Republicans criticize Obama for Castro handshake

with one senior lawmaker likening the act to appeasement of the Nazis

in what remote possible universe could this be compared to appeasing the Nazis??.... I know, in Republican la la land where an understanding of history isn't required..... more confected outrage from grandstanding politicians with nothing better to do...

Republicans will criticize Obama for taking a shower every morning. It is a waste of water, they will say.

I've always had time for McCain but i suspected he was going senile in 2008 and his choice of Palin confirmed it. As for the comparison with Chamberlain shaking hands with Hitler, I think John's bedtime.

Any Republicans want to comment about that Don Rumsfeld handshake with Saddam Hussein? Thought so.

Republican outrage issues. Doesn't apply to the majority of Americans.

plasticmonkey, That's a bit of a false equivalency.

By McCain's logic it would be a mistake for more than one world leader to shake the US president's hand as long as Guantanamo (not to mention other sites) remains in business. And Americans incarcerate more Americans than anyone else, Mr. Senator.

This criticism is more for the hardcore anti-Obama crowd than most Cuban Americans who at this point don't have a problem with better Cuban relations in the future when both Castros are dead.

Isn't shaking hands what a mature-minded grown man does while offering a cordial greeting in meeting each other in any professional or diplomatic setting? Is there any reason why the President of the United States be mean or impolite to the leader of another country? It seems so childish when this simple act is seen as an evil gesture. I guess some politicians will never grow up.

Obama greets and shake hands with the dictator of Cuba. Why in the world is their still US citizen travel restrictions?

Probably the same Republicans who went into hysterics when Obama had a 15 minute phone call with the Iranian President. And that call led very quickly to an agreement to put controls on Iran's nuclear projects. In fact it resulted in the first major step towards a better ME in decades. And the same could result from not being afraid to make the first move towards the leader of a country that is no threat to the US. And after all, 52 years of sanctions against Cuba has achieved what exactly?

Where is the news? That is just a long list of dictators that Obama has been eager to be friendly with. Unsurprisingly, he refused to attend Maggie Thatchers funeral, and that bust of Winston Churchill got unceremoniously removed from the White House and sent back to London. A man has to have his priorities.

Non-issue played up on fake news networks. Republicans, welcome to 2013. We are not living in the 1950s any longer even though you all wish that were so. We did not have a black President in the 1950s is the biggest reason why.

Where is the news? That is just a long list of dictators that Obama has been eager to be friendly with. Unsurprisingly, he refused to attend Maggie Thatchers funeral, and that bust of Winston Churchill got unceremoniously removed from the White House and sent back to London.

A preference for Castro over Thatcher is a clear sign of a decent human being in my book.

Republicans criticize Obama... Stopped reading there. He could solve every problem in the states and still be criticized by the Republicans. Cold war is over. Get over it.

Much ado about nothing.

It's a day to celebrate Nelson Mandela, not politics. And with that, people are just being courteous to each other.

It's in the spirit of Nelson Mandela, on his day, to extend your hand even to your foes. Don't attend Mandela's funeral if one can't even do that.

Lastly, U.S. Presidents have shaken dictators' hands throughout history. Russians, Chinese, African warlords, Latin American dictators, etc. It's not without precedent.

Judge them by their actions, not their handshakes.

Republicans would criticized President Obama if he sneezed, so this is just SOP news.

I think John McCain's comment shows he's the one who's lost it. As a Canadian with no problem with Cuba, I think it's long overdue for an American president to put the past behind him and his country's angst about a piddling neighbour that poses no threat to their society. Republicans who can't see past their noses to forgive and forget are still living in the ice ages of the Cold War.

This was at a memorial service and politics should be left aside... not as an opportunity to tell someone not to do this that or the other.

Like at any other funeral, you shake hands with the people around you and make peace for the time you are there.

Would it be appropriate the shake the hand of Kim Jong un? Raul Castro may not be as evil however far from an angel. The man deserves no such respect.

Shaking someone's hand at a funeral or memorial service isn't showing respect for that person, it's a part of showing respect for the deceased.

Those babies can criticize all they want, but I can't help but imagine the disaster a moron like Romney would have caused faced with the same situation.

The republicans continue to rocket themselves to all new levels of irrelevancy. :-)

outrage is the new language of politics. stupid. this is never appeasement and actually may be a step in the right direction to normalising realtions with Cuba.

When did trying to talk ever do any harm?

Well, shaking hands and bowing are just compliments.

Of course, if Obama didn't shake hands with Castro those same republicans would be slagging him off for his lack of manners.

Obama made boo boo but because it was Mandela's funeral it's no big deal and no one should complain about it.

How dare he???? Doesn't he know that the appropriate form of public behavior is to take anyone that you disagree with and passive-aggressively shun them in public? It's the American way!!!

with one senior lawmaker likening the act to appeasement of the Nazis.

I am getting so sick of people comparing anything and everything to the Nazis. Do these people ever read a history book?

At least he didn't kiss him as Bush did King Abdullah, the at least as repressive "leader" of Saudi Arabia - but then, oil was involved, so Texans would in that case find the abandonment of democratic values to economic expediency quite understandable.

I think it is about time Cuba and the U.S kissed and made up. It has been nearly 60 years...

Heck, Obama shook hands with dictators Hugo Chavez, Hu Jintao, Xi Jinping and and Vladamir Putin, what's the big deal?

"Any Republicans want to comment about that Don Rumsfeld handshake with Saddam Hussein?"

I would but it would be off topic.

The same Republican party that was instrumental in bringing down the global economy in 2009 is now complaining about a handshake??

Lol!! :-)

Unbelievably ridiculous, Didn't Nixon Shake hands with Mao? Didn't they shake hands with Saddam Hussein? Didn't Reagan claim that Al-Qaeda were freedom fighters? America supports a big share of dictators and Castro is the biggest threat?

Complaining about a handshake....it's about the only thing the Republicans can do to attempt to remain relevant in a world that's all but forgotten them. 

Lol!! :-)

These are the same people who think the hard line, no compromises, and violence are the answers to all diplomatic issues.

Who cares about their bleating?

Lift the ban on travel to Cuba for goodness sake. Some of these politicians saying how evil Cuba is, give their blessing to invest in Socialist/Communist China (PRC)...what hypocrisy.

Is anybody really surprised to see the nutcase Republicans are in their usual, spasmic state ?

Did anybody really expect the "independent" conservatives to understand a gesture actually quite fitting for the funeral of Nelson Mandela?

The poignancy of the moment slips the Republicans by here.

At the memorial for a man that championed peace, and forgiveness and cooperation - who is undoubtedly a Giant of Humanity and has led the world in notions of reconciliation, two old rivals seize the moment to take a leaf out of his book and offer each other a sign of friendship and peace.

And the Republicans don't get it. Can't take the cue.

Dumb.

What bothers me about the handshake is that both Fidel and Raul sponsored terrorist groups around the world. Their actions were directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of innocent American citizens and American soldiers.

To see Obama greet Castro so warmly disrespects all of those fallen Americans.

RR

@RomeoEII, well, Obama was at a memorial service for a convicted terrorist. Maybe he likes that kind of person.

Moderator: You seem obsessed with posting that Mandela was a terrorist. It is inappropriate. Do not post such remarks again.

Their actions were directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of innocent American citizens and American soldiers.

Gee, if it's the deaths of innocent citizens that concerns you, I suggest that, as an American, you are splitting hairs.

What bothers me about the handshake is that both Fidel and Raul sponsored terrorist groups around the world. Their actions were directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of innocent American citizens and American soldiers.

What bothers me about this comment is its America-centricism. England certainly would have tried French who supported American independence as" terrorists" (if the term had not been so blithely tossed around in those days); Non-United States American countries are equally free to define the terrorist from the liberator. I mean in no way to absolve Cuba of its abuses; rather, at the commemoration of a man who did so much to rid this world of the horrors it invokes on its own people, humility and humanity is called for.

Then again, honest reflection has become a disqualifying attribute of the GOP.

I can't help but imagine the disaster a moron like Romney would have caused faced with the same situation.

Ya think Romney would have ignored his wife the entire time to play footsies and take selfies with the married PM of Denmark? Somehow I doubt that.

Shaking hands with Mr Castro was simply good manners. Taking selfies and laughing like a hyena is nowhere near proper conduct by a head of state at such an event. Truly embarrassing.

It was a mere handshake. Normalization of diplomacy between the two nations is LONG overdue.

The bigger news, if it can be called news, is the admission of Mandela's direct communist association.

http://www.workers.org/articles/2013/12/06/statement-south-african-communist-party-nelson-mandela/

It is strange though. To Japanese, Cuba and Iran are just two other countries. Japanese tourist groups go there regularly. I've never been there, but friends of mine say they have a great time and are treated well.

I can't get worked up over a handshake. Besides, the US should start to normalize relations with Cuba. The cold war is over and the Cuban people don't need to be punished for their leaders. Heck, we normalized relations with China....

"I can't get worked up over a handshake."

Neither can I.

Strange that those republicans frothing at the mouth over a handshake are the same that give their eternal blind support for Israel, who lest we forget, supported the disgraceful regime of apartheid in South Africa.

Personally, I don't have a problem with Obama shaking hands with any dictators at a funeral occasion, I think it was just an etiquette issue, it's a funeral, the somber event of saying goodbye to a deceased individual. I'm also numb to Obama shaking hands with other dictators, so for me, with this President, I've just accepted it as normal and got accustomed to it.

No one takes Republicans seriously anymore. If Ted Cruz can take the American government & public hostage, Obama can shake hands with Castro.

“Mr Secretary, sometimes a handshake is just a handshake, but when the leader of the free world shakes the bloody hand of a ruthless dictator like Raul Castro, it becomes a propaganda coup for the tyrant,” she told Kerry at a House hearing on Iran. This is funny, ask many folk around the so called FREE WORLD how they felt about BUSH when that ding bat was in the US White House?? I am sure we would all get an ear full! Now Mr.Obama shaking hands with the brother of the communist dictator of Cuba, Castro?? Sure, he hands bloods on his hands, but how many world leaders (CHINA) etc..have blood on their hands too?? Obama, I voted for him, loves sending drones over Pakistan etc...and I bet the people there feel Mr.Obama has blood on his hands too, so??