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.

If you want to stay awake at night worrying about the future of this country, don’t ponder bank health.  Just think of this:  Donald Trump wants you to give him four more years in the country’s highest political office, the presidency.

Don’t!

Atlantic Magazine raised the Trump issue in its lead on-line article a few days ago.

“Former president Donald Trump gave a long and deranged speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference.  We need to stop treating support for Trump as if it’s just another political choice and, instead, work to isolate his renewed threat to our democracy and our national security.”

The Atlantic writer, Tom Nichols, asked readers to consider what he called “a more unsettling question.”  How, he asked, in 2023, “after all we know about this man and his attacks on our government and our Constitution, do we engage people who heard that speech and support Trump’s candidacy?  How do we turn the discussion away from partisanship and toward good citizenship – and to the protection of our constitutional order?”

Good question.

And, now, in a typical Trump action, he says he wants to be arrested for sending hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels.  Including, he says, a “perp walk,” where he would smile for the cameras and, which, he believes would redound to his credit among those who support him no matter what.

A few years ago, on a trip to Germany, I asked myself a question regarding how the German people tolerated Adolph Hitler as he committed the worst evil known to mankind, attempting to obliterate an entire race of people, the Jews.

I know comparisons between Hitler and Trump may come across as unfair or out-of-bounds, but, to me at least, they are roughly appropriate in that they deal with two despots.

I add quickly that it may be unfair to tar Germans with a tainted brush because, as general citizens, they may not have had an effective way to oppose Hitler, or, perhaps, they didn’t know what he was doing until it was too late.

So, give the Germans of today space to be real citizens — even as their country’s leader committed heinous acts many years ago.

Regarding the prospect of more Trump – including what, to me, is his worst offense, fomenting a take-over-the-country riot — the Atlantic put it this way:  “The Trumpian time in the presidency turned into a tawdry four years of grubby incompetence and ignominious loss.  If Trump wins again, there will be a flurry of pardons, the same cast of miscreants will return to Pennsylvania Avenue and, this time, they won’t even pretend to care about the Constitution or the rule of law.”

My prescription:  Vote for someone else.

In that way, express your real American citizenship.

**********

And this postscript from an article in the Washington Post by political analyst Philip Bump:

“One of the most important things to understand about Donald Trump is that he thinks zero moves ahead.  He is by nature a salesman eager to close the deal.  He’ll tell you what he thinks will get the job done and if he says something contradictory or inaccurate, he’ll just talk more to get you back where he wants you.

“On Monday, Trump gave his first speech in Iowa since announcing his 2024 bid for the Republican presidential nomination.  On the way there, he spoke with reporters about his candidacy and his former presidency.  As part of that conversation, he offered an obviously ridiculous claim:  The violence that unfolded at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, was really Vice President Mike Pence’s fault.”

Sure.  Trump at his vile “best,” speaking off the cuff at the moment without any thought for context or accuracy.