Joe Sixpack American

Word of the Day for Saturday, December 31, 2011

anamnesis \an-am-NEE-sis\, noun:

1. The recollection or remembrance of the past.

2. Platonism. Recollection of the Ideas, which the soul had known in a previous existence, especially by means of reasoning.

3. The medical history of a patient.

4. Immunology. A prompt immune response to a previously encountered antigen, characterized by more rapid onset and greater effectiveness of antibody and T cell reaction than during the first encounter, as after a booster shot in a previously immunized person.

5. (Often initial capital letter) a prayer in a Eucharistic service, recalling the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ.

Now as the clock struck 3:00 a.m. the B.O. knew that on the last bell another ghost would present himself; and as much as he wanted to be disappointed at a no-show ghost, the ghost of Presidents Future suddenly appeared before him.

"All right, ghost, let's get this stupid nonsense over with," the B.O. sneered with great disdain.

"B.O., you are a real piece of work. Maybe by seeing what will happen if you continue on the current path you are on you will consider changing your ways," the ghost retorted.

"Give me a break, I am the greatest President there ever has been or will be. I passed all of that legislation in my first two years in office, more than any other President in history."

"Maybe so, but let's look at the future, now that you have had a glimpse at the anamnesis of the past." They instantly were transported to future New York City, where they witnessed closed store after closed store. Soup lines were everywhere, and fires burned in old corporate buildings that used to house many of the great financial institutions. Then they went to city after city and witnessed the same thing - fires, roaming gangs, soup lines, broken down vehicles of all sorts abandoned on the roadsides.

"Take me to Washington D.C., you idiot. I want to see what's going on there," the B.O. snapped. "It couldn't be all that bad."

"That's a bad idea, B.O." the ghost said, but the B.O. was not to be dissuaded.

So they instantly appeared in front of the White House; it was more beautiful than he had remembered it, with the lawns perfectly manicured, trees and bushes trimmed, a fresh coat of paint on the house itself. They went to all of the government centers in D.C. where there was much hustle and bustle, with big new limos dropping off the workers at their places of work. There was no sign of the despair that he witnessed at the other cities, and the B.O. smiled.

"You sneaky ghost, you didn't want me to see how it really is here, did you?" the B.O. gleefully asked the ghost.

"But, B.O., what you saw in the other cities is how it really is. What you have seen here is not reality for the rest of America. This is an abomination of what the government should be. The government here is living in a bubble, not reality. If you don't change the course of this government now, what you have seen tonight in the other cities in America will become reality. Take heed, B.O." And with that the B.O. was back in the White House, still alone. "Gees, I'm glad that character is gone," he said as he dozed off in bed.

"The next morning he woke up, totally refreshed and invigorated. He hadn't felt this good since he had won the Presidency in 2008. The B.O. bounced out of bed and rushed over to the window and threw open the blinds. There were actually people walking around outside again, and things appeared to be back to normal.

"What day is today?" he yelled out the window to the gardener.

"Why, it's New Years Day, Mr. President.

"Splendid!" he yelled back down to the gardener.

The B.O. immediately went to his office and got his Chief of Staff on the phone. "Daley, get that engineer that designed the ObamaStar down in the Oval Office ASAP, I need to get a new one built that can withstand the gravitational pulls imposed on it by the earth, moon, and sun. It's a great day in the neighborhood, and an even better day to be the Emperor of the World!" And with that, the B.O. went away whistling and headed down to the gym to get some basketball time in before breakfast!
--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog

When I was writing a novel about a fourteen-year-old girl, I must remember what I was like at fourteen, but this anamnesis is not a looking back, from my present chronological age, at Madeleine, aged fourteen.-- Madeleine L'Engle, The Irrational Season

The narrator of Dostoevsky's Dream of a Ridiculous Man visits in his sleep, in a state of anamnesis perhaps, a humanity living in the Golden Age before the loss of innocence and happiness.-- Czesław Miłosz, To Begin Where I Am: Selected Essays

Anamnesis is derived from the Greek roots ana (meaning “re”) and mimnḗskein (meaning “to call to mind”).