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.

When talking about Donald Trump and those who copy his stupidity, it is tough to do what this blog headline does, which is limit the number to two.

But, in this case, two is the right number.

It refers to two stupid governors – Greg Abbott in Texas and Ron DeSantis in Florida – who thought they had a great idea:  Pay government money to transport immigrants from their states elsewhere to put those “elsewheres” under pressure.

The Washington Post put it this way in relation to the destination DeSantis chose, Martha’s Vineyard:

“It was a political stunt meant to embarrass a vacation enclave known for attracting liberal, A-list celebrities.

“With reportedly no warning to local officials, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis surprised the island of Martha’s Vineyard by sending two planes filled with about 50 migrants, many of them from Venezuela.  The migrants said they were promised jobs, housing and education in an undisclosed location.  Unable to read or speak English, most didn’t even know where they were when they landed.

“It’s all part of an ongoing shift-and-dump campaign from Southern Republican governors who are using desperate people as political pawns to protest the Biden Administration’s immigration policies.  It happened again when Texas Governor Greg Abbott claimed credit for sending two surprise buses full of migrants to D.C., where they were dropped off near the residence of Vice President Kalama Harris, carrying all they had in clear plastic trash bags.”

Atlantic Magazine characterized De Santis’ action as “cartoonish,” apparently rising from his misguided belief that liberal Bay Staters are just as racist as the Republican MAGA-base voters he’s trying to woo, and that they would prove it by reacting with outrage when a bunch of Latin Americans showed up on their doorstep.

Instead of producing pressure, DeSantis and Abbott wound up highlighting an outpouring of humanity.

Michelle Norris wrote this in the Washington Post:

“When people speak of Martha’s Vineyard, they usually refer to sprawling beaches, spectacular homes and marquee names such as the Obamas, the Clintons, Seth Meyers or Spike Lee.  The island is known for its wealth, and, to be sure, there is a lot of that.  But there is another Martha’s Vineyard that people don’t know much about, and it was on full display this week.

“Yes, there are Land Rovers and yachts here, but the Vineyard is primarily an island of farms and fishermen, a year-round population that lives close to the land and in many cases works hard to make ends meet.

“It’s an island that seesaws between overwork and underemployment. It’s a place where everything — gas, food, housing, toothpaste, you name it — costs more than it does on the mainland.  It’s a place where 1 in 6 year-round residents is a registered user of the Island Food Pantry and one-third of school-children receive free or reduced-price lunch.

“It’s a place where organized groups go “gleaning” each week, picking produce left behind by farming machines so it can be used in the food pantry.

“It’s a place where a free supper is held almost every night in one of the island churches during the winter months when seasonal work related to tourism has dried up, so no one has to go hungry.”

It’s also a place, Norris added, that has, over many decades, opened its arms to various waves of immigrants, and it did so again even when it had no warning of the coming influx.

An emergency shelter was opened within hours — finding food, clothing, inflatable beds, children’s toys, feminine hygiene products, linens and volunteer interpreters who speak Spanish.

In other words, Martha’s Vineyard residents did what rational citizens would do, which is to help those in need.  Folks in Washington, D.C. also responded well in response to Abbott’s action.

Actions by Abbott and DeSantis are bizarre.  They illustrate that they cannot help but take stupid political actions they believe will energize their bases – not actions to deal with the reality that immigrants want a better life in America.

And, those bases? 

They are the so-called “MAGA Republicans,” a group of Americans who support Trump, reject the outcome of the 2020 election, and are open to political violence as a tactic to achieve their desired ends.

By the way, what do the initials stand for?  Well, “Make America Great Again,” a favorite phrase of Trump, which achieves exactly the opposite.

Nowhere was this stupidity more evident than when Trump and his minions – or, if you prefer, acolytes and sycophants – did what still today stands as a horrible, tragic act:  Separating children from their parents at the southern border and jailing or otherwise sequestering those parents from their children.  Many of the families still have not been reunited.

So, upon reflection, the headline in this blog uses wrong words:  “Two Clowns.”

DeSantis and Abbot aren’t clowns.  Their actions don’t prompt laughter.  From me, they prompt derision – and that should stand for all of us.