Lovely.

Mike Huckabee once advocated isolating AIDS patients from the general public, opposed increased federal funding in the search for a cure and said homosexuality could "pose a dangerous public health risk."

Huckabee said Saturday that his comments came at a time when the public was still learning about HIV and AIDS and promised to do "everything possible to transform the promise of a vaccine and a cure into reality."

"In light of the extraordinary funds already being given for AIDS research, it does not seem that additional federal spending can be justified," Huckabee wrote. "An alternative would be to request that multimillionaire celebrities, such as Elizabeth Taylor (,) Madonna and others who are pushing for more AIDS funding be encouraged to give out of their own personal treasuries increased amounts for AIDS research."

Love Taylor & Madonna or hate them-and I can go either way-and even without knowing how much of "their own personal treasures" they may have given: It seems to me that what people like them do in terms of giving and raising public support can be at least as valuable.

But about this next: Here's a simple little rule that I find works for me. 98-99% of the time, when someone lets it be known that they're not putting "political correctness" first, you're dealing with someone who knows it is not popular to hate the people s/he hates, and wants some cover to spew their venom.

Case in point:

"We now know that the virus that causes AIDS is spread differently, with a lower level of contact than with TB," Huckabee said. "But looking back almost 20 years, my concern was the uncertain risk to the general population - if we got it wrong, many people would die needlessly. My concern was safety first, political correctness last."

When Huckabee wrote his answers in 1992, it was common knowledge that AIDS could not be spread by casual contact. In late 1991, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there were 195,718 AIDS patients in the country and that 126,159 people had died from the syndrome.

The nation had an increased awareness of AIDS at the time because pro basketball star Magic Johnson had recently disclosed he carried the virus responsible for it. Johnson retired but returned to the NBA briefly during the 1995-96 season.

All emphasis mine. In other words, don't let anybody blow by this using the "How could he know, nobody knew, who knew?" defense. People did know. And a Republican didn't care enough to listen to the people who had it right. That sound to anybody like an administration we want to repeat?