Denial Denial Denial

This would be the Kubler-Ross stage of most importance to Republicans. From the WaPo:

Frist, R-Tenn., said he had only sought to make sure the most up-to-date testing was performed to determine whether Schiavo was truly in a persistent vegetative state, the diagnosis accepted by state courts.

"I never made the diagnosis, I wouldn't even attempt to make a diagnosis from a videotape," said Frist, a heart surgeon.

In the same article:

Debating the emergency legislation, Frist questioned the diagnosis of doctors who said Schiavo's smiles and eye movements were automatic responses and not evidence of consciousness.

"I question it based on a review of the video footage. ... And that footage, to me, depicted something very different than persistent vegetative state," Frist said at the time. He also said that "she certainly seems to respond to visual stimuli."

You can deny all you want, but some people in this country still have memories. And databases. And Google. That's a diagnosis, and a wrongheaded, superficial one at that. I know because I sent Frist a tape of me looking real sad in an attempt to snag myself a pony. I mean, as long as everybody gets their own personal laws made for them...

This is more than a trend, this tendency for Republicans when cornered by their own lies and misstatements to throw up the "I never said that" wall. I'm not sure if it's cognitive dissonance or their own contempt for the American public, banking on the public being too stupid to remember the quotes (or for the media to report them). But it's surely the saddest, most craven dodge you can make.