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.

Coincident with the start of the Trump impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate, a new book has been published which provides an accurate portrait of the disconnected person who occupies the Oval Office.

By Washington Post reporters Philip Rucker and Carol D. Leonnig, the book portrays Donald Trump as erratic and, at critical times, “dangerously uninformed.”

Do tell.

That’s the way Trump has struck me all along during the first three years of his presidency, which resemble more a reality TV show than the top political office in the land.

And that is due to Trump, who accepts no conventions of the presidency, plus is too bored to read any briefing materials supplied by staff. Plus, in many cases, those staff function more as sycophants than experienced government hands.

Further, this from the Washington Post as editorial writers as they observed the start of an impeachment defense that “destroys guardrails on the presidency.”

“Senate Republicans on Tuesday were laying the groundwork for a truncated trial of President Trump that would be a perversion of justice. Proposals by Democrats to obtain critical evidence were voted down. Unless several senators change their positions, votes to acquit Trump on the House’s charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress could come as soon as next week without any testimony by witnesses or review of key documents.

“That would be unprecedented compared with previous presidential impeachments. It would gravely damage the only mechanism the Constitution provides for checking a rogue president.”

Back to the above-mentioned book. Here are a couple excerpts of it, as reported by the Post:

* President Trump reveals himself as woefully uninformed about the basics of geography, incorrectly telling Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “It’s not like you’ve got China on your border.” He toys with awarding himself the Medal of Freedom.

* Trump does not seem to grasp the fundamental history surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor. “Hey, John, what’s this all about? What’s this a tour of?” Trump asks his then-Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, as the men prepare to take a private tour of the USS Arizona Memorial, which commemorates the December 1941 Japanese surprise attack in the Pacific that pulled the United States into World War II.

* Many of the key moments reported in the book are rife with foreign policy implications, portraying a novice commander in chief plowing through normal protocols and alarming many both inside the administration and in other governments.

* Early in his administration, for instance, Trump is eager to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin — so much so, the authors write, “that during the transition he interrupts an interview with one of his secretary of state candidates” to inquire about his pressing desire: “When can I meet Putin? Can I meet with him before the inaugural ceremony?” he asks.

* After the two leaders meet face-to-face for the first time — 168 days into his presidency at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg — Trump promptly declares himself a Russia expert, dismissing the expertise of then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who had worked closely with Putin since the 1990s, when Tillerson was working his way up the ExxonMobil corporate ladder and doing business with Russia. ”

* Early in his presidency, Trump agrees to participate in an HBO documentary that features judges and lawmakers — as well as all the living presidents — reading aloud from the Constitution. But Trump struggles and stumbles over the text, blaming others in the room for his mistakes and griping, “’It’s like a foreign language.’”

In an author’s note, the writers say their work is based on hundreds of hours of interviews with more than 200 sources, corroborated, when possible, by calendars, diary entries, internal memos and even private video recordings.

One government aide told the authors that Trump has destroyed the gravity and allure that used to surround the presidency, regardless of the Oval Office occupant.

“’He’s ruined that magic,’” this aide said of Trump.  ’The disdain he shows for our country’s foundation and its principles. The disregard he has for right and wrong. Your fist clenches. Your teeth grate.’ ”

Episodes such as those reported in the book can seem irrelevant, given the challenges of every day life. But I say no.

They describe a president severely out of touch with reality. And he has no plans to bone up on his job and, even if he did, it would be too late.

America, under Trump’s leadership – if you can call what he provides “leadership” – has taken huge turns for the worse.

I only hope we can survive until the next election, though I would be happy if, before then, Trump were to be kicked out of office for his huge misdeeds, an unlikely event in the U.S. Senate where Republicans are poised to excuse him.

So what’s worse? That Trump is stupid and doesn’t prepare for anything. Or, that by the acts of his own stupidity and inattention to detail, he risks the future of the U.S.

Both!