Sarah Palin has revealed on her Facebook page that she plans to meet Margaret Thatcher (whom she affectionately refers to as “the Iron Lady”) on a possible trip to the UK:
Following an article in a British publication on Sunday, I’ve received questions about a possible trip to the United Kingdom. I have received an invitation for a visit to London, and part of that invitation included the offer of arranging a meeting between myself and one of my political heroines, the “Iron Lady,” Margaret Thatcher. I would love to meet her and hope I’ll be able to arrange the trip in the future.
As I wrote last year when I offered her birthday wishes, Baroness Thatcher’s life and career serve as a blueprint for overcoming the odds and challenging the “status quo.” She started life as a grocer’s daughter from Grantham and rose to become Prime Minister — all by her own merit and hard work. I cherish her example and will always count her as one of my role models. Her friendship with my other political hero, Ronald Reagan, exemplified the Special Relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.
There are lots of brilliant things about this. According to the “British publication” she mentions, the Daily Mail, it was actually Palin’s team who made the approach (which seems more realistic — I somehow can’t see Thatcher desperately checking Palin’s schedule, waiting for her moment to swoop in and arrange that meeting she’s been waiting for).
The Mail also quotes someone “involved with the talks”, saying of Palin’s team: “Their main interest is getting a picture of her with Lady Thatcher. I’m not sure they know who David Cameron is.”
The thread beneath Palin’s post is well worth a read, with the comments ranging from “Sit at her feet and learn from her as she is an example of strength and preserverance which you were also given by our Creator” to “Please don’t come here!”.
Believe it or not, Palin has actually been compared to Thatcher before. After Palin’s vice-presidential nomination, the Conservative US commentator Larry Kudlow asked whether “we’re not witnessing the western frontier version of Margaret Thatcher”. Slightly oddly, Michael Reagan, the adopted son of the late president, said of the same speech that “I saw my dad reborn; only this time he’s a she. And what a she!”
I digress. Back to the meeting of the century — what will they talk about? There is always the shared distaste for unions and penchant for slashing spending, but I can’t help thinking that that’s where the similiarities end. And, of course, there is Russia . . . the woman the Soviets called the “Iron Lady” talking to the woman who can see Russia from Alaska. Oh, to be a fly on the wall.
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