Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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.

Here is a follow-up to what I wrote yesterday about Donald Trump and J.D. Vance who are telling lies after lies.

Besides that, Vance has admitted that he “creates” stories to generate media attention.

A far better word would be “concocts.”

He was proud of admitting that the concocted the story he told about Haitian immigrants eating local cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio, so the media would pay attention.

Here is what he told the New York Times:

Vance Sticks By Pet-Eating Claims and Says He’s Willing to ‘Create Stories

“Vance, who amplified false claims that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating pets, said he was willing ‘to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention.’

There. 

Vance admits to his dishonesty, citizens in Ohio, those he “sort of represents” be damned. 

To him, the end justifies the means.