MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell gave a laudatory eulogy for the late Margaret Thatcher Monday night, praising the former British prime minister for being “a good socialist.”
“What do you call a person who gets rid of bad socialism and keeps good socialism?” the host asked. “I call that person a good socialist, like Margaret Thatcher.”
“British conservatives aren’t as conservative as American conservatives,” Mr. O’Donnell posed. “And British liberals are more liberal than American liberals.”
He added that when Mrs. Thatcher came into office, taxes as a share of GDP were at 33.1 percent only to rise about 2 percent by the time she left office. The host scoffed that Republicans like Grover Norquist and “all the Republican worshippers of Margaret Thatcher” are outraged that we are being taxed about 18 percent of our GDP — about half that of 1990 Britain.
He continued to say that by that logic, “Barack Obama is half the taxer that Margaret Thatcher was. He is half the socialist that Margaret Thatcher was. President Obama has not dared propose a healthcare program as purely socialistic and complete as Margaret Thatcher’s. Completely socialistic healthcare system; the one she supported and bragged about. But Republicans call Barack Obama a socialist as if it is an epithet, and call Margaret Thatcher a hero.”
“Ignorance is the first requirement for Republicans’ adoration of Margaret Thatcher,” Mr. O’Donnell concluded. “Margaret Thatcher the socialist is gone. But Margaret Thatcher, the socialist, was forgotten long before she was gone.”
SEE ALSO: Margaret Thatcher a ‘fiercely loyal’ and tough ally of the U.S.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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