Newsweek edtorial: What's the hold up?

From Newsweek:

What Happened to That New Cuba Policy?

By Michael Hirsh | NEWSWEEK

Published Aug 1, 2009

It's been about four months since President Obama announced looser restrictions on travel and sending money to Cuba. But they haven't gone into effect yet, the Treasury Department confirms to NEWSWEEK. So what's the holdup?

Click here for the whole article.

Key excerpt:

In late July, in yet another sign that the Obama administration wants to make nice, the State Department shut down an electronic billboard that the Bush administration had erected across the front of the building that houses the U.S. interests section in Havana. The billboard, which is said to have irked Fidel Castro, continually flashed quotes about freedom from American icons like Lincoln and King. But with Castro's brother, Raúl, in charge, Team Obama believes that it can make more progress talking than sniping.

Question from the blogger:

The New Oxford American Dictionaty defines sniping as "Making a sly or petty verbal attack."

Why is it that, when it comes to how we communicate on Cuba, quoting Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King is considered "sniping"?