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.

The Department of Bits and Pieces is now open again after being closed for a few months.

It is one of five departments I run with a free hand to manage as I see fit.  And, given the name, there is no symmetry between and among items I include, as the following will verify.

REGARDING DONALD TRUMP’S DEPRAVITY:  New York Times writer Frank Bruni has a good way of responding to depravity from the one, Trump, who thinks he is, not just president of the United States, but also a god.

Here is what Bruni wrote:

“I think it’s a mistake to become too practiced at shrugging off his depravity — which is a non-hysterical, wholly accurate word for it.

“I agree that focusing exclusively or excessively on it and hyperventilating is a waste of good breath, but his foul tirades demean the presidency, demean the country — demean every one of us — and it’s important that we never forget that.

“We can’t let those tirades become the new idiom for political discourse; we can’t pretend they haven’t diminished our standing in the world.

“That’s just ‘Trump being Trump’ is an inadequate response when, for example, he posts a video of himself as a pilot dumping torrents of excrement on protesters.”

Or, I add, when he pretends to be Jesus Christ as he pretends to heal the sick.

He isn’t Christ.  And he doesn’t heal.

It’s past time for all of us, as Americans, to oppose Trump’s depravity.

GOLF DECORUM UNDER SEIGE:  This blog headline originally appeared in Global Golf Post and I use it because, based on several recent events, it is accurate.  Two of these events.

• Robert McIntyre, the golfer from Scotland, hated his play at The Masters so he gave the finger to one of the ponds on the course and shouted swear words so loud anyone could hear.

• Sergia Garcia continued his expressions of bad behavior on a golf course, this time at The Masters.  Hating his drive on one hole, he smashed his driver on the turf, damaging it so a maintenance crew had come out to fix it.  Then, he hit his driver on a waste box near the tee so hard that the driver head flew off.  As I have said before, he should be banned from top tournaments, including the Masters.

TIME IN THE CALIFORNIA DESERT IS NEARING THE END FOR MY WIFE AND ME:  We have been fortunate for several years now to spend our winters in La Quinta, California, though Salem, Oregon remains our number one home.

We head back 1,000 miles north starting mid-next week, looking back fondly on our time here.  Which for me, means golf most days of the week. 

For wife, Nancy, it means long walks with our dog, Callaway, plus a few art classes.

Over our eight winters here, we have made good friends.  All of us will be looking forward to next year.