This comes as no surprise, but it is disappointing nonetheless. Someone from the Obama administration could have been sent to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s funeral for the sake of diplomacy. But Lady Thatcher was instrumental in rolling back the march of communism and socialism in the world. She was a champion of free markets. She rejected feminist ideology. She took on the powerful unions. In short, they loathe everything she stood for. Oh, and they made this decision before the bombing of the Boston Marathon, but that had nothing to do with it. They are blaming it on the push for gun control on Capitol Hill.
Friends and allies of Baroness Thatcher expressed ‘surprise and disappointment’ last night as it emerged President Obama is not planning to send any serving member of his administration to her funeral.
Whitehall sources have revealed that the US delegation at tomorrow’s service in St Paul’s Cathedral will be led by two Reagan era secretaries of state: James Baker and George Shultz.
Though President Obama himself had not been expected to attend, there had been speculation that he would be represented either by Vice President Joe Biden or wife Michelle. However, the Obama administration had said it would not be attending Thatcher’s funeral before the Boston bombings.
The Queen’s decision to attend Lady Thatcher’s funeral has effectively elevated it to a state occasion unprecedented for a political figure in Britain since the death of Sir Winston Churchill in 1965.
Other world leaders, including Canada’s Stephen Harper, Mario Monti of Italy and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, are attending the service in person.
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Former US vice president Dick Cheney and ex-secretary of state Henry Kissinger will attend the funeral, Downing Street said today.Former defence secretary Dr Liam Fox, Lady Thatcher’s closest ally in modern-day politics, said: ‘I think it would be both surprising and disappointing if after President Obama’s fulsome tribute to Lady Thatcher, the American administration did not send a senior serving member to represent them.’
Sir Gerald Howarth, chairman of the Thatcherite Conservative Way Forward group of MPs and peers, said: ‘The bonds forged between the UK and the US through Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher was instrumental in ending the Cold War and liberating millions of people.
‘That the present administration feels unable to be represented as the world marks the extraordinary contribution Margaret Thatcher made will be a source of disappointment to those who served with her in that great endeavour.’
Update: There is also a problem in the Senate with a resolution honoring the legacy of Lady Thatcher. I heard there was a similar problem in the House last week. The problem is that the Democrats either don’t want to honor her at all, or they want to water it down and not recognize any of her accomplishments. Also, Hot Air reports that John Boehner is sending a House delegation to the funeral.