Second thoughts....

On my strong criticism of the Hyde AIDS bill, passed yesterday.

I remain outraged that conservatives have attached religiously-braided strings to the money, especially in a nation founded on the principle of separation of church and state.

That said, the amount of aid approved deserves recognition. Depending on reports, it either doubles or even triples the amount the U.S. formerly budgeted to fight AIDS worldwide. And it will be going to a variety of programs, even to those that distribute condoms.

What peeves me, however, is the amount of adulation being showered on the administration for doing, in part only, the right thing for a change. The thing which, in reality, should have been done decades ago.

The lack of context and criticism in the media coverage illustrates a disturbing trend, in which an extremely conservative administration--in this case, Bush's--deviates slightly in its overwhelmingly reactionary path and is praised to the heights for its "bi-partisanship" or its "defiance" of party radicals, or its largess. When in reality, what Congress (and Bush) did yesterday only looks good by comparison to their normally abysmal record.

The rest is government and corporately-owned media spin.