Margaret Thatcher

Time’s Foroohar Uses Thatcher’s Death to Dismiss Free Market Principles
By Paul Bremmer | April 11, 2013 | 3:07 PM EDT


Legendary British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has passed away, and given that she was a conservative, PBS can’t let her go without finding some way to criticize her. On Tuesday evening’s PBS NewsHour, Time Magazine’s Rana Foroohar was brought on to discuss Thatcher’s legacy. Why Foroohar? Well, according to anchor Gwen Ifill, not only does she cover economics and business, she also lived in Britain for nine years.

Foroohar got right to work, describing Thatcher as a “very divisive character” and a “very, very polarizing figure.” Ifill asked her if there are presently any heirs to Thatcher’s world view, and Foroohar responded that Thatcher’s heirs reside in the developing world and emerging markets. These countries are at a stage where Thatcher’s ideas of privatization and free markets can help them, according to Foroohar.

MSNBC's O'Donnell Frets Americans 'Suffer Deprivations' Because of Low Taxes
By Brad Wilmouth | April 10, 2013 | 4:00 PM EDT

On Tuesday's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, MSNBC host O'Donnell fretted that people "suffer deprivations" in the United States because the U.S. is the "world's biggest tax haven" with a relatively low tax burden compared to other countries. After showing his viewers a chart recounting that the U.S. ranks 31st in the percentage of the economy the government collects in taxes, O'Donnell added:

Bozell Column: Remembering (and Forgetting) Thatcher
By Brent Bozell | April 9, 2013 | 10:26 PM EDT

The legendary British prime minister Margaret Thatcher has died, and the national media tried to pay their respects, not only for breaking Britain’s “glass ceiling” with a “bruising” political style, but for transforming Britain and helping wind down the Cold War. 

Still, Thatcher was a conservative and one of Ronald Reagan’s staunchest friends in the world, so you can be sure these journalists were Thatcher-bashers when she was in power. Some of them were American anchors and reporters.

Angry Leftists Bully Spice Girl Geri Halliwell to Remove Tweet Praising Margaret Thatcher
By Randy Hall | April 9, 2013 | 8:23 PM EDT

The tumult over the death of Margaret Thatcher on Monday has continued online, where Geri Halliwell, an original member of the Spice Girls singing group, apologized to the many people who were angered when “Ginger Spice” called the former British Prime Minister “the original Spice Girl.”

“I'm sorry if I offended u...x,” @GeriHalliwell posted regarding her earlier Twitter message that stated: “Thinking of our 1st lady of girl power ... a green grocer's daughter who taught me any thing is possible.”

MSNBC's Hayes Lauds 'Beloved' UK National Health Care as 'Great Hallmark'
By Brad Wilmouth | April 9, 2013 | 5:52 PM EDT

On Monday's All In show on MSNBC, host Chris Hayes praised Britain's "beloved" national health care program as possibly "one of the great hallmarks of western social democracy," as he admitted to delivering criticism from a liberal point of view of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's administration.

Avalanche of Hate Causes UK Paper to Block Comments on All Margaret Thatcher Articles
By Randy Hall | April 9, 2013 | 3:59 PM EDT

Upon learning that former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher had died of a stroke on Monday, the Daily Telegraph published an obituary that stated she “was not only Britain’s first woman prime minister, she was also the outstanding peacetime leader of the 20th century.”

But just hours later, the newspaper had to shut down all comment sections on articles related to the passing of the 87-year-old baroness due to “abuse” by posters discussing both positive and negative stories about Thatcher.

Margaret Thatcher a 'Dominant Yet Divisive Figure' Who Helped 'Unravel Social Compacts', Says NY Times
By Clay Waters | April 9, 2013 | 2:17 PM EDT

The death at 87 of former British Prime Minister and Cold War conservative icon Margaret Thatcher was marked with a respectful obituary on Tuesday's New York Times front page by Joseph Gregory: "'Iron Lady' Who Set Britain on a New Course."

A front-page "news analysis" by reporters John Burns and Alan Cowell was more objectionable, "Hard Policies In Hard Times." The online headline picked a fight: "Thatcher Fiscal Policies Are Still a Tough Sell for Europe."

NBC: Margaret Thatcher 'Too Controversial' for State Funeral; 'Dancing in the Streets' Upon Her Death
By Kyle Drennen | April 9, 2013 | 1:04 PM EDT

During a report on Tuesday's NBC Today, correspondent Michelle Kosinski took gratuitous shots at Margaret Thatcher while detailing funeral plans for the former British prime minister who died Monday: "...many feel this is appropriate that it will not be a state funeral because she remains so controversial....How controversial is Thatcher still today?...in Glasgow, jubilant dancing in the streets." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Kosinski did explain that a friend of Thatcher's "was quoted as saying that [Thatcher] herself did not want [a state funeral], thinking it would be a waste of money." However, during a news brief in the 9 a.m. ET hour, anchor Natalie Morales stated Kosinski's initial remark about the funeral plans as fact: "Although Thatcher will receive a large ceremonial funeral with full military honors, it will not be state funeral. Thatcher, known as the Iron Lady, was apparently too controversial for that honor."

Priorities: USA Today Print Edition Puts Thatcher Coverage Below the Fold on Page 1
By Tom Blumer | April 9, 2013 | 9:23 AM EDT

Coverage of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's death and life was relegated to below the fold at USA Today this morning (pictured here; the paper stopped posting front-page pics two years ago).

Three items above the fold (excluding left-side teases to coverage of other stories) were considered more important that the Iron Lady's passing: "Remembering Annette Funicello"; a "Duplicate programs waste billions" item about wasteful government spending (useful, but it's not as if we didn't know this already); and to top it off, a 6x6 photo from the first half of the NCAA men's basketball finals, the result of which the paper was unable to report because the game ended after its publication deadline.

Daily Kos: Thatcher's Death Celebrated Because She Committed Grand 'International Larceny' for the Rich
By Tim Graham | April 9, 2013 | 8:16 AM EDT

If anyone was going to dance in the streets when Margaret Thatcher died, you could reliably find a Daily Kos blogger with two turntables and a microphone.

"Ollie Garkey" protested that Thatcher's economic policies were "the greatest case of international larceny in history...far harsher than even Ronald Reagan's economic policies. Thatcher destroyed whole industries in places like Wales and Scotland just to be rid of the unions supported by those industries."

Daily Beast Offers Hate Forum for '80s Pop Star Who Sang of 'Margaret on the Guillotine'
By Tim Graham | April 8, 2013 | 10:38 PM EDT

On his well-titled 1988 solo album “Viva Hate,” the British pop star Morrissey sang “Margaret on the guillotine / Cause people like you / Make me feel so tired / When will you die?”

Twenty-five years later, Thatcher has died, and Morrissey’s hate is still going strong. Tina Brown’s Daily Beast website provided a forum for Morrissey proclaiming Thatcher was “a terror without an atom of humanity.” He began by mocking the “Iron Lady” nickname:

CNN Says Thatcher 'Decimated' British Communities, Industries
By Matt Hadro | April 8, 2013 | 4:41 PM EDT

Reporting on the late Margaret Thatcher's legacy on Monday, CNN correspondent Max Foster hyped that she "decimated entire industries" in Britain and "decimated communities across the UK." He also cited Gerry Adams, the public face of the IRA for decades, as a valid critic of Thatcher -- as did CNN anchor Ashleigh Banfield.

In addition to citing praise for Thatcher, Foster offered a blistering critique on Monday's Starting Point: "This was the prime minister that decimated entire industries in the United Kingdom during her period in power as she broke the miners unions in a push towards privatization to create a more flexible British economy, which it has become. But she decimated communities across the UK. And a lot of people absolutely despise her legacy."