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.

I found time to watch a bit of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance before Congressional committees last week.

Without getting into the detail of how to regulate social media companies such as Facebook – a hugely complicated issue, one for which I am not suited — a fact struck me as I watched Zuckerberg in the hot seat for two days.

It was this: Many Members of Congress asked very long questions, seemingly to get themselves on TV, then gave Zuckerberg only scant time to answer. In fact, as he started to answer, he was often interrupted by a member who obviously wanted more air time and didn’t want Zuckerberg to provide any answer with context.

It struck me as a farce, perhaps indicative of how Congressional committees often work, but still a farce.

The polite approach would have been to ask Zuckerberg a question, even a hard one, then give him time to respond.

As I reflected on Zuckerberg’s plight last week, I also looked back on my more than 25 years as a lobbyist in Oregon. I often testified before legislative committees and, while there was sometimes a tendency for legislators to interrupt, I was able to ask the chair to give me time to respond. Almost invariably, the chair said yes.

Did I have something important to say? Perhaps. But the approach was to give me time to answer and that was – and is – a far better fate than what Zuckerberg had to contend with last week.

This was Zuckerberg’s maiden voyage through the shoals of Congressional testimony. Here’s hoping that the next time – if there is a next time – he will be treated fairly. That’s the least we should expect with what is stake – finding the proper balance between free speech and privacy.