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.

On occasion, I have written about Donald Trump, expressing my disgust for the way he has “served” as president – and I put the word “served” in quotes because there is no question but that Trust has served only himself, not America.

But, rather than writing more myself this morning, I choose to quote several columnists courageous enough in their convictions to oppose Trump.  So, consider:

From Thomas Friedman in the New York Times:  I have never trafficked in the conspiracy theories about Donald Trump and Russia.  I never thought that he was a Russian asset or that Vladimir Putin had some financial leverage on him or sex tapes to blackmail him with.  I have always believed it was much worse:  That Trump, in his heart and soul, simply does not share the values of every other American president since World War II when it comes to what America’s role in the world should be and must be.

I have always believed that Trump has an utterly warped value set that is not grounded in any of our founding documents, but simply favors any leader who is strong, no matter what he does with that strength; any leader who is rich and can thus enrich Trump, no matter what the leader does with that money or how he got it; and any leader who will flatter him, no matter how obviously phony that flattery is.

From Thomas Edsall in the New York Times:  Peering into the Trump mind-set — the logic underpinning his priorities, his morality, his decision making — is like opening a garbage pail left out for days during a summer heat wave.

The dominant theme is governing by narcissism:  Make Trump Great Again.

President Trump can be persuaded with money, the purchase of his crypto coins, contributions and sometimes with plain old obsequious flattery.

The two shining lights that guide his notion of morality are his self-interest and the enhancement of his self-image, both of which crowd out consideration of the national interest and the public welfare.

Peter Wehner in the Washington Post:  The contrast could hardly have been greater.

During a memorial service for Charlie Kirk, held in a stadium filled with nearly 100,000 people, Erika Kirk, the wife of the slain right-wing activist, expressed both her profound love for her husband and the profound grief brought on by his death. It was the speech of a woman deeply influenced by her Christian faith.  And it included remarkable words, which she struggled to say but was still able to articulate.

“My husband, Charlie, he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life,” Kirk said. “That young man.  That young man. On the cross, our Savior said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.’ That man—that young man—I forgive him.  I forgive him because it was what Christ did.  And it’s what Charlie would do.  The answer to hate is not hate.  The answer we know from the Gospel is love and always love.  Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”

The audience rose to its feet to applaud in support of the grieving widow. But there was another speaker yet to come.

Trump, following Erika Kirk, said Charlie was “a missionary with a noble spirit and a great, great purpose.  He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them.”

But then the president, diverting from his script, couldn’t resist voicing his dissent.  “That’s where I disagreed with Charlie,” Trump said.  “I hate my opponent.  And I don’t want the best for them.”  He added, “I’m sorry, Erika.”

From David Kirkpatrick in the New Yorker:   Many payments now flowing to Trump, his wife, and his children and their spouses would be unimaginable without his presidencies:  A two-billion-dollar investment from a fund controlled by the Saudi crown prince; a luxury jet from the Emir of Qatar; profits from at least five different ventures peddling crypto; fees from an exclusive club stocked with Cabinet officials and named Executive Branch.

Fred Wertheimer, the dean of ethics-reform advocates, told me that, “when it comes to using his public office to amass personal profits, Trump is a unicorn — no one else even comes close.”  Yet, the public has largely shrugged.

In a recent article for the Times, Peter Baker, a White House correspondent, wrote that the Trumps “have done more to monetize the presidency than anyone who has ever occupied the White House.”  But Baker noted that the brazenness of the Trump family’s “moneymaking schemes” appears to have made such transactions seem almost normal.

From David Brooks in the NY Times:  We are in the middle of at least four unravelings: The unraveling of the postwar international order.  The unraveling of domestic tranquility wherever Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents bring down their jackboots.  The further unraveling of the democratic order, with attacks on Fed independence and — excuse the pun — trumped-up prosecutions of political opponents.  Finally, the unraveling of Trump’s mind.

But I do know that events are being propelled by one man’s damaged psyche.  History does not record many cases in which a power-mad leader careening toward tyranny suddenly regained his senses and became more moderate.  On the contrary, the normal course of the disease is toward ever-accelerating deterioration and debauchery.

And a conclusion from me:  Enough about Trump, at least for now.  Kudos to all the commentators for their strong, accurate and thought-provoking words.