[BigV]

Oh, looky, it's Mr Frist again.

This time its all weasel words about his stance on the Terry Schaivo case. Let's hear what he has to say, shall we?

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Thursday he doesn't regret using his standing as a doctor to question Terri Schiavo's diagnosis from afar during the intense national debate over whether to remove her feeding tube

So, it's "I'm a doctor, and in my opinion, those other doctors are wrong." Have I overstated his earlier position? I think not. Carry on.

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

Now it's "But it wasn't a diagnosis." When I put these two together, I get "I'm a leader, I have important things to say. I'm an expert in this field, my specialized training factors into my conclusions. Listen to me, allow me to persuade you." Then when you add today's statement you get "Even though I said those things before, the reason I'm still right is because I never said it was a 'diagnosis'. Your conclusions about my statements and the fact that I'm doctor meant are your own. I never said this is my diagnosis as a doctor, that these are the medical facts as I see them. I never said that. Any conclusions of that sort were entirely presumptions on YOUR part, and I did nothing to contribute to those improper conclusions. See, I'm a doctor and a leader and you're not, otherwise you would have known better." How am I doing here? Putting words in his mouth do you think?

From there we move to this.

Frist said he accepted the results of Schiavo's autopsy released Wednesday, showing severe, irreversible brain damage. But he stood by his statements on the Senate floor last March, when he argued that on videotape Schiavo appeared to respond to her family and doctors.

And

Frist said the autopsy should mark the close of a divisive chapter.

"The diagnosis they made is exactly right. It's the pathology, I'll respect that. I think it's time to move on," Frist said earlier Thursday on CBS' "The Early Show."

I understand his remarks this way. "I can't argue with the evidence available today. It is incontrovertable. Can we stop talking about this now?" The cynic in me says for him: "I could easily take any position on this issue, but no one is offering me any upside here, so I want to move on to some fresh meat. Plus, I was wrong and I don't want linger on this topic too much longer--it makes me uncomfortable to be shown to be wrong, even though I was right."

What are your thoughts?