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.

Reading Covid stats these days isn’t much fun.

Especially, as in my case, because I came down with the Covid a few days ago.

Here is how the Oregonian newspaper reported the status:

“Patients infected with the coronavirus took up 363 Oregon hospital beds Wednesday, a 16 per cent increase over the previous week that signals COVID-19′s continued presence, and impact, on the state and its already strained health care system.

“New cases of the coronavirus have also grown, with new state data showing 3,914 new cases reported this week which, at 10 per cent more than the previous week, is all the more notable given testing in Oregon fell by about 6,500 COVID-19 tests, or 15 per cent.

“Months ago, health officials effectively dismissed state-reported cases numbers as a metric by which to judge the state of the pandemic in Oregon and elsewhere.  That’s because people who test positive using an at-home test don’t have to report those results to the state — assuming they test for the virus at all.  But whether cases are climbing or declining does reflect, if not the prevalence of the virus, its immediate trajectory.”

See, I told you.

Pretty dry.

But, what seems clear is that Covid is no longer declining.  Incidence is rising.

A friend of mine who lives down the street is a doctor for Salem Health, our regions’ major hospital system.  She told me that Salem Health is on “divert,” which means that it is no longer able to accept admissions – and who knows what happens if you have a major health scare and cannot get into the hospital?

As for me, my Covid started quickly a few days ago and seemed more like a bad cold than anything else.  But I did test at home and got a positive reading. 

So, I am like others mentioned in the Oregonian paragraph above.  I have Covid, but have not reported it to anyone, nor is there a requirement to do so.  And, at least so far, I am not in need of hospital care.

Here’s hoping that I recover from this episode, so I am not longer part of a dry list of statistics.

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.

Amount given to charity?

• PHA Tour/  $3 billion

In fact, the PGA has raised more money for charity than all other professional sports in this country combined.  And, with the 2022 event at Pebble Beach, the total there will surpass the $200 million mark in philanthropic giving since the tournament moved to the area in 1947.  It is the first tournament on the PGA Tour schedule to reach that figure.

As the American Express Tournament prepares for its 64th playing in two months in La Quinta, California, another tradition continued this week when the tournament announced a donation of another $1 million to 37 desert charities.

• LIV/  $0

Say no more.

Well, one more thing.  I agree with various individuals – long-time PGA players Davis Love, Tiger Woods, and Rory McIlroy — who say that the best way to create the possibility for direct negotiations between the PGA Tour and LIV is for Greg Norman to take a hike.

Norman’s antipathy for the PGA Tour is too substantial to allow any room for negotiations.

He is just too controversial and ego-driven to lead any discussions with the Tour.  No one knows what he wants except to remain the center of attention with flamboyant rhetoric.

So, Norman should exit stage left and the Tour and LIV should get about the business of agreeing on the future of golf for the good of the game.

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.

Every once in awhile, I toy with never mentioning Donald Trump’s name again in the blogs I write.

Toy with.  Not follow through.

Because I cannot.

At least, we are past the day of Thanksgiving because there is no way I ever could be thankful for Trump, especially if he illustrates what should never happen again in this country, which is to be president.

Trump did so much damage to the country we love, the United States, that he deserves to be criticized at every turn. 

None of us should ever forget the stain of Trump’s actions and words.

Jesse Wegman, a member of New York Times Editorial Board, agrees with me – or at least I agree with him.  He wrote this a couple days ago:

“The facts are well known but necessary to repeat, if only because we must never become inured to them:  Abetted by a posse of low-rent lawyers, craven lawmakers and associated crackpots, Trump schemed to overturn the 2020 election by illegal and unconstitutional means.

“When those efforts failed, he incited a violent insurrection at the United States Capitol, causing widespread destruction, leading to multiple deaths and — for the first time in American history — interfering with the peaceful transfer of power.

“Almost two years later, he continues to claim, without any evidence, that he was cheated out of victory, and millions of Americans continue to believe him.”

So, I say to Trump and his minions.  Go away and stay away.

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 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 a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and 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.

As lawmakers prepare to head to Salem for 2023 legislative session, the time is right to emphasize again questions I think legislators should ask as they contemplate adding to the panoply of Oregon laws.

I have written about this before.  It has become a tradition for me to do so.

I propose these questions, perhaps a bit presumptuously, based on my 40 years or so in and around state government in Oregon.  I lobbied the Oregon Legislature for many of those years and developed a sense of how bills should be considered, including the questions that should be asked about each bill under genuine consideration.

The questions are not related to party labels, including liberal, conservative, or independent.  They are proposed in the spirit of making government better for all who serve and for all who watch that service. 

One of the realities is that, in any legislative session, more than 500 individual pieces of legislation – they are called “bills” – are proposed.  Burrowing through the thick and thin of those bills is a tall task, including to decide which bills have the stature to become more than just words on paper.

It is a task that deserves to be done in the name of better government.

So, here are the questions:

1. What is the problem for which a proposed policy or action is deemed to be the solution?

• Is there an appropriate role for government to play? 

• If there is, what does the state expect to get for the money it is spending — in other words, what is the expected “return on investment?” 

• How will state government action affect the private sector, especially individual and corporate taxpayers on whom the state depends for the taxes to fund its operations? 

If legislators would ask and answer these questions with a constructively critical eye, we’d have a better Legislature and better results.