PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

As the Trump Administration continues to move in more ways than can be counted, it is worth thinking about what we lose and what we gain in this new way of doing the nation’s public business.

Further, is it even worth calling the Trump presidency an “administration,” if the word administration means having your act together in some kind of rational, consistent management fashion? I don’t think so, which means that, in this blog, I’ll put quote marks around the word “administration” when it applies to Trump.

First, what we lose.

We lose truth. Trump has his own version of truth as he changes his tack every day to suit his whim, prejudice and tweeting-approach to doing business. For example, one day he criticizes the nation’s intelligence organizations as being soft and out-of-touch with his reality and the next he goes to the Central Intelligence Agency and says all of those who work there “are great.”

We lose honesty. Almost no one in the “administration” owns up to telling lies; they call them “alternative facts.” To be fair, there was one occasion for something resembling honesty when press secretary Sean Spicer, who apparently was told one day by Trump to castigate the media for underestimating the size of Trump’s inaugural crowd, showed up the next day and sort of apologized for using inaccurate figures to make his original point.

We lose deference. By that I mean the ability to disagree agreeably. It is often a lost political art on both sides of the aisle these days. Trump will have none of deference. If someone disagrees with him, they are wrong and he gets angry, writes tweets, and holds grudges. He also suffers from narcissism. It’s all about him all the time.

This is a different kind of politics that does not resemble the definition of the word, which is the “art of compromise.”

We lose consistency. Some will say “consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds,” but, yet, consistency, especially in the conduct of foreign policy, is in the United States’ best interest. Inconsistent actions, without apparent regard to rational thought about impacts and implications, could literally lead to distrust, if not war.

Now, on the other side of the ledger, what do we gain?

Well, the two points below could have downsides, but, to be fair, they are gains.

We gain aggressive action. For those who have wanted government to reach a decision and work to implement it, they have found it in the Trump “Administration.” Consider the Keystone Pipeline. After the Obama Administration stonewalled the project for years even though it had received permit approval, the Trump “Administration” has said, resolutely, go forward with it.

The executive order designed to stem the flow of immigrants also represents action, though there is a view that the order could have been vetted more thoroughly before it was signed. The fact that an Iranian baby couldn’t get into Oregon for planned surgery is only one indication of unintended consequences.

We gain an “Administration” that sets out to implement campaign promises, for better or worse.

It appears to me that the Trump “Administration” prospers in some minds became it represents a counter to the perception that many political figures in the past have been in politics for their own ends and benefits. Trump, of course, mentioned this in his inaugural address from the steps of the Capitol even as those who allegedly had prospered at the expense of “the people” sat only a few feet behind him, trying not to look downcast.

If you talk to Trump supporters, many of them say they are willing to overlook his incredible personal faults – objectifying women in very derogatory terms, making fun of those with disabilities, assuming all Muslims are the enemy, running his businesses into the ground, not paying contractors etc. – in order to support his approach to depart from the “liberal” ways of his predecessors.

One of these supporters told me last week that he simply could not vote for Hillary Clinton because “she was a crook” and he was not prepared for, essentially, a third Obama term. So, he accepted Trump with all of his personal and professional baggage.

So, one of the ways Trump salutes his supporters, is to fulfill the various pledges he made on the campaign trail – and fulfilling campaign promises is often a lost art in politics.

Overall, the risk is that the Trump approach wears pretty thin over time. And that carries potential jeopardy for this country because, first, we may have someone who views himself a dictator in the top political job in this country, thus a risk to democracy, and, second, we could be making enemies – or at least skeptics — of friendly countries around the world that we will need to support us.