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.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the political system in this country doesn’t work anymore.

Most of the dysfunction is due to President Donald Trump who cannot act like a real president who places heart over disdain and who works to find common ground of the sort that ought to be required of a leader of the free world. Trump does neither.

Even to call Trump a world leader is a phrase that gets caught in my throat.

Consider these recent thoughts from commentators on the sad state of our democracy.

From Jennifer Rubin in the Washington Post: “As for the Trump administration, neither temporal nor geographic distance improves one’s perception of the president’s multitudinous and outrageous misdeeds. To the contrary, on the ground in Western Europe, ordinary individuals, media and political leaders reacted with amazement and horror at the series of events that have occurred over a fortnight.”

From William A. Galston in the Wall Street Journal: “In the wake of President Trump’s press conference with Vladimir Putin, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich condemned the equivalence Trump drew between U.S. intelligence services and the Putin regime, calling the remarks ‘the most serious mistake of his presidency.’ Gingrich is wrong. Though Trump withdrew his slap at the intelligence community, his embrace of Russia was no mistake. It represents the distilled essence of his presidency.

“Hours before the meeting in Helsinki, Trump tweeted the following message: ‘Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt.’ It took the Russian Foreign Ministry just a few hours to overcome its amazement and re-tweet Trump’s message along with their terse addition: ‘We agree.’”

From Roger Cohen in the New York Times: “President Trump, in concert with several European leaders, including those of Hungary, Poland, Austria and Italy, is intent on dehumanizing immigrants and refugees. The aim is to equate them with terrorists and criminals ready to ‘infest’ – Trump’s word – American and European civilization, defined as a threatened white Judeo-Christian preserve.

“It’s a consistent policy buttressed by insinuation and lies about the supposed threat, and designed to manipulate fear and nationalism as election-winning emotions in a time of rapid technological change, large migrant flows and uncertainty. Vermin infest, not humans.”

From Dan Balz, chief correspondent for the New York Times: “The November election could be about many things. Immigration. Tax cuts and the economy. The Supreme Court and the future of abortion rights. Trade and tariffs. The menu changes with the cascading of events. Ultimately, the midterms will be about intensity. On that factor, Democrats ought not to underestimate President Trump.

“Trump dominates like no president in recent memory. He dominates the daily conversation in the country. He manufactures diversions and distractions, starts brush fires or all-out conflagrations. He creates stirs constantly with tools his predecessors never had or imagined using. He says whatever he wants to say, regardless of the truth. He puts the news media on the defensive and calls journalists the ‘enemy of the people.’ He makes himself impossible to ignore. His supporters love it.”

I could go on, but let me stop there and suggest the conclusion in the headline to this blog: The political system in this country is in trouble.

The main reason is Trump. He defies explanation. Truth is not his friend. Everything revolves around him as the center of his own universe regardless of truth or facts.

Inaction and stalemate in Congress adds to the dislocation as members try to one-up each other with hate, disdain and acrimony.

I have tried to maintain a sense of equilibrium in the face of all things Trump and Congress, but it is very difficult to do so. Still, I hope good Americans, wherever they are, will help democracy rise above hate and acrimony. One of the actions to take is to elect better leaders.