Mike,
Thank you for an interesting explanation, and it almost had me, but then I thought: why not continue the debate just for fun? I'm guessing you and others are still amused rather than p*ssed off.
So, Roland Pike says to the engineering team, "Boys, what we need is 90 (or so) sq. mm of surface between the frame flange and the inner sleeve of this rubber sandwich so that the frame flange will twist the entire length of rubber in the sandwich, thereby damping vibration from the swing arm."
My point being, I don't think there is enough friction between the inner sleeve and the frame flange to cause the rubber to twist, rather than the sleeve just slipping on the metal-to-metal contact. I'm thinking, grease the spindle like any other surface that requires infrequent lubrication (as in permanently sealed wheel bearings) and let the swingarm move on the spindle and, if it so happens, wear against the flange up to the force available from the resistance of the rubber. The slow and minimal-arc rotation of the swingarm is not going to heat the grease to even within the same universe as its breakdown temperature, and the grease really has nowhere to go, and if it does, it's not that big a deal. It will be just like when someone who thinks no grease is needed tries to remove the rusted-in-place spindle.
Richard L.