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!