British are "Plainly Annoyed" That Entire Obama Administration Snubs Thatcher Funeral

http://www.libertynews.com/2013/04/british-are-plainly-annoyed-that-entire-obama-administration-snubs-todays-thatcher-funeral/

 

British are “Plainly Annoyed” That Entire Obama Administration Snubs Today’s Thatcher Funeral

By Joe Calandra Jr.

Published: April 17, 2013 | 128 Comments

 

Today, April 17, 2013, Great Britain buried Lady Margaret Thatcher. British supporters of Lady Thatcher say that they are, “Plainly Annoyed” by the lack of American senior representation at today’s funeral proceedings.

The New York Times’ European Section described today’s funeral as “austere and devout.” Seven-hundred members of the British military comprised the full Honor Guard for the former Conservative giant known to most as “The Iron Lady.” The troops lined the streets leading to St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, where the service was held.

More than one-thousand British citizens filled the streets gathering to bid farewell to the Baroness. A Royal Army horse-drawn gun-carriage brought her Union-Jack-draped casket to the steps of the ancient church, where her remains were carried into the sanctuary. Four-thousand police guarded the outer- perimeter of the London event. Inside the church, 2,300 national and international dignitaries gathered to pay their respects.

As the service began, a gun salute rang out from the Tower of London as Big Ben’s chimes paused in a moment of sacred silence.

President Obama and Vice President Biden missed these sacred moments today. The British took note of the fact that The Obama administration chose not to send one senior member of the Cabinet. In-fact, no actively serving elected Democrat attended Lady Thatcher’s funeral.

The British newspaper, The Guardian, reported:

“While Barack Obama was invited, he has opted to send a presidential delegation comprising no serving politicians. Shultz was secretary of state to Ronald Reagan while Baker served the elder George Bush. Also representing Obama will be Barbara Stephenson, chargé d’affaires at the US embassy in London, and Louis Susman, the recently departed ambassador to Britain.

Separately, the Republican Party is sending three members of the House of Representatives: Marsha Blackburn, who will lead the delegation, along with Michele Bachmann and George Holding. Blackburn is a leading fiscal conservative, while Bachmann, a member of the hard-line conservative Tea Party Faction, became internationally known during her spectacular, if brief, bid for the 2012 presidential nomination.

Another leading Republican conservative and attempted 2012 nominee, Newt Gingrich, is also among the confirmed attendees. Ronald Reagan’s widow, Nancy, was invited but has said she felt unable to make the trip aged 91.”

Obama’s absence meant he was upstaged by the presence of F. W. de Klerk, former President of South Africa, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Italy’s Prime Minister, Mario Monti, and Poland’s Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, just to name a few state leaders who decided that Lady Thatcher was worth honoring.

The leading chief-of-state who attended today’s memorial was Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. Today was the first time the Queen of Great Britain attended the funeral of a prime minister since Sir Winston Churchill passed away forty-eight years ago.

The Obama Administration did, however, send a formal delegation to the funeral of Socialist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who died last month.

The president chose to honor Chavez, the Socialist who called President G.W. Bush, “the devil” and said that “Hitler would be like a suckling baby next to George W. Bush,” but refused to honor Lady Thatcher. Obama sent a formal delegation to the funeral of Hugo Chavez, who said that under President G.W. Bush, the U.S. was, “The most savage and cruel in the world.”

While the White House was heaping honors on the Socialist, Chavez, Congress was fighting over whether it was valid to honor the woman whose life’s work was defeating Socialism and Communism across the globe.

The entire House of Representatives (Republicans and Democrats) passed a resolution honoring Thatcher’s memory without a single dissent. Yet, Senate Democrats blocked a resolution to honor Britain’s former conservative titan.

Today, the Obama Administration’s conspicuous absence at Lady Thatcher’s funeral simply adds one more insult to a long list of injuries.