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 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.

Why…..

• Does Donald Trump get away with lying at every turn?

• Do Trump sycophants get away with the same?

• How do Trump and his minions sleep at night as they lead America into a more heightened case of civil war if they don’t get their way?

It used to be that lying would get you in trouble in politics.  No longer.

For many in politics, lying is a way of life.  No matter the situation, lying comes naturally.

Consider this abo ut Senator Ted Cruz as reported by Jamelle Bouie, opinion columnist for the New York Times:

“Critics of President Biden’s plan to relieve the debt of millions of Americans with federal student loans have made a considered choice to put their words in the mouths of an imagined group of working-class and blue-collar voters, angry and aggrieved at debt forgiveness for upper-income college graduates.

“For example, here’s Senator Ted Cruz of Texas:  ‘What President Biden has, in effect, decided to do is to take from working-class people, to take from truck drivers and construction workers right now, thousands of dollars in taxes in order to redistribute it to college graduates who have student loans.’

“Now, this way of thinking betrays an ignorance of working-class life in this country.  To work as a truck driver or a medical technician or a home inspector or any number of other similar blue-collar jobs, you need training, licenses, certifications.  People go to school to meet these requirements.  They apply for the same federal student loans and take on the same debt as someone going to college.  And many of these Americans labor under the burden of that debt because of high costs and lower-than-expected earnings. (To say nothing of those who attended college, took on debt, but didn’t graduate.)”

And, back to Trump, consider this startling statistic compiled by the Washington Post Fact Checker column:  Trump’s false or misleading claims total 30,573 over four years.

More than 30,000 lies!

Yet, Trump appears to be running for president again and a legion of followers will vote for him regardless of his dishonesty.

If Trump wins, as is possible, it could be death of American democracy as we have known it for decades.  And he doesn’t care.  Nor do his legion of followers.

My fond wish is this:  That those who lie in politics would pay a price for lying.  Such as losing elections.  Or not being able to run again.

Too much, you say.  Perhaps.  But, still I refuse to reject my fond wish.