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.

For several weeks, I have toyed with opening this department, one of five I run with a free hand to manage as I see fit.  But there was always something else to do.

Now, I have time to open this department and, to add a point, I won’t list here the other departments I run because they are able to stand on their own.

This time, I report on words used by Donald Trump that have different meanings than what the dictionary says is the case.

I write about this with due credit to Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post writer who produces the acclaimed “Fact Checker” column.

Here is how he started his most recent column, the one about Trump words:

“Trump is sweeping through the U.S. government, terminating dozens of programs, laying off tens of thousands of workers, even dismantling entire agencies.  At the same time, the White House has adopted a unique lexicon to describe its agenda — in some cases, using words that in ordinary contexts mean the opposite.”

He then provided a guide to the verbiage, drawn from remarks made by Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Transparency:  Traditionally, transparency in the federal government has meant access to data, federal contracts and government reports, even if they shed light on problems.

But Trump has fired nearly a score of inspectors general (IG), who root out fraud and malfeasance in federal agencies.  Eight have filed suit, saying they were fired illegally.  One IG, for the U.S. Agency for International Development, was booted as soon as he issued a critical report on the aid stoppage ordered by the president.

When reports emerged that a State Department website revealed that Tesla, a company owned by billionaire Elon Musk, Trump’s biggest financial backer, received a $400 million contract, the contract document was scrubbed to remove any reference to Tesla.

Meanwhile, the Musk-led U.S. DOGE Service — which is targeting agencies for contract terminations and personnel cuts — operates in secret and the people on his team have not been revealed, though reporters have figured out the identity of some key players.

But the White House says the administration is transparent because Trump often answers questions from reporters, even if, as usual, honesty is not involved.

Free speech:  The First Amendment enshrines a right to free speech — the right to articulate opinions and ideas without interference, retaliation or punishment from the government.  There’s always been some tension in this notion — does this give someone the right to yell “fire” in a crowded theater when there is no fire?

Conservatives objected to social media platforms such as Twitter (before Musk bought it and turned it into X) and Facebook downgrading or removing posts that contained inaccurate or false information, especially during the covid pandemic.  Trump himself was removed from many platforms after he instigated a riot at the U.S. Capitol to prevent the certification of Biden’s victory in 2020.  But he’s been re-instated and many social media companies have scaled back efforts to police false information circulating on their platforms.

:I stopped government censorship once and for all and we brought back free speech to America,” Trump told House GOP members after taking office.

But the White House in recent days has barred Associated Press reporters from news events because the agency still refers to the Gulf of Mexico, the internationally recognized name for the body of water that has been in use since the mid-17th century.

Fraud and abuse:  Fraud generally means deception, often criminal, in pursuit of financial and personal gain.  But Trump has upended that definition — broadening it to include programs and policies he disagrees with — while at the same time making it harder to detect fraud.

“We’re finding tremendous fraud and tremendous abuse,” Trump said as Musk stood by his side in Oval Office.  But a Fact Checker accounting of the announcements from DOGE, or Department of Government Efficiency, of terminated programs found that most concern diversity, transgender, and climate change programs.

Deficit:  In Washington, deficit usually means the federal budget deficit.  But for Trump, the deficit that matters:  The trade deficit.  He imposed 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum, threatened tariffs against Canada and Mexico, and proposed to upend the current trading system by imposing reciprocal tariffs.

“We have a tremendous deficit with Mexico,” Trump said last week.  “We have a tremendous deficit with Canada.  We have a tremendous deficit with Europe, the E.U., with China, I don’t even want to tell you what Biden allowed to happen with China.”

Actually, under Biden, the trade deficit with China fell to its lowest level in 10 years, according to the Census Bureau.

So, there you have it.  A new lexicon from Trump who apparently doesn’t refer to the dictionary to understand the meaning of words.

He just talks.

When he speaks, it is as if whatever happens to cross his mind ends up coming out of his mouth.

Both sides of his mouth, with no care for accuracy or context.