Media Monitor- April 14th
Scant coverage for an abortion doctor’s murder trial, a British columnist’s mean-spirited eulogy to Margaret Thatcher and a Foxnews.com reporter avoids jail for protecting her sources.
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Dear Howard:
Sorry you're upset because that horror Margaret Thatcher is dead and some limeys danced in the streets. Of course they danced in the streets; Margaret Thatcher shouldn't have been born. She split the country in two. She didn't give a damn about England's poor, and there were and are plenty of them. She was like her buddy Ronald Reagan in that regard, only worse, much worse. She stole from the poor, evicting them from the houses that were built for them and stuffed them with people who were more empathic to her manner of governing–like destroying trade unions. She wouldn't quit, an admirable trait unless you're dividing your country in two. Check out the UK miners strike, Howard.
She had lots of class, old Margaret. They made this creature a baroness? Jesus!
Remember the Falklands war? After Argentina surrendered, laying quietly at anchor was the pride of their fleet, the cruiser Belgrano. Thatcher told the British commander to take it out. He pleaded with her, but she snapped, "Obey orders!" The Belgrano is the only ship ever to be sunk in anger by a nuclear-powered submarine. The casualties were more than half the total Argentinian casualties during the war.
A bit about me: I'm 87 years old, served in the Royal Navy during World War II, and was awarded the George the VI medal. I know more than you, Howard, about recent English history at least, and certainly about English men and women. I'm one of the tribe.
Except that my doctor has told me flying would kill me, I'd go to England to join in the celebrations. I'd like to dance, mean-spiritedly, on the hellbat's grave.
I'll continue to watch your show. I like it, and I like you. Just watch your language!
T.S.
Howie,
You've done a disservice to your viewers on your Media Monitor commentary regarding the British columnist's mean spirited eulogy on Margaret Thatcher. Instead of bashing this columnist who pointed out that there were people in Great Britain celebrating Baroness Thatcher's death, you could have pointed out that there was virtually no media coverage in the United States of how controversial she actually was. Indeed, in reporting her death the American media focused on what a great "friend" she was to the U.S., showcasing pictures of her with Ronald Reagan. There American media had no mention of how divisive she was in the UK and how hated she was in Northern Ireland (both among Unionists and Sinn Fein). Moreover, the entire western world has read about or watched the rousing speech that former actress and Member of Parliament Glenda Jackson delivered on "Thatcherism." She said this not to celebrate Baroness Thatcher's death, but rather to point out that the media was re-writing history of the effects of her leadership. Howie, you can watch Glenda Jackson's speech. It's on youtube.
O.S.
NewsBusters| Howard Kurtz on Gosnell Trial Coverage: 'Conservative Media Didn't Do Much Either'
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2013/04/14/howard-kurtz-gosnell-trial-coverage-conservative-media-didnt-do-much