How different is Miami than the rest of the country? Only in Miami could a simple handshake between world leaders at a funeral become a scandalous moment. President Obama’s handshake with Cuban President Raul Castro has sent shock-waves through southeast Florida.

Of course I speak in jest as it was not just the Cuban-American political leadership in Miami (the same leadership who refused to acknowledge Nelson Mandela’s visit to the city in 1990)  but also many of the right-wing media and  talking heads that frequent cable news channels.

Nelson Mandela was aligned with Fidel Castro’s Cuba, a nation whose Civil Rights record is comparable if not better than that of the United States, though its Human Rights records is substantially worse. When Nelson Mandela was first imprisoned on Robben Island eleven southern US states still had Jim Crow laws, made it difficult for African-Americans to vote and were violently resisting integration. At the same time Cuba was rapidly integrating away from a virtual dejure segregation that had characterized the pro-American dictatorships that preceded Fidel Castro taking power in 1959.

While we can have clear differences in views with Fidel Castro’s Cuba, it is almost childish and immature to have reacted the way many did yesterday to the handshake. Southeast Florida’s political leadership in both parties has for many years lacked a global perspective on the Cuba situation. At the same time as the United States has tried to isolate Cuba, American allies like Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany have begun doing business on the island. Unfortunately in the process, Cuba has become an alternative for tourists to Florida, something which has not had yet a dramatic impact on our economy, but certainly has not helped.

The Cuban regime is an American obsession perhaps created by the political power of Florida. It is not a major global issue, nor an issue the United States can afford to carry on about within the global community of nations.

Senator John McCain has spoken yesterday comparing Raul Castro to Hitler, a stretch any which way you look at it and irrespective of your political perspective. But this is the type of irresponsible rhetoric we are getting from the right in wake of yesterday’s handshake.