What if?

What if instead of “Bush Takes Parting Swipe at Communist Cuba,” this headline read “Departing President Affirms Support for a Free Cuba.” Then, what if the first paragraph read

not

President George W. Bush took a parting swipe at communist Cuba on Tuesday, saying it was a cruel dictatorship that had responded to U.S. appeals for democratic reform with more repression of its people.

but

President George W. Bush reaffirmed his support for a free Cuba on Tuesday. Referring to a long history of human rights abuses in the island nation, he described the present regime as a cruel dictatorship that has responded to U.S. appeals for democratic reform with more repression of its people.

Later on,

Obama, a Democrat, has pledged to soften restrictions on family travel and remittances but said he would keep the embargo as leverage to influence changes in the one-party state.

He has said he would be ready to pursue diplomacy with Cuba's leaders if conditions were right, something Bush has resisted doing.

could become

He has said he would be ready to pursue diplomacy with Cuba’s leaders if conditions were right, a position maintained by a number or U.S. administrations and repulsed by the regime in Havana.

What a difference a few words can make in this Reuters article by Matt Spetalnick, edited by Eric Beech.

(Corrections and additions in boldface mine.)