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 a jack of all trades.

Yesterday, I opened one of the three departments I run – the Department of Pet Peeves.  Today, I follow hard on the heels by opening another department – the Department of Good Quotes Worth Remembering. 

Soon, the third – the Department of “Just Saying” – will be open.

So, now for the good quotes.

FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL:  This newspaper, one I read at least on-line every morning, carried a good story about a New York couple who had re-located to Miami to avoid at least a bit of the rush of New York life.

Here is the way the writer summarized the issue:

“I thought I’d be living in New York the rest of my life.  Moving to Miami in 2014 was a tough adjustment, but has slowed the ‘hustle and bustle’ pace with learning to appreciate the light and space.”

Comment:  Think of that phrase – learning to “appreciate the light and space.”

Good advice for all of us amidst busy lives.

FROM THE WASHINGTON POST MAGAZINE:  The newspaper carried an engrossing story about Congressman Jamie Raskin who, on the floor of the U.S. House last year, carried the impeachment charge against Donald Trump.  The time he did so was only a few days after another tragedy – the suicide of Raskin’s son who succumbed to depression.

Here is the way the Post writer summarized the issue:

“Raskin says it’s still too soon to see exactly where the path to his future leads, though he knows the principles that will guide him.  On the day Tommy (Raskin’s son) introduced his father as a political candidate in January 2006, Raskin vowed always to represent the moral center rather than the political center, and to push toward an alignment of the two. That is how Tommy lived, the elder Raskin says.

“Tommy was totally anti-war, and he was vegan, and he had these positions that would be considered radical in terms of conventional political norms.  In life, Tommy always challenged his father to embody his ideals; in death, Tommy bestowed on his father a reaffirmed sense of resolve.”

Comment:  Amid a long and well-written story, the phrase that caught my attention was Raskin’s commitment to represent “the moral center,” rather that the political center.

Too often in politics these days, we advocate trying to find the political center, and I am as guilty of anyone in this quest.  But “the moral center” is a better place to be and Raskin embodies that space, even as he tries to align morality with politics.

FROM ATLANTIC MAGAZINE:  The magazine carries a major – yes, long – story on what Donald Trump is doing to achieve what he could not achieve last time, which is to steal the presidential election after he lost.

Here is the way the magazine started its story:

“Former president Donald Trump’s anti-democratic campaign to overturn the 2020 election failed.  Next time – and there will be a next time – he’s got a better shot in 2024.

“The ‘Big Lie’ has radicalized tens of millions of Americans — some to the point of violence.  The former president has built the first American mass political movement in the past century that is ready to fight by any means necessary, including bloodshed, for its cause.  This really is a new, politically violent mass movement.”

Comment:  I’ll leave it there for the moment.  But, if you want to lose sleep over the future of America, read the Atlantic story, which goes into often intricate detail about Trump’s foundation to win next time no matter the process or the cost.

I read the story and all I can say is that I have no choice but to hold out just a bit of hope that Trump and acolytes won’t succeed.  If they do, the country as we know it will be a thing of the past.