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.

Another way to put it for this blog:

Trump says, “I am always innocent.”

In the current controversy, which, in shorthand, I am labeling “chat-gate,” Trump should have apologized for the stupid conduct of those who worked for him, fired a couple of them – including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth – and then tried to move on.

Chat-gate was not just stupid.  It was conduct risking American lives.  And, yesterday, several military pilots – they declined for their names to be used, fearing reprisals from Trump – said chat-gate risked their lives.

But no.

Trump claims innocence which anyone with half a brain could see was a terrible risk to the nation’s security.

He always practices the “blame game,” which comes very naturally to him. 
For his own misdeeds, as well as those of his cronies.

So, why do I write about this again?  Well, first, I don’t believe adding my single voice will change the direction.  But, I hope chat-gate does not simply go away because Trump and company ignore it – and, for me, I won’t let it go away.

In the Wall Street Journal this morning columnist Peggy Noonan agrees:   “The Signal mess is a real mess, not something that will fade away quickly, because it’s one of those scandals that give the world a picture of a new administration.”

In the New York Times, Jill Filipovic, a journalist, lawyer and author, put it this way:

“…The mother lode of hypocrisy.  After the Trump administration denied that any classified material was shared in the group chat, The Atlantic published the conversation nearly in full, redacting only the name of a C.I.A. employee.  If the story was bad before, it’s now worse.  And one thing is clear:  In Trumpworld, the rules often — maddeningly — seem to apply only to other people.”

As I said, I, for one, hope this controversy persists.

Why?  Too much is at stake for it to be dropped, as in:

• Military officials who are put in harms way by the goofballs running the nation’s national security and military systems, including going to war.
• Other countries are not be able to rely on U.S. conduct with shenanigans such as this, for fear their own secrets will be shared with the world.
• The Department of Defense, a critical federal agency, will not be well run until the TV host Hegseth heads out the door.

In today’s Washington Post, columnist Dana Milbank says this:

“We have seen entirely too much cowering and capitulation in the face of Trump’s threats:  By the Paul Weiss law firm and Columbia University, by Meta and much of Silicon Valley, by Big Pharma and other industries, by mostly supine congressional Republicans, by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (in the eyes of many on the left), and by media outlets.

“But in a crisis, courage can be found in unexpected places.  This is why it’s heartening to see some on the right (beyond the usual never-Trumpers) beginning to speak out about Trump’s overreach.  We might be seeing the first cracks in MAGA unity, which Trump has maintained by threats and fear.”

I hope Milbank is right, though hope is all most of us have in the face of Trump.