At the beginning of the year, Laurie Ruettimann argued the word of 2012 was Manifesto.

However, it took Todd Akin's specious understanding of science to make me realize the word of the year was "legitimate."

Much of the 2012 election is really about the legitimacy of the Obama administration, as well as those who vote.

Akin's poor choice of words try to differentiate a word that should not be parsed - rape.  Whether he meant forcible or legitimate, he was trying to diminish certain situations resulting in pregnancy as not worthy of abortion coverage.

We see legitimacy as well in the significant number of voter ID laws being passed across the country.  Despite the virtual absence of voter fraud in elections, those individuals without an ID will not be seen as legitimate voters in the eyes of the their local polling place (even though most have been able to vote in several previous elections without a problem).

 “No one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place where both of us were born and raised,” is the latest salvo by Mitt Romney to delegitimize the Obama presidency by enlisting the birther movement and insinuating that Obama was not born in the United States.  Therefore, he is not a natural-born citizen and does not have the legitimate right to be President.

We see this in human resources as well.

The continued use (10+ years running) of the phrase "seat at the table" concerns HR's legitimacy as a prime business function.

Recruiting and the search for the elusive "purple squirrel" of candidates is an attempt to identify legitimate candidates that many not exist.


What's legitimate in your world?