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.

This department, remember, is one I run with full and complete authority. This time, rather than just include quotes of the moment that may not leave much of a lasting impression, I list quotes that either have or will last the test of time.

The first, from General Colin Powell, is one I have referenced before and it speaks volumes about our national government, which has descended to depths Powell would not recognize today.

So, here goes with “quotes worth remembering for a long time.” 

1.  From General Colin Powell as he declined to run for president in 1996

It is one of my favorite quotes of all time because, in only a few words, a general who had earned the right to comment made it very clear that he would not run for president in 1996 – and he also commented on the sad state of government in the late 1990s.

“I bemoan the loss of civility in politics,” Powell said, as one reason why he would enter the race.

I didn’t blame him then and I can only imagine what he thinks today as our political life has descended to new depths due, in large part, to the “administration” of Donald Trump if the word “administration” is one that could be applied to the tweet-by-the-moment president.

2.  On why it is tougher to convict public officials of ethics violations , including in the matters involving former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, escaped conviction on corruption charges this year thanks in large part to “the Supreme Court’s 2016 McDonnell standard demanding clear evidence of a specific quid-pro-quo.”

Menendez escaped prosecution and, in the end, so did Kitzhaber as the Court issued a ruling in a case involving Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell who was in prison for misdeeds while in office, but who was released based on the new standard.

In some ways, it’s hard to argue with the standard, not to mention that it was promulgated by the highest court in the land. But it does make it harder to gain convictions for alleged public office corruption.

3.  Hillary Clinton hurt herself deeply when she used the phrase “basket of deplorables” in the race against Donald Trump

“You could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. … The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic … (Trump) tweets and re-tweets their offensive hateful mean-spirited rhetoric. Now, some of those folks — they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America.”

No doubt most of those in the “basket” voted for Trump.

Now for a quote closer to home.

4.  Prescient words from Oregon government administrator Fred Miller in his role as chief operating officer

I had the privilege of working with and for Fred as, with distinction, he served several governors in Oregon.

Off to the side, we often discussed big-picture issues involving government and one of his admonitions to me, one I remember very well to this day, was this:

“The easiest thing to do about government, including the legislature, is to be cynical about it. Don’t be.”

Fred’s point was that, with all its warts and distractions, representative government in Oregon is better than all the other alternatives.

His quote was one I remember almost every day as I went on to work as a state lobbyist for 25 years after my “training” with Fred. I tried to avoid being cynical about the legislature.  Instead, I tried to give those I was lobbying the benefit of the doubt that they were trying to do what they thought best, even if their view didn’t agree with me or my clients.