It’s silly the way folks are upset that President Obama shook hands with Raul Castro at the Nelson Mandela funeral. That was not the time or place to indulge our regional squabbles. Obama was a guest in another country, paying homage to the life of a great man from that country. In a situation like that, when you go down a line of state leaders, you shake hands with the next person in line, tyrant or not, period.
Imagine if every country used the occasion to snub whoever they don’t get along with–China vs. Taiwan, India vs. Pakistan, Honduras vs. El Salvador, Saudi Arabia vs. Iran, Turkey vs. Greece, the US vs. Syria, Iran, Columbia, Nicaragua, North Korea…on and on. Imagine if, at the Ronald Reagan funeral, the Chinese leader refused to shake hands with the Taiwan leader, with all the world watching. We would have been upset. There is a time and place for everything under the sun. A state funeral may not be that place.
The Mandela funeral was not about the US and Cuba. It was about Mandela and South Africa. It was appropriate for the various world leaders, as guests of South Africa, to be on their best behavior.
By all accounts, best behavior prevailed….mostly. Ted Cruz walked out of the memorial service when Castro spoke. That was incredibly petty and immature. Then there was Marco Rubio, who said, “If the president was going to shake his hand, he should have asked him about those basic freedoms Mandela was associated with that are denied in Cuba.” You mean, just stop in the middle of the funeral and begin a political discussion? Not the time or place, Marco. Grow up.
By the way, President Obama’s speech at the funeral was excellent. I’m sure FoxNews will, as they always do, insist that his speech involved apologizing for America (I read his speeches and NEVER agree with FoxNews about this apologizing nonsense). I thought his remarks at the funeral were an excellent message for the world.
