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 suspect that few people will care about how I feel about President Donald Trump as he crosses the mid-point of his first term in the Oval Office.

But, for those few who do care, my view is that Trump has been a disaster because he ignores nearly all of the conventions of being the free world’s leader.

Conventions aren’t bad. If that is all you do as president – observe the conventions – that is bad. But, if conventions are a means to an end in which you achieve some of your objectives in politics, good. If, by observing the conventions, you express your priorities, as well as oppose those who disagree with you without intentionally establishing those disagreements as personal, good.

Trump observes none of these important conventions:

• If you don’t agree with Trump, he’ll label you stupid, often in harsh, over-the-top words.
• He builds resentments, capitalizing on those resentments, to assert that he always knows best.
• If you happen to be in a room with Trump, know that he always thinks he is the smartest person there regardless of issue or subject.
• If you hear Trump talk – or read his tweets, his main method of communicating – you will likely hear at least one non-truth per minute. [The Washington Post has estimated that Trump tells at least 15 lies per day, so it is clear truth doesn’t matter to Trump.]
• If you work for Trump, but don’t operate as a yes-person, you’ll soon be fired – often, as we have seen recently, the act of firing occurring via a Trump tweet, not a personal conversation.
• If you care about government processes that produce a product – one of my favorite phrases – then you will be disappointed by Trump who always flies by the seat of his pants. No observable process. Normal political conventions be damned.

Okay, if you care about policy results, through whatever conventions, if any, Washington Post columnist Mark Thiessen produced this list of Trump accomplishments in 2018. Unfortunately, Thiessen uses the word “he” to refer to Trump as if he alone deserves singular credit – which is what Trump usually wants, but does not deserve.

Here’s the list:

• He has secured the release of 19 people, including 16 Americans, from foreign captivity.
• He delivered for the “forgotten Americans.”
• He worked with Democrats and Republicans to pass important legislation.
• He has ushered in a golden age for women in the CIA.
• His push to expand domestic energy production bore fruit.
• In the six months after the Singapore summit with North Korea, he has made no concessions to Pyongyang.
• He struck Syria again and eliminated the last vestiges of the Islamic State’s physical caliphate.
• He’s continued his tough line with Moscow.
• He pulled out of Obama’s disastrous Iran deal and reimposed crippling sanctions on Tehran.
• He stood by Brett M. Kavanaugh and even in the worst moments never wavered.

A day later, Thiessen listed these disappointments in the most recent Trump year.

• His comment about “sh—hole countries” blew up negotiations for a deal that would have given Trump his border wall.
• His offensive tweets continued to undermine his presidency.
• His misuse of power turned critics into martyrs.
• He drove away suburban voters and caused the GOP to lose control of the House.
• His graceless handling of Sen. John McCain’s funeral was a new low.
• His handling of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder harmed America’s moral standing.
• His news conference with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki was an embarrassment.
• His policy to separate migrant children from their families at the southern border was an avoidable tragedy.
• His planned withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan is a gift to the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
• His pullout of all U.S. troops in Syria will take America’s boot off of the terrorists’ necks.

Again, Thiessen gives ALL the credit – or debit – to Trump. The truth is that the debit should go to Trump AND the minions who simply take his orders as if they are God-given, which, again, is what Trump wants.

In Trump’s first two years in office, there are, indeed, some accomplishments. But, often, the way Trump gets things done, without much presidential character, mars the results.

If you are incoming U.S. Senator Mitt Romney, you decide, for some reason, to prepare an opinion piece criticizing the president you will need to find a way to work with over two years leading up to the next presidential election.

Here is what Romney wrote:

“To a great degree, a presidency shapes the public character of the nation. A president should unite us and inspire us to follow “our better angels.” A president should demonstrate the essential qualities of honesty and integrity, and elevate the national discourse with comity and mutual respect. As a nation, we have been blessed with presidents who have called on the greatness of the American spirit. With the nation so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities of character is indispensable. And it is in this province where the incumbent’s shortfall has been most glaring.”

As we enter a new year, develop your reflections on the guy in the Oval Office.