Monday 8 April 2013

What Do YOU Think Melanie?

What do I think? Who am I, some great opinion-giver? Just because I'm English, I should make a statement on the passing of an ex-PM?

OK, if I must. I think she's dead. Yep. That's what I think. I think she was old, and she died. That's what old people do.

Look, I got into trouble last year when I did, openly and willingly proffer a view about being sad when total strangers - who are old - die. Do I look daft? Think I'm risking that shitstorm again?

If I have any opinion at all, it is that those who are cheering a death, any death, might as well shut up with any future view they have on ethics, because I won't be listening.

7 comments:

  1. ~pat pat pat~ on your back regarding your final paragraph. Couldn't agree more!

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  2. I've read that some people did not like her at all. I don't know. I'm an American. *I* see that she was a prime minister--a *she.* That made her a bit of a hero in my eyes.

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  3. It cannot be ignored. But at the time, she was either loved or hated, just like ANY leader. The rich loved her, she made them richer. The poor hated her, she made them poorer. At the start I liked her, hell, I voted for her. But as time went on the penny dropped, she was doing more harm than good. Britain has never recovered.

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  4. I've seen quite a bit of vitriol on Facebook about her. Yes, she was elderly and it was her time. Yes, her political decisions might not have been best for her country. But the fact that she was a woman in high office, and stuck to her principles, counted for something.

    My brother made a wise statement a few years ago when my uncle passed: Death ends all arguments. Meaning that regardless of what a person did in life, once they're gone you have no further reason to complain about them.

    By the way, my reading list and followers have mysteriously disappeared. I spenf half an hour earlier reconnecting myself. Could you please check if you're still following my blog? Thanks.

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    1. I have a long list of blogs I follow, and I can't remember what yours is called, I'm afraid, if you remind me I'll check!

      I think it is natural for people to discuss the effect an ex-leader had on a nation (and far beyond it). Even if they hated her passionately in life, however, I have no time for those who wish to protest at her funeral, or those who say they are glad she is dead. That, for me, goes beyond the pale. Glad she retired? Sure. Problem over. But cheering a death, in most cases at least, is not appropriate

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    2. Exactly. Happily celebrating a death, no matter how nasty the person was, shows a lot about your own character.

      My blog is called A Writer's Workbench.
      http://awritersworkbench.blogspot.ca/

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    3. I'll go see what I've missed.

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