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.

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.

Whenever a group of people from around the world lead music at our church in Salem, Oregon, I come away believing I just had a glimpse of what heaven will be like.

Because, when those of us who are Christians get to heaven, we will see ALL kinds of people who have chosen to place their trust in God – white people, black people, brown people – all kinds of people where color of skin doesn’t matter.  Nor does relative stations in like.

What matters is accepting Christ!

Yesterday, when my wife and I arrived at church, we were thrilled to see that music would be led by about 30 people from Africa who now call Salem home.

They were dressed in native garb, with beautiful colors standing out on the stage.

Multiple languages prevailed.

The group sang in English, Farsi, French, Spanish, Swahili and others.  It didn’t matter for us, English speakers, because it was great to hear praises to God in all the languages.

In response, I point to a number of verses in the Bible that illustrate that being Christian isn’t one kind of person; it is all persons who accept Christ.  So, the word diversity applies.

• Revelation 7:9:  The writer, John, sees a huge crowd that no one can count.  They come from every nation, tribe, people, and language.  They stand before the throne and before Jesus.
• Revelation 5:9:  People sing a new song to Jesus who accepts people from every tribe, language, people, and nation.
• Galatians 3:28:  The writer, Paul, explains that spiritual unity in Christ erases earthly divisions.  There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, because all are one in Christ.
• Matthew 8:11:  Jesus says that many will come from east and west.  They will sit down at the feast in the kingdom of heaven with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Good verses all!

So it was that, yesterday, we experienced a glimpse of what heaven will be like – heaven which is open to ALL.

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.

In recent years, I have come to enjoy reading Atlantic Magazine for the quality of its journalism.

So, it is no surprise that, again recently, writers there produced another solid article that appeared under this headline:  “The Once-Shameless President Is Deeply Embarrassed.”

A piece by writer Jonathan Lemire began this way:

“As Donald Trump faces one humiliation after another, he is attacking those he blames.

“One of Trump’s superpowers is his shamelessness.  Most of the time, he demonstrates a singular ability to shrug off — or flat-out lie about — scandals or missteps that would have caused another politician’s career to self-immolate.

• “Get caught on an Access Hollywood video boasting about abusing women?  That’s just locker-room talk!
• “Grow insecure about crowd size? The photo must be doctored!
• “Mistakenly suggest that Alabama was in the path of a hurricane? Someone get a Sharpie and a map!

 “Trump has long been able to shrug off a bad headline and move on to the next news cycle, counting on his base to swallow his claims and never waver in their support.”

The Atlantic suggests that Trump’s shamelessness may be facing a “undeniably bad spot.”  His poll numbers have tumbled, and “Republicans are fearful that they will lose at least one chamber of Congress this November.”

As for Trump, of course, he just moves on.

He is not like any other political figure.  He appears to like controversy, for it enables him to function like the narcissist he is, which is that everything revolves around him, so he says, believe me, no matter facts or realities.

I wish his low standing in public opinion polls would begin to take an effect on him, but I know I’ll be disappointed.

Regarding The Atlantic, it gained fame a year or so ago when its editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, was added to a government national security phone call to discuss U.S. war powers.  He couldn’t believe it and most other observers couldn’t either.

A top journalist on the left was told about war plans!  Incredible.

Abiding by various national security concerns, Goldberg wrote effectively about what was an incredible beach, soon to be called “Signalgate.”

But it was just another example among many about how Trump and his sycophants have made a shambles of federal administration, often by not appearing to care if U.S. citizens suffer, either those in the military or those who are immigrants.

For me, a bottom-line question is whether we can survive almost two more years of Trump’s shameless behavior.

As I reach the end of this blog, I just thought of another shameless action by Trump, which, for me, still ranks as one of his worst actions since he has been in office.  I cannot believe Trump criticized the late Senator John McCain as being a coward because he was captured during the Vietnam War.

“I like people who weren’t captured,” Trump said.

How could such an idea even cross Trump’s mind or found its way out of his mouth?

McCain was a true national hero.

Oh yeah, Trump never served in the military – or in any other way.

Shameless!

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.

If my wife and I would have known we would be stuck on a bus for our trip to Eastern Europe on a bus for the length of the Danube River from Bucharest to Budapest, we would have stayed home.

But that’s what experienced – what I now call a “bus cruise,” not a “river cruise.”  We had planned on the latter.

Before we left Salem, Oregon, about 10 days ago, we knew that, on the first day of our trip, we would be relegated – yes, the word is “relegated” – to a bus.  But, then, we thought we would transfer to our ship, one of Viking’s newest river ships, The Uller.

Two reasons for our relegation:

• First, the river was low, almost as low as it has ever been in history as Eastern Europe is grappling with what been described as an “energy crisis, so serious that there is not enough water to cool down nuclear reactors so they can operate normally.

• Second, our ship ran aground the day we were supposed to board, so the plan “ran aground,” too.

So, the challenge was to make a bad situation better – and, with leadership from my tour guide, my wife, we managed to do that.

First, a lowlight.

We had to travel from Bulgaria through checkpoints to get into and out of Serbia.  It was a challenge.  We had to traverse only about 500 yards to get through the checkpoints, but it took five hours to do so.  Yes, five hours!

One reason is that Serbia is not part of the European Union, so border crossings are a huge challenge for us and everyone else.

Second, on to three highlights.

• In Bulgrade, Bulgaria, our small tour group of six was treated to a wine tasting and food in a deep cave.  Our host did a great job of describing each of six wines – and he kept pouring our glasses higher and higher.  No problem, someone else was driving to get back to our hotel.

• In Budapest, Hungary, on the night before we left to head home, we got an Uber ride to a small church where we listened with rapt attention to a strong orchestra which played for us for more than hours.  It was up close and personal.  I was tempted to use my standard golf phrase in response – they “played well.”

• In Bucharest, Romania, early on our trip, we were treated to a lecture by one of citizens who lead a revolt in 1989 that got rid of Communism and turned Romania into basically a Capitalist system where people get to act, think, and speak without fear of reprisal.

Our speaker, now about 40 years old, was one of the leaders of the revolt at age 15, even as he watched some of those who were with him only a few yards away be shot to death by the Communists.  By the photos we saw, the communists even turned tanks on those who revolted, though, in the end, those who revolted won and the communist leader was executed along with his wife.

So, the leader’s message for us was this:  Treasure your liberty because you don’t know long it will last.  Good point.

As I write this, it’s good to back home in America where we currently enjoy liberty.

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.

If you had told me several weeks ago that my wife and I would be on a bus tour down the Danube from Bucharest to Budapest, I would have opted to stay home.

But that’s what happened.  We went on a “bus cruise.”  Not a “river cruise.”

A day or so before we left our home in Salem, Oregon, we were told by our cruise company, Viking, that water in the Danube was low, which meant our first day would be by bus.  But, then, we would get on the ship.  At least that’s what we thought.

No.

The day we arrived in Bucharest, we were told the entire trip would be by bus.

So, on to the headline on this blog – Making the Best of a Bad Situation.  That’s what we did.

Below is a summary of a couple highlights to illustrate our approach, though, I add, quickly, that the leader of our enterprise to find something good out of something bad is my wife, Nancy, who also is my tour guide on international travel.

Without her, I’d be lost.

First, I cannot help myself, so I’ll cite a bad situation.  It involves the country of Serbia, which is not part of the European Union.  So, when we came to the border to get into or out of Serbia, it took us, on our bus, about five hours to make the transit over what must have been about 500 yards – yes, five hours!

No reason was given for the long delay.  Just a waste of time.

But, on to the highlights.

FIRST HIGHLIGHT:  In Belgrade, on a private tour, our guide took us and two other couples to a cave where we had a feast of wine and food.  Everything was very good.  Not everyone gets to do this and it was an evening to remember.  First, we had to walk down a dark path to get to the station for our wine and food, a path that, without phone flashlights, would have been difficult to navigate.  

The wine – we had at least six tastes – was great.  So was the food paired with the wine.  Lucky we didn’t have to drive back to our hotel.

ANOTHER HIGHLIGHT:  I covered this in a previous blog, but just a note here to say that it was stirring to hear how residents of Bucharest, Romania rose up to get rid of communism about 40 years ago.  Selfish communist rulers had left residents high and dry. 

Literally.  Little food.  Little heat.  Little water. 

In communism, the saying from the government was this:  “What’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is mine, too.”

The residents who risked their lives to get rid of the tyrants deserve lasting praise.

AND, A THIRD HIGHLIGHT:  In Budapest, we attended a concert at St. Michael’s Church given by a seven-member string orchestra.  Up close and personal, it was impressive to see the supreme talent by all those who played for an hour before a crowd in a small church.  

I won’t list all the musical selections the orchestra played, but it was clearly a highlight for us as we listened with amazement and appreciation.

So, this bottom-line point:  It is possible to make the best of a bad situation if you set your mind to it.  Again, my wife led this successful effort.

Even as I write this, we are planning our trip home and it will be good to get to the United States and our home in Salem, Oregon.  There, as we learned in the last 10 days in Europe, we need to treasure our freedoms because we there is no guarantee how long they will last, even in America.

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 words fly off the tongue without much meaning many times.

Communism and capitalism.

What do that they mean?

First, here is the dictionary definition of the terms:

• Communism is a political and economic system that aims to build a classless society with no private property, featuring common ownership of the means of production.  Key concepts include public property, economic equality, and the removal of social classes.

• Capitalism is an economic system defined by private ownership, market competition, and the profit motive.  In this system, individuals and private companies own the tools, factories, and resources used to make goods, and they decide prices and investments based on free market demand.

To this, I should add socialism.

• Socialism is an economic and political system featuring public or collective ownership of the means of production, a focus on reducing economic inequality, and the distribution of resources based on human need rather than private profit.

Why do I report these definitions?

Simple.  I saw the definitions up close and personal on our trip to Eastern Europe this week.

On one hand, our guide on a tour in Balgrade, Serbia appeared to long for the days of Josip Broz Tito’s Yugoslavia (1945–1980) who was defined by political independence from the Soviet bloc, workers’ self-management, and a multi-ethnic federal system.

So, it was that she longed for a version of communism that strayed far from the Soviet’s definition of the term.  She liked the fact that, if persons worked, they were given housing and other benefits. But she did not have a good answer for what happened to person who, for some reason, were not able to work.

Here is the way my wife put it in a text to our kids:

“Here in Belgrade, Serbia, we ended up in the most bizarre conversation with our guide who grew up in communist former Yugoslavia and our fellow travelers, two couples from United States. 

“Our guide was totally brainwashed about how good communism was.  For some unknown reason, she brought up (after a lot of wine!) how she could not see how anyone could accept into our families the unknown genetics of adoption.

“You would have been so proud of our fellow travelers, who passionately love their adopted daughter, and of us!

“Under atheist communism, seeing the individual as devoid of responsibility to anyone greater than ones self, why reach out with love for others?  We and our fellow travelers talked about our cherished adoptees and what you mean to us!  

“Our lives would have been so depleted without expanding our love beyond genetics!  

“It was a dramatic contrast for our small group!  Do we live just for us?  Is there something, “Someone” greater than us?  Are we here for greater purposes than our own?  With a fair amount of wine inside me, I told our guide she had bought into a whole lot of crap and missed the whole reason for living!  And I truly mean that!

“How sad our lives would be without you, Drewsie!  And we are so, so glad you are part of our family!  Living to bless others ends up blessing all of us.  Hallelujah!”

Great point!

On another side, I thought of the contrast between what we heard in Serbia and the history of what we saw in Bucharest.  There, real people – including Egmont Pecasu, whom we saw up close and personal – rose up as a group in 1989 to risk their lives to overthrow a Communist regime that lived by this motto:  “What’s mine is mine what’s yours is mine.”

So, I, the state, take it and you suffer.

Residents of Romania, including those in Bucharest, rose up to throw off Communism under gunfire, thus giving themselves food, water. and a place of live, all of which has been taken from them by the communists.

So, with all due respect to our tour guide here in Belgrade, I choose the ability to think, act and decide on my own without the repression of a government that believes it knows best, even if, in the old Yugoslavia, Tito practiced government control with, apparently, a good heart. 

Even as he deal with the West and the East.  Which may be why he was able to last in power for more than 40 years.

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.

I wrote yesterday that I admired a 15-year-old boy and others who were credited with leading a revolt 40 years ago of the people in Romania who wanted to get rid of communism.

The revolt succeeded in 1989 and Romania is still free today.

My wife and I have been in Romania where we supposed to start a river cruise on the Danube, but that got derailed when the water was too low to allow navigation.  So, we are reduced to a “bus cruise” down to Budapest.

My blog addendum is this – and, for what it’s worth, I feel better providing it:

In my 40 years in politics in Oregon, I never was in favor of protests as a way to achieve a public policy objective.  The better approach, I contended, was to promote the to engagement of all sides to find what I like to call “the smart middle ground.”

Protests only prolonged the time until a solution.

Thus, I had mixed emotions when I chose to applaud the Romanian revolt in 1989

Upon reflection, however, it is stupid to compare protests in the legislative process in Oregon – I was a lobbyist there for about 40 years – to a revolt in Romania to throw out communists.  In the latter, literally lives hung in the balance.

Standing figuratively on my feet, I applaud those who risked their lives to create democracy in Romania – democracy that allows them to think and act for themselves.  In communism, the people were dependent on the “state” and, in the communist rule in Romania, the people were left behind.

In fact, they had little food or heat in the tough winter.  Many of them died because the dictator and his allies took care of themselves, not the people.

So, my applause for those who destroyed communism continues to this day.