legitimacy?

Karl Rove is going to name names in a new book about people who didn't give de facto President George W. Bush his just props as POTUS. Says the one known as Turdblossom,“There were people who never accepted the legitimacy of George W. Bush and acted accordingly.”

Well, that could be because of the way he was selected by the US Supreme Court, after they jumped into what was a STATE issue (states run their own elections, and Florida was on the way to resolving this - which could well have ended with them awarding the electoral votes and the election to Bush).

But particularly after September 11 the country rallied around GWB. He lost respect, indeed he lost legitimacy, when he turned the war on terrorism into a play for partisan advantage in the 2002 and 2004 elections, and unprecedented move by an American President. His respect and legitimacy were further undermined by his bait and switch on Social Security, and his Administration's utter failure to respond or to even look like they gave a shit to New Orleans' agony post-Katrina.

In fact, Democrats were supportive of Bush in a way Republicans NEVER were convinced of the legitimacy of legitimately elected Democratic President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. For them, the mere fact that Clinton wasn't a conservative was enough to justify not-so-civil disobedience and a series of witch hunts into money-losing land investments and admittedly sordid but ultimately private affairs.

We'll see how the Republicans accept the legitimacy of Barack Obama. At least at the moment they don't control Congress so will be limited in their ability to start the investigations, if they are so inclined.