><< Perhaps, though I suspect that (at the very least) one in five
>Americans has always thought of the U.S. government as illegitimate
>since the anti-Vietnam War movement, >>
>
>Seems way, way to optimistic to me.
I don't think there is anything special about this presidential election. One in five Americans who say the new president is illegitimate today has been the same American who has always occupied the left margin of American politics, I believe. If the number of leftists is slightly larger today than, say, a decade ago, the cause is not this election brouhaha in itself but the cumulative power of Seattle, anti-sweatshop movements, cross-border labor-solidarity movement, Justice for Janitors, etc.
While I don't see any legitimation crisis on the horizon, a big protest -- with a focus on *the disenfranchisement of African Americans caused by the War on Drugs & Crimes* -- at the inauguration will still be a good thing. All power to anyone who is organizing for "J20." Don't expect to see much of the protests on the mass media, however. They have learned to ignore street theater.
Yoshie