From CBS News, via YouTube:
Bill Clinton Argues With Voter
While campaigning in Fayetteville, W.Va., Bill Clinton argued with an audience member over claims made by Hillary Clinton that she improved health care during his administration.
He’s priceless.
(And, of course, a liar.)
From those open-hearted philanthropists at Reuters:
Burmese soldiers unload relief goods sent by India, meant for survivors of Cyclone Nargis, at a port in Yangon.
U.N. agency to resume Myanmar aid flights
ROME (Reuters) - The U.N. World Food Program said on Friday it would resume aid flights to cyclone-struck Myanmar, despite the military government’s seizure of deliveries at Yangon airport.
“The World Food Program has decided to send in two relief flights as planned tomorrow, while discussions continue with the Government of Myanmar on the distribution of the food that was flown in today, and not released to WFP,” Nancy E. Roman, WFP’s communications director, said in a statement.
The U.N. food agency had previously said it would suspend aid flights over the seizure.
How kind of them.
(Of course they didn’t want to have to face a stiff letter from the United Nations.)
Still, they aren’t caving completely to the forces of evil.
From an understanding Associated Press:
Myanmar still will not accept US aid workers
YANGON, Myanmar - The top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar says the junta is not ready to accept American aid workers to help cyclone survivors.
Shari Villarosa, the U.S. charge d’affairs in Yangon, said she met with Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Kyaw Thu on Friday to discuss American relief operations.
Myanmar says it will accept aid from all countries, but prohibits the entry of foreign workers who would deliver and manage the operations.
Villarosa said she was told the junta is “not ready” to change that position.
Hopefully they will still take our money.
They always have in the past.
From their joyous allies at Reuters:
Hezbollah imposes control on Beirut
By Tomm Perry
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah group took control of the Muslim half of Beirut on Friday, tightening its grip on the city in a major blow to the U.S.-backed government.
Security sources said at least 11 people had been killed and 30 wounded in three days of battles between pro-government gunmen and fighters loyal to Hezbollah, a Shi’ite political movement with a powerful guerrilla army…
In scenes reminiscent of the darkest days of the civil war, young men armed with assault rifles roamed the streets amid smashed cars and smoldering buildings. Fighting died down by mid-morning and Hezbollah and allied fighters were in control as government supporters put down their weapons.
Hezbollah gunmen took control of media outlets owned by governing coalition leader Saad al-Hariri, Lebanon’s strongest Sunni politician. Hariri’s television and radio stations went off the air.
An opposition source told Reuters that Hezbollah and its allies would maintain road blocks that have paralyzed much of the city since Wednesday, including barricades on routes to the airport, until a resolution of their political conflict.
“All issues are linked. Beirut will remain shut until there is a political solution,” the source said, referring to the dispute which triggered this week’s violence and the rival sides’ broader 17-month-long power struggle…
An influential pro-government leader called for dialogue.
“The party (Hezbollah), regardless of its military strength, cannot annul the other,” Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Druze minority, told the pro-government LBC television. “Dialogue alone brings results. Running away from dialogue is not useful.”
The dead included a woman and her 30-year-old son, who were killed when trying to flee Ras al-Nabae — a mixed Sunni-Shi’ite Beirut district and scene of some of the heaviest clashes…
Opposition gunmen of the Syrian Socialist National Party set ablaze a building housing studios of Hariri’s TV station.
Hezbollah had been steadily seizing pro-government offices in the predominantly Muslim western half of the city.
Backed by the Shi’ite Amal group, Hezbollah fighters have been handing control of the offices to the army — which is trying to play a neutral role in the crisis.
A security source said Hezbollah and its allies were in control of the mainly Muslim half of Beirut after pro-government gunmen laid down their weapons in their last bastion…
But you see, there is no need for a global war on terror. The police can handle the handful of crazy types who pop up here and there.
Right, Mr. Kerry?
From a joyous Reuters:
Pakistan new govt. opposed to U.S. action on its soil
By Zeeshan Haider Fri May 9
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan’s new government is trying to convince the United States that unilateral strikes against al Qaeda militants on its territory could be “counter-productive,” the country’s foreign minister said on Friday…
U.S. forces have used drones to fire missiles at militants on the Pakistani side of the border several times in recent years.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Pakistan would continue its support for the international campaign against the militants, but could not condone actions by foreign forces on its soil.
“Direct intervention, hot pursuit; we are not supportive of it yesterday, we are not supportive of it today,” he told the Senate, parliament’s upper house, while outlining the foreign policy of the new coalition which assumed office last month…
Qureshi said only Pakistani security forces were authorized to take action against militants on its territory…
Several militants linked to al Qaeda and Taliban were killed in missiles fired by U.S. drones, most recently in March in the South Waziristan tribal region in which at least nine militants died.
On January 28, one of Osama bin Laden’s top lieutenants, Abu Laith al-Libi, was killed in a strike in neighboring North Waziristan.
Since becoming a key U.S. ally following the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, Pakistani policy has been single-handedly spearheaded by President Pervez Musharraf.
But Musharraf has become considerably weakened since he quit the powerful post of army chief in November.
He has also become increasingly isolated after his opponents dealt a humiliating defeat on his allies in a general election in February and formed a coalition.
Qureshi, a former aide to assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, said the government will also use other means such as dialogue and economic development of the remote border areas to win public support and isolate hard-core militants.
“We don’t want and will not talk to terrorists. But those who want to stay peaceful, who want political engagement…we will move to them and extend hand of friendship to them.” …
(Photo: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi (L) wave to supporters during a rally of supporters in their home town of Multan May 3, 2008.)
Isn’t irony ironic?
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Pakistan would continue its support for the international campaign against the militants, but could not condone actions by foreign forces on its soil.
Someone should tell Mr. Qureshi about these group that calls itself “the Taliban” and “Al Qaeda.”
But Musharraf has become considerably weakened since he quit the powerful post of army chief in November…
Which is exactly why this was demanded by our enemies.
Still, one hopes that the Democrats and the media (but I repeat myself) are happy with their work.
This of course puts the kibosh on the very elaborate plans that the US and Pakistan had for their own “surge.”
But the Democrats and their lickspittle minions in the media can’t have that.
We might win.
Mind you, these are the same master strategists who demand to know what we haven’t yet captured Bin Laden.
From our friends at Cybercast News:
Bulletins at Obama’s Church Carry Their Own Controversy
By Fred Lucas
May 09, 2008(CNSNews.com) - Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) recently said his relationship with his long-time pastor and friend Rev. Jeremiah Wright “changed” after what Obama called the clergyman’s “divisive and destructive” remarks at the National Press Club. Later, however, Obama stressed his loyalty to the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where he has been a member for many years.
Articles published in the Trinity United Church of Christ bulletin in 2007 carried controversial comments written by people other than Jeremiah Wright. Those comments included the claim that Israel worked with South Africa to build an “ethnic bomb” that would kill blacks and Arabs, that the Pentagon was training Latin Americans to be terrorists, and that the TV networks are run by right-wing racists.
On Sunday, May 4, Obama told NBC’s Tim Russert, on “Meet the Press,” that he was still a member of Trinity United Church of Christ and said of the Wright controversy, “I think that the American people understand that when I joined Trinity United Church of Christ, I was committing not to Pastor Wright. I was committing to a church and I was committing to Christ. And it is a wonderful church.”
The pastor of Trinity United is Rev. Otis Moss III and the senior pastor is Rev. Wright. At the end of May, Wright will go on sabbatical and Moss will assume the title of senior pastor.
The first few pages of the church’s weekly bulletin carry scripture passages, hymns, and announcements. Deeper into the bulletin, however, there are political and opinion articles. A Trinity United staff member, who asked not to be named, told Cybercast News Service that the political articles are there to inform congregants about world affairs. The staff member likened these articles to commentary pieces in a newspaper, where the opinions expressed are those of the writers, not necessarily the church…
In a column in the April 15, 2007 bulletin, the Rev. Reginald Williams, the associate pastor for social justice at Trinity United, said he was not surprised by the racially charged remarks that talk-radio host Don Imus made about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team because “the major networks are run by right-winged conservatives who still see black people as subhuman and portray black people as such.”
In the April 22, 2007 bulletin, Williams called for shutting down the Pentagon’s WHINSEC School of the Americas, saying the school “in no uncertain terms trains Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation. In short, the United States Army trains students at this school of terrorism.” …
Another politically charged piece published in the June 10, 2007 bulletin, as previously reported by The Washington Times and CNN, was written by a person who is not a member of the church.
The piece was an open letter by Ali Baghdadi to TV talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, who was planning a trip to Israel. Baghdadi is editor of the Arab Journal and who, according to the bulletin, acted as a Middle East advisor to Elijah Muhammad, and later with Louis Farrakhan, both with the Nation of Islam.
In this letter to Winfrey, Baghdadi wrote: “I must tell you that Israel was the closest ally to the White Supremacists of South Africa. In fact, South Africa allowed Israel to test its nuclear weapons in the ocean off South Africa. The Israelis were given a blank check: They could test whenever they desired and did not even have to ask permission. Both worked on an ethnic bomb that kills Blacks and Arabs.” …
Actually, it was we here at S&L who first uncovered the letter from Mr. Ali Baghdadi.
But it is good to see that CNS is digging into the bulletins as well.
From another demonic genius, via YouTube:
Barack, Burt and Ernie
Ernie convinces Burt that Hillary can’t win.
Though the ultimate sentiment is perhaps even more obscene than the language in our earlier humorous clip.
(Thanks to JD for the heads up.)
From the CBS Sacramento, CA affiliate CBS13:
DNC Superdelegate Puts His Vote Up For Sale
Steven Ybarra Wants $20 Million For His Vote
May 7, 2008
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CBS13) ― In this tight battle for the Democratic nomination we’ve heard a lot about the candidates courting superdelegates.
But, one superdelegate is courting the candidates. He says he’ll sell his vote for a price. A very high price: $20 million.
Steven Ybarra of Sacramento says that eight-figure price is peanuts for the presidency.
When asked whether it was right to offer what is clearly a quid pro quo, he responded, “yeah, absolutely. People do it all the time,” answered Ybarra.
But not like this. Not in public and not for such big bucks. It begs the question: Is he crazy?
“Nobody’s said I’m crazy,” said Ybarra.
Ybarra wants every cent of the $20 million to go towards registering and educating eligible Mexican-American voters, who he calls the key to the White House.
“And I keep asking the question of the DNC: ‘why won’t you earmark money for these voters?’ And their answer is, ‘oh, we can’t do that’ Which is a lie,” said Ybarra.
With the Democratic National Committee saying ‘no,’ Ybarra waits for a ‘yes’ from already cash-strapped Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.
Would he accept less? How about $5 million?
“No, $5 million is nothing,” said Ybarra…
He thinks his own party is crazy for not aggressively pursuing the Mexican-American vote especially with such a large Mexican-American population in the southwest.
“We should kick John McCain’s a** in his own hometown,” said Ybarra.
This superdelegate thinks his vote would be the best $20 million a candidate could ever spend. After all, he says, in 2004 John Kerry spent $1 billion to lose.
This article ignores the fact that the Superdelegates votes have long been for sale, as we reported three months ago.
Still, Señor Ybarra’s price is a little high, even for a minority.
And of course Mr. Ybarra is feigning ignorance when he claims the Democrats aren’t already spending a fortune to get out the illegal alien Mexican-American vote.
Paraphrasing Mrs. Clinton, “no Democrat voter is illegal.”
From their long time allies at Reuters:
Hezbollah says Lebanese govt declares war
By Nadim Ladki
BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah said on Thursday the U.S.-supported Beirut government had declared war by targeting its communications network, pushing the country closer to civil war.
Hezbollah launched a new street campaign on Wednesday, piling pressure on the government after it declared the network illegal and removed the head of airport security, a figure close to the group, from his post.
Supporters of Hezbollah and its allies have blocked roads leading to the airport — Lebanon’s only air link to the outside world — and other main streets, paralyzing much of the capital.
Sporadic gun battles erupted between Hezbollah supporters and pro-government loyalists in Beirut, wounding three people, and in the Bekaa Valley in the east of the country, where five were wounded, security sources said.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the group’s leader, said the only way out of the crisis was for the government to rescind the decisions and to attend talks aiming to end a 17-month-long political conflict with the Hezbollah-led opposition.
“This decision is first of all a declaration of war and the launching of war by the government… against the resistance and its weapons for the benefit of America and Israel,” Nasrallah told a news conference in reference to the government’s move.
He described the fixed-line network that connects the group’s officials, military commanders and positions as a vital part of the military structure of the group, which fought a 34-day war with Israel in 2006.
“The communications network is the significant part of the weapons of the resistance,” Nasrallah said via video link from an unknown location in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
“I had said that we will cut the hand that targets the weapons of the resistance… Today is the day to fulfill this decision.”
Shortly after he finished, heavy clashes with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades erupted between Hezbollah supporters and pro-government gunmen in Beirut’s volatile Mazraa and Ras el-Nabae districts, and later spread to other areas…
Lebanon will never have full control of their own country until they remove these murderers from their midst.
And Mr. Nasrallah has gone to meet his virgins.
From Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency:
Ahmadinejad calls Zionist regime a ’stinking corpse’
Tehran, May 8, IRNA President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad here on Thursday labeled the Zionist regime as a “stinking corpse” and said those who think they can revive the corpse of this fabricated and usurper regime are in mistaken.
Lambasting the 60th anniversary of establishment of the Zionist regime, he said those who attend such a shameful ceremony should bear in their mind that their names will be listed as Zionist criminals.
Addressing Majlis representatives, he said the philosophy of existence of the Zionist regime is now under question and the usurper and fabricated regime is moving towards annihilation.
The Zionist regime is a puppet for bullying powers, he said adding that the global arrogance established the Zionist regime 60 years ago in Palestine to continue its historical straggles with the Muslim world but after the Lebanese nation slapped it in the face, they are like dead rats.
“If any regional countries assist the Zionist regime, they will burn in fire arising from nations’ hatred,” said the president.
“If some think that they can make any change in the global calculations, they are in mistaken because nations around the world will bury them ,” concluded President Ahmadinejad.
Well, given that the world is turning a blind eye to his nuclear weapons program, Mr. Ahmadinejad may be correct, albeit a little premature.
From those defenders of the faith at the Washington Post:
Islamic Divorce Ruled Not Valid in Maryland
Custom Allowing Men to End Marriage With Oral Declaration Lacks ‘Due Process’
By Ruben Castaneda
Thursday, May 8, 2008; B02After his wife of more than two decades filed for divorce in Montgomery County Circuit Court, Irfan Aleem responded in writing in 2003, and not just in court.
Aleem went to the Pakistani Embassy in the District, where he executed a written document that asserted he was divorcing Farah Aleem. He performed “talaq,” exercising a provision of Islamic religious and Pakistani secular law that allows husbands to divorce their wives by declaring “I divorce thee” three times. In Muslim countries, men have used talaq to leave their wives for centuries.
But they can’t use it in Maryland, the state’s highest court decided this week.
The state Court of Appeals issued a unanimous 21-page opinion Tuesday declaring that talaq is contrary to Maryland’s constitutional provisions providing equal rights to men and women.
“Talaq lacks any significant ‘due process’ for the wife, its use, moreover, directly deprives the wife of the ‘due process’ she is entitled to when she initiates divorce litigation in this state. The lack and deprivation of due process is itself contrary to this state’s public policy,” the court wrote…
According to the Court of Appeals’ opinion, Irfan Aleem, who worked for years as an economist with the World Bank, is worth about $2 million, half of which Farah Aleem is entitled to under Maryland law. When Irfan Aleem tried to divorce his wife under the concept of talaq, a sum of $2,500 was mentioned as a “full and final” settlement, according to the appellate decision.
That amount was written into the marriage contract Farah Aleem signed the day she married him in their native Pakistan in 1980, according to the appellate decision. The contract was in accordance with Pakistani custom. At the time, he was 29 and she was 18. The couple moved to the Washington area in 1985…
Friedman said she thinks that Irfan Aleem, who retired in recent years, invoked talaq to avoid paying Farah half of his World Bank pension, which provides him with $90,000 annually, the attorney said.
“It will be very pleasant when [Farah] gets her share of that,” Friedman said. “She’s delighted about that.” …
Just wait until the Standing Committee On Fatwas gets wind of this heresy.
Heads will roll. Literally.
And of course their outrage won’t compare to those (other) true defenders of the faith at the ACLU.
Also, isn’t it nice to ponder how the US taxpayers’ hard earned dollars goes towards making these “economists” at the World Bank millionaires?
From ABC’s Rochester, NY affiliate, WHAM-13:
Woman Arrested for Accessing Websites With Terrorist Information
Reported by: Jane Flasch
(Rochester, N.Y.) - A 911 dispatcher, Nadire Zelenaj, has been arrested for using computers at work to access secure government Web sites containing information about suspected terrorists.
Now, the FBI wants to know what she did with that sensitive information. Agents would not comment other than to say it’s part of a larger investigation.
Zenelaj was hired in 2002 after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Her job enables her to access a secured police data site with criminal information.
However, police allege Zelenaj accessed a terrorist watch list for personal reasons.
A co-worker saw her using the site and became suspicious. Officials tracked her movements between January 2006 and December 2007 and say she visited that site at least 232 times.
Richard Vega of the Office of Public Integrity said that, at present, they can only suspect what she’s been up to.
Zenelaj faces 232 felony counts of computer trespass and one count of official misconduct. She was fired in December.
How weird. Of course the name might give a clue.
And once again these are the kinds of stories that we never hear about except in the local media.
Why is that?
(Thanks to Noyzmaker for the heads up.)
[WARNING: this video contains obscene language.]
From some history-minded demonic genius, via YouTube:
Hillary’s Downfall
Hillary Clinton explodes at news of her imminent downfall — from inside her bunker!
Hillary-ously funny.
But of course Mrs. Clinton can only aspire to Mr. Hitler’s inner strength and quiet dignity.
(Thanks to AC for the heads up.)
From his fans at the Associated Press:
Sharpton arrested as hundreds protest NYC police shooting
By TOM HAYS and DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press Writers
NEW YORK - The Rev. Al Sharpton was arrested at the Brooklyn Bridge on Wednesday as he and hundreds of demonstrators blocked traffic to protest the acquittal of three detectives in the 50-bullet shooting of an unarmed black man on his wedding day.
Sharpton, two survivors of the shooting and the slain man’s fiancee were among about a dozen people arrested on disorderly conduct charges near the base of the bridge. Police led away demonstrators at several other bridges and tunnels in the city…
Sharpton, shooting survivors Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman, and Bell’s fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell, lined up and peacefully put their hands behind their backs as police put plastic handcuffs on them. Sharpton and Bell were placed in a police vehicle…
Bell was black, as are his friends Benefield and Guzman; the three officers acquitted in the case are Hispanic, black and white…
Please note how the article neglects to mention that the “victim” was trying to run over a police officer with his automobile.
The AP should be charged with inciting a riot.
Of course that is something they do on a near daily basis.
From France’s AFP:
Iran says April mosque blast a bombing, suspects held
TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran said on Wednesday that a blast in a mosque that killed 13 people in the southern city of Shiraz last month was indeed a bombing and that suspects believed to have links with the country’s Western foes had been arrested.
“Through the efforts of the law enforcement forces… the main person involved in the Shiraz mosque explosion was arrested in one of the northern cities of the country,” the Fars news agency quoted Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie as saying.
“The main agent, who was directly an accomplice in the bombing, was arrested during an attempt to leave the country. The person was armed when arrested,” Mohseni Ejeie said.
After initial reports that the April 12 explosion, which also wounded more than 200, was the result of a bombing, officials had insisted that it was accidental.
An interior ministry body said the blast was set off by munitions on display in the mosque as part of an exhibition commemorating Iran’s 1980-1988 war with Iraq.
Mohseni Ejeie said that five other suspects had also been detained and that explosives and cyanide had been confiscated from them, the report said.
“This terrorist group had relations with Britain and the United States and these countries were notified about this matter by the foreign ministry.
“But they did not take any measure to prevent (this group’s) terrorist actions and rather supported them,” the minister said.
“These people are all Iranians,” he said adding that the group had plans to carry out similar operations in different places after the Shiraz bombing…
They need to pick a story and stick to it.
I personally think the “Hidden Imam” did it, since according to Mr. Ahmadinejad not a sparrow falls without his say so.
From those proponents of campaign finance reform at the Associated Press:
Hillary Clinton says she’ll stay in the presidential race
SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - Hillary Rodham Clinton says she will remain in the presidential race “until there’s a nominee.” The former first lady declined to say whether that meant through the roll call of the states at the Democratic National Convention this summer.
Clinton also disclosed that she had loaned her campaign an additional $6.4 million in recent weeks, additional evidence that her once front-runner campaign was in deep trouble.
She told reporters the loans were a sign of her commitment to her quest for the White House. She earlier loaned herself $5 million as she struggled to keep up with a better-financed Obama campaign…
Clinton’s appearance in Shepherdstown, W.Va., was meant to underscore her determination to stay the course. She also arranged a private meeting later in the day with uncommitted superdelegates…
Clinton told reporters it would take 2,209 or 2,210 delegates to win the nomination, not the 2,025 in use by the Democratic National Committee. The higher total would come into play if the delegations were seated from Michigan and Florida, two states that held primaries outside the time frame that party rules required.
The former first lady campaigned for months to have new votes in both states, although lately has said she merely wants the delegations seated…
Asked at her news conference whether she intended to remain in the race through the convention roll call, Clinton said, “I’m staying in this race until there’s a nominee and obviously I am going to work as hard as I can to become that nominee.” …
Clinton’s loan more than doubled her personal investment in her bid for the Democratic nomination. She gave her campaign $5 million earlier this year.
A campaign aide said Clinton gave her campaign another $5 million on April 11, more than a week before the Pennsylvania primary. She then again dipped into her personal wealth for $1 million last week and $425,000 on Monday, one day before the North Carolina and Indiana primaries.
Clinton’s campaign reported raising $10 million online after her Pennsylvania victory on April 22. Evidently, the money was not enough and her fundraising was unable to keep up with her expenses heading into Tuesday’s contests.
Moreover, Obama has routinely outspent her in primary after primary and has shown little difficulty tapping his vast network of donors. He spent more than $7 million on advertising head of Tuesday’s primaries in North Carolina and Indiana to her nearly $4 million.
According to the latest campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Obama began the month of April with $42 million in the bank for the primary to Clinton’s $9.3 million.
But Clinton had debts of $10.3 million at the start of the month, much of it money owed to her main polling, phone banking and advertising consultants…
Of course this $11,425,000.00 from Mrs. Clinton’s “personal wealth” actually represents a lot of favors owed to the Chinese, Arabs and the other shady characters.
But isn’t it a good thing McCain-Feingold put an end to such practices? Imagine if there was still money influencing politics.
Still, let’s not forget Chelsea has repeatedly assured us that her mother is the most fiscally responsible person in the race.
And of course she is beholden to no one.
If you are like most people you probably went out of your way to miss Frank Luntz’s “focus group” on Fox News after the Democrat debate last night.
If so you also missed a low point in the career of “raconteur” John Cleese, who in his effort to pimp for Mr. Obama blatantly misrepresented Lady Thatcher’s political career.
The fun begins around 2:30 minutes into the YouTube clip:
Focus Group: Obama Wins Another Debate
John Cleese: I wanted to ask… Margaret Thatcher was a pretty effective and powerful leader.
How many years do you think she had in British government at the top level before she became our leader? And what positions do you think she held?
… Do you know what position in the cabinet she held for those three years? She was Minister of Education.
That is to say, Mr. Cleese claimed Margaret Thatcher had only three years of government experience before becoming Prime Minister, and that she was merely the Minister of Education at that.
We have to go no further than Wikipedia to find that he is wrong on both points:
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) is a former British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990. She is the first and only woman to hold either post.
Born in Grantham in Lincolnshire, England, and went on to read Chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford. She was selected as Conservative candidate for Finchley in 1958 and took her seat in the House of Commons the following year.
Upon the election of Edward Heath in 1970, Thatcher was appointed Secretary of State for Education and Science.
In 1974, she backed Sir Keith Joseph for the Conservative party leader, but after falling short he dropped out of the race. Thatcher entered herself and became leader of the Conservative party in 1975. Among other things, she defiantly opposed the Soviet Union, and her tough-talking rhetoric gained her the nickname the “Iron Lady”. As the Conservative party maintained leads in most polls, Thatcher went on to become Britain’s Prime Minister in the 1979 General Election.
So instead of a mere three years in government as Mr. Cleese claimed, Lady Thatcher was actually in government as a member of Parliament for 20 years prior to being elected Prime Minister.
Additionally, she was Secretary of State for Education and Science for nine years before being selected as PM.
Moreover, Mrs. Thatcher was the (first female) head of the Conservative Party for four years before becoming Prime Minister. A position that entails a great deal more in the UK than it does in the US.
It is quite disappointing to see Mr. Cleese misrepresenting such basic facts in order to promote a candidate. (And even mentioning Lady Thatcher in a laudatory way was quite hypocritical, given that he has made a career of denigrating her politics.)
It makes one wonder if he might not have misrepresented the quest for the Holy Grail as well.
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