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 (Les AuCoin), 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.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that it what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions like.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

I have always thought there were three kinds of people in this world – those who like numbers, those who like charts and graphs, and those who like words.

Of course, there is crossover among those categories.

But, put me in the “I like words” camp.

So it is that, in this blog, I write about one of my favorite subjects – words.

First, consider the word “sanction.”  It has two meanings – and they are the reverse of each other.

According to the dictionary, the word sanction means:

• Permission or approval, as for an action.
• Supporting an action, condition, something that gives binding force, as to an oath, rule of conduct.

So, if you are sanctioned, it could mean that the person doing the sanctioning intends to give you permission for an action.  Or, it could mean you are being punished for an action.

Strange this English language.

Second, consider the word “admit.”

When I was a journalist in my past, I always was cautious about the use of the word because I thought it could contain some hidden meanings.

If, for example, I was quoting a local official in Astoria, Oregon where I worked for the Daily Astorian newspaper, I could write this:  “The member of the City Council admitted he misunderstood the specifics of the issue before the Council.”

Probably would been better to write, “The member of the City Council said…”

The word “said” is more neutral.  The word “admitted” suggests he agreed he was guilty of something.

Clearly, all of this means more in today’s journalism when bigger issues are at stake than a relatively small matter before a local city council.

But, in this case – and others – words matter.

Finally, the following is list of word-phrases that I drew on during my 40-year career in government, including 25 years as a “lobbyist” – a word, frankly, that can carry negative connotations these days — but, I add, not for me.

Here are the phrases:

• Legislators behaved as if they were in a “circular firing squad”
• Legislators often portrayed this strategy – “ready, shoot, aim”
• The bad bill was like “a camel’s nose under the tent”
• Or, the bad bill was “the first step down a slippery slope”
• There often is a truth in lobbying – “what goes around comes around,” which means that most single issues are related to other issues so keep your powder dry
• And, I say with an appropriate does of modesty, one of my credentials as a lobbyist was “your word is your bond”

See, now you know – words matter!