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Culture

Margaret Thatcher Is No Hugo Chavez

You can tell by the responses to their deaths

Ed Krayewski | 4.8.2013 12:48 PM

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You can tell by the reactions on the left. From the Sun:

Ex-Labour firebrand and current Respect MP George Galloway drew huge criticism on Twitter after he tweeted the lyric from a song celebrating Thatcher's passing. [Elvis Costello's Tramp the Dirt Down]

In a further message on the social networking site Mr Galloway - who infamously praised ex-Iraqi dictator and mass murderer Saddam Hussein - said: "May she burn in the hellfires."

Left-winger Derek Hatton - who led a militant strand of Labour councillors in Liverpool - sent out an insenstive tweet over his "regret" that she had been born.

Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone said Thatcher's policies were "fundamentally wrong" and she was responsible for "every real problem" faced in the UK today.

Students at the National Union of Students conference in Sheffield were also reported to have APPLAUDED the announcement that she had died - however this was strongly denied by the union's leaders.

Just last month, Galloway penned a slobbering obituary of Hugo Chavez, part of an outpouring of adoration from the European left and in America too. For his part, President Obama called Margaret Thatcher "one of the great champions of freedom and liberty" and a "true friend" of America. She was 87 and left power nearly a quarter century ago. Chavez was re-elected while critically ill, suspended his inauguration and then died. Now the defense ministry is working to secure his successor's election later this month.

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NEXT: Muslim-Christian Clashes Cause Casualties in Egypt

Ed Krayewski is a former associate editor at Reason.

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