The Handshake
****
****
President Barack Obama shakes hands with Cuba’s President Raul Castro
President Castro blocks out reporters’ questions
President Obama holds a news conference at the conclusion of the Summit of the Americas in Panama City
****
****
Obama: "Cuba is not a threat to the United States."
—
NBC News (@NBCNews) April 11, 2015****
****
President Obama meets with Brazilian President, Dilma Rousseff
****
****
Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne (front L), Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (front R), U.S President Barack Obama (back L), Grenada’s Prime Minister Keith Mitchell (second row R) and Uruguay’s President Tabare Vazquez (top R) wave during the family photo of the VII Summit of the Americas in Panama City
****
Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa smiles as he listens to remarks by President Barack Obama during the first plenary session of the Summit of the Americas in Panama City, Panama
President Obama, flanked by National Security Advisor Susan Rice, gives remarks at the first plenary session of the Summit of the Americas
****
With Secretary John Kerry
****
****
Homeward bound
The Obama Diary 
Whoa!
With all the words in the English language from which to draw, that’s the only one I can think of, when I see “Leave a comment.” No stand-by list, just a total brain drain. Whoa! Ha! Evenin’, folks.
Jacqueliiiiiiiine!!!!!!!!!
Thanks a trazillion Nerdy!!
Chips!!! And thank you, Nerdy!!!
You’re welcome, Ms. J’OB.
⭐ ❤
Yeehaw!
Jacqueline! Good for you!
Thank you, Judith!
Hiya, JO’B.
Congrats on #1, on this great day forward in US-Cuba relations!
I’m hopelessly behind at TOD, don’t have much scheduled for tomorrow, so hoping to catch up then.
Posted this on an early thread yesterday, with a bow to you:
Looks like a bow to Joe! Yeehaw. Thanks, arapaho – and I’m catching up with you!
Congratulations jacqueline!!!
Thank you!
A most fantastic shot. Whew.
I thought I saw another rainbow, at first. Love this.
Was over at the livestream checking out the baby giraffe, all seems quiet and peaceful there. Wonder if they know (or care) thousands of folks are watching, and millions have been in to take a looksee! Gotta just love technology. Sometimes. ❤
Wooot! Bright, lovely, memorable pictures ….and I was quicker to sense I was alone! 😀
/waving wildly – Hi, JO’B! / So this is why I felt that quick rush of air pass by my left side!
Nerdy – I missed most of today’s news, so thanks so much for these remarkable images. You and Chips bring all of us delinquents up to date!
Thanks.
Dear NerdyW, Chips and other TODobots:
Thank you for a very content-filled four days of travel and companionship! As usual, we have not been disappointed. The weather was fabulous, and the ‘food’ was great! Both our president and your travel guides have delivered scrumptiously. For sure you can put me down now on the list for your next trip. Thanks again!
I do think I ought to give my eyes a rest now, so I’ll be sidling out the side door/gate in a minute.
Rest well all you others,
See you in a while, ….
❤ ❤ ❤
VC
Ms. Chips, NerdyW, and other TODobots, I enthusiastically co-sign on to VCP’s outstanding acknowledgement and praise of all you. Thanks>>
Thanks, RanMan.
Thanks, VC.
Before I depart for bed (husbandsnoreslikeabanchee) because I didn’t sleep last night…I just wanted to congratulate LL and his missus. Beautiful ring. Beautiful couple. All the best to both of you:) One day all of TOD will come to LA and party all weekend in your honor…what fun would THAT be!!!
Love my President. Love him, love him. love him. In my dreams I tell him in person what a great man he is for the world…and how proud I am of him. There really just aren’t enough words to express my thoughts…
Night all.
Totally O/T, but for music lovers perusing this thread, an update on #Coachella.
Heard some guy from LA Weekly on the radio this afternoon, and he said tickets for the weekend event start at over $800.
Also heard on the radio that a day at the (MLB) park costs an average of $212 for a family of 4.
I have no idea how people afford entertainment these days.
As a 15-year-old in 1969 I attended the LA area’s Woodstock (happened before the actual NY Woodstock in August of that year). Tickets for one day were $7 — I recall this very well because my friend and I met a couple of guys from West Covina there, and one of them saw a $10 bill on the ground (it was dark). We let it sit there, and when no one was wandering around looking for their lost money, I left with more $$ than the concert cost — the guys were gentlemanly, wanted the girls to have it, and my friend deferred to me because I provided the transportation (from San Diego) to the concert.
I know about inflation, but still, $800 is a bit steep.
The last live concert I attended was at the Santa Barbara bowl, and tickets were $25 in 2002.
Be still, my heart.
The post of mine that went to WP spam earlier noted that the only words I understood on the departure film for PBO were “President Obama”. The media gave him his title every time they spoke his name – unlike the US media.
What a wonderful trip – truly amazing President, diplomat and all round “good guy”
And – thank you so much for this thread NW – back to read it all
Thanks, 99ts.
I swear I’ve never seen any elected official “take on” a presidential Press Secretary before, on an even par with the President. This guy McCain whoeverthefuckheis has gone criminally insane.
Forgot the original tweet …
I have been catching up on all the great pictorials, tweets, and news. Thanks Chips and Nerdy. We can always count on you to cut through the BS we would otherwise have to endure outside of this oasis. The thing I notice over and over again when the President travels to these summits, is that he is a people magnet. I love that about him. Everyone just automatically huddles around him. I love this man. He is the whole package.
Congratulations LL on your engagement. It looks like the missus doesn’t just have great taste in picking a husband, she has great taste in rings. It is beautiful.
Lastly, please Hillary, do not win. That possibility keeps me up at night.
Thanks, Jackie.
Love this thread and love our President! Thank you NW!
You’re welcome, FoxFire.
This just struck me funny. Loser John McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone. In April 2015, President Barack Obama goes walkabout in Panama, as shown in the tweet. Notice I didn’t say Presidential Loser John McCain! No back-home tour for ol’ McCain.
WTF happens when he isn’t president anymore? Bothers me A LOT…
Seriously. I don’t like to think about it, much.
Pissy McCain today caused this ole tweet to resurface. 🙂 It’s always a good time to remind him what an a***ole he is.
This!!!!
Didn’t I hear that his old fart is running for his seat again in 2016? He is way past his expiration date.
I heard that too and at first I thought they were saying he was running for president again. But he’s too damn old and senile to run for Phoenix dog catcher. Of course everyone pretends he actually lives with his wife in Phoenix and not his condo in Virginia…
Yes he says he is running again. Arizona’s nightmare. I hope someone step up to run against him. We need a fact campaign because he has been around so long, many do not know anything about him except that he was a POW. He has not been good for Arizona or the country
Started getting myself all frosted over the likes of John McCain – Ha! – while watching a documentary about Frank Sinata on HBO. Then I realized Who Cares About McCain! He’s only relevant, if we give it to him, and I’m done with that. (VC – If you see this – good old time not-too-crazy exercise-bike-ridin’ song for tomorrow – join me?)
Hey Jacqueline, you are right. Only the Sunday shows and Yahoo news keep this old relic alive. Just saw a headline on yahoo news about him. They are also pushing a Benghazi headline which I refuse to read at this point.
I gotta stop taking the bait, but I just love letting him know we know it’s all green-eyed jealousy of President Obama. Hatred’s eating McCain alive.
Imo it’s not taking the bait. The White House wanted this jerk to get hammered on Twitter or they wouldn’t have put this tweet with video out. Support for our Pres and SoS no matter if the traitor is a curmudgeon tweeting well past his bedtime this evening. 🙂
PBO was tremendous today. A real statesman and leader at the Panama Conference. And he really called out the GOP today and named names, called them on their game.
He sure was. Bill. I love seeing and listening to him on the world stage. He makes it look so easy.
President Obama has returned from Jamaica and Panama.
Thanks so much for that, JER. Welcome home, Mr. President! Job well done!
Yay! And a job extremely well done! Thanks to Chips and NerdyWonka for keeping us so informed on this historic trip!
Some “Past Lives Therapist” on twitter followed me. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Ha. I’m not askin’ any questions … I’d rather leave the past, present, and future to my imagination. 🙂
This would be pitch perfect “humor,” were this guy’s history humorous at all.
Ugh. Guy’s deranged.
The NYT editorial board opens with:
“It is a peculiar, but unmistakable, phenomenon: As Barack Obama’s presidency heads into its twilight, the rage of the Republican establishment toward him is growing louder, angrier and more destructive.”
and then goes on to say…
“the tone of the current attacks is disturbing. So is their evident intent — to undermine not just Mr. Obama’s policies, but his very legitimacy as president.
“It is a line of attack that echoes Republicans’ earlier questioning of Mr. Obama’s American citizenship. Those attacks were blatantly racist in their message — reminding people that Mr. Obama was black, suggesting he was African, and planting the equally false idea that he was secretly Muslim. The current offensive is slightly more subtle, but it is impossible to dismiss the notion that race plays a role in it.
Perhaps the most outrageous example of the attack on the president’s legitimacy was a letter signed by 47 Republican senators to the leadership of Iran saying Mr. Obama had no authority to conclude negotiations over Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Try to imagine the outrage from Republicans if a similar group of Democrats had written to the Kremlin in 1986 telling Mikhail Gorbachev that President Ronald Reagan did not have the authority to negotiate a nuclear arms deal at the Reykjavik summit meeting that winter.”
There are no words.
Nerdy, the photos are amazing! People (except RWNJs) look at President Obama with so much admiration. It warms my heart.
🙂
I’m way too tired to have any “original thoughts” to post, before saying goodnight, so I’ll just share a paragraph from a friend’s e-mail to me today:
“Pretty fantastic that our pres is meeting with Castro today. It feels more and more that he’s made the Ultimate Big Ideas check off list for his last two years and is casually running through it – safeguard the world from nuclear war (Iran deal), check; mend a half century of boorish black balling of our close neighbor, Cuba, check; stabilize all the Americas (he said there’s no longer any reason for the US to interfere in Latin America), check; … of course he’s already got economic growth spinning on its own, reduced unemployment (oh, left out called for free post secondary education to keep that going, check), reduced the deficit, and made the first major improvement in health care since Medicare. What do you think will be next? I’m going with some major anti-terrorism win. Of course NASA is putting out hints that finding extraterrestrial life isn’t far off so maybe there’s an even bigger item on his check off list.”
Smart friend, eh? See y’all tomorrow.
Good night, Jacq – some interesting thoughts to ponder…
🙂
Mooooooooorning!
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/04/12/early-bird-chat-507/