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.

Tom Brokaw made a name for himself in the world of television journalism, becoming a familiar figure in households around the country.

Today, in retirement, in addition to a few guest gigs as a political commentator, he writes books, the latest of which, The Fall of Richard Nixon, focuses on Nixon, recalls a terrible time in our history, but also conjures up images of Donald Trump.

Nixon created his own failure. Trump appears to be doing the same.

Here’s what Pulitzer prize-winning author Jon Meacham said about Brokaw’s book:

“A divided nation. A deeply controversial president. Powerful passions. No, it’s not what you’re thinking, but Tom Brokaw knows that the past can be prologue, and he’s given us an absorbing and illuminating firsthand account of how Richard Nixon fell from power. Part history, part memoir, Brokaw’s book reminds us of the importance of journalism, the significance of facts, and inherent complexity of power in America.”

As I read the book, I thought it should be required reading for all of those who work for Trump and appear to do his bidding without question, even at risk of their own careers, if not their own freedom.

That’s what happened to Nixon acolytes such as Bob Haldeman, John Erlichman, John Dean, Chuck Colson and many others. They not only cashed in their reputations, they spent time in jail.

Having Brokaw write about the Nixon-Watergate era recalls my own memories of the period, which represented a huge downfall of government, one from which we recovered, at least for a time. But we may be reliving the same tension as Watergate.

For me, the book also underscored a point Meacham made in his quote – “the importance of journalism and the significance of facts.” In some quarters, both appear to be missing today.

Consider two selected quotes from Brokaw’s book, both of which foretell, in fascinating detail, what could be happening to Trump.

From page 15: “By August 1973, several of Nixon’s top advisors had lied their way into certain jail time. The bungled Watergate break-in was symptomatic of a larger criminal conspiracy run out of the White House, the aim of which was to crush political enemies.

“The fabric of the presidency was unraveling and constitutional law was under assault. That we’ve known for some time. What is worth examining again, in light of today’s political climate, are the day-to-day developments, decisions and delusions, as well as the actions of the president, that led to the historic disgrace of the man who had come so far and fell so hard.”

Comment: Sound familiar? I wonder if current aides to President Trump, in the solitude of their evenings off the job, contemplate whether they are serving a president who has gone so far off the rails as to be unrecognizable – and if their own reputation will end up in tatters.

From page 125: In a State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress – “We meet here tonight at a time of great challenges and great opportunities for America. He expressed hope that America’s longest war – Vietnam – would be followed by America’s longest peace. That received a rousing reception. He then introduced a ‘personal word with regard to – and here his tone took a dismissive tone – the ‘so-called Watergate affair.’”

“The president challenged his adversaries. I believe the time has come to bring that investigation and other investigations of this matter to an end. One year of Watergate is enough.

“That challenge brought a booming round of applause from the Republican side of the House chamber. It was also a preview of the president’s strategy, so familiar to his political opponents. The best defense for Nixon was always a strong offense…One could imagine him saying to himself at night with his yellow pad in his lap as he sat in a favorite easy chair – You are the president, goddammit, act like it.”

Comment: Again, sounds like Trump today, except that he has his Twitter machine, not a yellow pad, on his lap.

I continue to believe we have it in our power as citizens to expect honesty, ethics and integrity from those who lead our democracy.  We don’t get that from Trump.  And we don’t get that from those on the far left.  Where are the centrists?