Sadly, there was also no diplomatic speech from our Secretary of State.
Locke described the incident as "one of the highlights" and, in a locution that may set a new high bar for diplomatic speech, called it "a testament to how we were able to work with the Chinese government on addressing a very sensitive human rights matter".
Since Fidel's death on Friday night, the media have run blanket coverage of tributes, interviews, historical documentaries and footage of diplomatic trips and speeches by Castro.
Chastened by his surprising loss at the polls, Mr. Mugabe, 76, was uncharacteristically diplomatic in his speech after the vote.
He put it in more diplomatic terms in his speech.
His diplomatic gift, in a speech to a joint session of parliament, of support for a permanent Indian seat on a reformed United Nations Security Council soon traded at a discount.
A Sharon spokesman read a statement from "senior diplomatic sources" after the speech, suggesting that Mr. Arafat was still at least a bit relevant to Israel.
Calman J. Cohen, president of the Emergency Committee for American Trade, a business group that supports trade expansion, called Mr. Hu's speech "very diplomatic," but added: "I do not believe it broke, in any way, new ground.
Mr. Clohessy, the director of the Survivors Network, was courteous but less diplomatic, noting in his speech that many of the bishops had transferred abusive priests from parish to parish and hired diocesan lawyers who he said had harassed victims who sued the church.
Critiques of Mr. Obama's speech were mostly diplomatic.
