[skellmeyer]

Your analogy does not work. People can accept the Pope as the head of the RCC and admit that he is the legitimate head of that denomination. However, at the same time, they can also belong to a denomination that does not accept the Pope as its head. Orthodoxy, for example.

That's exactly what Lee said about Lincoln in the mid-1800's.

[Modernman]

That's exactly what Lee said about Lincoln in the mid-1800's.

Your analogy would hold if the CSA had claimed to be the legitimate government of the USA. However, the CSA never did any such thing and it acknowledged, at all times, that the government of the USA at the time was the legitimate government of the non-CSA States.

Going back to your President example, the Pope claiming to be the head of Orthodoxy would be like GWB claiming to be the Prime Minister of Australia.