In Jorge Luis Borges' Funes, the Memorious, a young boy aquires the ability to remember everything he experiences - sights, sounds, books, languages...even the shapes of clouds - after a fall from a horse.  But in trade for this amazing talent, he loses the ability to make abstractions, form concepts and recognize patterns...to think. His world becomes a meaningless blur of details.

The Bushies and their supporters are the antithesis of young Funes. Traumatized by September 11, they seem to remember nothing else. But the consequences are identical. Once buttressed by ideals of tradition and continuity, the "conservative" brand has become contingent on, and relative to, daily events. Postmodern, even.

The Bushies' worldview is constructed anew each day, only to be washed away with each news cycle. On Monday, the Middle Eastern masses are yearning to be free; by Friday they've become an undifferentiated horde of Islamofascists, only to revert again over the weekend. The world becomes a meaningless blur of bullshit.

There's little comfort for members of the reality-based community in this strange new universe. But fans of Borgian absurdity can at least find entertainment. Behold: 

President Bush, September 15, 2006:

THE PRESIDENT: This debate is occurring because of the Supreme Court's ruling that said that we must conduct ourselves under the Common Article III of the Geneva Convention. And that Common Article III says that there will be no outrages upon human dignity. It's very vague. What does that mean, "outrages upon human dignity"? That's a statement that is wide open to interpretation.

U.S. National Security Strategy, March 2006, Section II A:

The United States must defend liberty and justice because these principles are right and true for all people everywhere. These nonnegotiable demands of human dignity are protected most securely in democracies. The United States Government will work to advance human dignity in word and deed, speaking out for freedom and against violations of human rights and allocating appropriate resources to advance these ideals.

UN Speech, September 21, 2004:

Our great purpose is to build a better world beyond the war on terror...

Because we believe in human dignity, we should take seriously the protection of life from exploitation under any pretext.

Far out, man.

 The Intermittence of Memory