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.

Most days, we hear new sad stories about international air travel, which it could be said by this old person, is getting more and more difficult.

My wife and I just returned from a cruise in the Mediterranean from Barcelona to Barcelona and, while the cruise was wonderful on the Oceania ship, the Riviera, the trip there and back was a nightmare.

Here’s how it went.

We started out by diving to the Portland Airport for a quick flight to Seattle. No problem, right?

But then, after we left the departure gate in Seattle, there was a mechanical problem on the airplace, so, obviously, it had to be fixed. Our plane wandered around on the ground trying to find an open gate, eventually finding a berth and the problem was fixed after about half an hour, allowing us to head off to Philadelphia.

We barely made our connection there – one reason we did was that the captain was late and that helped us — and then we were the 20th plane in line to take off — yes 20th!  That took an hour sitting on the tarmac.

But, we made it over the Atlantic and it was good to be on our ship in our stateroom where, finally, we could stretch and sleep.

Then, more bad news. We left Barcelona on Monday this week for an eight-and-an-hour flight to Newark.  Plus, the night before I got a very bad cold, so it was a tough trip all around for me and wife Nancy who had to sit next to me enduring my coughing bouts.  We got to Newark on time, then had to wait for a couple hours to catch our flight to Seattle — yes, Seattle again, not Portland.

That went okay, too, I guess, but it was more than six hours from Newark to Seattle and I was coughing all the way.

Once in Seattle at about 7:30 p.m., we hoped to be able to catch a Horizon flight down to Portland, but all of them were full until ours at 10:05 p.m.  Plus, once we boarded that plane, we had to wait a half hour for the pilot to arrive, again sitting on the tarmac with nothing to do but twiddle our thumbs.

We made it home at about 1 p.m., more than 24 hours after leaving Barcelona.

When I relayed this situation to one of my friends, he said I should count my lucky stars that I was not booted off the plane on one of these trips. Point made!

Another friend said that, given all of these problems with international air travel and others like them, he was not interesting in heading overseas anytime soon.

After being home for a couple days, still recovering from being sick, I agree – no more overseas trips for me. We’ll see if I make good on the pledge.

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.

The definition of fake news escapes me. Or, at least there could be several definitions.

It is a relatively new term these days and often is on our minds because President Donald Trump always talks about it.

I think there are several definitions.

1. THE LITERAL ONE

Fake news is distributed by many interests that, literally, make up stuff, then disseminate the material as attachments to websites, as news releases, and in other ways.

It is clearly material made up out of whole cloth, but, depending on the size of the distribution, it can affects public perceptions.

2. THE CONCOCTED ONE

This relates to what I consider to be staged events that are designed to gain publicity, either a picture on the front page of a newspaper or a few seconds on local TV news.

Examples are demonstrations on the front steps of the Capitol in Salem in favor of one thing or another, which are staged to gain news coverage. Consider demonstrators angling for more funds for a priority – say K-12 school funding.

To achieve the objective, what advocates ought to do is testify before Joint Ways and Means Committees considering how to allocate state general (and lottery) funds. Or, they should meet one-on-one with key legislators. Deliver advocacy messages without regard to whether they generate news – fake news – coverage.

The same can be said of public employee unions which demonstrate on Capitol steps or sit-in in legislative hallways to advocate for more for themselves. They may make the evening news, but not much else.

Standing around at the Capitol won’t get the job done.

I relayed this perspective a few days ago to a friend of mine who disagreed strongly, contending that those on the steps were expressing their Constitutionally-protected right of free speech.

Point made. But my point is that such demonstrations only produce short-lived news coverage, not results at the Capitol. So, in that way, to me, they constitute fake news.

3. THE “I DISAGREE WITH IT” ONE

This tends to be what Donald Trump means when he labels something fake news. If he disagrees with it, then it is fake.

4. THE “CAN YOU BELIEVE IT ONE”

Here, I cite the story from Iowa a couple days ago where Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley wrote an opinion piece for the Des Moines Register that led to speculation that he was starting a run for president.

Can you believe it?

I cannot. And I say this based on my several years of lobbying Merkley when he served in the Oregon House of Representative. He was one of the most sanctimonious legislators I ever have had the unfortunate reality to meet at the Capitol.

He always thought he was the most knowledgeable person in the room. He wouldn’t let anyone of us as lobbyists buy him lunch or a drink for fear we would think he owed us something in return.

Frankly, that offended me. For him to think that I was so crass as to believe in such a quid pro quo was way beyond reason. But it was Merkley.

When he defeated U.S. Senator Gordon Smith, I was sickened by the outcome. Smith landed on his feet as CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters while Merkley, incredibly, began serving in Senate where he has carved out a reputation, mostly, as a critic of Trump.

I rate Merkley-for-president as “fake news” because I cannot believe it is real.

In all of this, the best attitude is healthy skepticism. Don’t believe, at least at first blush, everything you read, hear on the radio or see on TV. Recognize that what you read, hear and see requires a sense of perspective. Form opinions on the basis of a variety of sources rather than just one.

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.

Remember the two solid public servants in this headline?

I do and my recall was heightened the other day when I read a piece by both that appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

Baker, remember, served as Secretary of the Treasury and State in the mid-1980s and early 1990s. He went on to serve as chief of staff for President George Bush. Young was ambassador to the United Nations in the late 1970s, then went on to be elected mayor of Atlanta.

We need more Bakers and Youngs today.

Their piece in the Wall Street Journal, under the headline, “Identity Politics Are Tearing America Apart,” resonated with me as I have watched this country continue to go down into negative political discourse.

A couple key paragraphs set the tone for the piece:

“Somehow, the drumbeat of dissonance seems harsher today. America’s national ideal of “e pluribus unum”—out of many, one—threatens to become a hollow slogan. Jaded Americans are constantly confronted by a deluge of animus from their televisions and smartphones.

“The U.S. finds itself increasingly divided along lines of race, ethnicity, gender, religion and sexual identity. Countless demagogues stand ready to exploit those differences. When a sports reporter of Asian heritage is removed from his assignment because his name is close to that of a Confederate army general, political correctness has gone too far. Identity politics practiced by both major political parties is eroding a core principle that Americans are, first and foremost, Americans.

“The divisions in society are real. So are national legacies of injustice. All can and must be addressed. Those who preach hatred should be called out for their odious beliefs. But even as extremism is condemned, Americans of good will need to keep up lines of civil, constructive conversation.

“The country faces a stark choice. Its citizens can continue screaming at each other, sometimes over largely symbolic issues. Or they can again do what the citizens of this country have done best in the past—work together on the real problems that confront everyone.

“Both of us have been at the center of heated disputes in this country and around the world. And there’s one thing we’ve learned over the decades: You achieve peace by talking, not yelling. The best way to resolve an argument is to find common ground.“

Baker and Young argue in favor of the following ways for Members of Congress and the Trump Administration – and, by extension, those who vote for them – to find common ground:

• First, Congress and the Trump Administration should agree to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government “for there is no benefit to shutting down the government simply because one side does not get all it wants from the legislative process.
• Next, leaders in Washington should focus on infrastructure projects that help the U.S. keep pace with its global competitors, particularly China.

“Floodwaters,” they say, “don’t distinguish between Republicans and Democrats. Nor do rotting bridges discriminate between whites and blacks” – a particularly apt description as the entire nation grapples with the ravages of hurricane Harvey.

• Next, leaders in Washington, D.C, should focus with “laser-like intensity” on the federal tax code which handcuffs American businesses.

Finally, Baker and Young advocate that Congress and the President do more than just act on these pressing issues, as challenging as that may be.

“They also need to set an example to all Americans. Politics is a contact sport, but leaders in Washington need to restrain their rhetoric and practice the lost art of compromise. They should stop pandering to the worst in us and appeal instead to what President Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature.”

Let’s hear it for the good words from James Baker and Andrew Young and, if, by some change, we see middle ground emerge in Congress and/or the Administration, let’s applaud, not castigate, the result.