April 9, 2013

Rush Limbaugh calls Margaret Thatcher "one of the greatest Americans, quote, unquote, that I've ever met."

He describes a dinner party at which the hostess, Gay Gaines had seated him next to her longtime friend Margaret Thatcher and was urging him to talk about the latest political issue, which he said he was too tired to do. Thatcher said  "Gay, he doesn't wish to speak about politics. So let's talk of the rule of law" and, as Rush puts it:
... bam, there we are off on a discussion, the rule of law. She loved the founders. She absolutely thought they were the most brilliant people, 'cause they were Brits, don't forget. Our founders were British. She loved them.

She loved Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson was it. But she loved them all. She knew the history of this country better than most people in this country do, and she revered it. She was one of the greatest Americans, quote, unquote, that I've ever met.
What topic would you suggest if your tablemate said he was tired of talking about politics? The rule of law?! I'd hear a cue to go somewhere lighthearted. Perhaps something about pop culture.

Here's a "Firing Line" appearance from 1977 that's up at the Rush Limbaugh website:



That's a 15-minute clip, not all of which was played on yesterday's radio show, but here's one of the parts that was:
THATCHER: I think what we've learned in Britain is that we've gradually, over the last certainly 12 or 13 years, with perhaps a little interruption, gone slowly further and further away from the free society towards something else.... At the same time we've found -- I don't find it strange, but some other people do -- that we have stopped creating wealth. We've had a large number of increasing restrictions. And you've been finding two things: First, that we are more and more concentrating on redistributing the wealth we've got, rather than creating any more. To create more, you need a slightly freer society, and you need an incentive society. Naturally when I see that happening, I look with very great alarm to societies which have gone even further left. That is, they've tried to redistribute even more and haven't had the incentives for people working hard on their own account, doing well for their families and often then being able to create jobs for others, they've produced a much more prosperous society than we have. But by and large you've got the two broad, different economic and political approaches.

RUSH: Here we are, 1977, and again, the value here, not just an illustration of who Lady Thatcher was, for those who don't know, but rather in 1977 it was known what is known today. And it was being executed then, as it's being executed now. And in 1977 it failed, i.e., the redistribution of wealth, the stoppage and the creation of wealth, which happens at the same time. The moment a society becomes redistributive, it stops creating wealth. She was cataloging current circumstances in Britain in 1977. And this was, of course, to set up her eventual triumph as prime minister.

68 comments:

rhhardin said...

Great American means brain dead rightwing moonbat, since Hannity took up the term.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

"There is no freedom of discussion".. [when the state owns everything]

Everlasting truth.

Brian Brown said...

Note:

Unemployed Julian Styles, 58, who was made redundant from his factory job in 1984, said: ‘I’ve been waiting for that witch to die for 30 years.

‘Tonight is party time. I’m drinking one drink for every year I’ve been out of work.’



She was pretty spot on in identifying the problems.

MadisonMan said...

Watching that video clip, I found myself telling Buckley to sit up straight. What strange camera angles!

Larry J said...

Remember Obama's gaffe (when he actually said what he really believes) to Joe the Plumber back in 2008? He said he wanted to "spread the wealth around."

Like socialists everywhere, the man is an economic moron. If he were actively trying to destroy the American economy, what things would be be doing differently?

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

"The sky is falling."

-- Chicken Little

virgil xenophon said...

Jay plays the uncharacteristic understatement card..lol.

Roger J. said...

Dame Thatcher reminds us that the founders were, in fact, British. They had deep roots in English Common Law, and were students of the English Civil War. Thus did Jefferson paraphrase John Locke in the Declaration of Independence.

I think also that the British Parliamentary system mold Dame Thatcher in the crucible of "Question Hour," where the PM had to submit to questions from the backbenchers. An admirable tradition IMO.

I could only think how our Presidents (possibly excepting Ronald Reagan and Harry Truman) to responding to a question hour. Perhaps that is a British tradition that we should have continued.

Anonymous said...

She knew why she was a guest and it wasn't to speak about sewing. That was brilliant throwing out a line like that. It could either have elicited howls of laughter at and with Rush, but it had the desired effect to initiate a discussion of heft.

Larry J said...

Jay said...
Note:

Unemployed Julian Styles, 58, who was made redundant from his factory job in 1984, said: ‘I’ve been waiting for that witch to die for 30 years.

‘Tonight is party time. I’m drinking one drink for every year I’ve been out of work.’


Just a hunch, by anyone who hasn't been able to get a job for almost 30 years probably wasn't much of a worker in the first place.

CWJ said...

Redistributing wealth aka burning the furniture.

bagoh20 said...

I know it's a little late, but can I marry Margaret Thatcher?

Almost 4 decades and nothing she was talking about has changed except for the worse. She gave Brits a last shot, and they threw away, as are we. If she was talking on the subject today she could say all the same things, and it would still be refreshing for a politician. Who in politics puts down consensus today. It's the slow leak in the bucket, the design by committee, the management meeting in place of effective action, it's rule by a brain dead bureaucracy.

Writ Small said...

In that interview, Thatcher seemed very much like Reagan in that while Buckley wanted to intellectualize about the subtleties of right-wing thought, Thatcher wanted to reinforce the fundamentals.

bagoh20 said...

"‘Tonight is party time. I’m drinking one drink for every year I’ve been out of work.’"

Why can't we build a society where this man could succeed? We are truly letting him down. It's just not fair.

Douglas2 said...

Sometimes it is possible to talk about first principles without resorting to tribalism, whereas it is almost impossible to talk about contemporary issues without seeking to advance your "side".
It's like discussion of historical figures provides some distance, even where the underlying issues might be the same.

ricpic said...

Thatcher was that rarity, a genuinely serious person, for her a discussion about the law was fun.

chickelit said...

Mitchell the Bat said...The sky is falling.

The sky, comprising mostly nitrogen, is not falling. It's buoyed up by its own accord. There are however, disturbing worries about fallout on the Korean peninsula from a shitty little country nobody likes to talk about.

As for wealth creation--duh--people are against it. It involves making stuff from worthless stuff; digging stuff out of the ground in Northern Wisconsin and sell it downstream; assembling parts to make things whole. Synthesis. It doesn't involve incessant dissembling and tearing stuff down just for bragging rights on who's the best anal-ist.

tim in vermont said...

Speaking of Rush, how is this working out for JCP?

http://thinkprogress.org/media/2012/03/06/439229/jcpenney-drops-rush/

test said...

bagoh20 said...
Almost 4 decades and nothing she was talking about has changed except for the worse. She gave Brits a last shot, and they threw away, as are we.


The consensus in Britain is the conservatives jettisoned her over her Euro skeptic position. Her tax reform was unpopular with the public and allowed them the opportunity, but the Euro was the trigger. How ironic circumstances are discrediting her opponents on this subject in front of our eyes. I'm not sure there's ever been a mainstream political figure more accurate on the big and controversial issues of the time.

Nomennovum said...

The Right: The rule of law.

The Left: Rule by more laws.

Fritz said...

bagoh20 said...

I know it's a little late, but can I marry Margaret Thatcher?


If you wait a while; I'm sure necrophilia will be legalized right after polygamy and bestiality. It is, after all, a victimless crime.

Tim said...

" I look with very great alarm to societies which have gone even further left. That is, they've tried to redistribute even more and haven't had the incentives for people working hard on their own account, doing well for their families and often then being able to create jobs for others, they've produced a much more prosperous society than we have. But by and large you've got the two broad, different economic and political approaches."

Thus, this: Had Labor Participation Held Constant, Unemployment Would Be 11.1 Percent

There is so little hope of employment that nearly half the people unemployed have simply given up.

That is Obama and the Democrats' legacy.

Seeing Red said...

England's Magna Carta. 1 of the most important documents evah!

MadisonMan said...

I thought her discussion of consensus vs. conviction was very good in that interview.

ricpic said...

The British Left got its revenge on Maggie by importing a new people. Infidel liberty doesn't appeal to Mohammed, to put it mildly.

Seeing Red said...

Same as here.

Seeing Red said...

OT: Regarding our recent suburbanization posting, maybe this is what got that harpy's panties in a knot, via Insty:

Houston Rising—Why the Next Great American Cities Aren’t What You Think
by Joel Kotkin Apr 8, 2013 4:45 AM EDT


While urbanists and developers tout the oldest and priciest American cities, they ignore or deplore the real growth that’s happening in more spread-out urban newbies, writes demographer Joel Kotkin.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Note how calm and reserved Margaret Thatcher is in her views. Compare to the shrieking empty leftwing platitudes we get from someone like Hillary! "what difference does it make!"... "I am sick and tired of...!"... "We are going to take things away from you for the common good!"... etc...

The left's ideology is based on force, condescension, arrogance, bad faith, emotional blackmail, economic blackmail, half-truths and outright lies,... and it's all pre-packaged by the corrupt media.
Freedom - wave goodbye. For the common good.

Jane the Actuary said...

Who is the Margaret Thatcher of our time? (Well, OK, Angela Merkel.) We need a hefty dose of Thatcherism rather than endless (and useless and dangerous) monetary expansionism!

Known Unknown said...

"‘Tonight is party time. I’m drinking one drink for every year I’ve been out of work.’"

Yeah, it's her fault this guy never got another job.


Darrell said...

Rush said what he said for effect. And it worked brilliantly. It'll be quoted at twenty times the number of places than it would have been had he said one of the greatest Brits ever.

Unknown said...

She was a great lady and deserved better than Meryl Streep and the Hollywood left rewriting her life.

Darrell said...

I remember a guy calling a radio talk show in 1987 or so complaining about how Reagan put him out of a job. Somehwhere withing his rant he mentioned that the place wjere he worked went under in 1977--and the radio host quickly said "77? Jimmy Carter was President. Why are you blaming Reagan?" The guy said it didn't matter, Reagan was a racist and it's his fault.

Anonymous said...

Margaret Thatcher on Socialism.

Brilliant.

Darrell said...

How come that guy in Britain didn't get a job when Obama became President? I thought they covered that in Doctor Who. They were all saved when Barack became President.

Known Unknown said...

She was a great lady and deserved better than Meryl Streep and the Hollywood left rewriting her life.

Streep was good, but it was a strange, horrible version of her life.

Darrell said...

Streep was good, but it was a strange, horrible version of her life.

Ritmo and garage (and others here) can weave Leftist lies deftly as well. It is never "good."

Roger J. said...

Wyo Sis: at the end of the day, no one will remember Streep and they will remember dame thatcher

Known Unknown said...

vWyo Sis: at the end of the day, no one will remember Streep and they will remember dame thatcher

I doubt that. They will both be remembered. You may dismiss Streep for her politics, but she has certainly excelled in her field.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Meryl Streep is an asshole.

Darrell said...

April/Apple is right.

n.n said...

Redistributive change is recycled change, which is marginally effective. Hence the trillion dollar deficits. It is a minority controlled economic model which results in a progressive devaluation of capital and labor.

edutcher said...

Rush calling her an American evokes her spirit and her guts.

Too bad we haven't got a Congress which would do the gracious thing and make her an honorary American like Winnie, but that would require some class out of a Senate with too many people like Dingy Harry, Chuckie, Senator Ma'am, DiFi, and the Dick From IL.

Roger J. said...

Dame Thatcher reminds us that the founders were, in fact, British. They had deep roots in English Common Law, and were students of the English Civil War. Thus did Jefferson paraphrase John Locke in the Declaration of Independence.

I think also that the British Parliamentary system mold Dame Thatcher in the crucible of "Question Hour," where the PM had to submit to questions from the backbenchers. An admirable tradition IMO.

I could only think how our Presidents (possibly excepting Ronald Reagan and Harry Truman) to responding to a question hour. Perhaps that is a British tradition that we should have continued


I think a lot of the early ones would have done just fine.

Imagine the Congressional Record with Old Hickory, Abe Lincoln, the Rough Rider, or James Polk doing Question Time; not to mention the Rs holding Woody Wilson's or FDR's feet to the fire in an environment they couldn't control.

Anonymous said...

Thanks to Julian Styles for reminding us how lucky we are to live in a country where the line "work is the curse of the drinking class" is only a gag.

Big Mike said...

It's a mark of Thatcher's greatness that MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell is trying to claim that she was really a socialist.

Chip Ahoy said...

Thank you, Hostess, this is the most interesting thing I've seen. I was thinking, man, I'd never have found this. The American angle is very interesting.

I wish they wouldn't mumble so much. That's how people speak directly to each other, dropping the volume like that and sliding through some elision almost as if to prevent being overheard. On camera.

"counterproductive"

"I'm sure you have a piece of [jacqueline?] point."

Then it occurred to me as the video progressed the discussion itself is boring. At one time interesting, but now very old. Honestly, fun as it is to see the interaction, and to see her apparently at the beginning, the words themselves were like a b c in hieroglyphics, that is, drilled in and canon for five thousand years.

Now I'm going to be talking like W.F.Buckley for the rest of the day, stretching words out then smashing them together, talking like playing an accordion, saving the big words to shove together and speak them fast and whisper them to make it difficult to hear, imagining drawing you in closer and closer until my coffee-cigarette breath thing hits you, and somewhat shocked and annoyed you smack me and snap, "Sit up!"

Anonymous said...

1977 Carter I,
2009 Carter II,
2013 Carter III.

What do you expect?

gk1 said...

I wonder if we are going to embarass the country by sending that fucking moron, Joe Biden to the state funeral? Lord knows obama is too busy playing golf to go.

Nomennovum said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Nomennovum said...

Meryl Streep is an asshole.

Moreover, she is overrated. And unattactive.

I first saw her in Kramer v. Kramer and hated it and her. I've pretty much refused to watch her in anything else. She makes me feel ill.

Darrell said...

A dingo stole me job!

cubanbob said...

Rush is right. In spirit and attitude Mrs T was much more of a real American than Mr O.

Methadras said...

The British Left in it's glee at Thatchers death celebrate just like AQ and the rest of the Arab world when 9/11 happened? Coincidence? I think not. They are one and the same.

damikesc said...

Unemployed Julian Styles, 58, who was made redundant from his factory job in 1984, said: ‘I’ve been waiting for that witch to die for 30 years.

I love that he blames Thatcher that he is near useless for nearly half of his life.

He was 30 when he was found redundant. And he never improved.

Apparently, the designation was spot-on.

mccullough said...

Better Julian out of a job for 30 years than the whole country. Julian would have lost his job anyway but would have had no one to pay for his drinks without Thatcher. The difference between Greece and the UK was Thatcher.

Darrell said...

I think that Julia Stiles is exaggerating. She was great as Lumen on Dexter a couple of years ago and she's got a new cable series now.

Darrell said...

Ooops! Julia Stiles Blue is a free web series and you can see a ten-minute episode for free (by watching a 15-sec. commercial) here--

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg59wBbegvk&list=SP9F77343B8C63D97C&index=1

Oso Negro said...

Thanks for posting that clip, Ann! Lady Thatcher rocked the house.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I liked Meryl as Julia Child, the dead wife in "Death Becomes Her" and the reporter in "The Orchid Thief" but the rest of her career has been a bunch of crap. I will not be seeing her play Dame Thatcher because the movie leaves out all the good parts of the Great Lady's life (escaping IRA bomb on her way to make a speech, teaching her daughter to drive, winning three elections, etc.).

BarrySanders20 said...

Chip says:

Now I'm going to be talking like W.F.Buckley for the rest of the day, stretching words out then smashing them together, talking like playing an accordion, saving the big words to shove together and speak them fast and whisper them to make it difficult to hear, imagining drawing you in closer and closer until my coffee-cigarette breath thing hits you, and somewhat shocked and annoyed you smack me and snap, "Sit up!"

Thank you host, for posting the clip, which I enjoyed, especially when Thatcher makes W.F. wait his turn on his own show, then takes all the time, and thank you Chip for describing W.F.'s speech patterns, which I also enjoyed.

Kirk Parker said...

bagoh2o,

Stand in line, buddy!

Known Unknown said...

I liked Meryl as Julia Child, the dead wife in "Death Becomes Her" and the reporter in "The Orchid Thief" but the rest of her career has been a bunch of crap

What about Sophie's Choice?

Palladian said...

She was a great lady and deserved better than Meryl Streep and the Hollywood left rewriting her life.

Streep is one of the most overrated hacks in Hollywood— and that's really saying something. Her Julia Child impersonation was ridiculous, her Thatcher just as bad. She's Rich Little with longer hair.

Amartel said...

"Unemployed Julian Styles, 58, who was made redundant from his factory job in 1984, said: ‘I’ve been waiting for that witch to die for 30 years."

He was born redundant. He goes on to claim that he's going to have a drink for every year he's been out of work. Just another exciting redundant evening at Styles House.

Crunchy Frog said...

What topic would you suggest if your tablemate said he was tired of talking about politics? The rule of law?! I'd hear a cue to go somewhere lighthearted. Perhaps something about pop culture.

It depends on the tablemate. If it's Jon Stewart, then sure; let's talk pop culture. If it's Margaret Thatcher, then your suggestion is ridiculous. Why would her opinion on, say, the Beatles, have any relevance whatsoever?

Here's a hint: you talk to people about their areas of expertise. If I'm talking to actors, I want to hear about the movie and TV industry, and their craft; I don't give a crap about their politics, or their positions on sustainable farming, or any of the other BS they feel entitled to an opinion on.

bagoh20 said...

"A dingo stole me job!"

I can't read that without cracking up over and over. Thanks Darrell.

SGT Ted said...

Unemployed Julian Styles is the typical socialist that thinks a job is an entitlement given and taken away by politicians.

His factory job went obsolete and he cannot fathom that the world left him behind nor can he fathom that he could do some other thing to make money. He would rather wallow in his self imposed misery and blame someone that hasn't been in public life for over 20 years.

The British "Julia", personified.

Julian is a loser punk.

kentuckyliz said...

I think my parents had those shows on in the background when I was growing up, but to me, it was all Charlie Brown's teacher wah wah wah wah wah.

I appreciate it now as a thinking adult.