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.

——— Unfortunately, there were a couple typos in what I posted yesterday, so given the important nature of this information, I am posting the piece again ———

*********

Want to read a story of hope, persistence and Christian love?

Here’s one.

It is the story of Molly Holt, who, over many years in Korea helping orphans, earned the titles “The Mother Teresa of Korea” and the “Mother of all Korean Orphans.”

She was one of the children of Harry and Bertha Holt, Oregonians who made their life’s work rescuing orphaned children from Korea and bringing them to America to begin new lives.

The Holts’ work became Holt International Services, the largest adoption agency in the world today, which shows what can happen when good people get together to do good work.

Molly continued her parents’ work, usually from Korea, her primary residence for about 63 years.

She passed away last month. There was a memorial service for her Saturday in Eugene, which my wife, Nancy, attended because she grew up in Eugene and attended the same church as the Holts.

The Holt story began in the mid-1950s when Harry and Bertha saw a film about Amerasian children in Korean orphanages who were desperately in need of help. The couple sent money and clothes, but, to them, that didn’t feel like enough.

Then, they came to an inspired realization – those children needed families!

From on-line sources, I reviewed again what Harry and Bertha did. Here is some of what I read.

“Besides the money and clothes, Harry and Bertha decided to adopt eight Korean children but soon learned that it would be impossible unless they could pass both houses of Congress to pass a special law. ‘Then, that’s what we’ll do,” Bertha said, and she moved ahead on faith. The new law passed both the House and the Senate, due, at least in part, to the efforts of the late Senator Maurine Neuberger.

“The Holts’ adoption was revolutionary. Their example showed that a family’s love can transcend the barriers of race and nationality. At a time when adoption was regarding as something to be kept secret they adopted children who were obviously not their birth children. Though their deep Christian faith and fierce determination, they showed the world that adoption is a banner of love, not a badge of shame.

“Word spread and inspired people across the nation. Many inquired as to how they, too, could adopt. Only five months after he brought their first eight children home, Harry headed back to Korea to help other children gain families. The Holt International enterprise was officially incorporated in 1956, financed almost entirely by Harry and Bertha’s personal funds.

“When Harry passed away in 1964, many thought the Holt agency would simply fold up. But Bertha said, ‘This work was always God’s work. If he wants it to continue, it will.’ Her strength and faith persevered, and Holt continued to grow and meet the needs of an increasing number of homeless children.

“Bertha worked tirelessly on behalf of children in need until her death at age 96. She was affectionately known as ‘Grandma Holt’ to adoptive families and to the thousands of children around the world whose lives she changed.”

Harry and Bertha’s own children continued the Holt International work, including Molly from her base in Korea.

Molly worked primarily with special needs children, and her ongoing fight for their needs showed that those children were often adoptable — and much more.  Molly’s work and commitment actually changed South Korea’s attitude about special needs children who, over time, were both recognized and celebrated.

Their capabilities also were recognized when the country held the Special Olympics, which included children Molly had helped get ready for the big event.

The record of Holt International continues to grow. Besides helping thousands of children overseas, the organization has placed nearly 40,000 children with adoptive families in this country.

Most of all, Holt International always has and will be driven by what is best for children. By upholding Harry and Bertha’s ethics – up-front and honest practices, and ongoing support of adoptive families and children – many more homes are being found for children who need them.

In Bertha’s words – words Molly lived by – “all children are beautiful when they are loved.”

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden recognized this when he sent a note for Molly’s memorial service, as well as read a eulogy on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

“Although she lived most of her life in Korea, all of us in Oregon consider Molly an exceptional Oregonian. She leaves a legacy of caring and compassion that will endure for generations to come. Her devotion to orphaned children in Korea and around the world touched the lives of thousands of children and families and changed the hearts and minds of many more for the better.”

**********

[Footnote: The firm where I was a partner for more than 25 years, CFM Strategic Communications, lobbied in favor of a number of pro-adoption policies over the years. At several points, we represented Holt International, often on a pro-bono basis.]

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.

Want to read a story of hope, persistence and Christian love?

Here’s one.

It is the story of Molly Holt, who, over many years in Korea helping orphans, earned the titles “The Mother Teresa of Korea” and the “Mother of all Korean Orphans.”

She was one of the children of Harry and Bertha Holt, Oregonians who made their life’s work rescuing orphaned children from Korea and bringing them to America to begin new lives.

The Holts’ work became Holt International Services, the largest adoption agency in the world today, which shows what can happen when good people get together to do good work.

Molly continued her parents’ work, usually from Korea, her primary residence for about 63 years.

She passed away last month and there was a memorial service for her Saturday in Eugene, which my wife, Nancy, attended because she grew up in Eugene and attended the same church as the Holts.

The Holt story began in the mid-1950s when Harry and Bertha saw a film about Amerasian children in Korean orphanages who were desperately in need of help. The couple sent money and clothes, but, to them, that didn’t feel like enough.

Then, they came to an inspired realization – those children needed families!

From on-line sources, I reviewed again what Harry and Bertha did. Here is some of what I read.

“Besides the money and clothes, Harry and Bertha decided to adopt eight Korean children but soon learned that it would be impossible unless they could pass both houses of Congress to pass a special law. ‘Then, that’s what we’ll do,” Bertha said, and she moved ahead on faith. The new law passed both the House and the Senate, due, at least in part, to the efforts of the late Senator Maurine Neuberger.

“The Holts’ adoption was revolutionary. Their example showed that a family’s love can transcend the barriers of race and nationality. At a time when adoption was regarding as something to be kept secret they adopted children who were obviously not their birth children. Though their deep Christian faith and fierce determination, they showed the world that adoption is a banner of love, not a badge of shame.

“Word spread and inspired people across the nation. Many inquired as to how they, too, could adopt. Only five months after he brought their first eight children home, Harry headed back to Korea to help other children gain families. The Holt International enterprise was officially incorporated in 1956, financed almost entirely by Harry and Bertha’s personal funds.

“When Harry passed away in 1964, many thought the Holt agency would simply fold up. But Bertha said, ‘This work was always God’s work. If he wants it to continue, it will.’ Her strength and faith persevered, and Holt continued to grow and meet the needs of an increasing number of homeless children.

“Bertha worked tirelessly on behalf of children in need until her death at age 96. She was affectionately known as ‘Grandma Holt’ to adoptive families and to the thousands of children around the world whose lives she changed.”

Harry and Bertha’s own children continued the Holt International work, including Molly from her base in Korea.

Molly worked primarily with special needs children, and her ongoing fight for their needs showed that those children were often adoptable — and much more.  Molly’s work and commitment actualyu changed South Korea’s attitude about special needs children who, over time, were both recognized and celebrated.

Their capabilities were recognized when the country held the Special Olympics, which included children Molly had helped get ready for the big event.

The record of Holt International continues to grow. Besides helping thousands of children overseas, the organization has placed nearly 40,000 children with adoptive families in this country.

Most of all, Holt International always has and will be driven by what is best for children. By upholding Harry and Bertha’s ethics – up-front and honest practices, and ongoing support of adoptive families and children – many more homes will be found for children who need them.

In Bertha’s words – words Molly lived by – “all children are beautiful when they are loved.”

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden recognized this when he sent a note for Molly’s memorial service, as well as read a eulogy on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

“Although she lived most of her live in Korea, all of us in Oregon consider Molly an exceptional Oregonian. She leaves a legacy of caring and compassion that will endure for generations to come. Her devotion orphaned children in Korea and around the world touched the lives of thousands of children and families and changed the hearts and minds of many more for the better.”

**********

[Footnote: The firm where I was a partner for more than 25 years, CFM Strategic Communication, lobbied in favor of a number of pro-adoption policies over the years. At several points, we represented Holt International, often on a pro-bono basis.]

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.

First, a confession. I did not watch either of the two Democrat debates this week, though I did read about them in the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, which had different takes on the process.

Second, it may too early for there to be any conclusions to these debates, if that’s what they really were.

There is a long time, an eternity in politics, until we face the general election.

Still, based on what I read, I thought the winner was Trump. What occurred in the debates could drive many voters Trump’s way, even if they have questions about the character of the buffoon who sits in the Oval Office.

Many of the Democrats advocate policies so far left of center that they mean the America we knew and know would go away in favor of a government state. Everything is “free” and guess who pays for it – you and me.

Here is the way columnist Peggy Noonan described the “debates” in her piece for the Wall Street Journal:

“The Democrats are showing little hopefulness; they’re not voicing any expansive sense of faith in their country. I understand it is the job of challengers to lambaste the status quo, to criticize, to say, ‘This isn’t working.’ But the rhetorical atmosphere of the administration has been grim for some time. American carnage, cities are dead and swimming in garbage, violent rats are eating our feet, throw ’em out, lock ’em up.

“So you’d think challengers would quickly follow their critiques with a certain modified strategic confidence. Instead they’re out-grimming the president. We chain and cage women and children, no one here has ever seen a doctor, if you have a heart attack on the street you’ll be lucky if they bother to step over your body, they’ll probably use you as an ashtray, cops are racists who hope you commit crimes so they can beat you, corporations have rape rooms.

“It is extreme and weirdly negative. You’d think someone would pop out with, ‘Jake, let me tell you why America doesn’t constantly make me want to throw up in my mouth. Or, ‘Dana, I’ve actually met a few Americans and we’re painting them a little darkly here.’”

With Noonan I ask – where is the optimism for the future of America, albeit with commitments to fix problems and make improvements?

Washington Post writers put it this way:

“In one way, the debate was exactly what had been expected, a series of attacks against former vice president Joe Biden, the leader in the polls who had faltered in the first debate in Miami and needed to rebound in Detroit. He accomplished that, but barely so and perhaps by opening himself up to future criticisms.

“In another way, the second night of debating was not at all what Democrats had expected or likely wanted. By the end of the evening, the candidates had done as much to make a case against one another as against the president, without offering much in the way of an aspirational message or connecting directly with the voters they will need to win the presidential election.

“The reality is that little changed as a result of the debate. The absence of clear winners and the absence of the emergence of a candidate with a hopeful message for a broader audience produced a status quo ending.”

Ditto for me.

Further, Karl Rove in the Wall Street Journal said Democrats “are working hard to repel swing voters.”

Rove said Democrats will lose in 2020 if enough Americans believe the “big ideas” threaten their families, communities, values and pocketbooks.

Americans often like bold, aspirational ideas, such as sending a man to the moon. It’s less clear that they like revolutions and forced upheavals in their own lives, not to mention loss of control over important decisions and massive raids on their pocketbooks.

Democrat presidential candidates are outbidding one another with structural transformations of America. The cumulative effect, Rove suggests, may be to saddle the Democrat Party with an ambitious leftist agenda that repels swing voters in 2020 and hands the election to Trump.

There also was one more piece of disquieting analysis about the debates. This. Among Ds, centrist approaches are viewed as in the past, not the future. Specifically, centrist approaches are viewed as being only for older people, including me, not for many in the younger set who appear to want upheaval and huge change so America is not the country it once was.

If that’s true – if older people want the middle – I plead guilty. And, I hope Democrats find a way to appeal to centrists by fielding a candidate who will have a chance to oust Trump from office before he inflicts even more damage on our country.

For the moment, I suspect he wants more debates among Democrats so they tear each down without much regard for the outcome or, at least so far, for the need to beat Trump.

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.

This, remember, is one of three departments I run as director. Therefore, I – and I alone – decide what should be handled by all of the departments, including on pet peeves.

In retirement, I have a lot of time to think about peeves, so I could leave the department open at all times. But, I demur, partly to underline the importance of the peeves I cite so they don’t get lost in the muddle of so much.

Peeve #1: WHERE ARE THE COPS?

I ask this question after driving up and down I-5 in the last few days.

On a number of occasions, despite heavy traffic, cars drove much too fast and changed lanes on a dime, endangering themselves and every one else on the road – all for gaining a new seconds of time.

In all my years on freeways, I have NEVER – yes, NEVER – seen a copy pull over such a driver.

Why?

Just the luck of the draw, I suppose.

But, it peeves me that cops aren’t more present on I- 5 – not to get me, but to get the fast lane-weavers.

Peeve #2: WHERE IS THE “JOBS ISSUE” IN POLITICS?

I have asked this question numerous times, but this time I raise the issue as a peeve.

Why don’t more politicians come down on the side of develop public policies that provide an solid environment to save or create jobs?

Makes sense from several points of view.

First, those with jobs would pay taxes and, thus, help to fund government.

Second, often, having a job and gaining the positive feeling from investing effort and energy is one of the most effective social policies.

Yet, most politicians, especially those on the left, ignore the jobs issue, even as they expand government.

Too bad, I say.

Peeve #3: WHY USE THE WORDS “DEMOCRATIC” AND “PROGRESSIVE?”

I have railed against these words before, but it will feel good to do so again – so here goes.

I contend that it is not accurate to describe the Democrat party as “Democratic.” These days, it clearly is not.

The Ds won’t want to work with Republicans to find the smart middle on various public policy issues. They want to impose their will. {So do Republicans you might add, and I would not disagree because of my current attitude that neither political party is worth supporting.]

Then, the word “progressive.” The word often is used to describe Democrats, but, to me, they are surely are not interesting in “progressing” for the good of the country. They are interesting in “progressing” on their own left-of-center agenda.

The solution?

I always use the word Democrat, not “Democratic.”

And, I never use the word “progressive.”

Enough peeves for today. On to better things and thoughts, one of which is more golf.