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 am now running, with a free hand, one more department beyond the Department of Pet Peeves and the Department of Good Quotes Worth Remembering I now direct.

This one is called the Department of Bits and Pieces. It will allow me to comment on smaller items than those worthy of an entire blog.

So, here goes, for the first opening of this department.  And, if you read this, you may wonder how in the world I would come up with such an eclectic list of subjects.  Well, remember, beyond golf, I have nothing much else to do.

THE CADDY’S ETHIC: I have written before about common words or phrases used in golf, one of my favorite pastimes, as indicated by the introduction to this blog.

An old phrase worth repeating is this one, which describes the role of a caddy in golf. It is this: Show up, shut up and keep up.

As a sometimes caddy for my good-golf-playing son, it is an ethic I accepted.

OREGON TOURISM PROMOTION: Oregon is seeing more international tourists than ever before, and recent projections don’t show any signs of the trend stopping.

In 2017, the state had more than 1.1 million foreign visitors, up 11 per cent from 2012. And that’s just the beginning.

All of this reminds me of my stint as deputy director of the Oregon Economic Development Department. It was at the time one of Oregon’s best governors, the late Victor Atiyeh, built bridges to Japan.

He was known as “Trader Vic” back in those days and his entreaties paid off with decisions by major companies with headquarters in Japan to locate expansions in Oregon. He also was instrumental in promoting a film called “From Oregon with Love,” which opened in Japan and which boosted tourism from that country.

Why does all of this matter? Well, there are at least two reasons. It makes good sense for Oregon to reach out beyond its own borders to expand understanding of other countries and, closer to the ground, tourists from Japan and elsewhere contribute to Oregon’s economy.

REPUBLICAN MODERATE WINS GUBERNATORIAL PRIMARY: Bend doctor Knute Buehler won the Republican primary this week and is preparing to face off against incumbent Democrat Kate Brown next fall. Buehler has tried to craft a moderate profile in advance of the race and some thought he might get beat in the Republican primary. He didn’t.

We’ve been down this road in Oregon before. Moderate Republicans like Ron Saxton and Chris Dudley were not able to oust Democrats from the Governor’s Office chiefly because liberals in metropolitan Portland banded together behind “their” candidates.

It’s been more than 35 years since a Republican held the governorship in Oregon. With all due respect to Buehler, I suspect there will be more years of a Democrat governor here.

TRUTH IS A VICTIM: This quote from a column by Holman Jenkins in the Wall Street Journal caught my attention. “Mr. Trump unquestionably is a failure when it comes to conforming to current manners or selecting lies that prominent media organizations will endorse, e.g., you can keep your health care.

“Then again all presidential speech is instrumental—a means to an end, with truth merely a tactical consideration.”

The bold face quote is especially troubling in today’s politics. Truth is “merely a tactical consideration,” not the basis for generating support for government. Trump illustrates this failure perfectly and that’s not good for the country.