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 is one of three departments I run as a manager who reports only to one person – myself.

The others are the Department of Pet Peeves and the Department of Just Saying.

So, today, the Department of Good Quotes Worth Remembering is open again and, as you will note, all of the items below come from the Wall Street Journal. That’s because it is one of America’s great remaining newspapers.

From the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporting on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s departure from the Department of Justice (DOJ): “’I did not promise to report all results to the public, because grand jury investigations are ex parte proceedings,’ he said. ‘It is not our job to render conclusive factual findings. We just decide whether it is appropriate to file criminal charges.’”

Comment: Rosenstein is right when he says “it is not our job to render conclusive factual findings.” Those on the left will never agree. Understanding this seminal Executive Branch perspective is critical to understanding how the Rosenstein and the DOJ have handled the Mueller Report.

In my view, credible Executive Branch officials – Barr and Rosenstein — handled things well. Do I agree with all of their steps? No. Does that matter? No.

More from the WSJ: “Rosenstein didn’t say what he thought of Attorney General William Barr’s handling of the report but joked about speculation over his physical appearance during a news conference ahead of the report’s release, where he stood behind the attorney general, stone-faced and silent.

“Last week, the big topic of discussion was, what were you thinking when you stood behind Bill Barr at that press conference, with a deadpan expression? The answer is, I was thinking, “My job is to stand here with a deadpan expression.’”

Comment: Great point. Rosenstein’s comment indicated both a sense of humor, as well as an ability to defuse a stupid media compulsion.

Rosenstein said he appointed the special counsel because he had a responsibility to make sure the Justice Department conducted an independent investigation, completed it quickly and brought criminal charges where warranted.

“But not everybody was happy with my decision, in case you did not notice,” he said. “It is important to keep a sense of humor in Washington. You just need to accept that politicians need to evaluate everything in terms of the immediate political impact.”

About the media: “Turning his attention to the news media, Rosenstein said: ‘Some of the nonsense that passes for breaking news today would not be worth the paper it was printed on, if anybody bothered to print it. One silly question that I get from reporters is, ‘Is it true that you got angry and emotional a few times over the past few years?’ Heck yes! Didn’t you?

“He also fired back at what he called ‘mercenary critics’ who make threats, spread fake stories, and even attack your relatives … I saw one of the professional provocateurs at a holiday party. He said, ‘I’m sorry that I’m making your life miserable.’ And I said, ‘You do your job, and I’ll do mine.’

Comment: Today, what passes for news is not news at all. It’s just the media’s attempt to direct public opinion in a certain way – and that’s usually left of center.

Reporters and editors did a lot of good back in the day when they uncovered and reported on Watergate. Today, with the Mueller Report, journalists, if any are left, have done a very poor job.

Rosenstein is accurate when he pillories the media – and I say that as a former newspaper reporter– back with newspapers were printed on paper, left ink on your hands, and were relied in many local communities.

And from the WSJ on forced association dues: “By one recent report, some 210,000 Americans across two government unions have stopped paying ‘agency fees,’ once compulsory payments that the Supreme Court ruled last year violate the First Amendment. Keep an eye on a new case out of Wisconsin that aims to end another example of forced speech and association, this time involving state bar associations.

[Note: It was called the Janus decision.]

“Two lawyers in Wisconsin earlier this month filed suit against the state bar association that takes positions on policy issues from immigration to the death penalty. Fair enough, except that joining the bar isn’t voluntary in the Badger State. Paying dues to the bar is a precondition of practicing law in Wisconsin, and some 30 or so states have similar requirements.

“In other words, the bar is not merely a professional organization that sets ethical standards and disciplines lawyers. It is a quasi-government enforcement body. The plaintiffs argue that forcing them to fund the bar’s political speech infringes on their First Amendment rights by compelling them to subsidize views they disagree with.

The challenge has become more potent because of the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus v. Afscme. The Court in that case struck down compulsory public union fees that forced individuals to underwrite ‘private speech on matters of substantial public concern.’ The Justices overturned the 1977 precedent Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, which Justice Samuel Alito called ‘a deferential standard that finds no support in our free speech cases.’”

Comment: Pro-public employee union mouthpieces hate the Janus decision because it takes away compulsory dues that financed their well-funded political contribution programs – and almost all of the money went to Democrats.

So, in this Wisconsin case pertaining to attorneys, it’s time for bar associations to exist on the basis of the services they provide, not the left-wing political contributions they make with forced dues.

Arguing for Joe Biden: “The best argument for Biden is that he can clear the field to take on Bernie Sanders and steer Democrats to the center-left rather than off the socialist cliff. Sanders’s faction appears to be a solid one-fifth or quarter of the Democrat electorate. This is panicking party bigwigs, who fear that Sanders would lose to Trump. Hence the hunt for a non-socialist alternative, such as Indiana’s polyglot Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

“Biden’s assets include a plain-spoken persona—a Scranton scrapper who isn’t afraid to drop an occasional curse—that has appeal to Midwestern and union households. He’s also popular among black voters. For people fed up with gridlock, he has a reputation as a man who can get things done. In 2011 and 2012, Republicans told us that budget negotiations went well with Biden running the show, only to lock up when Barack Obama entered the room.

Comment: Now that he has declared for the 2020 nomination, Biden is coming and will come under increased scrutiny from those on the left in the Democrat party, which is most of them. They’ll bring Biden down to size so a more left-wing candidate – Sanders or Senator Elizabeth Warren – can win.

Of course, that may mean that Trump wins re-election, which would be terrible for our country.

Biden also is gaffe-prone, which will be highlighted over the next months. But, for me, much of his long record of public service is worth considering.