As to the legitimate: fine word,--legitimate!
Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed,
And my invention thrive, Edmund the base
Shall top the legitimate. I grow; I prosper:
Now, gods, stand up for bastards!
KING LEAR
Act I, Scene 2
Legitimacy: a word that stalks Donald Trump. He feels it right behind him and it's why he incessantly scurries to his favorite phrase "no collusion." It has seeped into his skin and makes him rasp on and on about how "it was a clean campaign, I beat Hilary Clinton easily." It deflates his ego so he bellows, "We ran a brilliant campaign, and that's why I'm president."
But the legitimacy of his presidency is more in question now than ever after he groveled before Putin and said, "I don't see any reason why it would be" Russia that interfered in the 2016 election. Politically and legally Trump is president. But that fact carries little or no weight if the man in the Oval Office has forfeited his moral standing. And Trump forfeited his when he supported Putin over the American intelligence agencies that have documented the Russian cyber attacks on our democracy.
Fortunately, most Republican leaders in Congress have been honest enough to affirm publicly that they know the Russians under Putin's direction hacked the election. Unfortunately, they have lacked the courage to admit the possibility that Russian interference might have affected the outcome. Paul Ryan, for one, stated, "They did interfere in our election--it's really clear. There should be no doubt about that." But Ryan also claimed that the interference had no "effect" on the election. Clearly, Ryan wants to "legitimize" Trump's electoral victory. Nevertheless, his is a conclusion without basis in fact. With Trump's margin of victory so slim, it is impossible to ignore how many votes might have been delivered into his column with Russia's help.
Another Republican, Trey Gowdy, remarked that "it is possible to conclude Russia interfered in our election in 2016 without delegitimizing his electoral success." Even before the news conference with Putin, Trump's legitimacy as president has been corroded by the findings and indictments of the Mueller probe, the suspicious meeting at Trump tower between Don Jr., Paul Manafort and Russians, and the recent 12 indictments of Russians who hacked into the 2016 election.
Among the information reported from Mueller's indictment is that Russian hackers stole data from the Democratic Party National Committee used to target potential voters for their candidates. One Republican consultant has already admitted that he received some of this data and used it to help Republican Brian Mast during his 2016 campaign for congress. One has to suspect that information from these hackers was passed on to the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.
Perhaps we can balance the legitimacy of Trump's presidency on a single adverb--"not." On Tuesday, Trump stiffened his back, folded his arms and tried erase what he said Monday about believing Putin over America's intelligence agencies. He simply forgot to insert the word "not," in "I don't see any reason why it would be" Russia. Of course, he spoke more about there not being any "collusion" between his campaign and the Russians.
A child who insults a friend then claims that's "not" what he meant, might believe the lie he uses to squirm his way out of trouble. I don't know if Trump believes his own lie (and lies); most of America does not. The Republican party, if it is to salvage its own legitimacy, has to repudiate this "base" man who, though still has the legal authority to occupy the White House, has "not" any moral legitimacy to remain as president.
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