his 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.

In case you wonder, the word “ignoramus” in the headline refers to Donald Trump.

I join many others who cannot believe this kind of “no ethics” person could move into the Oval Office again.

Tom Nichols in Atlantic Magazine summarizes my thoughts exactly:

“The 2024 election has become a kind of waking nightmare in which many of us stare at Donald Trump as he unleashes some new attack on any number of targets:  A judge’s daughter, immigrants, the rule of law, American national security, the Constitution.  

“And we blink and shake our heads, stunned to think that many of our fellow citizens are eager to put this autocratic ignoramus back in the White House.”

Enough said, at least for now.

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[Except for this:  If, by some chance, you want to read more about the ignoramus, note a new column by Dana Milbank in the Washington Post.  It will make you cringe with worry about the future of our country with Trump having a chance for re-election.]