Margaret Thatcher: Party-Political?

I had a conversation with an American friend shortly after Bin laden was killed. I took exception to the partying on the streets at a man being shot in the head in his home in front of his family, no matter who he was. She asked "Weren't you guys celebrating too?"
Sure there was a sense of justice having been done but not the kind I could celebrate. For me it was a sombre reflection. A knowledge that if you live by the sword you will probably die by the sword. If you don't live by the sword, unfortunately, as Bin Laden proved, it does not necessarily mean you wont die by the sword.

I have hated the politics of Margaret Thatcher for as long as I was able to understand them. Those of my contemporaries who were about 5 years older than myself were vastly more impacted by what she did to this country. Love or hate her, she was responsible for politicising many of my generation. I first became politically aware when John Major got us involved in the first Gulf war, and when the Criminal "Justice" act was passed and when they bought in the poll tax. A little too late for Thatcher but early on enough in the aftermath to feel aware of the impact of her policies and outlook. By the time she resigned her premiership I was 17 and I had never been conscious of another Prime minister.
She may have as well been the Queen.

But my dislike for her politics is not my reason for writing today. As every one is saying, she was a unique individual, a divisive figure, a woman of convictions, I am sure. A woman with a clear and unswerving vision. But a flawed woman none the less. But just as I did not rejoice in the death of Bin Laden I cannot make a party out of the death of someone I did not like. She too had blood on her hands, as most of our leaders seem to, but I cannot bring myself to celebrate.

I don't understand how people who claim to follow the politics of compassion can hold street party's to celebrate the passing of a woman in her 80s from a stroke, while her family and friends grieve her death. Where is the compassion in that? She was undeserving of compassion, they say. Perhaps that is the argument?! But the whole point of a politics of compassion is surely a society where all are treated with decency and respect. I argue it is never more needed than where it is least deserved.

If figures like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, in the face of far worse opposition than the members of our impoverished mining communities and all the others she marginalised, can take the moral high ground and walk in forgiveness and respect for all, then surely those who claim to have a higher sense of moral conscience can do the decent thing in regards to the death of Mrs Thatcher and keep it shut! Her day was done a long time ago. To spit on her grave is no more effective than to refuse to shake hands with the winning team once the football match is over. What difference does it make to the outcome? Save your vitriol for the return match, please. As Billy Bragg said;

Raising a glass to the death of an infirm old lady changes none of this. The only real antidote to cynicism is activism. Don't celebrate - organise!

Jesus taught me to love my enemies. That at no point told me to condone what they had done to deserve my enmity but to love them anyway. It is, after all, love that transcends all politics and truly restores dignity to humanity. And Margaret Thatcher was only human. Rest in peace.