It was a culture of collective denial.

Amazing as it seems, however, the video was not enough to shatter what Serbian human rights activist Sonja Biserko has described as the country's "state of collective denial."

Later, he found out that it was referring to the phrase "elephant in the room", a reference to the collective denial of some very obvious problem.

The pundits and opponents of Mike Pappas who remain in collective denial will be searching for reasons for his sweeping success.

Some also wonder if the lack of volunteers could be a form of collective denial, or optimism.

It was as if a massive act of collective denial might make it go away, an omen that the people had decided to reject.

Truth-serum Republicans would explain that talk of endless tax cuts in this context amounts to a shocking case of collective denial.

Yet, we are told, the British never acknowledged the erotic thrust of their fairy paintings, thereby demonstrating a form of collective sexual denial.

"For too long the Jewish community has been in collective denial about drug and alcohol abuse among our own," Rabbi Schwartz said.

To deny this shows that the author does not understand the point of the play, which is collective denial by Israelis about the consequences of their State on the Palestinian people.