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.

If you think about it, the threesome in the headline represent different skills.

Bobbing: You can shift and feint – call it bobbing – to avoid problems.

Weaving: You can wander this way and that – call it weaving – to avoid problems.

Dodging: You can get out of the way – call it dodging — by moving out of the line of fire just as it closes in on you.

I learned all of these skills during my 25 years as a private sector lobbyist in Oregon, not to mention 15 previous years as a state government employee. Bobbing, weaving and dodging helped me avoid problems as I lobbied for a long list of clients. Sounds simplistic, but, if you think about for awhile, all are useful skills.

Not to compare myself to “our” president, Donald Trump, but he got “credit” in a Washington Post story the other day for at least two of the skills – bobbing and weaving.

Here’s the way the Post wrote it:

“The 26-minute interview that aired October14 was typical Trump — bobbing and weaving through a litany of false claims, misleading assertions and exaggerated facts. Trump again demonstrated what The Fact Checker has long documented: His rhetoric is fundamentally based on making statements that are not true, and he will be as deceptive as his audience will allow.”

Sounds right to me.

Trump appears to engage intentionally in falsehoods, believing that, as they mount up, readers or listeners will lose track of what’s real and what’s not. Then he’ll benefit by escaping responsibility, which is one of his greatest skills.

Though we have had nearly two years of Trump, it’s still hard for me to believe that “the leader of the free world” has no commitment to truth-telling. In a role that conjures up images of a carnival-barker, he appeals to the audience – at least his perceived audience — not to truth and justice.

So it goes. Bobbing, weaving and dodging.

Those are my skills – honest and factual ones, in fact. So, Trump, you cannot have them.