Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this...oh, nevermind

The most interesting story of the weekend (no offense, um, "patriots") came from overseas, proving that when it comes to foreign affairs and realpolitick, everything you know is wrong. Remember Margaret Thatcher, the "Iron Lady," Ronald Reagan's partner in conservative resolve?...except when it come to that whole Berlin Wall thing. This is pretty stunning in 20-20 hindsight:

Two months before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Margaret Thatcher told President Gorbachev that neither Britain nor Western Europe wanted the reunification of Germany and made clear that she wanted the Soviet leader to do what he could to stop it.

In an extraordinary frank meeting with Mr Gorbachev in Moscow in 1989 — never before fully reported — Mrs Thatcher said the destabilisation of Eastern Europe and the breakdown of the Warsaw Pact were also not in the West's interests. She noted the huge changes happening across Eastern Europe, but she insisted that the West would not push for its decommunisation. Nor would it do anything to risk the security of the Soviet Union.

Like I said, this sounds pretty silly in hindsight. Perhaps Thatcher (and France and other western powers worried about German reunification) still had World War II on their brain, but more likely it's just the political inertia of wanting the status quo and fearing the unknown, even when the status quo is something as unconscionable as Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. Ultimately, the West owes a debt of gratitude to Mikhail Gorbachev, warts and all, who comes off as a resolute advocate for change -- while everyone else dithered.