In the last few minutes I have heard that Margaret Thatcher has died. She truly was a politician of the highest order irrespective of whether you agreed with her or not. She was, in my terminology, authentic. What she believed in she articulated and when she was in power she applied it. It so happens that I agreed with most of what she was trying to achieve so that made it easier for me to admire her, but I could say similar things concerning Clem Attlee after the war even whilst disagreeing with virtually everything he did.
Above all she was able to demonstrate that the Austrian philosophy of economics actually worked. No longer can anyone say that what Hayek and Friedman proposed was dangerous theory, as those 365 economic twats wrote in The Times. She was right and they were wrong! How long will it be before we produce another authentic, clear-eyed leader with a well-honed and intelligent ideology that will match her in any way? Don't hold your breath!
ADDITIONAL: I reprint a photo of the lady featured in Drudge which I think captures her essence - intelligence, determination and femininity: