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.

My wife and I just got back to Oregon after what turned out to be a “bus cruise” – not a river cruise – along the Danube River in Eastern Europe.

In any endeavor such as this, it can come across as arbitrary to list just one highlight – yes one.  But, after a few days of reflection, I do so because the one highlight conjures up such strong memories for me.

I wrote about this in an earlier blog — here are a few sentences of that piece:

“If a country was ruled by Communism, who would lead an effort to rid the country of that regime and restore democracy”

“Well, in Romania, it was a 15-year-old youth who now, many years later, still lives in Romania’s largest city, Bucharest, and remembers, as if it was yesterday, the overthrow of a hated communist regime.”

I call this a “profile in courage.”

A man named Egmont Pușcașu was the protest leader who still lives in Bucharest now, many years after the fall of communism where he played a major role.

In 1989, photos show him at the forefront of the protest as he chanted for the fall of a dictator who had left him and others in Romania adrift, without adequate water, food or heat as the regime exported everything with no care for citizens.

In the photo, at 15 years-of-age, Puscasu is dressed entirely in black, standing on top of a vehicle and screaming out to protest against the regime.  Just as he did that, a friend, standing just next to him, was shot and killed.  Hundreds of others died as communist leaders called in tanks and guns to deflect the protestors.

Puscasu was wounded, but he was able to carry on.

As for today, so many years later, Puscasu works for Viking Cruises, the proprietor of our cruise ship – or, should I say, the renter of the buses that took us from Bucharest to Budapest. 

Puscasu thought about entering politics and did for a few years, driven by his fame, but found out soon, he told me, that politics didn’t suit him and he could do more in private life.

So, he spoke to us and many others in person, recounting, not only his role, but all the many other roles that turned Romania toward democracy and away from communism.

He told incredible stories of bravery and tragedy, standing as he spoke only steps from the site where communism met its end in Romania.

Beyond stories, Puscasu appealed to everyone to be thankful for liberty, if, in fact, they live in liberty as citizens of Romania now do, and as we do in America.

He said: 

“Don’t lost sight of the fact that liberty could disappear quickly if you don’t support it.  Communism lost in Romania because its leaders took everything from the people.  Now, in a democracy, we have the right to think, speak, and to advocate.  If you live in a democracy, hold tight to that liberty.”

Now back in the U.S., my wife and I remember this “profile in courage” and want to live up to that goal in our lives.