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Obama shakes Raul Castro's hand- Right lost their minds and their hearing

PhDeac said:
You've never shared a laugh with someone at a memorial service?
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Of course I have laughed. But whenever at a funeral I am always aware to pay respects to the deceased and to their family. Meaning I make sure none of my actions would be interpreted as happy go lucky.

Taking selfies and goofing it up with your pals seems a pretty clear case of either having little awareness of the gravity of Nelson mandelas life and death or little sympathy and respect. I guess that is why it confused me. If there is one leader that should understand how to act at THIS funeral you would think it would be Obama. He has faced real racism even in his rise to power. He is at the grave of a man who battled it to his death in the face of an apartheid....and obama is taking selfies. It's just disappointing. It is something I would expect of a teenager not the president of the United States of America.
 
BillBrasky said:
What, that he left a women to die so he wouldn't get charged with vehicular manslaughter?

Pretty hard to ignore that when you're writing someone's obituary.
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http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2009/08/26/57997/breitbart-kennedy-twitter/

There's no problem mentioning that in a legitimate obit. Breitbart went over and above that when Teddy died and ultra sensitive conservatives boo hooed big time when a few left wing morons said similar nasty thing when Breitbart died. Some on the left are extremely intolerant and some on the right who claim to be humble Christians are anything but. Erick Erickson claims to be a social conservative purist, but calling Souter "a goat fucking child molester" stretches credibility for an alleged devoted follower of Christ.
 
It amazingly and sadly predictable how far some people will go to find something wrong with Obama when nothing happened. You guys are pathetic.
 
SkinsNDeacs said:
Who...Cares?
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Just a little embarrassing to see your president acting like a teenage girl at a funeral of one of the most influential people in the last 50 years. In the end it doesn't really matter, but it is a SMH moment. Thats all.

I could care less (....and yes I did that on purpose) about the handshake. In fact I would prefer our president to be cordial to every world leader to be honest. Leaders don't let ideology get in the way or politeness. It is completely possible to oppose a leader and still be cordial. So whether Obama wants to start relations with Cuba or not (and I haven't studied the issue enough outside of reading a bunch of Che' biographies to know whether we should or not) it matters not who he shakes hands with.
 
as posted on The Pit thread, the ceremony was a celebration, and maybe taking a pic with other world leaders isn't the MEGA GEOPOLITICAL DISASTER some are making it out to be

look at these slack jawed yokels and their lack of decorum at the ceremony:

NM-memorial-1.jpg
 
Why are some of you acting like our thawing relationship with Cuba is part if some sinister new plot? It's been going on for nearly half a decade now.

We must be getting close to election season if you guys are already trotting out the big scary commie boogeyman.
 
You can't walk by a guy, Obama does a lot of stupid shit but shaking a man's hand is not one of them.
 
TownieDeac said:
as posted on The Pit thread, the ceremony was a celebration, and maybe taking a pic with other world leaders isn't the MEGA GEOPOLITICAL DISASTER some are making it out to be

look at these slack jawed yokels and their lack of decorum at the ceremony:

NM-memorial-1.jpg
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This seems a pretty clear case of either having little awareness of the gravity of Nelson mandelas life and death or little sympathy and respect. Wrangor is confused by South Africans.
 
From the photographer who caught the picture of the leaders taking the selfie:

I captured the scene reflexively. All around me in the stadium, South Africans were dancing, singing and laughing to honour their departed leader. It was more like a carnival atmosphere, not at all morbid. The ceremony had already gone on for two hours and would last another two. The atmosphere was totally relaxed – I didn’t see anything shocking in my viewfinder, president of the US or not. ...

I took these photos totally spontaneously, without thinking about what impact they might have. At the time, I thought the world leaders were simply acting like human beings, like me and you. I doubt anyone could have remained totally stony faced for the duration of the ceremony, while tens of thousands of people were celebrating in the stadium. For me, the behaviour of these leaders in snapping a selfie seems perfectly natural. I see nothing to complain about, and probably would have done the same in their place. The AFP team worked hard to display the reaction that South African people had for the passing of someone they consider as a father. We moved about 500 pictures, trying to portray their true feelings, and this seemingly trivial image seems to have eclipsed much of this collective work. ..
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http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slat...story_of_obama_selfie_pic_which_he_calls.html
 
PhDeac said:
This seems a pretty clear case of either having little awareness of the gravity of Nelson mandelas life and death or little sympathy and respect. Wrangor is confused by South Africans.
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I won't pretend that I have any concept of going to a funeral for someone as revered as Mandela, a funeral in South Africa, a funeral in a stadium, or being the leader of a country, but it wasn't the most appropriate thing in the world to do (the photo) in any circumstance really. Maybe I'm just getting old. :noidea:
 
Anyway, suddenly this woman pulled out her mobile phone and took a photo of herself smiling with Cameron and the US president. I captured the scene reflexively. All around me in the stadium, South Africans were dancing, singing and laughing to honour their departed leader. It was more like a carnival atmosphere, not at all morbid. The ceremony had already gone on for two hours and would last another two. The atmosphere was totally relaxed – I didn’t see anything shocking in my viewfinder, president of the US or not. We are in Africa.

I later read on social media that Michelle Obama seemed to be rather peeved on seeing the Danish prime minister take the picture. But photos can lie. In reality, just a few seconds earlier the first lady was herself joking with those around her, Cameron and Schmidt included. Her stern look was captured by chance.

I took these photos totally spontaneously, without thinking about what impact they might have. At the time, I thought the world leaders were simply acting like human beings, like me and you. I doubt anyone could have remained totally stony faced for the duration of the ceremony, while tens of thousands of people were celebrating in the stadium. For me, the behaviour of these leaders in snapping a selfie seems perfectly natural. I see nothing to complain about, and probably would have done the same in their place. The AFP team worked hard to display the reaction that South African people had for the passing of someone they consider as a father. We moved about 500 pictures, trying to portray their true feelings, and this seemingly trivial image seems to have eclipsed much of this collective work.

It was interesting to see politicians in a human light because usually when we see them it is in such a controlled environment. Maybe this would not be such an issue if we, as the press, would have more access to dignitaries and be able to show they are human as the rest of us.

I confess too that it makes me a little sad we are so obsessed with day-to-day trivialities, instead of things of true importance.
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/thread
 
hahaha all the usual crybabies around here trying to make something out of the selfie and the handshake with their panties firmly entrenched in their vaginas.

S. African funerals are celebrations unlike western funerals which are mournful, the selfie is a non issue.

We shake hands with the Russians and the Chinese don't we?
 
And so we learn today that the handshake was most likely planned, even though somebody was reamed for suggesting as much. We also learned that many etiquette police thought it was not the most appropriate time for a selfie (or whatever we wish to call it).

Ah, but apparently those of us who expect a certain amount of awareness from our President are just shills who expect too much.

Nobody here ever said it was the end of the world. We simply expect a bit better.

If the President wants to do back channel negotiations with Castro, that's one thing. A handshake is a middle finger to Cuban Americans and he knows as much but doesn't care since they aren't in his voting demographic. That's a tactical political decision. Not a big deal to you or me, but not something to dismiss as Mandela like or some BS, unless of course you want to compare it to mandela's fondness for commie revolutionaries.

The photo was just tacky for all involved. Typical behavior by politicians who live in their own world and a world increasingly defined by me, myself and I.

On the list of Things Obama Has Done To Bitch About, both are extremely low on the totem pole. That doesn't mean that pointing them out or taking offense to them is without merit.


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Tapatalk.
 
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