# Obama shakes hands with Raul Castro. So what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 10, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985 "2013-12-10T15:32:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/81 "2013-12-12T02:46:03Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > No such thing when it comes to heads of state. You can bet your bottom dollar that this was discussed with Obama’s staff and agreed on in advance. You really think the staffs of Mohammad Khatami and Moshe Katsav the handshake at John Paul II’s funeral in advance? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/82 "2013-12-12T03:13:03Z")
I am a moderate libertarian/conservative and I don’t see the big deal about it and I wish the right-wingers wouldn’t make it one. The Cold War is over and we won. Cuba should have been opened up a long time ago. It is the perfect example of a failed, 60’s era Communist experiment. I see no reason to continue the embargo to this day for any reason. It would benefit both the U.S. and Cuba if we just opened up trade again like nothing ever happened. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/83 "2013-12-12T03:13:28Z")
> [@andros](#): > > Dafuq? Sorry, I have serious FOAF bells ringing. Cite? Personal experience as related to me. Sorry, no cite. I do know that if the Coast Guard intercepts a boat of Cuban refugees, they send them back. But, if they make it to the beach, the naturalization process can begin. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/84 "2013-12-12T03:23:33Z")
While I don’t expect much, I hope this allows for further opening of relations between Cuba and the United States. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/85 "2013-12-12T12:24:01Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > Where’d you get a crazy idea like that? Jesus probably would’ve head-butted him. From the Bible! ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/86 "2013-12-12T12:27:38Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Based on last night’s _The Daily Show,_ it seems Fox News is making a big deal of it. If I had a penny for all the hatred spread by Fox I would be a billionaire. I wonder if they will go out of business after 2016 .Well I suppose their hatred will find a way to be expressed toward president Obama even then! ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/87 "2013-12-12T12:29:14Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > I think the more interesting news is that Ted Cruz [walked out](http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/Decoder-Wire/2013/1211/Ted-Cruz-walks-out-on-Castro-at-Mandela-memorial.-Grandstanding) of the ceremony when Raul Castro spoke. > > Classy move, on a trip funded by the US taxpayers. Showing that he isn’t interested in hearing only what he wants to hear? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/88 "2013-12-12T13:16:57Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > Showing that he isn’t interested in hearing only what he wants to hear? He’s just maintaining his cover. As a sleeper agent for the Castros, he can’t be seen having anything to do with them. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/89 "2013-12-12T13:29:24Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > And this is why we don’t have relations with Cuba. Fortunately, that voting bloc is dying off rapidly (and hasn’t voted Democratic for like 20 or 30 years anyway), so the whole thing should resolve itself soon-ish. I’m thinking that as soon as a guy not named Castro takes over, the embargo thaws. Funny you should mention that. As I recall, the specific wording of the embargo forbids its lifting until both Fidel AND Raul Castro are no longer in power. It’s specific to those two. There’s a decent case to be made that the issue has an expiration date and is therefore only sort of worth worrying about in the short term. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/90 "2013-12-12T14:22:16Z")
I’ll tell you one thing … if it were Ronald Reagan at Nelson Mandela’s funeral, he sure as shootin’ wouldn’t have shook Castro’s hand! Oh, who am I kidding; Reagan would never have gone to Mandela’s funeral. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/91 "2013-12-12T14:32:55Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Funny you should mention that. As I recall, the specific wording of the embargo forbids its lifting until both Fidel AND Raul Castro are no longer in power. It’s specific to those two. > > There’s a decent case to be made that the issue has an expiration date and is therefore only sort of worth worrying about in the short term. I can’t find this reference- JFK’s embargo declaration makes no mention of it, the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 mentions “as long as Cuba is governed by the Castro regime.” I’m not reading that as “as long as a leader is named Castro”, but rather the government as established by Castro. I suppose the British could still refer to the US as “the Washington Regime” with that logic. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/92 "2013-12-12T14:40:00Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > I think the more interesting news is that Ted Cruz [walked out](http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/Decoder-Wire/2013/1211/Ted-Cruz-walks-out-on-Castro-at-Mandela-memorial.-Grandstanding) of the ceremony when Raul Castro spoke. Who the hell thought it was a good idea to send Ted Cruz to a state funeral? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/93 "2013-12-12T15:37:26Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > Personal experience as related to me. Sorry, no cite. I do know that if the Coast Guard intercepts a boat of Cuban refugees, they send them back. But, if they make it to the beach, the naturalization process can begin. [Wet feet, dry feet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet_feet,_dry_feet_policy). If they catch you at sea, back you go. Make it to dry land and you can stay, at least for a little while. I’m not convinced you get gift cards and a fruit basket though. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/94 "2013-12-12T15:43:22Z")
Sort of. Under the Cuban Adjustment Act, Cuban refugees are eligible for permanent residency even if they have been public charges (welfare recipients, basically.) It’s not quite, “please, make generous use of the minibar” but it’s a hefty advantage over other refugees and asylum seekers. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/95 "2013-12-12T15:46:09Z")
Yeah, I was just wondering about the whole “forbidden to work for three months” thing, and the debit card. And yes, dammit, the fruit basket. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/96 "2013-12-12T15:48:31Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > You’re not counting the ones in [Guantanamo Bay.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_detainees_at_Guantanamo_Bay) > > Oh, wait, those are OUR American prisoners. Never mind. There aren’t any Americans at Gitmo. > [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I’ll tell you one thing … if it were Ronald Reagan at Nelson Mandela’s funeral, he sure as shootin’ wouldn’t have shook Castro’s hand! > > Oh, who am I kidding; Reagan would never have gone to Mandela’s funeral. Reagan called apartheid “a malevolent and archaic system totally alien to our ideals”, and called for Mandela, by name, to be released from prison and allowed to participate in the South African political process. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/97 "2013-12-12T15:48:55Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I’ll tell you one thing … if it were Ronald Reagan at Nelson Mandela’s funeral, he sure as shootin’ wouldn’t have shook Castro’s hand! > > Oh, who am I kidding; Reagan would never have gone to Mandela’s funeral. You are kidding, right? Reagan would have gone in a flash (he opposed apartheid) and probably would have shaken Castro’s hand. Think of the photo ops inherent in that! The guy shook Gorby’s hand and smiled the whole time, then used the stage to talk about stuff he wanted to talk about and look tough and resolved. He could have looked down on Castro why shaking his hand, perhaps with a small pitying smile on his face. (of course, he’d be 102 years old, so that might have been a drawback) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/98 "2013-12-12T15:53:22Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Based on last night’s _The Daily Show,_ it seems Fox News is making a big deal of it. As usual, then, Jon Stewart doesn’t know what he’s talking about. > **[Fox News Shows | Fox News](https://www.foxnews.com/shows)** > > Fox News TV Shows - Complete list of Fox News shows online, listings and schedules. Watch Fox & Friends and Special Report web shows, full episodes, video clips and participate in live chats. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/99 "2013-12-12T16:00:09Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > As usual, then, Jon Stewart doesn’t know what he’s talking about. > > [Shows | Fox News](http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/2013/12/12/bill-oreilly-president-obama-shaking-dictators-hand) How does that disprove what Jon Stewart said? You are aware that TDS shows actual clips of actual FoxNews people to support the story? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985/100 "2013-12-12T16:04:23Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > As usual, then, Jon Stewart doesn’t know what he’s talking about. > > [Shows | Fox News](http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/2013/12/12/bill-oreilly-president-obama-shaking-dictators-hand) I gather you didn’t watch the Daily Show segment, and I’m at a loss as to how your cite supports your claim. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-shakes-hands-with-raul-castro-so-what/675985.md?page=6)