We have largely forgotten how George W. Bush basically made our country look like Kearney from The Simpsons in the eyes of the world. We have largely forgotten that Dick Cheney was probably at best a war profiteer, and possibly at worst an advance man from some parallel dimension where people have evolved beyond the nuisance of morality. We have totally forgotten that Bill Clinton penetrated an intern with a cigar in the Oval Office, and that he and his wife, our nation’s current Secretary of State, were investigated for what might or might not have been shady real-estate dealings.

We can’t even remember what Paris Hilton looks like.

In six weeks, we will forget that Toyota imperiled thousands of lives by manufacturing and installing faulty automotive parts. In six months, the earthquake in Haiti will have been replaced by a more recent and equally forgotten far-off tragedy.

We are Americans. We are blessed with the shortest attention spans and the most constantly inward-turning tendencies toward self-absorption that birthrights and exposure to jump-cut culture can buy.

So why, oh why, in the name of all that is normal and expected and short-term and disposable, are we still talking about Sarah Palin?