There's a lot of arguing on social networking sites at the moment about 'respect' (the most overused and misunderstood word of our times) - the main argument being that apparently we should show respect for Thatcher because a) she's dead and b) she was a mother.
First of all, there are only two things in life that absolutely everyone does - we all get born and we all die. If death erases any bad behaviour in life, surely everyone should be remembered as a saint? Secondly, giving birth alone doesn't make a woman above criticism either. Thatcher got to the top as a woman in a man's world - people who genuinely admired her are only letting her down by asking that she be judged as a mother rather than a Prime Minister. Had Tony Blair died on Monday instead, would those who despise him for his part in the Iraq war have kept quiet out of 'respect' for the fact that he's a father?
I'm not one of the people saying 'I'm glad she's dead', because the death of an 87 year-old woman with senile dementia changes nothing. But as I've already said, her age, her death and the fact she had children also did nothing to change the terrible mess she made of things in this country. In short, don't be glad she's dead - be sad she lived.
