TheWeeklyStandard: And now the last of them is gone. Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, and Pope John Paul II—three who won the Cold War and, it isn't too much to say, saved the West (at least for a while!)—are no longer with us. Their examples remain.Powerline elaborated on the Standard piece...
They knew what they believed but also knew they had to justify their beliefs, and that one could adjust prudently to circumstances without yielding on principle. They stood firm when in power, and they took risks to get there, challenging the conventional wisdom and the respective establishments of their nations or institutions.
It would only be fitting to attach this classic clip of Lady Thatcher’s last House of Commons speech on November 22, 1990 in which she wittingly rips those politicians who'd criticize her policies of capitalism, while they would advance socialist agendas, "They’d rather have the poor poorer!"Margaret Thatcher died today at age 87. We hear plenty of talk these days about transformative leadership. The assumption of those doing the talking is that such leadership must be “progressive,” i.e., that it will take the followers leftward.
Yet the two great transformative leaders of my lifetime — Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher — were also restorative in many ways. Though not reactionary, both relied heavily on their nation’s traditional norms to launch a devastating counterattack on a status quo that had strayed from those norms. By doing so, they transformed the status quo and pulled their nation back from the brink.
Bill Kristol calls Thatcher, Reagan, and Pope John Paul II “three who saved the West.” He’s referring to their role in winning the Cold War, and that is a key element in Thatcher’s transformative conservatism. But she and Reagan also helped “save the West” through transformative domestic policies. As Kristol puts it, their leadership was about the “defense and renewal of civilization.”
Kristol adds an important caveat when he says that these three saved the West “at least for now.” Nothing is forever, and with the passing of the decades, the U.S. and Britain once more are on the brink.
But an entire generation — my generation — was able to make their way and raise their family in the world that Reagan or Thatcher restoratively transformed. And future generations have the inspirational model of their transformative conservatism.
(I love that last shout, "You can wipe the floor with these people!")
Conservatives, both here and abroad, salute you ma'am, as we hope the UK, and the US, will once again raise leaders of your stature to guide us back from the brink once again. God Bless.
Related links: How The British Left Made Sure Another Margaret Thatcher Was Never Elected: Mass Immigration...
Obama's laughable comments
ADDENDUM: Rush remembers Thatcher, reflecting on her leadership, alongside Reagan's then...and the lack thereof today.
"There is no such leader in America today, there is no such push back. There is no one defending the founding, Conservatism, whatever. The concept of private property, wealth creation. Not publicly, not defiantly, not pushing back. it doesn’t happen."
(Here's a link to that Buckley interview with Thatcher discussing capitalism and a free society)
You undoubtedly heard of Friday's news that 90 million Americans are no longer in the labor force...a staggering statistic. This phenomenon, coupled with the promotion of welfarism and wealth redistribution, along with the openly blatant attacks on capitalism and free society in general, are nothing new however. In fact, it sounds a lot like a re-experiencing of the times that both Thatcher and Reagan faced down. With the departure of Margaret Thatcher, we are reminded of how her leadership helped to reclaim her country from the brink...
Related link: Limbaugh: Lady Thatcher ‘One Of Top Ten People Of All Time’ In Terms Of Liberty And Freedom
Margaret Thatcher’s AWESOME Eulogy For Ronald Reagan: “Freedom And Opportunity For Ordinary People”
Reagan And Thatcher: “We Must Stand Together”… “And That’s Exactly What We’ve Done”
Later last night, Mark Levin also remembered Lady Thatcher...
"It brings a tear to my eye, a pride really, to listen to what this lady had to say. Just spectacular."
