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.

Soon that will be the case for me and my wife.

We landed in Greece yesterday after a day-long trip from Portland, Oregon and will be spending the next 10 days here, the first four in the resort town of Santorini and the next several on a Viking cruise ship.

It took a long time to get here – about 12 hours or so as we flew through the night to reach our destination.

Here are just a few highlights from our first day heading away from our home in Salem, Oregon to Greece:

• Wonder of wonders!  When we got in our Amanda’s Taxi for the drive from Salem to Portland to catch our plane, we learned that our driver volunteers at Salem Free Clinic to provide Spanish interpreting for persons served there.

This is important because the Clinic – a great program that provides free medical and dental care to the underserved – was started by our church in Salem, Salem Alliance.  Now, more than 70 churches in Salem-Keizer cooperate to run the Clinic.

• Hours in the air:  I knew this would be the case, but 10 hours in the air is what it takes to get from Portland to Amsterdam.  So be it.  I got to look at movies for the entire trip, including one called Black Berries, which chronicled the rise and fall of the first phone that allowed remote users to receive e-mails.

This reminded of the time many years when the lobbying and public relations firm I helped to found obtained Black Berries – the first firm in Salem to do so.  And the acquisition enabled us to work anywhere, including, for me, on the golf course.

• Arrival in Amsterdam:  We have been through the Amsterdam Airport on several trips overseas, but, this time, the crowd in the airport was amazing – over-the-top.  We could hardly walk to get to our next gate for the trip to Athens!

• Passport check in Athens:  This was especially imposing.  The line to get through was at least four blocks long!  Yes, four blocks!

I don’t know why, but an especially thoughtful attendant asked us to step outside of the line and go up to the front.  Good for her.  She probably respected us because we are old; or else she thought Nancy looked beautiful, which is true.  Forget me.

• Arrival in Santorini and the trip to our resort from the airport:  We had two previous stops in Santorini off cruise ships, but, this time, we had a 20-minute taxi drive from the airport to our hotel.  We went through areas that can only be described as economically deprived.

A stark contrast our hotel area where, in addition to us, there are thousands of people off the four cruise ships in the harbor just below our hotel room.

• Steps and more steps:  Frankly, this is not a resort for old people who have trouble walking.  There are hundreds of steps u and down a steep cliff.  I stopped counting at 300.  If you go anywhere, it takes exertion to get there.

In America, no one would be allowed to build anything in such an area.  And I have no idea how the workers in Greece did it.

There.  A first day in Greece.  More to come.

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.

……….This is the first of two blogs on golf rules, a hot-button for me………

The question in the headline has two answers.

• For some, no.  Certain players believe golf rules apply to everyone else, not to them, so honor is not involved.
• For others, yes.  They abide by the rules for the good of the game, thus preserving honor.

Jerry Tarde, editor of Golf Digest, dealt with issues like this in what he wrote recently, which appeared under a headline commemorating 10 of the rules most golfers ignore.

Here is his list:

1. The three-minute lost ball:  Three minutes is allowed by the rules, but my opponents search for 10 minutes and then really start looking.  One of my favorite rules officials, David Fay, former executive director of the United States Golf Association, says, “I’m a one-minute guy. If I can’t find it in one minute, screw it.”

2. The Anderson Leaf Rule:  Especially in fall golf, if you lose your ball in the leaves, no penalty, just drop one where you think it should be.  You can tie but can’t win the hole.  Named after the esteemed Dave Anderson, the late New York Times sports columnist who had a great waggle.

Comment:  We often play what we call “the leaf rule” in the Pacific Northwest.  If you didn’t, with as many leaves as we have in the fall, rounds would take far longer. 

3. The Mulligan:  Invented on the first tee at Winged Foot, a member named Mulligan always required a second drive to find the fairway, and it spread as common practice everywhere.

4. The Gimme:  Legal in match play but widely applied in stroke-play club tournaments.  What starts as “no gimmes” on the first few holes becomes “inside the leather” by the turn and three-and four-footers when you’ve shot yourself out of it.  

Comment:  Most women who play at the course where I play, Illahe Hills Golf and Country, never take gimmes in stroke play.  The rules don’t allow it.  As for men, all of us gentlemen, of course, we give and take “gimmes,” but sometimes, it gets a little ridiculous – like taking 6-footers.

5. Failing to post:  It’s not a rule of golf, but if you have a handicap, you’re expected to post every score to maintain an accurate handicap, unless you play alone when posting is not permitted.  Vanity players post only their low scores; sandbaggers only the high ones.

6. Carrying more than 14 clubs:  My buddies laughed when pro golfer Wesley Bryan got penalized four strokes for accidentally having two 7-irons in his bag at a PGA Tour Monday qualifier.  I’ve seen guys with more than 14 headcovers!

7. The Consultant:  What’d ya hit?  Some guys take a survey before making a club selection on par 3s.

8. In the interest of public safety:  Moving your ball from a tree root — or even a tree trunk — without penalty might be a sensible rule.  Same with cleaning mud off your ball in the fairway.  If you remove a loose impediment, and the ball moves, disregard the penalty.  Dropping incorrectly on the golf-hole side of a paved cart path instead of the actual “nearest point of relief” is acceptable.

So is taking relief from immovable objects like irrigation boxes as “mental interference,” as well as disregarding the difference between red and yellow stakes and taking the more favorable drop from water hazards as if they’re all lateral (red).

Comment:  So, to speak for those who don’t honor golf rules, follow the notions above.  Where I play, with literally hundreds of trees, we do worry about the roots.  As gentlemen, we often authorize taking free relief, rather than hurting yourself or your golf clubs.  So be it.

9. Stroke and distance on out-of-bounds

It’s legal now if a local rule is observed, but we’ve been doing it for years.  Only, if you do, you’re hitting your fourth stroke.  My pals look at O.B. as a water hazard, drop and hit 3. It saves going back to the tee and slowing play.

Comment:  Right.  If you take stroke and distance on hole with out-of-bounds, this emphasis — you are hitting your fourth shot.

10. Teeing off in front of the markers:  You mean that’s against the rules?  Yes.

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.

This is one of four departments I run to manage as I – and only I – see fit.

The others are the Department of Pet Peeves, the Department of Good Quotes Worth Remembering, and the Department of “Just Saying.”  So, you can see that I am busy!

So, inquiring minds want to know:

HOW DOES AMAZON IT DO WHAT IT DOES EVERY DAY?

I ask that question after another dazzling experience yesterday.

When I read the Wall Street Journal a couple days ago, I noted a story about a new book, “The Times:  How the Newspaper of Record Survived Scandal, Scorn, and the Transformation of Journalism.”  By Adam Nagourney, it was a book about the New York Times.

The book interested me for two reasons:  First, I read The Times every day on-line, and, second, I have a background in journalism, though, of course, not at The Times.

So, my wife and I, who live in Salem, Oregon, ordered the book from Amazon, expecting it to arrive in a week or so best.

But, guess what?  It arrived in one day.

For inquiring minds, this raises several questions:

• How does Amazon have all the stuff people need in local warehouses, including the one in Salem, Oregon?

• Who makes the decision about what to order and place in those warehouses and how do that person, or that group, make such decisions?

• In those warehouses, how do local workers find the stuff people want – and find the item in short order?

• And, how do those workers have time to package stuff in appropriate-size boxes, with appropriate protections for the items?

• Who loads stuff onto to local trucks and how do the drivers find our house in time for a one-day delivery?

Well, part of the answer to these and other questions for inquiring minds, rests with Amazon scion Jeff Bezos, who making loads of money based on the process.

So, inquiring minds want to know.

WHY DO ROADSIDE REST AREAS AND TRUCKS LOOK SO UNCOMFORTABLE?

As I have driven north and south along I-5, when I pass roadside rest areas, I wonder why so many 18-wheelers start exiting the rest area, but stop on the shoulder before entering the highway?

Is there not enough room in the rest area?

Must be an explanation somewhere.

So, inquiring minds want to know.

WHERE IS “BALANCE” IN POLITICS?

The word “balance” is tough to define these days, especially in politics.

But, like a lot of stuff, you know it when you see it.

To me, balance means that those in political office have enough sense to work to strike a balance between (a) what they believe it will take to win their next election, clearly a priority for them, sometimes too much so, and (b) what it could take to work with other office-holders to find middle ground on tough national and international issues.

That’s balance.

So, inquiring minds wonder when balance will show up in politics.  If ever.

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.

The point of this blog headline has struck me over the years, both when I worked for state government, as well as when I spent about 25 years as a private sector lobbyist here in Oregon.

I came to this conclusion:  You know political leadership when you see it.

Not when, in the absence of events, you try to define it.

So, consider the escalating tragedy of the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East.

Amidst the incredible toll of human sacrifice, we saw two versions of political leadership in the last couple days, as the Middle East war continues to heat up.

One came from President Joe Biden as calculated by Washington Post editorial writers who said this:

“At a time when the United States, and the world, desperately need decency and moral clarity, President Biden has provided both.  His words regarding the wanton atrocities Hamas has committed against hundreds of Israeli civilians, as well as many Americans and citizens of other countries, in the past week have been unequivocal.

“In remarks to a gathering of American Jewish leaders Wednesday, he described the mass murder as ‘sheer evil’ and likened it to ‘the worst atrocities of ISIS.’

“In short, Biden has so far met the elementary test of political leadership amid crisis, as those who placed their trust in him at the ballot box three years ago hoped he could.”

Or consider Ben Sasse, a former U.S. senator from Nebraska who now is president of the University of Florida.

Here is what Post editorial writers said about Sasse who made his thoughts known in a letter to “Jewish Gators:”

“In the face of Hamas’s atrocities, some U.S. college administrators at first said little or issued equivocating mush, such as what Dartmouth College put out Tuesday in its ‘Statement on the Israel-Gaza War.’ A notable exception:  University of Florida President Ben Sasse.

What Sasse wrote:

“I will not tiptoe around this simple fact:  What Hamas did is evil and there is no defense for terrorism.  This shouldn’t be hard.  Sadly, too many people in elite academia have been so weakened by their moral confusion that, when they see videos of raped women, hear of a beheaded baby, or learn of a grandmother murdered in her home, the first reaction of some is to ‘provide context’ and try to blame the raped women, beheaded baby, or the murdered grandmother.

“In other grotesque cases, they express simple support for the terrorists.”

Like Biden, Sasse’s comments illustrate leadership.

He faced stern opposition when he was asked to leave the U.S. Senate to compete for the job to run the University of Florida, but now he stands out for his principled actions.

Speaking of principles, or the lack of them, consider this from one Donald Trump, as reported by the Post:

“In a reckless category of their own, however, were the comments of GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump.  To be sure, he labeled the Hamas attack a ‘disgrace’ shortly after it occurred — then pivoted to blaming it on Biden’s policies.

“That was about par for the partisan course, alas.  Yet, the former president went in a bizarre new direction by heaping scorn on Israel itself for failing to anticipate the attack and lecturing the Jewish state to ‘step up their game.’

“He labeled the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group ‘very smart,’ comparing it to an authoritarian he rates highly for ruling ‘1.4 billion people … with an iron fist:’  Chinese President Xi Jinping.”

The Post puts it right when it says, “The difficult days ahead will require rhetorical precision, empathy for victims, and strategic thinking about U.S. interests.  Real leaders rise to the occasion.”

Real leaders like Biden and Sasse.  Not Trump, who lowers himself every time he speaks.

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.

Just think of technology for a moment.

It has changed all of us.

My parents, smart and good people as they were, would be amazed at what is now possible.

Just to mention four examples:

1. With Google – or, as my Microsoft friends would advocate, Bing – you can find out anything you want in only moments.  No one has a bookcase of encyclopedias anymore!

• For newspapers, given my background long ago as a journalist, I always wanted to get ink on my hands, with a newspaper in front of me.  No longer, at least most of the time.  I go on-line routinely to read the Oregonian, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.

This was driven home to me the other day when I was talking with a colleague about whether to respond to a negative article in a newspaper.  I said this:  “Be careful about whether you want to argue with someone who buys ink by the barrel.”

These days, I should have said, “Be careful about arguing with someone who measures performance by clicks.”

•  Or consider phone numbers.  I used to have hundreds of numbers in my head, including one for The Daily Astorian newspaper where I worked in the mid-1970s.  It was 325-3211.  I dare you to prove me wrong.  Now, I just go to the address book on my phone to find all the numbers I need.

• The fourth example is not my own.  It is drawn from a Wall Street Journal article that appeared under this headline – “Why AI Is Medicine’s Biggest Moment Since Antibiotics.”

Dr. Lloyd Minor, the dean of Stanford University’s School of Medicine, was quoted as saying he “thinks artificial intelligence will transform the medicines you take, the care you get, and the training of doctors.” 

Perhaps.  But, closer to home, I had a conversation with a doctor of mine and he said there was much more to need to know about AI in medicine before adopting it, either in part or wholesale.

So, with these kinds of technology, the results can be positive.  But that is not always the case.

Technology can be used for evil and that seems especially to be the case as all of us contend with artificial intelligence (AI) and the ways that can pervert and soil, with all due respect to the perspectives above on the potential for AI to improve health care.

I wish that we could rely on Congress and the Executive Branch Administration to come up with a reasonable regulatory approach to the uses of technology, especially AI.

These days, that hope could be misplaced, given the character of our government where supposed “leaders” worry more about their next election than about governing.

So, for the moment, I intend to use the technology resources I understand for good.

In the headline, I wrote not to tell my grandchildren.  I said that because, they dwarf me when it comes to technology.  They would be embarrassed about their grandpa.

Not really, especially, as I have done, if I continue to ask for their help and advice.

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.

Even as much of the world reckons with a new, incredibly dangerous war between Israel and Hamas, what are supposed Republican “leaders” in the U.S. House of Representatives doing?

Debating what they should do after throwing out their earlier leader, Kevin McCarthy.

That’s what.

So far, neither candidate – Jim Jordan or Steve Scalise – has found enough support to become the new Speaker of the House.  Both appear to want the job.

David Firestone, a former congressional reporter for The New York Times and now a member of the editorial board, wrote about this sad start of affairs in the Times today.

“Leverage, in case you missed the constant reference in the battle over McCarthy, is a Washington euphemism for blackmail.  By holding the country’s credit hostage, or shutting down government functions, a small band of wrecking-ball ideologues can try to get a win on some unrelated matter.

“The anti-McCarthyites said he failed to use his speakership to re-write the rules of government in Washington.”

Well, there was no way he could succeed in trumpeting the incendiary views in the far-right U.S. House.  Democrats control the U.S. Senate and a Democrat is in the White House.

That’s a prescription for compromise.

At least, it was in previous cases of how the U.S. government operated.  No longer.

Firestone writes that “there ways to achieve political success in a divided government.  Leverage is the poisoned choice.

“The more effective path, the one that used to be employed regularly in Washington, is to cut deals and make compromises with your opponents, even if they are occasionally painful and at odds with your principles.

“That’s how Abraham Lincoln operated, that’s how Lyndon Johnson pushed through his Great Society and civil rights bills, and it’s how Obamacare was created.

“But ever since Newt Gingrich’s era, the idea of compromising with the Democrat Party, of putting bills on the House floor that both sides can support, has been anathema to Republicans.”

Firestone continues that “the preferred method of dealing with Democrats now is to extort them, and though that usually fails, the mere act of trying brings great cheer to extremists who view centrists from both sides as the rotten core of the ‘uni-party.’”

What government leaders should be doing today – if we had real leaders – would be debating what stance to take in the Middle East war, as well as how to continue to support Ukraine in the war against Russia.

No easy answers in either case, but that makes the case for a reasoned debate.

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.

It’s been only a few days since the incredible, life-taking attack on Israel, but, still, Donald Trump has managed to make the tragedy all about himself.

No surprise, I guess.

Consider the following from late-night TV host, Jimmy Kimmel, who also demurred from taking his usual comedic swipe at political events, given the incredible loss of human life in Israel:

Kimmel called the Hamas attack a “nightmare situation,” earning condemnation from world leaders, including “our super-duper, pro-Israel former President Donald Trump.”

Kimmel added that Trump, “immediately found a way to make it about himself.”

He reported that Trump said this: 

‘The horrible attack on Israel, much like the attack on Ukraine, would never have happened if I were president.  Zero chance!’  

That’s right, Kimmel added, “if Trump was president, we’d all be blissfully downing jiggers of bleach. There’d be no war anywhere.”

Kimmel recapped statements Trump made at a Saturday rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where this piece of stupidity who wants to be president again compared his physical prowess to President Biden’s.

“On the day one of our closest allies is hit by a devastating terrorist attack, Trump is onstage talking about how much better his body is than Joe Biden’s,” Kimmel said.

Enough!

If you think about it for only a minute or so, as I said earlier, this is not surprising conduct from Trump.

What else would you expect from the epitome of a narcissist?

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.

New, very positive economic statistics – more jobs than predicted – raise a fundamental question.

Does anyone – a president, a governor – deserve credit for the good news?

Or, the other way around, does such a leader deserve debit when economic conditions sour?

This issue came back to me over the weekend as I read a column by Catherine Rampell in the Washington Post.  It appeared under this headline: “Three milestones from a stunning jobs report.”

Here is the story’s lead:

“The U.S. economy added nearly twice as many jobs in September as economists had forecast, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  And that’s before you consider how much job growth was revised upward in July and August.  All in all, it was an astonishingly good report.”

Near the end of the column, she raised the question about political credit or debit.

In remarks Friday afternoon, Biden took credit.

“It’s Bidenomics, growing the economy from the middle-out, bottom-up, not the top down.”

Rampell answered:

“In truth, presidents have very limited control over economic conditions, but since Biden gets blamed for the bad things no matter what, it’s hard to chastise him for taking credit for the good ones.”

That’s a great point, one I dealt with back when I worked, not in D.C., but in Oregon state government. 

Did governors – including the one for whom I worked, Victor Atiyeh —  deserve credit for good economic conditions or debit when the economy turned sour?

The best answer is “no” in both cases.  A state’s economy – not to mention, of course, the federal economy – is beyond the specific reach of any public figure, a governor or a president.

To be sure, what such leaders can do is advocate for policies and actions that have the potential to allow growth to occur, or at least not to stymie it.

That’s what Atiyeh did in Oregon and, for producing a positive climate, he won a second term with an incredible 62 per cent of the public vote.

Regarding Biden, there is little question but that, as he runs for re-election, he will tout economic growth, including his role in it.

As the writer Rampell says, he gets to do that because, if conditions sour, he will get debit, as well.

Just for the record, Rampell, cited three major elements of good news – “milestones” as she called them:

1. Raise a glass:  “When covid hit, the shuttering of businesses around the country and reluctance of consumers to dine out eliminated about half the jobs across the industry.  That is, between February and April 2020, about 6 million restaurant and bar jobs vanished.

“Even as the economy reopened, these employers struggled to hire back workers.

“But bars and restaurants have steadily been recovering, and as of last month, employment levels were finally back to where then were in February 2020.”

2. A boon for public-sector workers:  “Public-sector employment also took a hit early in the pandemic.  The sector overall has finally recovered all the jobs lost, though that milestone is entirely driven by growth in the federal government.”

3. They can do it:  “Despite all those warnings about a ‘she-cession’ setting working women back a generation, working women seem to be doing better than ever.  After some stagnation in women’s employment early in the 21st century, women ages 25 to 54 are more likely to be working today than at any previous time in history.”

Good news?  Yes. 

Count on Biden to trumpet it and, as he does, don’t blame him.  Just relish the good news.

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.

We faced another sad truth in American politics this week:  The never-ending election campaign reared its ugly head.

During the debate over the future of U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the architect of the approach to strip McCarthy of his office, one Representative Matt Gaetz, came under heavy criticism for his so-called “work.”

First, Gaetz colleagues in the House wish he would just go away, given his over-the-top conduct.  But, in addition to going after McCarthy, Gaetz immediately turned his so-called “work” into political fundraising.

In the debate over McCarthy’s future, one of his allies denounced Gaetz for sending out fundraising solicitations that cited his motion to vacate.

“Using official actions, to raise money:  It is disgusting,” the McCarthy ally said.

Yet, Gaetz was only doing precisely what two top lieutenants of McCarthy had done in the past couple of weeks:  Both Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith had sent out fundraising appeals that cited their work on Biden’s impeachment.

I have written in the past about the perils of the “permanent election campaign,” in the U.S. House of Representatives.

It tends to mean never getting anything done, especially in the midele-ground.

So, what is it?

The term was first coined by Sidney Blumenthal in his 1980 book, The Permanent Campaign, in which he explained how the breakdown in political parties forced politicians to govern in different ways.

Blumenthal contended that politicians increasingly used political consultants to help them monitor their job approval numbers and media exposure, even when not on the campaign trail.  This means those in office are always in campaign mode, even when they are supposed to be in office “governing.”

The theory of the permanent campaign is also credited to political strategist Patrick Caddell who wrote a memo for President-elect Jimmy Carter just after his election in 1976 in which he asserted, “governing with public approval requires a continuing political campaign.”

In the U.S. House, those who win election serve only for two years, so, as soon as they win, the next campaign starts.

Instead of “legislating,” (deciding on useful additions to U.S. law), the 435 members of the U.S. House start campaigning, often with a negative twist compounded by irritating TV ads, of which the aforementioned Gaetz is only one example, perhaps the best, but still only one.

Essayist Joseph Epstein, in a piece for the Wall Street Journal added to my thinking as he wrote a few years ago about the last mid-term election.  His column carried this subhead:  “A dispiriting mid-term cycle has only just finished and the 2024 presidential race has already started.”

Here is how his column started:

“Has there ever been an election so relentlessly dreary as the one we have just been through?  The day after Election Day a cable-show panelist remarked that ‘there are only 727 days until the next election.’  He laughed. I didn’t.

“I’m suffering from political exhaustion.  I’m bored and saddened, satiated with talk of electoral politics.  In some places, it took nearly three weeks to count the votes.  I’ve seen more polls than Poland has Poles.  And most of those polls turned out to be wrong.”

Epstein concluded:

“How much better things would be if time — eight or nine months, say —were set aside to knock off all the blather, kick back, chill.  But it is not to be.  Perhaps it never will be again, and the country will henceforth live in a permanent state of electoral frenzy:  A state of claim and counter-claim, insults delivered and returned, hyperbole everywhere, agitation reigning generally.”

With Epstein, I do not hold out much hope for change.

Wall Street Journal’s William Galston put it this way:

“Campaigning is one thing, governing another.  Opposing is not the same as legislating.”

He is right.  And right even as we endure the relentless, permanent campaign.

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.

This is one of four departments I run with a free hand to manage as I – and only I – see fit.

The others are the Department of Pet Peeves, the Department of Inquiring Minds Want to Know, and the Department of “Just Saying.”

Thus, here are some good quotes.

From Wall Street Journal editorial writers:  “The ouster (of Keven McCarthy from the House Speaker position) captures the degraded state of the Republican Party in this era of rage.  Members in safe seats can fuel their own fund-raising and careers by claiming to ‘fight’ against all and sundry without doing the hard work to accomplish what they claim to be fighting for.

“Representative Matt Gaetz is the prototype of this modern performance artist, as he raises money for a potential run for Florida Governor.”

Comment:  Gaetz appears to enjoy the spotlight, no matter the issue.  In that way, he is a lot like Donald Trump.  As narcissists, the issue always is themselves and themselves alone.

From Gerard Baker, former editor of the Wall Street Journal:  “The larger point is that this kind of emotionally satisfying posturing characterizes much of Republican politics today.  It is mirrored in the process unfolding in the presidential primary.

“Republicans could unite behind a leader who is committed to doing things they believe in — and things that can actually be achieved in a nation that is as sharply divided as Congress is. Or they could pick someone who makes the right noises, makes them feel good about themselves, and sees allies as opponents and opponents as traitors.

“In the process, just as they delivered a heavily Democrat-favored bill last weekend, they risk delivering us another four years of Joe Biden, this time aided and abetted by Speaker Hakeem Jeffries.”

Comment:  Baker is a columnist with whom I usually disagree, but this time Baker is spot on as he says Republicans are more interesting is posturing for their own benefit than in doing business in this country. 

In the Washington Post, comments by John Kelly, military veteran and former chief of staff to Donald Trump:  “’What can I add that has not already been said?’ Kelly said, calling Trump a ‘person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’”

Comment:  When Kelly talks about this issue – Trump’s hate of the military he once led as, supposedly, commander in chief, you must listen.  If only because Kelly, himself, lost a son to combat in Iraq.

Trump’s disdain for the military, all the more incredible because he did not “serve” his country (if it ever could be said that Trump “served” anything except his own ends), was epitomized by his disdain for the late John McCain.

McCain served in a U.S. war in Vietnam, was captured and held in prison for seven years.  He was a true American hero.  Of course, Trump ridiculed him.

From Jennifer Rubin in the Washington Post:  “The former president’s defenders appear to believe Trump should derive special treatment by virtue of his decision to run for office, a blatant attempt to cast any prosecution as political persecution.  Their argument gives the back of the hand to the principle that there is one standard for all in our judicial system.  Worse, these Trump enablers cavalierly ignore the very real danger he poses to judges, prosecutors, court personnel and witnesses. It amounts to legal nihilism that places Trump’s desire to return to office above the interests of the rule of law and the safety of others.”

Comment:  Rubin is right to criticize Trump, but also those who follow him mindlessly.  This time, the issue is the gag order that the court imposed on Trump, which is richly deserves, but only will tell how he avoids to advance his own personal ambitions, no matter how it affects our country.

Those who follow Trump deserve as much ridicule as he does.