What does it mean that a judge starts an opinion by quoting Orwell?

[John Williams]

Here is how an opinion by a federal district court judge starts:

All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary. In no case would it have been possible, once the deed was done, to prove that any falsification had taken place.

George Orwell, 19841

 

As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984 now existed, with its motto “Ignorance is Strength,” this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims—to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts.  It does not.

In case you are wondering, the judge was appointed by George. W. Bush.