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 question in this blog headline crossed my mind as I continued to think about Donald Trump, the worst president in history.

If we lived for 20 or 30 more years, what would we or historians say about Trump and the damage his self-centered approach has done to this country, the United States of America?  My bias shows because I use the word “damage.”

For a moment, consider the last “official’ world war – World War II – as we look back at the devastation produced around the world.

Here is what Mr. Google says about its cost, not just in money, but in other factors, as we consider this sad chapter in the world’s history.

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“World War II was the most destructive conflict in human history, resulting in an estimated 70 to 85 million fatalities and widespread global devastation.

Human Loss and Atrocities

• Massive Casualties:  Between 70 million and 85 million people died, with civilians accounting for the vast majority of the victims.
• The Holocaust:  Nazi Germany murdered six million Jews and millions of others — including Romani people, individuals with disabilities, Soviet prisoners of war, and political dissidents — in concentration and death camps.
• Refugee Crisis:  Tens of millions of people were left homeless, displaced, or orphaned, wandering across ravaged borders unable to return home.

Physical and Economic Destruction

• Flattened Cities:  Aerial bombing, artillery, and ground combat reduced major cities, factories, bridges, and rail networks across Europe and Asia to rubble.
• Severe Shortages:  Food, fuel, and basic consumer goods remained scarce for years after the war ended, leading to widespread undernourishment and economic hardship.
• National Debt:  Governments accrued massive public debt to finance the war effort and subsequent reconstruction.

Geopolitical Aftermath

• Rise of Superpowers:  The devastation of European powers and Japan left the United States and the Soviet Union as the world’s dominant military superpowers.
• The Cold War:  Tensions between Western democracies and the Soviet bloc created an era of geopolitical standoff and the division of Europe via the Iron Curtain.
• Fall of Empires:  European colonial empires weakened, accelerating global decolonization and the birth of new independent nations.
• New International Order: Nations established the United Nations to foster international cooperation and prevent future global conflicts.

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Reflecting on these tragedies for a moment will suggest what could be said 20 or 30 years from now as historians discuss the “Trump era,” if that’s what it can or should be called.

• Human loss:  What Trump has done to bar immigrants from this country or deport them occurs without regard to the value they could provide to this country or simply the value they carry as members of the human race.

Tens of millions of people have been left homeless, displaced, or orphaned, unable to return home.  And, under Trump, this includes children who have been mercilessly separated from their parents, all in the name of this tycoons’ political agenda.

Beyond immigration – where Trump simply shows that he hates people –columnist Thomas Edsall wrote this in the New York Times last year:

“Using a study from The Lancet modeling the fatal fallout of slashing U.S.A.I.D. budgets, Edsall warned that gutting international aid programs could cause upwards of 14 million preventable deaths by 2030, heavily impacting low-income countries that feed global migration pipelines.”

• National debt:  Under Trump, there is little surprise to note that U.S. gross national debt recently surpassed $40 trillion for the first time, all driven by Trump priorities that produce persistent budget deficits, tax cuts, and rising interest payments.

• New world order:  That’s what Trump wants as he curries favor from dictators around the world, such as Kim Jong Un in North Korea, Xi Jinping in China, and Vladimir Putin in Russia.  Trump wants America to be like these countries where there is one supreme leader who controls everything…that’s Trump.

And, Trump has told our neighbor, Canada, to go to _____.

For one thing, in 20 or 30 years, I won’t be around to have my own thoughts or read what historians write.  But I can imagine what they will say about Trump’s America, if it still exists as a free country.  They will report damage from which we may never recover.

Think about this, but then, with me, move on to something positive, if you can find it.