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.

The best answer to the question in this blog headline is who knows.

The chief at the start of Donald Trump’s new term is Susie Wiles, who ran Trump’s campaign for a new term in the White House.

In Trump’s first term he had four chiefs of staff and wouldn’t let any of them do the job of running the White House.  So, of course, he fired them. Trump always thought he was the smartest person in any room so anyone who had the guts to question him soon was shown the door.

Chris Whipple, the author of “The Gatekeepers:  How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency” and the forthcoming “Uncharted:  How Trump Beat Biden, Harris and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History,” wrote about this in a recent column for the New York Times.

Here is one of his main points:

“Heading into a second term, Trump will have one advantage that eluded him the first time around:  A White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, who was one of Trump’s 2024 campaign co-managers and showed an uncanny ability to impose discipline on his disorder and was widely credited with piloting his political comeback.”

And another point:

“For Wiles, running Trump’s White House effectively may well be a mission impossible.  He churned through four White House chiefs in just one term.  Three found it almost impossible to impose any order and the fourth, Mark Meadows, really didn’t try; he seemed content to go along with most anything Trump wanted (including many of his efforts to overturn the 2020 election).”

So, does Wiles bear responsibility for some of Trump’s early mistakes, such as proposing to get rid of birthright citizenship and freezing all federal government spending?  On the latter, it turned out that the original “federal freeze” order was issued before even coordinating with the White House on the content of the order.

Those mistakes – pure Trump from his first term – occurred on Wiles’ watch and that reality doesn’t bode well for her tenure when issues, national and international, will become even more complex.  Such complexity won’t bother Trump – he doesn’t care about details and consequences.  But mistakes should bother Wiles.

Or, how about this from Phillip Bump in the Washington Post as he commented on Trump’s performance in meeting with the press to talk about the plane crash in D.C.?

“It wasn’t surprising that Trump turned a gathering ostensibly focused on sharing information with the public into a conversation focused on himself and his politics, that it became an airing of grievances and an effort to pass the buck.  No one even moderately familiar with Trump would be taken aback by that.  Instead, it was jarring — a visceral reminder of how different Trump’s approach to the position is than any prior president save himself.”

And, even late night hosts Jimmy Kimmel got into the act:

“A terrible thing happened.  All he had to do is go out there and say, ‘This is a tragedy,’ offer some comfort to the families, to the military families, promise to get to the bottom of it.  But he can’t do that, because he’s callous, he’s racist, he’s sexist, and, most of all, he’s stupid.  He’s a deeply stupid man.”

And, what, if anything, does Wiles do about this?  Probably nothing because it’s just Trump blabbering on with no evidence behind his invective.

In general, I have paid attention to “chief of staff” issues in Oregon where every governor has one, including the one I worked for in the Administration of Oregon Governor Vic Atiyeh.  Her name is Gerry Thompson and she and I are still friends to this day, many years after our time together in the Governor’s Office.

In Oregon and in Washington, D.C., the chief of staff is essentially in the second in power after the governor or president.  His or her word goes.

The chief of staff is a “gatekeeper,” guarding the door to the Governor’s Office or the Oval Office because not just anybody can – or should — get in.  But, good chiefs also don’t just let those in who agree with the chief officer; they let in others who, without being overbearing, have thoughts to share that a governor or president needs to hear.

According to Whipple, Ken Duberstein, Ronald Reagan’s final White House chief of staff, once observed that ‘campaigning is trying to destroy your opponents, while governing is making friends with them.’  In his first term as president, Trump did not get the difference, and his tenure was often overwhelmed by dysfunction and chaos.

“Most modern presidents learn, sometimes the hard way, that they can’t govern effectively without empowering their chiefs of staff to execute their agendas.  A chief wears many hats:  He or she is the president’s gatekeeper, confidant, javelin catcher, enforcer and occasional therapist.

“Understated but imposing and not easily intimidated, Wiles may well be Trump’s best hope of having an effective presidency.”

In trying to manage Trump’s second White House, Whipple says Wiles would do well to consider the model of her predecessor in the role, Jeff Zients, Joe Biden’s second chief of staff.

Zients succeeded Ron Klain, an empowered chief with keen political instincts and a quick Twitter finger who wasn’t afraid to advocate policy.

From Whipple:

“Wiles seems to share with Zients a less extroverted personality and management style.  The F.D.R.-era Brownlow Committee once described the ideal White House adviser as having ‘a passion for anonymity.’  

“Unlike some larger-than-life chiefs — James Baker under Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, or Leon Panetta under Bill Clinton — Zients fits the private bill, shunning interviews and TV appearances.  This under-the-radar approach has also been Wiles’ modus operandi.”

The final resality for Wiles, the campaign manager, now chief of staff, is this:

“When a president-elect goes rogue on the campaign trail, saying something outrageous, that’s one thing.  But, if a president goes rogue from the Oval Office, lives can be lost.”

Wiles, Whipple says, may well represent the thin line between the president and disaster.

And, from me, to use the shopworn phrase, “only time will tell.”

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.

My friends at Church at the Park are doing two things – (a) doing good work in the community for those in need, including homeless persons, and (b) writing about their work in a newsletter sent all around our community.

Here is the headline of the most recent newsletter, a very good message for today, especially given what is happening in Washington, D.C.

“The reading for this week is the story of Jesus delivering his first official message.  You could call it his inaugural message.  He quotes from Isaiah and says,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,       because he has anointed me        to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives    and recovery of sight to the blind,        to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

“One key interpretive question to ask of a text, is “For whom are these words good news?”  Here, the answer seems straightforward:  This is good news for the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed.

“Our mission statement at Church at The Park is taken from another passage in that same story — Luke 14:  To create a banquet of love and acceptance for those who need it most.  

“Everyone needs love and acceptance, but there are those in our community who do not experience belonging simply because of where they sleep, or because of the color of their skin, or because something about them does not sit well with the majority culture.  

“For us, we participate in the work of building shalom by eating meals and walking alongside the marginalized, not because we consider ourselves to be holy or righteous, but because God asks us to.  And because that is where the peace and the presence of God are most visible.  

“Additionally, it is worth saying that sometimes shalom means helping and standing with those who are in need and sometimes it means confronting the systems that are driving people into poverty and homelessness.”

Good words!

The fact is that God asks us, as Christians, to be about the business of doing “good works,” not to earn a way to God, but, in the way one of friends described it, “as a result of our salvation.”

Church at the Park does this well, serving as a model for other communities.

I hope it – and another solid organization in the Salem area, Salem for Refugees – survives in the current political marketplace.

And, in that marketplace, another fact is that Donald Trump knows nothing about what the Bible says about “loving your neighbor.”

Here’s what the Bible says:

“A basic scriptural admonition to care for others is ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ found in Leviticus 19:18, which essentially instructs people to treat others with the same kindness and compassion they would want for themselves.”

So, in conclusion, I accept and value this inaugural message, not the other one.

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.

I cannot resist.  I wrote yesterday about Donald Trump’s autocracy – he’s always in charge, no matter what the law says.  But I do so again today, given what Trump is still doing.

It is not a surprise to learn that no one in the administration of Donald Trump knows what they are doing.  [Notice that I did not use a capital letter for the word administration because it is not clear that real “administration” exists in Trump world.]

Trump froze all federal fund programs when what he apparently wanted to do was stop those related to his executive orders.  Apparently, he couldn’t tell the difference.

Even so, several of those orders were blatantly illegal and are being challenged in court, so stopping money for them might be illegal, too.  But Trump and his minions don’t care.

He just issued a “stop paying” order so all federal funds stopped flowing, even Medicaid, as some states learned the hard way – no money.

A federal judge acted quickly to block Trump’s plan before it was set to go into effect late Tuesday afternoon.  Still, some money had already stopped flowing. 

U.S. District Judge Loren Alikhan said she was granting a “brief administrative stay” that preserves federal disbursements at least until Monday at 5 p.m. EST after a group of non-profit and public health organizations filed a lawsuit. 

So, to add to my blog yesterday, a new category is this:  Trump can’t even impose an order the way he wants.  He is not smart enough and has no understanding of the federal government, unless he functions as a dictator asking others simply to do his bidding.

I fear for the country’s well-being.

So does Dana Milbank in the Washington Post in a column that appeared under this headline – “The Trump White House has no idea what the Trump White House just did.”  Here is what he wrote:

“In just eight days on the job, Trump has taken a wrecking ball to the federal government, and he and his aides apparently couldn’t be bothered to give any thought to the damage and chaos that would ensue.

“It’s not just the spending freeze.  It’s the willy-nilly, and probably illegal, firing of federal employees, the federal hiring freeze, the moratorium on foreign aid, the threats and bullying unleashed on allies, and the moves to muzzle government agencies to eliminate accountability.

“The sheer volume of executive orders and actions stunned critics into silence.  But, as the scene in the briefing room illustrated on Tuesday, reality is already beginning to catch up with Trump.”

And, in Atlantic Magazine, Tom Nichols wrote this:

“Trump’s wave of executive orders is designed to be performatively malicious.  My colleague Adam Serwer years ago noted that, for the MAGA movement, ‘cruelty is the point,’ and now Trump’s orders make clear that the malice is the policy.”

So, this conclusion from me:  It may be that Trump does not know what he is doing, which is bad.  Or, perhaps he does know and just doesn’t care – and that’s worse.

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.

I went golfing yesterday without worrying about Donald Trump.

Wise move.

But, then a frost delay meant we would tee off a bit later than normal.  So, with time on my hands, I had no choice but to come up with the following thoughts about Trump.  Couldn’t help myself.

• Consequences – he doesn’t understand the consequences of his over-the-top actions, or if he did, he wouldn’t care

Example:  Threatening to impose a 25 per cent tariff on goods from Colombia because that country wouldn’t bow to Trump on immigration flights, yet Colombia is one of America’s prime supporters in the region

• Laws – he doesn’t care what laws say, having violated many so he carries a felon label into the White House

Example#1:  He fired inspectors general in 17 federal agencies despite the fact the law requires a 30-day notice to Congress if he wanted to do what he did

Example #2:  He tried to end birthright citizenship, thus scrapping the constitutional right that anyone born in the United States receives citizenship, regardless of their parents’ legal status (various legal challenges are pending)

Example #3:  He’s freezing money that Congress approved to spend…he ordered the Executive Branch to stop spending billions of dollars on a variety of issues that run counter to his agenda, like climate mitigation, infrastructure spending, foreign aid, and money for “sanctuary” cities…but Congress approved this spending during President Joe Biden’s term, and for the most part, presidents must spend the money that Congress appropriates…they can’t just hold it, or “impound” it because they don’t agree with it…that would be in violation of the Impoundment Control Act

• Conflicts – he, of course, thinks he has none…if his actions accrue benefits for him, including financial benefits for his pocketbook, so be it

Example:  And, if the federal government produces financial results for companies run by him or his family, good

• Tariffs – guess who will pay higher costs when Trump imposes tariffs – you and me

Example:  Same as above regarding Colombia because the reality is that all of us – including Trump’s MAGA followers – will pay for what he says he wants to do, which is impose tariffs on every country

• Immigration – Some of those who voted for Trump are now being deported

Example:  Many these individuals were surprised as they were rounded up and put on flights to somewhere — deportation

• Appointments – management credentials don’t matter to Trump… after all, he has none himself…thus many of his Cabinet-level appointments have no management experience either

Examples:  Peter Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, Robert Kennedy, Kash Patel – none of have management credentials to manage anything…and, of course, neither, as I said above, does reality-TV host Trump…and consider this about Kennedy… he has made millions by referring clients to trial lawyers, and he advocates mass tort litigation that would ruin the vaccine industry, on top of which he opposes most vaccines…so, in effect, what he says is “good luck on your health”

Amber Phillips wrote this in the Washington Post:

“…Trump made clear his first week that he has no qualms about pushing the boundaries of presidential power to shift the government and the nation to the far right.

“Experts say several of his actions might be illegal or unconstitutional, and at least one has been challenged in court.

“But it’s not clear what else could stop these policies from being implemented or what consequences Trump might face for taking potentially illegal actions.  He was impeached by House Democrats in his first term for doing something similar but acquitted by a Republican Senate.

“Then the Supreme Court gave Trump and all former and future presidents immunity from official acts.  Watchdog groups say congressional intervention will be needed to keep some of these potentially illegal moves from being implemented.  But Republicans control both chambers and Democrats and are still trying to figure out how to respond to the avalanche of changes Trump made in his first week.”

And, don’t rely on Republicans to be a check on Trump autocracy.  So far, all they are doing is bowing and scraping to him.

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.

This blog headline is meant to indicate that many fears about Donald Trump as president are coming true – and that there is nothing that rational people can do about it.

I, of course, am a rational person.

Two examples:

From columnist George Will in the Washington Post:  Before Peter Hegseth was confirmed as the director of the Defense Department (it took Vice President J.D. Vance to cast the deciding vote for Hegseth in a divided U.S. Senate), Will wrote this:

“A thought experiment:  Suppose you assembled 100 intelligent, public-spirited people experienced with the complexities of managing enormous bureaucracies, deeply familiar with today’s geopolitical challenges, alert to the importance and sensitivities of allied nations, and acquainted with large private-sector manufacturing and the precarious condition of the U.S. defense industrial base.

“Suppose you asked each of these 100 to list 100 people qualified to be defense secretary.  There could be, cumulatively, 10,000 different names.  

“What is the probability that even one of those would be Pete Hegseth?  Approximately zero.”

Will is absolutely right.  Hegseth would not make the list.  But with Trump?  Hegseth makes the list and it took Vance to drive him over the finish line.

Now, the trouble is that Hegseth will command all American troops.

Oh well!

• From writer Peter Baker in the New York Times who is covering his sixth president and, with his wife, wrote about Trump’s first term:  This headline led Baker’s most recent column:  “People Will Be Shocked:  Trump Tests the Boundaries of the Presidency.”

Baker went on:

“Even more than in his first term, President Trump has mounted a fundamental challenge to the norms and expectations of what a president can and should do.

“On his first full day back in the White House, President Trump reveled in his return to power and vowed to do what no president had ever done before.  ‘We’re going to do things that people will be shocked at,’ he declared.

“Of all the thousands of words that Trump uttered during his fact-challenged, talkathon-style opening days as the nation’s 47th president, those may have been the truest.  No matter that much of what he was doing he had promised on the campaign trail.  He succeeded in shocking nonetheless.

“Not so much by the ferocity of the policy shifts or ideological swings that invariably come with a party change in the White House, but through norm-shattering, democracy-testing assertions of personal power that defy the courts, the Congress, and the ethical lines that constrained past presidents.

“He freed even the most violent of the rioters who assaulted the Capitol in his name four years ago.  Out of pique over questions of loyalty, he stripped former advisers facing credible death threats of their security details.  Disregarding a law passed with bi-partisan support and upheld by the Supreme Court, he allowed the Chinese-owned TikTok app to remain in use in the United States despite serious national security concerns.

“Not satisfied to simply eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, he ordered government workers to snitch on anyone suspected of not going along or,’ a practice familiar to anyone of a certain age who lived in Russia.  He fired at least a dozen inspectors general who monitor departments for corruption and abuse in a late-night purge on Friday, ignoring a law requiring him to give Congress 30 days’ notice and provide specific reasons.”

Baker says that Trump, in effect, “declared that he was willing and even eager to push the boundaries of his authority, the resilience of American institutions, the strength of the nearly two-and-a-half-century-old system, and the tolerance of some of his own allies.”

No one knows what’s next in Trump world.  He doesn’t think about the consequences of his actions, believing, as always, that he is the smartest person in every room, so no consequence matters.

So, I continue to fear for the future of America under Trump. 

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.

We have heard a lot of about Donald Trump’s first day in the office as the president, but I’ll bet he was not prepared for a surprise.

My wife found the following story and passed it on to me.

For some reason, Trump, who wouldn’t know real religion if it hit him in the face – remember, he considers himself to be a god – went to the National Cathedral on Tuesday.

He got an earful.

Here is how newspapers described the situation.

“Trump began his first full day in office attending a prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday and got a sermon he may not have been expecting:  An appeal to protect immigrants and respect gay rights.

“A day after declaring in his inauguration speech that there were only two genders in America and signing executive orders to crack down on immigrants, Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde pleaded with Trump, from the pulpit, to show mercy on people who were ‘scared’ of what is to come.

“’There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democrat, Republican and independent families, some who fear for their lives,’ Budde said.”

The fear arises because, last Monday, Trump launched a sweeping immigration crackdown, assigned the U.S. military to aid in border security, issued a broad ban on asylum, and took steps to restrict citizenship for children born on U.S. soil.

Budde responded this way:

“’The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meat-packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals, they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals, she said.

“I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.  Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger.”

I hope other “Buddes” will stand up to call for even-handed actions by the president and cronies, which, at the same time, I know is too much to ask.

Here is what one letter-to-the-editor writer wrote in the Washington Post:

“Budde’s sermon was not a political statement.  It was a call for empathy and moral character, which Trump does not apparently possess.  As a preacher, I plan to use every opportunity to draw attention to the need for civility, compassion and, especially, the common good.  I pray that our leaders will rise above political fealty and do the same.”

From Trump, no surprise.  After he heard the Budde remarks and was asked about them, he dismissed them.  Plus, he then demanded an apology from Budde that he won’t get because Budde stands by her comments which are based on scripture.

Billionaire Elon Musk, a staunch Trump ally, knocked Budde in a post on his social media platform, X. “She got the woke mind virus real bad,” he said.

However – and I did not know this — Musk is the father of a transgender daughter, so he must have at least some mixed emotions about some of Trump’s proclamations.

The Atlantic Magazine chimed in with this summary of what I’ll label “early Trump.”

“Trump has clearly claimed some territory in the culture wars:  He is now dancing with Village People in the flesh, not merely to a recording of the group’s most famous track.  And when it comes to getting away with self-dealing and abuses of power, he has mastered the system.

“But a politician and a party that are built for propaganda and quashing dissent generally lack the tools for effective governance.  As far as policy accomplishments are concerned, the second Trump term could very well turn out to be as underwhelming as the first.

“Trump has promised a grand revolution.  At a pre-inaugural rally, he announced, ‘The American people have given us their trust, and in return, we’re going to give them the best first day, the biggest first week, and the most extraordinary first 100 days of any presidency in American history.’

“He branded his inauguration ‘Liberation Day’ labeled his incoming agenda a ‘revolution of common sense,’ and boasted, ‘Nothing will stand in our way.’ After being sworn in on Monday, he signed a slew of executive orders in a move that has been termed ‘shock and awe.’

“Those orders fall into a few different categories.  Some are genuinely dangerous — above all, the mass pardon of about 1,500 January 6 defendants, which unambiguously signals that lawbreaking in the service of subverting elections in Trump’s favor will be tolerated.  Others, including withdrawing from the World Health Organization and freezing offshore wind energy, will be consequential but perhaps not enduring — that which can be done by executive order can be undone by it.”

The Atlantic added this coda:

“What’s really striking is how many fall into the category of symbolic culture-war measures or vague declarations of intent.  Trump declared a series of ‘emergencies’ concerning his favorite issues.  His order declaring an end to birthright citizenship seems likely to be struck down on constitutional grounds, although the Supreme Court can always interpret the Fourteenth Amendment’s apparently plain text as it desires.

“He is re-renaming a mountain in Alaska — which, in four years’ time, could be renamed yet again, perhaps after one of the police officers who fought off Trump’s insurrection attempt.  He has ordered the federal government to officially recognize only two genders, male and female.”

On all this, Atlantic adds that, at least for now, there is no way to tell whether Trump will achieve all his aims, especially with a horde of folks ready to challenge, perhaps in court, what he tries to do to re-make America is his craven image.

So, for today:

1. Kudos to Budde for speaking truth to power, especially because the truth is Biblical truth, and
2. I hope the Atlantic predictions about the potentially short extent of Trump’s power come true.

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.

We are watching a felon and a rapist, become U.S. president.

Whatever Donald Trump does or does not do, I will be sick to my stomach for America.

Reading the following New York Times editorial only engages the throwing-up reflex.

So, if you have something better to do today – probably the case — don’t read on.

I choose this morning to reprint a New York Times editorial, which practices solid journalism.  It goes beyond the headline to provide solid detail on the background for the Trump pardons.

Also, I sometimes think that I should spend less time thinking about Trump and more time giving thanks for the way God has blessed me and my family.  So, I’ll try to give more emphasis to the latter than the former.

Still, here, for today, is the editorial.

**********

TRUMP’S OPENING ACT OF CONTEMPT

January 20, 2025

By The Editorial Board

On January 6, 2021, Philip Sean Grillo, a former Republican district leader in Queens, jumped through a broken window at the U.S. Capitol with a megaphone.  He pushed his way past a line of Capitol Police officers and opened the exterior doors of the Rotunda to allow other rioters to enter the building and trash it.

“We stormed the Capitol!” he exulted on video and was seen smoking marijuana and high-fiving other Donald Trump supporters who were fighting the police. “We shut it down! We did it!”

Nearly three years later, a federal jury convicted Grillo of multiple offenses. But he did not lose heart:  Last month, when he was sentenced to a year in prison, he had a special taunt for the federal district judge who sentenced him, Royce Lamberth.

“Trump’s going to pardon me anyways,” he yelled at the judge, just before he was handcuffed and led away.

He was right.  On Monday evening, several hours after Trump was inaugurated, he fulfilled a promise he had repeatedly made to pardon nearly all the rioters who attacked and desecrated the Capitol in 2021 to prevent Joe Biden’s victory from being certified.  Grillo and about 1,500 other rioters received full pardons from Trump, while 14 others received commuted sentences.

A presidential pardon for Grillo not only makes a mockery of his jury’s verdict and of Judge Lamberth’s sentence.  Trump’s mass pardon effectively makes a mockery of a justice system that has labored for four years to charge nearly 1,600 people who tried to stop the Constitution in its tracks, a system that convicted 1,100 of them and that sentenced more than 600 of them to prison.

Most important, the mass pardon sends a message to the country and the world that violating the law in support of Trump and his movement will be rewarded, especially when considered alongside his previous pardons of his advisers.  It loudly proclaims, from the nation’s highest office, that the rioters did nothing wrong, that violence is a perfectly legitimate form of political expression and that no price need be paid by those who seek to disrupt a sacred constitutional transfer of power.

The presidential pardon system is usually abused in modern times by departing presidents giving a final gift to cronies, donors or relatives, and those breaches of trust were bad enough.  Biden issued dubious pardons to his son and, as he walked out the door, several other family members, as well as pre-emptive pardons to an array of current and former government officials for noncriminal actions, all to protect them from potential Republican retribution — an expansive use of pardon power that further warps its purpose.

But what Trump did Monday is of an entirely different scope.  He used a mass pardon at the beginning of his term to write a false chapter of American history, to try to erase a crime committed against the foundations of American democracy.

To open his term with such an act of contempt toward the legal system is audacious, even for Trump, and should send an alarming signal to Democrats and Republicans alike.  Members of both parties had to protect themselves that day from the mob, which made little distinction in political affiliation or ideology as they called for the execution of Vice President Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House.

In this pardon, Trump forgave and thus provided encouragement for domestic terrorists who put members of Congress in danger of their lives; the long-term cost will be paid by the entire political system, not just his critics.

For four years, he has tried to stage-manage the erasure of his role in inspiring the assault.  It was only hours after the attack that his allies in the House and on Fox News began sowing doubt about the motivation for the rioters, claiming it was organized by leftists masquerading as Trump supporters.

By 2022, when he was under investigation by the House January 6 committee, he began referring to the rioters as “political prisoners” persecuted by Democrats and openly suggesting that the F.B.I. had helped stage the attack.  By the time his presidential campaign was in full swing last year, he had completely transformed the day’s monstrous bloody fury into what he called a “day of love” and insisted falsely that none of his supporters had brought guns to the Capitol.

But Trump’s dense fog of misinformation can’t change what really happened on that terrible day, which, as the Times editorial board wrote at the time, “touched the darkest memories and fears of democracies the world over.”  It was a sentiment in the early aftermath of the attack echoed even by senior Republicans, some of whom would go on to vote to impeach Trump for his role in instigating it.

At least 20 people who joined the attack did carry firearms onto the Capitol grounds, including Christopher Alberts, who wore body armor containing metal plates and carried a 9-millimeter pistol loaded with 12 rounds of ammunition, along with a separate 12-round holster that included hollow-point bullets.  He was sentenced to 84 months in prison after a jury convicted him of nine charges, including assaulting law enforcement officers, but received a full pardon on Monday.

More than 140 police officers were assaulted that day; Brian Sicknick, a Capitol Police officer, was killed, and other officers were smashed in the head with weapons; they were bruised, burned and lacerated; four later died by suicide.

“My concern is that people are going to believe that if they attack me or members of my family physically that Donald Trump will absolve them of their acts,” Michael Fanone, a former police officer attacked by the crowd on January 6, told The Times.  “And who is to say he wouldn’t?”

For many of the officers who were pepper-sprayed or hit with two-by-fours or beaten that day, the thought that the nation’s chief executive would forgive such actions is despicable.  “Releasing those who assaulted us from blame would be a desecration of justice,” Aquilino Gonell, a former Capitol Police sergeant who suffered lasting injuries in the riot, wrote in a Times Opinion guest essay this month.  “If Mr. Trump wants to heal our divided nation, he’ll let their convictions stand.”

Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers militia, which helped organize the assault, was sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted of seditious conspiracy for assembling $20,000 worth of assault weaponry intended to be used at the Capitol.  U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who sentenced Rhodes, called him “an ongoing threat and a peril to this country, to the Republic and the very fabric of our democracy.”  Judge Mehta later said he was appalled by the idea that Rhodes could receive a pardon.

“The notion that Stewart Rhodes could be absolved is frightening and ought to be frightening to anyone who cares about democracy in this country,” the judge said last month.

Rhodes was not pardoned, but his sentence was commuted, and he was scheduled to be immediately released.

Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys militia, was described by a federal judge as the “ultimate leader” of the rebellion, though he was arrested and barred from Washington as soon as he arrived there and didn’t enter the Capitol.  Nonetheless, he was sentenced to 22 years in prison after the Justice Department said that by “inflaming the group with rage against law enforcement and then turning it loose on the Capitol, Tarrio did far more harm than he could have as an individual rioter.”  Two weeks ago, on January  6, his lawyer wrote to Trump asking for a pardon, describing his client as “nothing more than a proud American that believes in true conservative values,” and his request was granted on Monday.

Judge Lamberth, a senior federal judge appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the D.C. District Court, has been on the bench since 1987 and has seen it all, having served with the Army’s Judge Advocate General Corps in Vietnam and as a federal prosecutor in Washington during the 1970s.  But in pronouncing one sentence against a rioter last January, he said he had never seen such a level of “meritless justifications of criminal activity” in the political mainstream.

“I have been dismayed to see distortions and outright falsehoods seep into the public consciousness,” he wrote.  “I have been shocked to watch some public figures try to rewrite history, claiming rioters behaved ‘in an orderly fashion’ like ordinary tourists or martyrizing convicted January 6 defendants as ‘political prisoners’ or even, incredibly, ‘hostages.’  That is all preposterous.  But the court fears that such destructive, misguided rhetoric could presage further danger to our country.”

On his first day back in public office, Trump provoked the danger that the judge dreads, setting loose hundreds of people found guilty of participating in a violent assault on the Nation’s Capital — not because they committed no crimes but because they committed their crimes in his name.  In doing so, he invites such crimes to happen again.

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.

When I talked with a friend of mine yesterday – the first day of Donald Trump’s second presidency – he had fun with me by suggesting that he did not have time to talk because he was looking for property in Canada.

Of course, he was kidding – I think — but I told him to find me some, too.

Those comments summarized our reactions to Trump’s first hours in office as he took many actions he said he would take if he won the election.  And, of course, many of Americans voted for the first person who have the word “felon” attached to his name in the Oval Office, so he now believes he can do what he wants to do, objections be damned.

Still, as Trump signed about 100 executive orders, many of them may not survive.

Here is the way the Washington Post described the status:

“Two hours after being sworn in, Trump sat down in the President’s Room at the U.S. Capitol to sign the first of nearly 100 promised executive orders — a historic and hand-cramping effort that he promised would begin ‘the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense.’

“But his pen strokes also kicked off a round of objections from opponents, scholars and other groups that said he’d exceeded the limits of his presidential power.  They included some critics who filed lawsuits before his signatures were dry, all but guaranteeing that his approval would not be the last word on Monday’s executive actions.

“Trump’s wielding of the presidential pen spanned a wide gamut of American life and U.S. policy, each order aimed at showing that he had begun to make good on his campaign promises.  He declared an immigration emergency and will soon surge troops to the southern border, he said.  He began to dismantle government diversity and inclusion programs and limited the number of genders the government can recognize to two.”

The executive orders include some subjects that scholars and legal experts say may be out of the reach of the president’s pen, including his action, in theory at least, to end birthright citizenship which is based in the U.S. Constitution.

There is little doubt that Trump doesn’t care, believing he is all powerful.

Plus, this is the way New York Time columnist Maureen Dowd wrote about Trump’s first day:

“Inaugural Addresses ordinarily dwell on the art of the possible.  But one of Donald Trump’s most revealing lines on Monday was about the art of the impossible.

“’Many people thought it was impossible for me to stage such a historic political comeback,”’ said 45 as he morphed into 47.  “But as you see today, here I am.  The American people have spoken.”

“Here I am. It was both a boast and a warning.”

Was Trump’s phrase “here I am” drawn from the Bible.  Who knows?  But, as much as Trump talks about the Bible and prints one with his name on the cover, I suspect he has never read it, nor ascribed to its teachings.

“Boasts and warnings.”

Those are what Trump is about.  And, to use an old phrase, only time will tell if Trump will get all he wants he wants to get.

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.

The answer to the question in this blog headline:  It’s far too early to tell.

As I write this, Donald Trump is preparing to be sworn in for a new term in the Oval Office.  I intend to ignore the process today, preferring to spend my time on the golf course.

And, as an indication of that intent, I choose to write about the departing president, Joe Biden.  It often is tempting to engage in an immediate assessment of as president’s term as he leaves office, but it is better to wait for time to heal at least some of the wounds, if not most of them.

Still, Biden can take credit for such results as being in power as the Covid pandemic ended, playing a role in the recovery; producing a huge bill investing in infrastructure in America; and serving during a time of economic growth in America, with thousands of jobs created by the private sector, all of which was not well-recognized as it occurred..

Using fodder provided by hill.com, I begin a look back at Biden’s term with events that I sometimes forget.

• The raucous 2023 State of the Union/During his 2023 State of the Union address, Biden sparred with Republican lawmakers over potential cuts to Social Security with a lively back-and-forth in the House chamber.
• Ukraine speech/In March 2022, Biden gave a fiery speech in Poland about his support for Ukraine a month after Russia’s invasion, during which he said that Russian President Vladimir Putin can’t remain in power.
• Afghanistan withdrawal/The August 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan was a major bruise on Biden’s legacy early into his presidency and is seen as the start of a long and windy downfall for his presidency.
• Hur report/A March 2024 release of a transcript of special counsel Robert Hur’s two-day interview with Biden for his investigation into the president’s handling of classified materials gave Republicans and critics new ammunition to go after his age — and gave the public a window into the president’s fitness for office.
• Disastrous debate/Biden and Trump had their first and only 2024 presidential debate on June 27, moderated by CNN.  It began immediately with Biden fumbling his answers and giving confused looks.  Biden’s disastrous performance, one that lasted 90 minutes, set off a series of events that led to him ultimately dropping his re-election bid.

Beyond these specific events over the last four years, I generally found Biden to be a genuine, decent human being, which is something in politics these days.  He was not immune to failure, but appeared to be someone who wanted to do a good job.

Wanting to do a good job and then, at least to a degree, not doing it is prescription for failure in politics.  For Biden, that and his advance age caught up with him – and, in America, left us with Trump.

Regarding the Trump term, which starts today, I add this footnote from the Washington Post, which serves to indicate that much of what Trump and his sycophants want to do will be challenged, including in court.

“A lawsuit claiming billionaire Elon Musk’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ (DOGE) violates federal transparency rules will be filed within minutes of  Trump’s inauguration Monday, kicking off a legal battle over a key aspect of the incoming administration’s agenda.

“In a 30-page complaint obtained by The Washington Post ahead of its filing, the public interest law firm National Security Counselors says that the non-governmental DOGE panel is breaking a 1972 law that requires advisory committees to the executive branch to follow certain rules on disclosure, hiring and other practices.

“Shortly after the election, Trump tapped Musk and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to lead DOGE in identifying government regulations and spending programs for the White House to cut.”

So, here we go for another four years of Trump.

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.

Guess what?

Monday is presidential inauguration day for Donald Trump.

What will I be doing?

Well, not watching the spectacle, which will occur indoors because of very cold weather in Washington, D.C.

I’ll be golfing here in the California desert.

By this, no offense.  I just want to read about the inauguration the day after it occurs rather than watching it in person on TV.

No one knows for sure what is in store for Trump’s early days in the White House.  Some options:

• Those to be deported – whomever they are – could start to be rounded up immediately and, perhaps, put into detention camps pending forced departure.  This was supposed to start in Chicago, but plans may change.

Here is how the Washington Post reported the early status:

“Trump intends to launch a ‘light speed’ mass deportation campaign as soon as he ‘puts his hand on that Bible and takes the oath of office,’ top aide Stephen Miller has boasted.

“While U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has long placed a priority on immigrants with criminal records, there are other sub-groups that could be at a higher risk of deportation.  They include millions of newcomers who arrived during the record border influx under President Joe Biden, as well as those who have exhausted their legal appeals but haven’t left the United States.

Others, including ‘dreamers’ allowed to stay under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, could remain a lower priority.

• Also on immigration, federal officials appear to be ready to go after any state or jurisdiction that is running “sanctuary laws” for immigrants and intends to continue those laws.

That includes Oregon. Here, Governor Tina Kotek has said her Administration will continue adhering to Oregon’s sanctuary law despite receiving a letter from a non-profit allied with Trump warning of federal prosecution and civil lawsuits for doing so.  “I remain focused on delivering results for the issues Oregonians care about most.  I stand by Oregonians’ state-guaranteed protections and civil liberties.”

• Members of Trump’s cabinet and other high-level officials will see their votes for confirmation occur soon in the U.S. Senate, though probably not on inauguration day.  As a bunch, most are distinctly unqualified to run large organizations and that point only relates to management ability, not far right political points-of-view, which some observers also will continue to be disqualifying.

Two of the most controversial appointees – Kash Patel for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Robert Kennedy for the Department of Health and Human Services – have not appeared yet for confirmation hearings.  Each could face strong scrutiny – Patel because of his “enemies list” and Kennedy because of his anti-health care views, one of which is opposition to vaccines.

• Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will begin trying to dismantle parts of the federal government they don’t like, though efforts to dump stuff will be complicated, administratively and legally.  And, Ramaswamy also has announced he will be running for governor of Ohio, so he may have mixed emotions.

See.  Based on this list, it should be obvious that a better decision is to play golf rather than watch Trump take the oath-of-office, as if the content of an oath will matter to him.

Two other names have jumped out among those who plan to skip the inauguration:  Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former first lady Michelle Obama.  They are among growing list of Democrats who have decided to sit out the transfer of power from Biden to Trump.

Good decisions!