Tag: Margaret Thatcher

The Death of Francis Urquhart

I have just finished watching the original House of Cards trilogy, a BBC production that originally aired in three four-episode series (1990, 1993, 1995). The protagonist is Francis Urquhart (pronounced urk-ert, and played by the late Ian Richardson). Urquhart is meant to be a caricature of a callous, mendacious conservative. Thus he is portrayed as having murdered and ordered the murders of several persons who posed threats to his advancement and possession of power.

Despite that portrayal — or, rather, because of its implausibility — I sympathized with Urquhart because he served as a stand-in for Margaret Thatcher. His supposed loathing for Thatcher did not conceal the purpose of the producers of House of Cards, which  was to discredit Thatcher’s espousal of personal responsibility and the rule of law.

In the end, Urquhart’s wife — a Lady Macbeth in modern guise — has him killed. She does this ostensibly in order to save him from political disgrace. But her real purpose is to hold onto power by elevating a new surrogate. She is the very model of a modern, amoral politican.

House of Cards, is a good example of an old liberal device: Erect a strawman; label it conservative; and then attack it with inflammatory rhetoric. Truth be told, the real Francis Urquharts of the world — the non-murderous defenders of personal responsibility and the rule of law — are to be commended, not caricatured and castigated.

So, three cheers for Francis Urquhart, whose moral certainty is sadly lacking in politics — American as well as British.

The Iron Lady

Thus endeth the earthly career of another of our heroes, Margaret Thatcher.

To say that she epitomized Great Britain at its greatest will offend her opponents: layabouts, takers, dewy-eyed leftists, and opportunistic leftists who use the aforementioned to slake their power-lust. I welcome this opportunity to offend them.

What Britain and the U.S. need — now, more than ever — are no-nonsense, no-holds-barred leaders cast in Margaret Thatcher’s mold. She was sometimes compared with Ronald Reagan, but that comparison fails scrutiny because Reagan was too kind and too accommodating. Her closest peer among American presidents of the 20th century was Calvin Coolidge.

It is unlikely that the U.S. will ever again see Coolidge’s ilk in the White House. It is equally unlikely that Britain will ever again see Thatcher’s ilk in residence at 10 Downing Street.