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 have not spent a lot on the West Coast of California, so it is hard for to imagine in my mind the reality of the tragic wildfires.

Shots on TV are the best that I can do.

But I do have a lot of friends who grew up in California and they have difficulty describing the new, fire-ravaged reality.

Then comes Donald Trump.

At a time when he ALL other Americans should be thanking those on the front lines fighting the fires, he does what a deranged, egotist would do:  He attacks the firefighters as if they are not doing enough.

Here is the description in the New York Times as its reporter wrote about this what late-night host – and Los Angeles resident – Jimmy Kimmel said on the program:

“Tonight, I don’t want to get into all the vile and irresponsible and stupid things our alleged future president and his gaggle of scumbags chose to say during our darkest and most terrifying hour.  

“The fact that they chose to attack our firefighters, who apparently aren’t white enough to be out there, risking their lives on our behalf is — it’s disgusting, but it’s not surprising.

“Instead, I want to focus on thanking those men and women, because that’s all we should be doing right now, and we should never stop thanking them.”

Kimmel, of course, didn’t tell his usual round of jokes.  Conditions were too serious.  He just thanked those who had worked – and were working – to save people and possessions in Los Angeles.

It was exactly what a president should do.  Instead, Trump focused on himself and his cockeyed perceptions of what America should be – of course, an America in exactly his image.