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.

Various commentators lately have been comparing Donald Trump and the World Wrestling Federation (WWE).

The comparison strikes me as very apt, especially on this day when Trump will be arraigned tomorrow in New York.

Both Trump and the WWE are made up out of whole cloth and appeal to the worst instincts in fans, or voters.  And, if you were able to look it up, you might find out that WWE fans and Trump fans are nearly one and the same.

Here is the way Atlantic Magazine wrote about the subject:

“WWE can be eerily prophetic.  Had you watched WrestleMania 23, back in 2007, for instance, you would have seen a future president of the United States, Donald Trump, standing in the ring with a devilish smile, preparing to humiliate the WWE head honcho, Vince McMahon.

“Although scores of articles have been written about the connections between wrestling and Trumpism, comparatively little is understood about McMahon — who, in reality, is one of Trump’s close friends.

“During the 2016 campaign, McMahon was reportedly on the extremely small list of individuals whose phone calls Trump would take in private; his wife, Linda, went on to serve in Trump’s Cabinet.

“A new biography of McMahon, Ringmaster, came out earlier this week, and made a  principal argument:  That McMahon and WWE led to ‘the unmaking of America.’

“What McMahon understood better than anyone was that the physical act of wrestling was just one element of what the audience wanted.  Millions of people flock to WWE for the monthslong story lines, the operatic entrances, the cheeky backstage drama.  Wrestlers seize the mic and deliver fired-up speeches filled with taunts, zingers, and thrilling call-and-response sections.”

Trump, for his part, grew up as a wrestling fan and mastered the same arena-style antics, all made up.  In his rallies, his debates, his interviews, his social-media posts — no matter the venue — Trump relied on WWE tactics.

He was far different than any other politician.  Most others tried to avoid controversy.  By contrast, Trump thrives on it.

Here is how the Washington Post described Trump’s demeanor heading toward arraignment on Tuesday:

“’He’ll do Trump,’ said David Urban, a longtime Trump adviser who is not working on his 2024 campaign.  ‘He’ll show up.  He’ll be indignant.’

“The playbook Trump executed in the immediate aftermath of an unprecedented moment in American history — the first ex-president, ever, charged with a crime — is one that, for him at least, has become almost routine.  Since first positing — incorrectly — on his social media platform almost exactly two weeks ago that he would be arrested in a few days, Trump has cycled through a range of emotions and postures, both public and private.

“He has been angry and even threatening, attacking Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on his Truth Social site and warning of ‘potential death & destruction’ if he was charged.  He has been both resigned to and disbelieving of a potential indictment, at points behaving as if he could single-handedly disappear the ongoing investigation through some combination of magical thinking and public pressure.”

Back to the headline in this blog.  I put the word “professional” in quotes because it is folly to call WWE professional in any sense, except that it exists to make money.

The same with Trump.  He has been and is in politics only to make money and burnish his own personal brand.

Here, beyond the Atlantic, is my summary of why Trump and wrestling are so similar:

• Both emphasize, to the exclusion of anything else, the make-believe.
• Both appeal to some of the worst instincts in citizens – gore, fighting, blood, and other inanities.
• No matter what happens, both feel they are always right, acting just like narcissists, which perfectly describes both Trump and the WWE’s McMahon.
• The end always justifies the means, no matter who gets hurt.

Here is the way Michael Kruse from Politico, pulling a quote from the new book about McMahon, describes Trump and McMahon:

“Wrestling has metastasized into the broader world, especially since the inauguration of the 45th president.  There’s little difference between Trumpism and McMahon’s neokayfabe, each with their infinite and indistinguishable layers of irony and insincere ‘sincerity.’  Each philosophy approaches life with one goal:  To re-make reality in such a way as to defeat one’s enemies and sate one’s insecurities.”

There! 

Couldn’t have said it better myself.  Except this – there is no way Trump should win the presidency, or even be able to run for it.