Caroline Crampton, web editor of the New Statesman, may not yet be a world-historic figure in international politics -- her time will surely come -- but boy can she apply some cutting wit against those who have been credited with such status.

In response to a decent and generous-minded tweet from Mitt Romney on the occasion of Margaret Thatcher's 87th birthday on Saturday describing her as a "tower of strength in the cause of liberty", Ms Crampton cooed smugly that:

"It's an act that's likely to polarise his support here in the UK -- but then that seems to be the way he campaigns in the US too."

Side-splitting stuff.

Back on the planet earth, Thatcher's role in standing up for Western values in the Cold War gave her iconic status as a champion of freedom across the world. The only dissenting voices came from those who never really cared much for freedom anyway or who actively campaigned against the West aiming, for instance, for unilateral nuclear disarmament.

One thinks of outlets such as the New Statesman, which, um, Ms Crampton works for....

Hmm, so now the sardonic tone begins to make sense. Oh, and by the way, on Mitt Romney and polarisation, let's not forget that he is in fact leading in the polls....