Sarah Palin gets the spiteful Margaret Thatcher treatment

[HAL 9000 96]

Now we can compare Palin to Thatcher??? I don't think so....

Totally missed the point didn't you? The OP didn't say Palin was like Thatcher but her treatment in the press is similar.

Not by "liberals" it wasn't...

Right.....

Gary - the political landscape of the UK in the 80's and late 70's isn't the same as it is here. There wasn't really a liberal opposition to Thatcher back then - the people who opposed her were the people in her own party and the socialist Old Labour party.

The label really makes no difference. The smears are the same and its wrong. The label of the people doing it really isn't germane.

Kind of the same as labeling all kinds of things on this side of the pond in 2008.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I think its weird given that few people outside of Alaska had actually heard of Palin until the other day.

Suddenly she hits the headlines at the convention and we're all supposed to see shades of other "courageous women leaders". Its just part of the usual hysteria - like Obama Palin is something of an unknown quantity as far as National politics is concerned - though its clearer where she stands (basically a textbook Republican agenda). If you don't want a Republican agenda - then Palin isn't going to do anything for you.

I suggested her as a running mate back when McCain clinched the nomination. I have known who she is since she was elected governor of Alaska. A lot more people knew of her than you think.

I expect partisans to be at least somewhat familiar with who runs what, where.

I'm actually going to agree with Gary here - I follow the business news more closely than some - the cable business news networks, which are actually generally pretty sober on partisanship have had hereon frequently over the past 6 months to talk about energy issues. Almost as much as T. Boone Pickens.

Which is how I knew how wrong all the people who assumed she was going to be a walkover would be proven

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

The iron lady who ruled the british empire similar to a hockey mom who rules a state w/a population of less than a million, give me a f...ing break people are you mental???

You are starting to see things...

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

The iron lady who ruled the british empire similar to a hockey mom who rules a state w/a population of less than a million, give me a f...ing break people are you mental???

You are starting to see things...

THe British Empire was pretty much gone in 1979

[Peikko 1,575]

Yes, it was, but Mrs T had a substantial political career and she never whined about press treatment (allbe it wasn't necessary because the press didn't really give her a hard time on either being a woman, or her family's decisions. They did question her decision to lower and slow her speaking voice. Mind you, I personally didn't think that was a bad idea). I didn't vote for her, but it wasn't because of her personality it was because I didn't agree with her political ideology and policy.

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

Ok the UNITED KINGDOM then and it's still a crazy idea to compare her to the Iron Lady,

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

Ok the UNITED KINGDOM then and it's still a crazy idea to compare her to the Iron Lady,

The Republicans could argue that it's crazy to compare Obama to Kennedy, who had 6 years experience in the House and 7 in the Senate as well as a distinguished mililtary record before he became president.

I'm not voting for McCain, but making this experience argument about the person who's second on the ticket is probably not a wise place to go for the Democrats.

[Peikko 1,575]

I would agree that that is another example of credibility by association. It didn't work then, it doesn't work now.

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

Ok the UNITED KINGDOM then and it's still a crazy idea to compare her to the Iron Lady,

The Republicans could argue that it's crazy to compare Obama to Kennedy, who had 6 years experience in the House and 7 in the Senate as well as a distinguished mililtary record before he became president.

I'm not voting for McCain, but making this experience argument about the person who's second on the ticket is probably not a wise place to go for the Democrats.

There are wackos everywhere, there point here is to learn to distinguish madness from veracity. I personally think that it's unreal as well to compare Obama with Kennedy .

[bakofoil 27]

Now we can compare Palin to Thatcher??? I don't think so....

Totally missed the point didn't you? The OP didn't say Palin was like Thatcher but her treatment in the press is similar.

I don't think any point was missed. The report states "Like Margaret Thatcher before her, Sarah Palin terrifies those on the political left." Which is a comparison if ever I saw one, although I take your point that the general claim of the article refers to press treatment.

I don't recall Margaret Thatcher ever being the subject of misogyny - she was hated, yes, but because she is a woman? Doubtfully. I am certain she was proud of being known as 'The Iron Lady' and she never relied on being a mother, feminine wiles or having family values to propel her to political success. In fact she seemed very single-minded throughout her political career probably to the detriment of her family. Denis was a boozer and Carol and Mark had various embarrassing run-ins with the popular press.

Nor was she plucked from relative obscurity when she became Prime Minister in 1979. She had been a cabinet minister in Edward Heath's government and later in 1975 became leader of the Conservative Party when they were in opposition. So perhaps, my memory fails me because I was very little OR she had already proven herself as a force to be reckoned with regardless of gender.

These cries of misogyny really annoy me. The press latch onto any little snippet of information that might embarrass ANY politician - this is not new. I think what is really happening here is that the Republicans are placing spin on the fact that they failed to vet her sufficiently. The Republicans are making Sarah Palin a victim - isn't that what she herself suggested in her speech at the Republican convention? That the news media and "Washington elite" were ganging up on the self-professed "hockey mom". It is the Republicans who are pushing this story because Palin is someone they believe ordinary working class people can relate to.

I'm not sure any ordinary people could ever relate to Thatcher and I doubt that she ever claimed bullying or misogyny had interfered with her political career.

Edited September 4, 2008 by bakofoil