Iron Filings
(on remarks by former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher,
June 2, 2001, referring to upcoming U.K. general election)
"Beware elected dictatorship",
Margaret Thatcher sternly warns,
"Of cronies, ciphers, and personality cult,
A government of pawns."
How generous of her to alert us
To the dangers the system promote
Where prime ministers muster unchecked power
With barely a third of the vote,
Forgetting how it served her well
When she was the one installed
And committed such acts of tyranny
That angels were appalled:
A prime minister who traded favors
To keep the members in line
And constantly shuffled her cabinet,
Should a maverick dare to decline;
Who tried to imprison Clive Ponting
For refusing to seal his lip,
For daring to reveal the sordid truth
About sinking an Argentine ship,
How she rigged a judge in the London High Court
To pervert fair justice' cause
Then bolstered the Official Secrets Act
To remove its righteous clause.
Since when was she a champion
Of fair democracy?
Her eloquent bleatings merely reveal
Her own hypocrisy!
June 2001
