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.