to speak ill of the dead

Everyone knows it's bad form to say bad things about those who have recently died, and also that former prime minister Maggie Thatcher died  yesterday.

Keeping that in mind, I can do no better than to turn to President Obama's eulogizing Ms. Thacker yesterday, saying "If you're old enough (!) you'll remember how she stood shoulder to shoulder with President Reagan during the Cold War."

I'm old enough, and clearly remember how she stood shoulder to shoulder with St. Uncle Ron as he was murdering tens of thousands of campesinos in Nicaragua and Salvador.

But as Shakespeare said, "So are they all honorable men." And nowadays, some are honorable women. The more things change...