Electronic billboards in Cuba are cheaper than health care in the U.S.

I'd be laughing if I knew our government hadn't actually spent money on this.

Per CNN.com, in 2006 the Bush Administration put up a giant electronic billboard in the "U.S. interests" section** of Havana that continually scrolled both anti-Castro slogans and inspirational quotes from American historical figures. Castro responded by blocking the sign with giant flags so that no one could actually read it. A month ago the current administration ordered the sign turned off.

Did our country actually spend money on this? Presumably Congress had to OK it. The same Congress that's currently fretting that Obama is wasting money on petty sh*t like our country's economy and health.

First of all, Cuba? Seriously? That island that was kinda sorta a threat as long as they were allies of the Soviet Union, which collapsed before I was old enough to watch the news of its downfall on the late news? Oh, yes, let's put some money into that one. It's not like we have anybody else to worry about. And, hey, maybe after 60 years of oppression under Castro, not to mention our genius Bay of Pigs and milkshake-poisoning plots, a frakking *billboard* will do the trick. Brilliant!

**Now wait a second... according to its official Web site, the U.S. interests section of Cuba provides Americans in Cuba with all sorts of services ranging from passport management to providing tax forms. Now, until earlier this year, when Obama eased travel restrictions, the only Americans who could legally go to Cuba were journalists, government officials, people on humantarian missions or people who'd gotten a special visa to visit close relatives. And yet our federal government maintained an office in Havana to serve the needs of this presumably small number of people. And President Bush used its building as a propaganda tool, and all Castro did in retaliation was put up a bunch of flags?

Hypothetical: let's say the U.S. allowed a decades-long enemy to establish an official government office on our soil, say, in Washington. And that office put up a building-sized sign trashing our country, our leaders and our political systems. How exactly do you imagine Americans - including our government - would react?

Something tells me that the reaction would be a little more substantial than a line of flagpoles.

(BTW, good one, CNN. Way to catch the end of the program three years after it started, and only a month after it actually ended. What, do you get your wire reports by Pony Express?)