NBC Live in Havana (UPDATE)

Just finished watching 2 segments of the NBC Today Show live from Havana, and as many of us feared, the words coming out of the mouths of Matt Lauer and Andrea Mitchell are all too predictable and sad:

"Business is booming"

"Stability in Cuba with Raul"

"The Cuban Rivero family caught in the middle of a battle between the U.S. and Cuba (with a dinner table filled with food, mind you)"

"Miami Cubans want to go back and reclaim their properties"

"Free education and healthcare"

No mention of dissidents, of political prisoners. Lauer briefly stated (and I mean briefly), that dissent is not tolerated in Cuba, but that was quickly followed up by a mention of the Cuban resolver spirit. He finished the segment by stating that Cubans wear their "no es facil" (it's not easy) attitude as a source of pride.

Tell that to those that have decided that a trip through shark-infested waters in a makeshift raft is better than having pride in "no es facil".

Lauer did do a little better in the segment that just finished, interviewing Sen. Bob Menendez, but pairing him with moron Kirby Jones, who contradicts himself so much that even anti-embargo folks here must be cringing when they hear him talk. Give Lauer this much, he did ask Jones about the political prisoners that "we hear so much about".

Lauer, why don't you visit those prisoners "we hear so much about"? That's OK, I know the answer.

We didn't expect much from NBC, and we're not getting much.

Stay tuned. On second thought, I have more productive things to do, like go to work in a free society.

UPDATE: Babalu did a live blogging of the show here.