Big Vern

I saw a newspaper picture from the political campaign
A woman was kissing a child, who was obviously in pain
She spills with compassion, as that young child's
face in her hands she grips
Can you imagine all that greed and avarice
coming down on that child's lips

Well I hope I don't die too soon
I pray the Lord my soul to save
Oh I'll be a good boy, I'm trying so hard to behave
Because there's one thing I know, I'd like to live
long enough to savour
That's when they finally put you in the ground
I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down

When England was the whore of the world
Margaret was her madam
And the future looked as bright and as clear as
the black tarmacadam
Well I hope that she sleeps well at night, isn't
haunted by every tiny detail
'Cos when she held that lovely face in her hands
all she thought of was betrayal

And now the cynical ones say that it all ends the same in the long run
Try telling that to the desperate father who just squeezed the life from his
only son
And how it's only voices in your head and dreams you never dreamt
Try telling him the subtle difference between justice and contempt
Try telling me she isn't angry with this pitiful discontent
When they flaunt it in your face as you line up for punishment
And then expect you to say "Thank you" straighten up, look proud and pleased
Because you've only got the symptoms, you haven't got the whole disease
Just like a schoolboy, whose head's like a tin-can
filled up with dreams then poured down the drain
Try telling that to the boys on both sides, being blown to bits or beaten and
maimed
Who takes all the glory and none of the shame

Well I hope you live long now, I pray the Lord your soul to keep
I think I'll be going before we fold our arms and start to weep
I never thought for a moment that human life could be so cheap
'Cos when they finally put you in the ground
They'll stand there laughing and tramp the dirt down



...me, I'm with Elvis on this one....

TouristTrap

:scared: :scared:

Lion in Winter

Actually both she and Galtieri found the war quite useful - distract the populace from economic problems with a good old flag-waving war. Hardly likely that Galtieri invaded for a few sheep-infested rocks, now is it? And the Baroness won an election on the back of it.

Elvira

Whenever I think of that time, and that war, I see Simon Weston's face in front of me. That and Col. H Jones' widow hectoring at the Conservative Party Conference (or was she just being used?)

What a pointless, obscene war!

Lion in Winter

Yup. And all those shivering, badly-armed Argentinian teenagers that Galtieri sent to do his dirty work. Pointless waste of life all round.

Elvira

OMG this reminds me of another thing!

"Rejoice! Rejoice!!"

Sickening

(NB: Whatever happened to that lady - what was her name - who skewered the bitch on that TV 'meet the public' programme? You know who I mean...)

Wintersong

Unlike Galtieri, who went to prison... don't think he found that particularly useful

Lion in Winter

Well yes but that was later. He started the war for distraction purposes.

Lion in Winter

From the Beeb.

"Rejoice, rejoice, Mrs Thatcher told the nation during an impromptu press conference in Downing Street when South Georgia was recaptured by the UK after it and the Falklands had been invaded by Argentina. The words were also uttered by her long-time enemy former Prime Minister Edward Heath when he heard that Mrs Thatcher had been deposed in 1990. Except that he said it three times."

doctor scrumpy

Did she say it 4 times when Morning cloud died ?

Elvira

Diana Gould was her name (the lady who skewered Mrs T) - wasn't she from Cheltenham?

More tenatious than Jeremy Paxman - just wouldn't let go. But Thatcher still won the election...

Lion in Winter

Can't remember, sorry.

Thatcher's power base was in the south (obviously) where the service-based economy was doing all right, and where the population is proportionately much more represented - northern electoral districts were, and I supppose are, much bigger.

As the Tom Paxton song goes, just a tad cynically,

"Our leaders are the finest men
And we elect them again and again"

Elvira

To refresh your memory (you'll remember - unless you were still in nappies at the time ):

"During the 1983 general election campaign, Diana Gould, of Cheltenham, seized the chance to quiz Mrs Thatcher on the issue during a live question and answer session on BBC TV's Nationwide.

Mrs Thatcher was visibly rattled by the grilling, although it seemed not to harm her re-election campaign."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/813118.stm

Lion in Winter

Ah, right, got it. No, I wasn't in nappies - more like in hiding.
I was in New York.

Wintersong

For those who want to relive the moment:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/low/...00/2480241.stm