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.

Trust me.

You can’t make this stuff up.

House Republicans, as they elected a fifth-string speaker, Mike Johnson, went down into the sewer to make comments about their action.

So writes Dana Milbank in the Washington Post.

If you took a moment to think about Republican disarray in the U.S. House – perish that thought – you might get into the sewer, or, perhaps, the locker room, as well.

Writes Milbank:

“It happened on Day 22 of House Republicans’ slapstick quest to find a new speaker, as they were bickering their way toward nominating Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, their fourth-string choice for the position, who would be shot down just a few hours after he was chosen.

“’Let’s get our poop in a group, people.  We’ve got to figure this out,” Representative Bill Huizenga admonished his GOP colleagues in a closed-door caucus meeting on Tuesday.  (The remarks, naturally, were immediately leaked to reporters.)  ‘I don’t want us to go out there and, in front of the entire world, puke on our shoes again.  That’s what we’ve been doing.’

“Grouping poop?  Puking on shoes?  The Chaos Caucus had finally found its new digs:  In the sewer.

“Huizenga’s was an unpleasant (if reasonably accurate) gastrointestinal diagnosis for what ails House Republicans.  But it was arguably preferable to the urological diagnosis being offered by some of his colleagues.

“The evening before, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene asked the panel of nine men then running for speaker whether they would impeach or otherwise harass various Biden Administration officials.  ‘I want to know which one of you have the balls to hold them accountable,’ she said.

“This was the second time in a week that a woman in the GOP caucus had raised doubts about her colleagues’ testicles.  Representative Nancy Mace, irritated that Representative Greg Murphy blocked her on social media, posted:  ‘This is exactly what’s wrong with this place — too many men here with no balls.’”

So, there you have it.

Republicans in the sewer or elsewhere in the depths, which, I suggest, is where they belong.

Now, we’ll be rewarded with more calamity as the new speaker tries to organize persons who don’t want to be organized.

Johnson faces multiple challenges as he holds only a tenuous grip on his job:  (1) finding a way to keep the federal government open – or not; (2) deciding what to do about proposals for more aid to Ukraine and Israel; and 3) placating Donald Trump who, unfortunately, continues to hold sway over many Republicans.

Finally, this additional comparison.  You could believe that it wouldn’t take long for sports images to emerge as House Republicans went to’ing and fro’ing over the last few weeks.

Consider this.

“Representative Dan Crenshaw from the Houston area, blamed the Republicans’ latest disarray on the outcome of the American League Championship Series.  ‘I told people there would be problems if the Rangers won, and that’s exactly what’s happened,’ he said.

“Or, this from another representative who saw an NFL analogy for his party’s dysfunction.  As the Republican representative from Green Bay, ‘it pains me to ask this question, but I’m not sure who sucks at team sports more right now — the Packers or the House Republican caucus.

“’That’s easy:  The Packers have only lost three in a row.’”

If there weren’t so much at stake, all this would be a combination of sad and funny.  But, given the stakes, sad wins.