"Most people believe that birds evolved from dinosaurs, but that's all based on the architecture of the bones," said Asara. "This allows you to get the chance to say, 'Wait, they really are related because their sequences are related.' We didn't get enough sequences to definitively say that, but what sequences we got support that idea."
However, what was most notable, was the way Reuters kicked it up a notch:
"A Tyrannosaurus rex femur bone is shown in this undated photograph. Tiny bits of protein extracted from a 68-million-year-old dinosaur bone have given scientists the first genetic proof that the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex is a distant cousin to the modern chicken. The study results were published in the April 13, 2007 edition of the journal 'Science.' (- c Science/Handout/Reuters)
PROOF!
The newt and frog stuff probably should have given them pause, until they could get a little more 'proof'. It sort of scrambles things. Suppose the next set of samples yield.....mammalian sequences? Tuna! They'll look kinda foolish. [oh...no they won't: no one will ever know....'flush'.]
This "scientist" statement is the kind of statenment I expect from an honest scientist wanting this research to prove a certain theory. (Non-scientific theory.)
So when you couple this with the Reuters statement no wonder laymen get these crazy ideas that scientist no longer rely on proof, but conjecture.
I do agree with you about the MSM spinning things for its ideological purposes. But the fact that the large majority of the TRex proteins identified so far match up to those of a probable 'living dinosaur' ie; a bird, IS significant. The fact that a couple match up to other critters is unremarkable (see my initial sentence above).