*It was beyond shocking–and embarrassing–for South Africa to have that fake sign-language interpreter sharing center stage with world leaders during last week’s Nelson Mandela memorial service.
Not only could a phony, violence-prone, schizophrenic imposter have been an assassin, he sacrilegiously overshadowed the farewell salute to one of the world’s foremost icons, who deserved so much better.
Moreover, for those delving beneath the surface of post-apartheid Pretoria, such a scandalous breech was a reminder that post-Mandela South Africa remains a formidable work in progress. In fact, by all accounts South Africa simmers with societal uncertainty and any true sense of social justice and economic fairness remains a dream deferred.
*One last word on “the handshake” heard around the Twitter world and all across Little Havana. President Barack Obama should have been criticized had he NOT shaken the hand of Cuban President Raúl Castro. How do you snub someone, ironically an atavistic, Cold War adversary, on your way to give a eulogy for one who was the very embodiment of reconciliation?
It is also worth noting what President Obama said in his remarks that included a rhetorical back-hander obviously aimed at, among others, the human rights-challenged Castro. “There are too many leaders who claim solidarity with Mandiba’s (Mandela’s) struggle for freedom,” said Obama, “but do not tolerate dissent from their own people.”
Pitch perfect.