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During Nelson Mandela’s funeral this morning, President Obama shook the hand of Cuban leader Raúl Castro. It’s not completely unprecedented. Bill Clinton shook Fidel Castro’s hand in New York in 2000. It’s still an odd sight.
But what does it mean? Of course, the internet is buzzing with people trying to politically dissect a brief moment of basic manners at a funeral service.
CNN anchor Chris Coumo immediately tried to downplay any significance (which, of course, outraged right-wing site Breitbart.com):
Miami-based exile blog Babalu is, of course, disappointed Obama’s hand touched Castro’s “blood-stained hand”:
Notorious right-wing blog Hot Air at least tried to empathize with Obama’s predicament:
Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez notes the government-controlled Cuban TV stations did not broadcast the handshake:
National Review‘s Mona Charen finds it a “shameful day to be an American” while citing that Alan Gross, an American, is imprisoned in Cuba:
Twitter user William K. Wolfrum thought it was a missed opportunity:
Obviously there are some lesser-known right-wing blogs wondering if Obama “bowed” to Castro:
Liberals are already trying to find ways to be mad at conservatives for being angry about the handshake:
And here’s the second sentence from the Fox News story on the handshake that expects controversy but isn’t quite creating it yet:
As far as we can tell, no Cuban-American federal lawmakers have yet reacted to the news.
But did Obama have a message for Castro in the remarks he delivered at the service? It sure seems like it:
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