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.

In retirement, amplified by the Coronavirus, I have a lot of time on my hands.  Some of it is spent in the car heading to Oregon Golf Association tournaments to the north.

So, without commending my thoughts as being worth considering, here some of my random impressions.

ANOTHER GOLF RULES QUESTION THIS TIME FROM FRIEND JEFF GLODT:  My friend is a good golfer, but he and I could not agree the other day on this golf rules issue:  If your golf ball is off the green, but close to the green, are you allowed to fix a divot off the green that might be in your line of play?  The answer is, I think, no.

But, more specifically, does the rule distinguish between a divot your golf ball has made or one made by another player’s golf ball…if you, in fact, you can tell the difference?

See, I told you – these are major issues facing all of us these days!

IMPEACHMENT STUFF:  Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt asked a probing question earlier this week.

Given that President Donald Trump barely escaped an impeachment earlier this year, has the experience chastened him?

Here’s how Hiatt wrote about the issue:

“President Trump’s contempt for the Constitution is deepening at an accelerating pace.

“How can I tell?

“In a June 28 column, I updated the articles of impeachment, imagining as a thought experiment that the Senate had postponed action at the beginning of the year rather than voting to acquit. Based on Trump’s behavior in the intervening five months and what we had learned of his earlier actions, I argued that at least four new articles were warranted.

“Now, only four weeks later, there’s enough misbehavior to lengthen the indictment just as much again.

“To be clear:  I am not suggesting that the House should again impeach the president. It’s up to the voters to render judgment, and we will have our chance soon enough.

“But the thought experiment is valuable as a measure of whether Trump was chastened by becoming only the third president in history to be impeached, as some Republican senators assured us he would be — and as a warning of what we might expect if he is returned to office for a second term.”

Trump chastened?  No.  Such a natur4al human thought clearly is beyond him.

THE WORD CORNERSTONE:  In a LiveStream service held by our church, Salem Alliance, in Salem Oregon, the lyrics of this song struck a chord with me – actually two chords:

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness

I dare not trust the sweetest frame

But holly trust is Jesus’ name

 

Christ alone, Cornerstone

Weak made strong in the Savior’s love

Through the storm

He is Lord

Lord of all

The first chord is that Christ is the cornerstone of our lives, a strong foundation that that allows us to build well.

The second may seem strange, given the first one – and, of course, it is far less significant.   It is that Cornerstone Communications would have been a good name for the public relations and lobbying firm two partners and I started more than 25 years ago.

We considered various names, then settled on using our own names – Conkling Fiskum @ McCormick, which grew to become just the initials, CFM.  One of my partners suggested calling our new firm The Talisman Group, but we rejected that suggestion, if only because we wanted to emphasize hard work and results, not some kind of magic.

Had I thought of Cornerstone Communications 25-plus years ago, it likely would have made the final cut in choosing a name.