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.

Is Donald Trump like his predecessor, Joe Biden.

No!

But, at least in a couple ways, comparisons could be made, emphasis on the word “could.”

One is sleeping on the job.  In Biden’s case, it was Trump calling him “Sleepy Joe.”  Not sure if Biden really slept.

In Trump’s case, there have been many photos showing him nodding off in important meetings.

In Biden’s case, an accusation.

In Trump’s case, reality.

Another comparison relates to “gaffes” made in office.  Biden made many, winning an unwanted reputation for doing so.  As for Trump, read on.

But, first, what does the word “gaffe” mean anyway?

“A clumsy or embarrassing mistake.  It is often a verbal slip-up or a social blunder made in public or in front of peers.”

Writing in Atlantic Magazine, David Graham described the gaffe tendency for Trump this way:

“Trump deserves plenty of criticism for his serial dishonesty, but on rare occasions when he speaks frankly, that causes problems, too.

“Last week, a reporter asked the president whether the deteriorating economic situation has created any urgency for him to reach a peace deal with Iran.  ‘Not even a little bit,’ he replied.  ‘I don’t think about American’s financial situation.  I don’t think about anybody.’

“Who can doubt that he was being sincere?  Trump has conducted the war as though he is both uninterested in and unaware of the economic effects it is having.  He has reportedly mused about simply withdrawing from the field of battle and leaving the Strait of Hormuz closed, despite the disruption that has caused for global trade.

“He’s previously called talk about affordability a ‘hoax.’  And, with his own bank accounts growing fatter through corruption, he doesn’t feel the pinch of inflation himself.”

Graham, the writer, adds that “the sentiment Trump was apparently trying to convey might be defensible in some cases.  When the nation is at war, a president must at times call the people to make sacrifices in the name of the greater good.

“…the problem is that Trump hasn’t definitively stated that ending Iran’s nuclear program is the goal of the war, nor has he laid out any reasonable path to achieving it.  As a result, the president is making Americans suffer for no clear reason, and he also is suggesting that he doesn’t care about their suffering.”

Other Trump gaffes:

• Over the objection of First Lady Melania Trump, he said the White House was a “shit house” when he arrived.

• Trump used to be celebrated for the creativity of his insults, but last week he kept it simple, snapping at a reporter who asked him about the ballooning cost of his planned Easy Wing ballroom:  “I doubled the size of it, you dumb person.”

• The president also cannot get his story straight on whether he selected or even knows the contractor adding a garish cerulean hue to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

• When a reporter asked the president how he’d respond to Black voters worried the changes to congressional districts would reduce Black representation, he replied, “I think it’s been a wonderful process.”

Graham’s conclusion:

“Will these remarks hurt Trump?  One plausible answer is that they won’t.  He’s been making outrageous statements for years, and it hasn’t slowed down his political career.”

So, to Trump, gaffe on.

Plus, for me, it’s always difficult to know whether Trump is committing another gaffe or just lying or inflating everything to support his own out-sized ego.  He tells so lies it’s hard to describe what he says as anything other than that.