I was there. As Mrs. Thatcher appeared on the British Army Challenger Tank’s turret, she was dressed as Lawrence of Arabia in white flowing garments. She also had a pair of devastatingly ugly goggles.
She was certainly wearing high heels as well, regardless of what advice the Army gave her regarding how they might be in tanks. Boadicea was an Elizabethan woman, so she wasn’t going to dress up as a man and don battledress.
As I recall the day in September 1986 at Fallingbostel, amid the war-scoured bleakness of Germany’s Luneburg Heath, the Cold War was still pretty cold.
Ms Truss was, despite all efforts by her official photographer to the contrary, completely engulfed in the warlike clothes she unwisely wore. She is a Lefty liberal, and she doesn’t always look good in combat gear.
A few hundred miles away, a large number of Soviet soldiers sat in a tented position. Moscow had deployed menacing SS-20 medium range missiles that made nuclear war more likely. The Silly Left-wingers camped at Greenham Common in an attempt to stop Nato’s response to this threat.
This was a chance to build friendship with Helmut Kohl (German Chancellor), who is a huge fan of large meals and cream cakes. He had managed to stuff his entire body into a German Leopard tank in order for him and other participants in a friendly shooting competition. It was a great success. Of course, Mrs Thatcher was victorious. She fired the shell, which she would never have dare to miss. Herr Kohl, terrified by her, also knew his place.
You will forgive me for laughing when I say Liz Truss (Foreign Secretary) resembles the Iron Lady as she climbs into an English tank in Estonia.
Ms. Truss was, despite all efforts by her official photographer to the contrary, completely engulfed in the unwisely chosen warlike clothes. Even Lefty Liberals like her, don’t look right in combat gear.
Her ugly helmet made it look like she had a tortoise on her head. It made her look more like Michael Dukakis the US presidential candidate who, in 1988, rode on top a US Army tank to make him appear tough. The sight was laughed at by most people.
All of us gasped when Mrs Thatcher, in flowing white gowns that looked like Lawrence of Arabia and with a pair of cruelly-looking goggles, appeared in the turret on a British Army Challenger tank.
Oh goodness, the circumstances. In 1986, Estonia was a Soviet possession and the idea of Nato tanks within a day’s drive of what was then Leningrad would have given the Kremlin kittens.
It is now. It has been a while since many people were starved to death in that German-occupied city. Russia lacks natural frontiers and is often invaded. It likes keeping its potential enemies away. Britain’s 1986 army was well-equipped and had serious capabilities. It was a good thing. We faced the Soviet Union’s massive, sprawling iron might in 1986. They had huge armed forces deep within Germany and were driven by communist dogma.
Ms. Truss today says that she supports a strong NATO. As a youngster, Ms. Truss sang CND songs in Greenham and campaigned for weak NATO. If anyone paid attention, they would have seen the USSR still lurking on the eastern horizon.
Now, as we posture as the defenders of Europe against a much-touted Russian threat which may or may not exist, Britain has a mere 227 Challenger tanks and is busy reducing its Army from 82,000 personnel – already a record low in modern times – to 73,000.
Were we truly believing the speeches that we gave, then would we be cutting our Armed Forces like we currently are?
Tell me what you will, but actions speak louder than words.
I note there is also an official drive to double the number of women in the British Army and to ‘tackle its male-dominated culture’. Well, such quotas usually lead to a lowering of physical standards, and, as most women aren’t especially keen on being soldiers, the main outcome is that more weedy men can join up.
I can promise you that the Russian Army continues to have a ‘male-dominated culture’, to put it gently, and does not plan to tackle it any time soon, and I am concerned about what might happen if our feminist forces ever actually clash with it.
Our moronian response to Omicron threats
I wonder why hardly anyone has pointed out that the anagram of ‘Omicron’ is ‘Moronic’. This is easy to figure out. I think the main reason for this is the hushed reverence that everyone now has for all things Covid.
Any mockery of or criticism of our authoritarian system of fighting viruses is considered heresy. Voice such doubts and you will be falsely accused, at top volume, of desiring the deaths of the vulnerable and of wanting to let the virus rip, or of being a crazed ‘anti-vaxxer’.
However, there are some things that seem absurd, even moronic about this nation’s response to the new version. This level of alarm is simply not justified.
As even the pro-panic semi-official newspaper The Times explained on Friday: ‘There is so little data that everything is informed conjecture – back of the envelope calculations with uncertainties so large that the same figures can be used to give succour or presage doom.’
You should know that when The Times says ‘informed conjecture’, it is trying to avoid saying ‘guesswork’.
I wonder why hardly anyone has pointed out that the anagram of ‘Omicron’ is ‘Moronic’. This is easy to figure out. I think the main reason for this is the hushed reverence that everyone holds now for all things Covid.
As I had predicted, we have seen the terrible long-term effects of such treatments as cancer therapy by subjection of all state machinery to Covid priorities.
It is a terrible time for small businesses and big companies that struggle to survive under repeated constraints. I also feel sorry for students and children whose education was destroyed by this same restriction.
This is not to mention the sinking country of Europe in unbelievable, ever-increasing restrictions on personal freedom.
Do we have this right? Many were overcome, I’m sure, by their fear of the unknown. I am becoming more convinced that these measures are effective and that it is worth the effort. Or both.
Please make your voice heard. Be patient and reasonable. Although it won’t save Christmas, Easter might be saved by your efforts.