold-hearted witch.

She virulently opposed unions, despised the Irish, was a close ally to R. Reagan (the anti-christ???? jk), forced the British into the Falklands war, supported Bush Sr. in the securing of oil reserves... I mean the Gulf War, sought to privatize public industries for the elite class, etc.

I guess she stands for everything I'm against and thus I am not a fan of Maggie.

I agree with everything you have said except the part about Ronald Raygun. The only reason I am not agreeing is because I know nothing about him except that he was president the same time as Thatcher was PM. I tend not to pass judgement on things and people I know nothing about.