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 have written many times in the past about my negative views of the person in the Oval Office, Donald Trump, who acts like he is a president of the United States of America.

I use the word “acting” intentionally because that’s what Trump does – he acts.

But, for today, I post three new views of Trump because they illustrate, at least as well as I do, if not better, what a stupid scofflaw Trump is.

FROM ACTOR HARRISON FORD:  He said Trump “doesn’t have any policies, he has whims.”  Then, he went further.  “It’s unbelievable,” Ford said.  “I don’t know of a greater criminal in history.”

Comment:  Good point, Mr. Ford.  I also wonder WHY Trump does stuff, with no thought for the consequences of his actions or inactions.  Well, like Mr. Ford says, Trump has whims – which I define that if something happens to cross his mind, then emerges out his mouth.

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES:  “When Donald Trump looks at a map, he doesn’t see nations.  He sees property.  All those pretty colors do not represent actual places filled with human beings who have distinct cultures, languages, and histories.  The planet, to Trump, is a big board game, like Risk or Monopoly.

“Greenland isn’t a real location — it’s a valuable chunk of territory nestled between Boardwalk and Park Place.  The Strait of Hormuz isn’t an international waterway — it’s a thing to control somewhere between Kamchatka and East Africa.

“This inability to grasp the existence of independent nations drives the president to fury when countries and their governments refuse to play along with his delusions.  Trump cannot understand why Iran won’t bend to his will, why NATO won’t instantly obey his orders, why South Korea and Japan won’t just write checks or provide troops on demand.

“The only people Trump seems to respect are the autocrats in Beijing and Moscow and Pyongyang who, like him, view the world as a brutal competition for power and territory.

“Now, Trump has declared economic war on Canada, a nation that has vexed him for years. Even by the standards of Trump’s many fixations, his obsession with Canada has become not only weird but truly destructive. He has opened a giant political and economic rift with one of America’s biggest trading partners, a sister nation, and an ally in the common defense of North America and Europe.

Comment:  Excellent analysis, NY Times editors.  The best line is near the top:  “When Donald Trump looks at a map, he doesn’t see nations.  He sees property.”   

FROM THE WASHINGTON POST:  “No one is falling for Trump’s budget-busting ‘dividend’ check gimmick

“The president’s message at the Republican mid-term convention underscores why so many Americans who care about fiscal sanity feel politically homeless.

“Trump’s proposal to pay every adult citizen $5,000 if the GOP holds the House and Senate this fall is a desperate gimmick that betrays a profound lack of seriousness about the looming fiscal crisis.  

“This would cost an estimated $1.2 trillion next year, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.  The money would need to be borrowed on top of the $40 trillion national debt — and paid back with interest.”

Comment:  Yeah, Trump doesn’t worry about who is paying the bill for his largesse.  It’s just not him.

So, in conclusion, these comments about Trump indicate all anyone needs to know about this make-believe president.  My only addition is to ask whether we will be able to survive two more years of this surfeit.