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 have reflected on the question in the headline for more than a year since Donald Trump took office as president of the United States.

His conduct defies explanation.

Almost everything he does is accompanied by a tweet, which usually criticizes someone, often in harsh words. The media, of course, pays attention to tweets because at least the content feeds the controversy important for ratings and subscriptions.

A recent Daily 202 e-mail from the Washington Post even posited that Trump views himself as his own spokesman even as he has failed to appoint a communications assistant who would work in concert with his press secretary.

No wonder.

If Trump were to make such an appointment, it would be the fifth in only a year.  Tough to speak for Trump.

Here is the way the Daily 202 put it:

“Hope Hicks announced her departure as White House communications director in February, but President Trump has yet to name a replacement. Instead, he continues to do the job himself.

“He drafts talking points. He organizes surrogates. He oversees rapid response. He maintains relationships with key media figures over dinners, rounds of golf and long phone calls. And, of course, he manages his own social media presence.

“Since the 2016 election, five people have now done six stints as Trump’s communications director. One reason it’s an impossible job is that the former reality television star who occupies the Oval Office will always consider himself his own best spokesman.”

Is Trump his own best spokesman? I think not.

As he watches cable TV news, he is not able to focus on promoting his Administration’s agenda if, in fact, it has one. As an illustration of that inability, Trump has spent the last few days watching cable news shows, then castigating former FBI Director James Comey who is out promoting his new book.

If you were president with an agenda, why not let Comey ridicule himself by his shameless promotion and then focus on major issues of the day, such as the United States relationship with Russia, a potential trade war with China and the upcoming meeting with South Korea leader Kim Jong-on?

Various columnists continue to reflect on the question, Who is Donald Trump. Here is a selection of their comments.

From author Joseph Epstein in the Wall Street Journal: “I disapprove of the bragging tweets, the touchiness, the crude put-downs of anyone who disagrees with him (“Little Marco, ” “insecure Oprah, ” “Sloppy Steve, ” and the rest), the unrestrained vulgarity. America has had ignorant, corrupt, vain, lazy presidents before, but in Donald Trump we have the first president who is a genuine boor.”

“The president’s self-generated governing crisis is disturbing. But when paired with authoritarian envy, it is pathetic. An exercise in autocratic jock-sniffing. Other would-be strongmen have turned to Karl Marx for inspiration; for Trump, it is more like the Marx Brothers. Absurdly stereotyped characters — Anthony Scaramucci, Sebastian Gorka, Stephen K. Bannon — pop randomly in and out of well-appointed rooms, while the main character feeds chaos all around him. It is the Duck Soup dictatorship. “

From a Washington Post reporter who does not often write opinion pieces: “As yet another chief of staff twists in the wind, the president makes clear two essential points about how he governs:

“1) Always double down on your position. Through the most trying moments of the past two years, Trump has regularly argued in favor of men on his side who’ve been accused of bad behavior against women.

“2) The president must always be the focus of attention. Aides who get too big for their britches won’t be around for long.”

From columnist Michael Gerson in the Washington Post: “Trump approaches governing like a spectator, often acting as if someone else is really in charge. He seems most comfortable commenting from the sidelines, like an old Fox News viewer yelling at the television. Trump doesn’t know how to do the actual job of president and doesn’t seem aware that he doesn’t know. And few people around him know any better.

“Being president, it turns out, actually requires certain skills. Presidents gain influence through rhetorical leadership — with the tools of inspiration. They gain influence through policy innovation and legislative leadership. They gain influence through motivating the permanent bureaucracy to accept and pursue their agenda.”

From Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal: “Mr. Trump has put a sober conservative on the Supreme Court, and many conservative judges on the lower courts. This provides greater balance in the judiciary. In a split country, split courts—balance—is probably the best we can do.

“The economy is improving. And Mr. Trump helped pass a tax bill that was better—maybe a little, maybe a lot, but certainly better—than what it replaced.

“Not bad for a first year in office!

“So you, moderate, centrist professional, should feel high enthusiasm for Donald Trump. And yet you don’t, not really. What you feel is disquiet, and you know what it’s about: The worrying nature of Mr. Trump himself. You look at his White House and see what appears to be epic instability, mismanagement and confusion. You see his resentments and unpredictability.

“Here is what you try to wrap your head around if you are a centrist or moderate who’s trying to be fair. You think: On some level this is working. And on some level he is crazy.”

So, even a retinue of analysts smarter than me remains convulsed. We have a president in office who is not up to the job he faces in leading this country, not to mention playing a critical role in world affairs.

As voters, we knew that last time around, but we had a dubious choice – Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton. Not sure we made the right one.