Klaus Nomi's version of 'Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead', from The Wizard Of Oz, has been on standby as long as I've worked in radio. It has waited patiently for Margaret Thatcher to die, so that I could play it in celebration. I never thought I'd congratulate Maggie on anything, but I have to admire her timing on this occasion, waiting until the day after the return of The Sunday Alternative before falling off her perch. I'll grant you it isn't the worst thing she ever did, but it is still a tad annoying. Of course I'm going to open with it on Sunday, (spoiler alert) but it will hardly be topical by then.
There was the inevitable wave of 'hooray' today when it was announced that she had died, and it is understandable that there are going to be strong feelings against her even now, but there's a blurred line concerning what it is we're supposed to be celebrating. Yes, Thatcher was responsible for a lot of bad, but that was Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The person who died today was an old woman who had suffered several strokes, the last one killing her, and who in her final years didn't know what day it was. A far bigger cause for celebration would have been if she had been killed in the IRA bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton in 1984.
I was impressed at how quickly the street parties were organised, an obvious example of how social media can bring people together, with an off licence tweeting that they had knocked the price of champagne down "in case anyone feels like celebrating". Genius.
It was pointed out by some of the more caring and sharing types, (knit your own yogurt brigade) that this was someone's mother and grandmother who had just died. True, but if mine or your mother or grandmother had done what she did, then you would assume that a large section of society would be pleased to see her go. She even made the (politically impartial) BBC clear the schedules for tributes, meaning that we all missed Eastenders. She just keeps fucking people up even in death!
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