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 he ran for president, Trump said he wanted to get even with those who he felt had opposed him.

That includes individuals, organizations, and, it is now clear, certain law firms.

So, Trump’s presidency is based on retaliation.

That’s a sad commentary on any country, especially the United States.  But, then, again, it is exactly the way Trump has operated in private and public life.

J. Michael Luttig, who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush and served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1991 to 2006, wrote about this in a recent New York Times essay that appeared under this headline:  It’s Trump vs. the Courts, and It Won’t End Well for Trump.

Here is how Luttig started his essay:

“Trump has wasted no time in his second term in declaring war on the nation’s federal judiciary, the country’s legal profession and the rule of law.  He has provoked a constitutional crisis with his stunning frontal assault on the third branch of government and the American system of justice.  The casualty could well be the constitutional democracy Americans fought for in the Revolutionary War against the British monarchy 250 years ago.

“Trump has yearned for this war against the federal judiciary and the rule of law since his first term in office.  He promised to exact retribution against America’s justice system for what he has long mistakenly believed is the federal government’s partisan ‘weaponization’ against him.

“It’s no secret that he reserves special fury for the justice system because it oversaw his entirely legitimate prosecution for what the government charged were the crimes of attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election and purloining classified documents from the White House, secreting them at Mar-a-Lago and obstructing the government’s efforts to reclaim them.  He escaped the prosecutions by winning a second term, stopping them in their tracks.”

Luttig assumes that the Supreme Court will corral Trump.  Not clear to me, but I hope Luttig is right.

Beyond the big picture Luttig paints, I list some of the targets of Trump’s retaliation.

LAW FIRMS:  Trump ratcheted up a fight with the legal industry, aiming an executive order at Paul Weiss, one of the country’s top law firms.  That followed previous action against another firm, Perkins Coie.

Perhaps Trump’s gambit worked, at least with Paul Weiss.  The firm settled with Trump instead of facing the prospect of losing millions of dollars of federal money, though its action also sparked criticism from other firms that contended the decision came at the expense of Paul Weiss’ reputation and independence.

THE FORMER PRESIDENT:  Trump hates Joe Biden, if only because Biden beat him five years ago.  So now, as retaliation, Trump takes away Biden’s security clearance, not to mention a host of other actions always blaming Biden, not taking responsibility for his own actions.

JUDGES:  Trump hates those who ruled against him before he was president and, now, hates those who continue to rule against what his “administration” is doing.  (I put “administration” in quotes because it is impossible to suggest that Trump is engaged has any “administrative credentials.”) Now, he ignores legal directives, including as he and his acolytes deport many people over a judge’s directives.  And, of course, Trump now want to impeach that judge.

HIGHER EDUCATION:  Trump appears to hate colleges and universities, especially those who practice the art of educating students.  That includes Columbia University where Trump is trying to take away federal money, though late word is that it appears Columbia may capitulate to Trump.  

The higher ed retaliation also includes the University of Oregon in the state where I live because the university is one of 50 Trump is targeting in what have been called “civil rights investigations.”  Not true.  Trump wouldn’t know civil rights if the subject hit him in the face.

Plus, for irony, look no farther than the old Trump University (also known as the Trump Wealth Institute.)  It was an American company that, under Trump, ran a real estate training program from 2005 to 2010.  It got into trouble because, guess what, it didn’t educate anyone.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY president of Ukraine:  Here is the way the New York Times put it:

“Admirable men control their emotions when the occasion demands self-control.  They keep their promises, even when it’s not in their self-interest to do so.  They stand up for themselves when treated with disrespect, even if they might suffer consequences.  They put their lives and honor on the line to care for those who are weaker and more vulnerable.

“We saw President Zelensky do all of these in the recent contentious White House meeting with Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.  The Ukrainian president is a man of honor.  In contrast, Trump displayed all the vices that traditional masculinity is prone to:  Bullying, childish loss of self-control, a weak reliance on others (Elon Musk’s money, Vance’s co-bullying) to prop themselves up.”

Zelensky won’t bow at the altar of Trump, so Trump retaliates.

MEMBERS OF THE JANUARY 6 COMMITTEE THAT FOUND TRUMP GUILTY OF FOMENTING THE CAPITOL RIOT/  The members of that investigative committee are hitting back at Trump for his threat to nullify the presidential pardons Biden granted as he left office – pardons designed to prevent Trump from going after those committee members.

The members contend that Trump lacks the authority to revoke the preemptive pardons, but also maintain that their probe was open, thorough and unassailable in its conclusion that Trump was the driving force behind the violent rampage at the U.S. Capitol four years ago.

To put it simply, Trump disagrees.  And, he even went to the stupid notion to contend that because Biden used an auto-pen to sign the pardons (no one is sure that he did or didn’t use such a pen), they are not valid.  Except, presidents have used auto-pens for years to sign all sorts of stuff.

So, more fomenting by Trump.  Who knows who will next bear the brunt of his retaliation?  Which is one of the main methods by which he operates as the epitome of the narcissist.