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 is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

I am writing this blog to amplify on a question asked by a friend of mine the other day as we had only a brief talk about national politics.

He said he was unaware of any lies that had been told by Donald Trump.  Really?

At the time, I let the comment go, though a first response could have been to refer to the Washington Post Fact-Checking column, which, to date, has tallied more than 20,000 lies told by Trump over the last three-plus years.

20,000?  Yes, 20,000!

Rather than cite that source, I chose to let the comment pass because, to do otherwise, would only have sparked an argument I didn’t want to have.

But, last weekend, the Washington Post ran a story under this headline:

Spin, hyperbole and deception: How Trump claimed credit for an Obama veterans’ achievement

The story outlines a standard Trump approach, which is to claim false credit for an achievement for so long and so repeatedly that many come to believe it is true.  In this case, Trump claimed credit for an achievement that, rightfully, belongs to Barack Obama.

So, to me, the story stands as a good response to my friend, though I do not intend to make it directly.

Here is how the article began:

“President Trump has told mistruths about the 2014 VA Choice Act more than 156 times, seeking to deny the contributions of rivals, including Barack Obama and John McCain.

“The first time Trump claimed false credit for the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act — which President Barack Obama signed into law in 2014 — was on June 6, 2018.  That day, as Trump signed the Mission Act, a modest update to the bi-partisan VA Choice legislation, he seemed to conflate the two.

“In the coming weeks, Trump began systematically erasing from the legislation’s history not just Obama but also the late senator John McCain, who, not only co-sponsored the VA Choice Act, but also was so instrumental in passing the Mission Act that he is one of three senators for whom the act is officially named.”

The story goes on to note that “nearly four years into the presidency, Trump has made more than 22,000 false or misleading claims — falsehoods that go well beyond mere political exaggeration.  He has obfuscated, he has deceived, and he has spun. Trump’s mendacity has become a hallmark of his presidency.

“The president’s handling of the VA Choice legislation offers a crystalline window into the anatomy of a Trump lie:  The initial false claim, the subsequent embellishment and gilding, the incessant repetition and the clear evidence that he knows the truth, but chooses to keep telling the falsehood — all enabled by aides either unwilling or unable to rein him in.”

For me, this example illustrates a bottom-line truth about Trump.  He is a narcissist – everything revolves around him, so, as he lies, his obvious motive is to bring credit to himself.

Time for a change?  Yes.