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, one of three departments I run with a free hand, is open again.

From Wall Street Journal editorial writers: “One of the more remarkable media campaigns of recent times is the current attempt to persuade Americans that the economy is worse than it seems. Every day our competitors are filled with columns, editorials and news analyses asserting that tax reform has failed, wages aren’t rising, investment is falling, and growth is an illusion. We’re reminded of the old Chico Marx line, ‘Who ya gonna believe, me or your own eyes?’ Apparently, Americans are believing their own eyes.

“The National Federation of Independent Business reports that its small business optimism index climbed in July to the second highest level in its 45-year history. At 107.9, the index is within 0.1 point of its July 1983 record. The July survey also set new highs for owners reporting current job openings or plans to create jobs. The biggest problem in the survey is that 37% of owners say they had job openings they couldn’t fill. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank’s wage growth tracker moved up to 3.3% in July on an annual basis.

“None of this guarantees future prosperity, and the economy needs years of growth to make up for the 2 per cent malaise of the Obama era. But Americans are smart enough to know a better economy when they see one.

Comment: Good points. The economy is percolating along, which is good for all Americans, especially in regard to recovery from the Obama years. But, as the Journal writes, “none of this guarantees future prosperity.”

From Erik Wemple, media critic for the Washington Post:  “Peril is coming from all sides, apparently. President Trump’s attacks on the media are stirring people to heckle and even threaten the ‘fake news’ media.

“And now comes this from Todd S. Purdum in The Atlantic: ‘Jim Acosta’s Dangerous Brand of Performance Journalism.’ He argues that Acosta, CNN’s high-profile chief White House correspondent, is too much show and not enough tell: ‘The last thing Donald Trump — or the press, or the public —  needs is another convenient villain in the performative arena of the long-running reality show that is his administration.’ Acosta’s broadside blurs the line between reporting and performance — between work and war — at a time when journalists have a greater obligation than ever to demonstrate that what they do is real, and matters — and is not just part of the passing show.”

Comment: Wemple gets it right about Acosta who has made himself an easy target for Trump’s charges about media bias. My view is that most reporters and editors try to do the right thing in their work, no matter what Trump says about “fake news” – and I still wonder what the term means — probably just that Trump disagrees with what is being reported.

From Karl Rove in the Wall Street Journal:  “After GOP state Sen. Troy Balderson’s narrow victory in the special election for Ohio’s 12th Congressional District, Republicans understand what a 23-year-old war correspondent named Winston Churchill meant when he wrote, ‘Nothing in life is as exhilarating as to be shot at without result.’

“While Republicans can’t mount this gigantic an effort in every race this fall, neither can Democrats, who were left claiming a moral victory for coming very close to taking an open Republican seat. But close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.”

Comment: Rove is an excellent commentator on election prospects, though, of course, he proceeds from a position on the right.

From Michael Gerson writing in The Atlantic magazine:  “One of the most extraordinary things about our current politics—really, one of the most extraordinary developments of recent political history—is the loyal adherence of religious conservatives to Donald Trump. The president won four-fifths of the votes of white evangelical Christians.

“This was a higher level of support than either Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush, an outspoken evangelical himself, ever received.

“Trump’s background and beliefs could hardly be more incompatible with traditional Christian models of life and leadership.

“Trump’s past political stances (he once supported the right to partial-birth abortion), his character (he has bragged about sexually assaulting women), and even his language (he introduced the words pussy and shithole into presidential discourse) would more naturally lead religious conservatives toward exorcism than alliance. This is a man who has cruelly publicized his infidelities, made disturbing sexual comments about his elder daughter, and boasted about the size of his penis on the debate stage. His lawyer reportedly arranged a $130,000 payment to a porn star to dissuade her from disclosing an alleged affair. Yet religious conservatives who once blanched at PG-13 public standards now yawn at such NC-17 maneuvers. We are a long way from The Book of Virtues.”

Comment: With Gerson, I have no idea why evangelicals stick with Trump, given his political stances and his many failures of decorum and salacious tweets. Unbelievable! I say that evangelicals should stick with their roots in the Christian faith and remain out of the fray of current politics.    

From the Washington Post: “Constant, relentless, shameless lying is not ancillary to the Trump administration. It is not a sideshow; it’s the main event. We have become inured to the fact that the president of the United States and his aides and associates simply cannot be relied upon to tell the truth.

“Trump’s acid-tongued Twitter feed and his public remarks are gushers of lies, falsehoods and exaggerations. As of Aug. 1, The Post’s indefatigable Fact Checker column had counted a staggering 4,229 false or misleading claims by the president since he took office.

“The president has personally attacked at least 487 people, companies or institutions on social media since launching his campaign three summers ago, according to a running tally by the New York Times.”

Comment: Numbers matter! More than 4,200 lies or misleading claims. Attacking more than 480 people. That’s Trump. Unethical and untrustworthy.