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 to 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 press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as 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.

Under President Donald Trump, the annual Independence Day celebration in Washington, D.C. is turning into re-election campaign event for himself.

What’s more, government money is being used to heap supposed esteem on this most mercurial of presidents.

And, what’s even worse, Trump’s order for a full military display – with tanks rumbling down the street in the Nation’s Capitol – conjures up images, for me, of what Adolph Hitler did in Germany to rally citizens there to support his unjust cause.

He wanted displays of military hardware, plus millions of soldiers, to show how strong he was…against the world.  By historical footage, I know Hitler relished seeing all the assembled military hardware and personnel arrayed to support him.

And, we know what Hitler produced – World War II and his incredible campaign to rid the world of an entire race of people, the Jews.

I have used the Trump-to-Hitler comparison before, especially as I returned from a trip to Europe, including Germany, where, again, I saw first-hand the history of the Hitler atrocities.

Too much to compare Trump to Hitler? No. To me, the comparison is apt.

The Washington Post reports this morning that the National Park Service is diverting nearly $2.5 million in entrance and recreation fees primarily intended to improve parks across the country to cover costs associated with Trump’s Independence Day celebration on the Mall.

Trump administration officials have consistently refused to say how much taxpayers will have to pay for the expanded celebration , which the president has dubbed the “Salute to America.”

The diverted park fees represent just a fraction of the extra costs the government faces as a result of the event, which will include displays of military hardware, flyovers by an array of jets including Air Force One, the deployment of tanks on the Mall and an extended pyrotechnics show.

Further, for Trump’s planned speech at the Lincoln Memorial, the White House is distributing VIP tickets to Republican donors and political appointees, prompting objections from Democrat lawmakers who argue that the president has turned the annual celebration into a campaign-like event.

Just another part of a continuing Trump infomercial, which like Hitler, heaps “required” praise on an individual, himself.

For an annual event that should be a celebration about America, Trump has turned everything into a toast to him.

I’ll give the Post’s “Politics 202” column almost the last word this morning:

“Celebration is what July 4 is supposed to be about. Instead, Americans are squabbling on Independence Day Eve over whether it condones slavery to honor the third president or to put the Betsy Ross flag on Nike sneakers. More significantly, has ordered tanks and other military assets into the nation’s capital for a new kind of ceremony that critics fear will be as much a celebration of himself as the nation’s birthday.”

My last word: Don’t expect me to drinking a toast to Trump.