My latest piece over at Punditwire recalls a fine speech by Teresa Potocka in honor of Lady Thatcher at the Conservative Friends of Poland in early 2010:
Lady Thatcher, in those dark years of martial law you were a symbol of hope and freedom for the Polish people. I grew up in the eighties and remember when you visited Poland on November 3rd, 1988 and became the first British Prime Minister to make an official visit to Poland. A momentous event.
Working closely with Pope John Paul II and Ronald Reagan and Lech Walesa, you helped bring freedom back to Poland - and bring down the Iron Curtain once and for all. A towering achievement in the history of Conservative politics.
As you said in your speech to the Polish Senate on October 3rd 1991: For both of us the idea we have of our country is inseparable from our mission to defend and extend the reign of freedom. The defiant words emblazoned on the banners of Poland's freedom fighters in the nineteenth century would find an echo in any British heart: "For Your Freedom, and Ours".
People rarely say Thank you to politicians. Let me say it today on behalf of CFoP. Thank you for what you did for this country, and for Poland.
A large distinguished crowd were there at the Carlton Club, and hardly a dry eye.
I also link to the curious phrasing of President Obama's words in Lady Thatcher's memory:
By contrast part of the statement of President Obama on Lady Thatcher’s death struck a rather odd note, to my British ear at least:
As a grocer’s daughter who rose to become Britain’s first female prime minister, she stands as an example to our daughters that there is no glass ceiling that can’t be shattered. As prime minister, she helped restore the confidence and pride that has (sic) always been the hallmark of Britain at its best.
Imagine saying about a just deceased Barack Obama something like, “As an African-American who rose to be the first black American president, he stands as an example to all people of color that there is no glass ceiling that can’t be shattered.” Does it not somehow subtly qualify a lifetime of achievement, by defining it in terms of a diversity target cliché? The whole point of Margaret Thatcher’s life was that she just did not think like that, and had little time for people who do.
The moral? When in doubt in public speaking as in Life, always pick the right tool for the job.
