Spooky: Palin, the Iron Lady

As the last breath of a dying campaign expires we receive word of what may be the most ridiculous postulation and adoration.

Sarah Palin as flag bearer for a new populist Conservatism, an American Thatcher.

Ronald Maxwell seizes upon this at the Huffington Post:

The same human being in the opposite sexual package, with the same inexperience, lack of curiosity, intellectual dimness, pettiness, inarticulateness, inability to form and express cogent thoughts and ignorance of history and the modern world would not have made the long list, let alone the short one. What is truly remarkable about Sarah Palin is the juxtaposition of her outsized ambition and high self regard with the small person who is really there.

He adds:

Maybe some of those who seek to make the ludicrous comparison with Sarah Palin just weren't old enough to live through the Thatcher era

"Maybe..."?

I was. And did.

Margaret Thatcher went to Oxford fer chris' sakes. She fought unsuccessfully for a parliamentary seat in 1950/51. She became a barrister (Lawyer, to you guys). She became an MP in 1959. She was Secretary of State for Education. Became leader of Conservative Party 1975. Became Prime Minister 1979 (i.e 20+ years of political experience) and held that position for 11 years (one of the longest periods in Parliamentary history). She led the country during the 1982 Falklands War. She narrowly missed being killed by the IRA in 1984. She now sits in the House of Lords as a Baroness and holds many other honours. And yes, she raised a family.

To invite any form of comparison is not just absurd but a deep insult both to Baroness Thatchers' achievements and any right thinking individual, and I was not hardly a supporter of her acerbic conservative politik or policy.

The GOP Palin acolytes must wonder why they suffer the torment and ridicule laid at their feet; perhaps they need to consider the real comparison of Iron Maiden vs "The Iron Lady". They also might be better invested in considering more precise targets such as Enoch Powell (laughingly he was referred to as a maverick!) or, say, Sir Oswald Mosley, for more rabid nationalistic or fascist figures. But even those gentlemen had some ounce of credibility.

This is nothing but intellectual torture.