Presidents' day -- but not Bush's and not his father's

In a Gallup poll, both W and his father rate close to the bottom in a survey of the popularity of presidents from Roosevelt on.

When we're talking about a huge rift within the country, we should notice that in spite of the above W rates high with many Republicans.  You have to wonder about that.  Is it a kind of defensiveness ("we know he's  incompetent but damned if we'll say so to some pollster")?  Whether defensiveness or conviction, that indicates there's a considerable number of people in the US who, in spite of everything, will not be letting go of W any time soon.  Unless, of course, Congressional investigations reveal the real W to them...  please god!

Republicans revere Lincoln -- he's about their favorite.  This always puzzles me.  The Republican Party to which Lincoln belonged has little if any resemblance to today's Republican Party, espousing big federal government, for starters.  It was the Democrats who stood for limited federal government and states' rights in Lincoln's day.  The flip-flop which wedded the Republicans to limited government happened later.