PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This 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 of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, 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.

As we enter a new year, one in which we will be voting for president, I ask, what is the alternative to Donald Trump who stands, for me, as the worst president in U.S. history?\

One problem is that Trump’s excesses are exactly what draws many voters to him. He spreads dissension, then capitalizes on that dissension and Trumpians follow him hook, line and sinker.

In the headline to this blog, I write the word “if” in regard to voting in the 2020 election. But the fact is that I will be voting.

I’m just not sure for whom.

Of one thing, I am sure. My vote will not go to Trump.

He cannot be trusted to put the country’s good ahead of his own. The impeachment process, now grinding forward in Washington, D.C., shows the extreme extent of his misdeeds, though his defenders in the U.S House and Senate continue to sing his praises in an apparent effort to curry political favor from him.

Here is the way Washington Post editorial writers put it in assessing the affirmative House vote on impeachment:

“…it is our view that more than enough proof exists for the House to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, based on his own actions and the testimony of the 17 present and former administration officials who courageously appeared before the House Intelligence Committee.”

Because the U.S. Senate is not likely to convict Trump –- if there even will be a Senate trial as leaders in the House and Senate cannot agree on a process for it, as they have just returned from a Christmas break — the chances are that Trump will be on the ballot in 2020.

We don’t know who the standard bearer will be for Democrats, nor whether any third-party candidate will rise to the occasion, though the latter is not likely.

A new development is roiling the presidential sweepstakes. It is Trump’s decision to take out an Iran military leader who, it is clear, had murdered many Americans over the last years in that war-torn region. Still the take-out decision prompted many to question both the decision and Trump’s ability to manage the inevitable consequences of it.

In the Washington Post this morning, columnist Joe Scarborough contends that no one should count on Trump’s ability because of his “ignorance.” “The danger posed by that ignorance,” Scarborough wrote, “is matched daily by the crises created by Trump’s own erraticism. His performance as commander in chief has been shaped by a collection of scattered grievances, emotional impulses and random tweets. As the Financial Times’ Philip Stephens had said of Trump’s foreign policy, ‘Looking for a framework is like searching for symmetrical patterns in a bowl of spaghetti.’”

So, all things considered, I won’t vote for Trump. If a far left Democrat such as Senators Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren is on the ballot, I won’t vote for that person either.

I might have to throw away my vote, which might end up being the ethical action to take.

While all of this is pending, here are the types of credentials I would look for in a candidate to lead the free world as U.S. president:

• Someone who works to tell the truth, striving for accuracy and context.
• Someone who puts the good of the nation ahead of personal aggrandizement.
• Someone who works to find the smart middle on pressing public policy issues, not just a position that serves his or her base or political party.
• Someone who demonstrates an ability to disagree agreeably.
• Someone who capitalizes on private sector experience for the public sector good.
• Someone who reads and studies to illustrate an intent to grasp history and policy.

Sound like the buffoon in the White House? No.

Sound like the far-left candidates who want to make the U.S. into a government-run enterprise? No.

But this is type of person I would look for vote when the time comes to vote later this year.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This 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 of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, 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.

Duplicity #1 — Senator Lindsay Graham: The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart writes this:

“Senator Lindsey O. Graham is a curious fellow. One year, he’s warning of the dangers that then-candidate Donald Trump posed to the Republican Party. The next, year he’s defending Trump and bragging that I’m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror should articles of impeachment against Trump come to the Senate.

“Or, as Jennifer Rubin (another Post writer) more aptly put it, Graham is in the throes of “boot-licking and willful ignorance of a ‘quid pro quo.’ It’s all so sad and shameful — for him, his party and our nation.”

Comment: To Graham, I say vote your conscience on the Trump impeachment, whatever that is. Reflect on your position and endeavor to employ a conscience, if you have one.

Duplicity #2: Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader: Like Graham, McConnell has tossed his sacred Senate role on impeachment – be an impartial juror – out the window.

He has announced that he will design a Senate impeachment process in complete concert with the White House.

Say what?

However he chooses to vote – no doubt not to convict Trump – he should feel a sense of constitutional obligation to design a fair and equitable process. But he won’t.

This has prompted Post columnist Max Boot to say that “the only principle Republicans have left is partisanship.”

Boot continues:

“… Republicans fervently denounce the mythical Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election and then turn around and argue that President Trump has the right — nay, the obligation — to demand Ukrainian interference in the 2020 election.”

Comment: The farther we go in the post-House impeachment process, the more Trump looks guilty. The New York Times produced a piece of solid journalism a few days ago when it chronicled the time after Trump “withholding aid decision” as all of the White House worked to cover-up Trump’s illegal actions.

Duplicity #3: The way Republicans now handle impeachment: Based on words written by the columnist Boot, the very same Republicans who now accuse Democrats of wanting to impeach Trump from the start were intent on impeaching President Barack Obama from the start.

Further, Republicans now think that compliance with House subpoenas is strictly optional, but they once held Obama’s attorney general, Eric Holder, in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with House subpoenas.

Comment: As the saying goes, “consistency can be the hobgoblin of small minds.” But it also is true that, in politics, your record follows you around. When Democrats or Republicans do one thing one minute and then the reverse the next minute their credibility comes into question unless they appear to have a good reason for the changed view. So far, those who are changing have no good reason…just partisan game-playing.

Duplicity #4: Senator Elizabeth Warren’s toing and froing: It would hard to write about duplicity without citing Warren. She rose to new heights – depths? – recently when she went after another candidate, Pete Buttigieg, for accepting political contributions from wealthy donors.

Well, it was exactly what she has done and continues to do. Buttigieg called her out effectively for her duplicity.

Comment: I would tell Warren to focus on issues – issues that matter to regular Americans – rather than to engage in such obvious duplicity.

My conclusion to all this is that consistency matters. If it cannot be maintained, then those who believe they must change should reckon with the need to provide a solid rationale for the change.

And, duplicity is not a Republican or Democrat issue.  It goes both ways.  Those who commit duplicity deserve to explain why.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This 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 of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, 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.

While the political world, if not the entire world, is focusing on the risks and rewards of U.S. action to take out, by drone attack, a terrorist in Iran, perhaps provoking a wider war there, I focus again today on health care policy.

If you read the Wall Street Journal over the last few days, it is possible to conclude that health care has returned to being a major issue for candidates running for president or for officials serving in Congress.

With impeachment, health care issues were relegated to the sidelines for several weeks.

Health care was at or near the top eAlhHHa few weeks ago when Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren made headlines, not always positive ones for her, by releasing a plan showing how she would fund Medicare for All. The numbers didn’t stack up under scrutiny.

As has been the case in the past, my view – as I labor under a mistaken notion that my views matter at all — is that the typical health care debates suffer from a critical flaw. The flaw is opposition to what should be key tenet of any health care system – requiring buying health insurance “to make sure everyone is in the insurance pool.”

Getting everyone in the pool (including government programs to help those who don’t have enough money to buy coverage) is the only way to spread the risk – and, along the way, have at least a chance to reduce costs.

Without a mandate, those who happen to have insurance will pay huge sums for those who don’t.

In the past, I have used a comparison to automobile insurance – if you drive, you are required to provide insurance and, if you don’t, you pay a penalty.

Why not same for health insurance, as in – if you live, you have to have insurance coverage and, if you don’t, you pay a penalty.

Of course, my proposition for a “mandate” doesn’t go down well along the political trail. After all, it is another government mandate, which is enough to quell talk of it, almost regardless of where you fall on the spectrum.

Still, Bobby Jindal, the former Louisiana governor and presidential aspirant several years ago, showed up this week with a piece in the Wall Street Journal under the headline – “How the GOP Can Win on Health Care.”

His points, however, don’t just apply to Republicans; they work for anyone interested in making progress on the issue.

Here is a summary of Jindal’s prescriptions:

• Democrat presidential candidates are repeating one of President Barack Obama’s worst mistakes, one that arguably cost Democrats the 2010 midterms. Rather than focusing on bringing down medical costs — which are ever on the rise — Democrats are pushing policies that primarily aim to expand coverage and shift costs to taxpayers.
• As Obama did, the Democrat presidential hopefuls are pushing massive health-care overhauls, but paying only lip service to cutting costs. It’s now evident that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) did nothing to bend the price curve down, as Obama promised it would. One look at the math underlying Warren’s Medicare for All proposAl should dispel any illusions that the new plans will be any better.
• Most Americans like their health insurance as it is. Their complaints revolve around high out-of-pocket drug prices, deductibles and hospital bills. Insurers are increasing cost-sharing across health-care plans in an effort to curtail premium prices and tamp down overuse. Even a good policy won’t give you much relief from high deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs.
• Those who represent us have an opportunity to take the initiative on health care by focusing on what Americans actually want: Lower prices with minimal disruption. Congress recently took incremental steps in the year-end funding bill by repealing unpopular ACA taxes on medical devices and plans, but it failed to come to an agreement on the bigger problems of surprise billing and prescription-drug costs.
• Those with an interest in progress can craft a well-balanced, market-oriented mechanism to protect patients from surprise costs. Many insured patients are shocked to receive enormous bills from air-ambulance providers, emergency-room doctors, and anesthesiologists after a trip to the emergency room or a visit to what they assumed was an in-network provider but turned out not to be. These surprise bills, which can total thousands of dollars, are sent when particular providers are not in the patient’s insurance network, even though the hospital in which they work might be.

Jindal, a Republican, posits this point: “If Republicans don’t address voters’ frustrations, the public may be forced to choose more-radical options out of desperation. The best way to prevent a government-run health system is to offer solutions that lower prices based on competition and transparency.”

He has a good point, but, in the end, the basic issue should not just sit on the table: Require purchasing health care coverage so everyone has skin in the game.

And, this is an issue that should motivate everyone – Republicans and Democrats alike – who want solutions from middle, not the extremes of either far right or the far left.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This 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 of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, 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.

This, remember is one of three departments I run with a free hand to do as I wish.

If that sounds like Donald Trump, forgive me.

I disavow any comparisons between me, a solid citizen, and Trump, an obviously un-solid one, if he, in fact, can be called a citizen in the first place.

Back to bits and pieces.

POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS: The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) made a good point this week when it wrote this:

“So vast is the wealth generated by the U.S. market economy that in 2019 Americans could afford to spend nearly $100 million just on a campaign to criticize it. Actually, the presidential campaign of Vermont’s Senator Bernie Sanders isn’t the only one dedicated to attacking the free choices of free people. But among the contenders for the Democratic nomination, the Marxist millionaire is the king of campaign cash.”

Comment: Sanders and his kin on the left wing side of the Democrat presidential sweepstakes, Senator Elizabeth Warren, make a habit of decrying the fact that many people in this country have managed to accumulate wealth by dint of hard work and effort.

Call it capitalism, a word that does not cross of lips of Sanders, Warren and those on the far left who advocate socialism – or least a government in charge of all things.

Of course, duplicity reigns when they seek political contributions from those with money even as they lodge harsh criticisms of the same people.

2020 PRESIDENTIAL SWEEPSTAKES: Also from the Wall Street Journal:

“As 2020 begins, voters who say that their overriding objective is to remove the current president should wonder: Is it wise to hitch their wagons to any candidate whose agenda radiates, and requires, extravagant confidence in government’s ability to radically rearrange the United States’ most complex processes, from the allocation of economic resources to the provision of health care?

“Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is showing remarkable resilience, coronary and political, after his October myocardial infarction. This is encouraging not because the nation should swap one form of economic illiteracy for another, replacing a florid, angry protectionist with a florid, angry socialist. Rather, it is encouraging because Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren continue to divide, more or less evenly, the “let’s give government lots more to do” constituency. The longer this balance persists, the more time that normal — meaning not very agitated or attentive — voters have to rally around candidates who do not make prudent people wince.”

Comment: Great point by the WSJ. Americans who don’t pander to either side of political debate want someone who “doesn’t make them wince.” They want someone with character in the Oval Office – character and credentials to lead the country in a solid direction…neither far right nor far left. But the center.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This 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 of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, 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.

American humorist Dave Barry always writes a “decade in review” piece for the Washington Post and he did so again this year.

Barry’s piece is always worth reading.

Especially if you want to start or end your day with huge laughs, some of them at your own expense.

Barry succeeds as few others do these days in calling all of us to put in context the troubling issues we face, including in regard to government and how we think about government.

So, with thanks to Barry and the Post, here are a few of his zingers.

• January begins with the federal government once again in the throes (whatever a “throe” is) of a partial shutdown, which threatens to seriously disrupt the lives of all Americans who receive paychecks from the federal government.
• Finally the president and Congress reach a temporary budget agreement that will not address the border situation but will enable them to resume spending insane amounts of money that the nation does not have until such time as they are able to reach a permanent budget agreement enabling them to continue spending insane amounts of money that the nation does not have, this being the primary function of our federal leadership.
• Winter storms blast the Midwest, causing havoc in Iowa as snowdrifts close major highways and strand hundreds of Democrat presidential contenders in rural communities with limited supplies of voters. In one harrowing incident, a farmer and his family are trapped inside their home for six hours while Cory Booker pounds on the front door, demanding to be let in so he can outline his plan to reduce income inequality. “We tried to escape by the back door,” the farmer later tells reporters,“ but Amy Klobuchar was waiting out there with a seven-point program to rebuild America’s infrastructure.”
• In other political developments, President Trump, faced with mounting hostility from congressional Democrats, spends several days vigorously attacking … John McCain. For the record, McCain (A) was a Republican and (B) died in 2018. Nobody can say for certain whether the president (A) is playing some kind of four-dimensional political chess or (B) has the reasoning skills of a Chihuahua on meth.
• In other political news, Joe Biden launches his estimated 17th presidential campaign, with the slogan: “Let Uncle Joe Give You a Great Big Hug.” Biden immediately becomes the leader of the crowded Democrat field based on the fact that his name sounds vaguely familiar.
• For his part, President Trump launches his 2020 re-election bid with a rally in Orlando attended by 246 million people, as confirmed by Fox News.
• The president also finds time in his busy July schedule to issue tweets attacking — among other targets — Baltimore, the Federal Reserve, the mayor of San Juan, CNN, the mayor of London, Paul Ryan, Fox News (!) and Sweden, but if we’re going to go into detail on every single one of the president’s Twitter beefs we will never get through this year. Suffice it to say that the Resistance is so frantically busy refuting Trump tweets — this being the activity that consumes 99.9 per cent of the Resistance’s time and mental energy — that toward the end of the month prominent Democrats find themselves reflexively defending the integrity and moral righteousness of Al Sharpton.
• The nation is shocked by two horrific mass shootings, which spur a Serious National Conversation about gun violence, in which sincere and committed individuals on both sides — at long last — openly and honestly talk to people on their own side about how stupid and evil everybody on the other side is.
• President Trump is facing a major crisis involving the crucial issue of whether Alabama was, or was not, ever actually threatened by Hurricane Dorian. The crisis erupts on September 1, when, with Dorian moving toward the U.S. mainland, the president tweets that Alabama is among the states that will “most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated.” Minutes later the National Weather Service in Birmingham responds with a statement that “Alabama will NOT see any impacts from #Dorian.”
• Bill de Blasio drops out of the Democratic presidential race, bitterly disappointing the residents of New York when they learn that Bill plans to resume mayoring them.
• In a surprise move, Trump orders the release of a rough transcript of “the call,” which proves conclusively whatever you want it to prove depending on whether you are on Side A or Side B. Congressional Democrats declare that it is a Smoking Gun, which means that, at last, it is IMPEACHMENT TIME, BABY, AND THIS TIME WE REALLY MEAN IT. Trump declares that this is just another WITCH HUNT and emits an unusually high volume of tweets in which he sounds increasingly like a derelict arguing with himself in an alley next to a convenience store, but not as coherent.
• For the Democrats, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that Trump’s poll numbers are down. The bad news is that the Democrats are … the Democrats. Their front-runner, Joe Biden, continues to struggle on the campaign trail, as exemplified by an appearance at a 7-Eleven store in Waterloo, Iowa, during which he addresses the slurpee machine as “your excellency.”
• It is finally IMPEACHMENT TIME FOR REAL, ALMOST, as the House Committee on Endless Squabbling holds a classic congressional hearingpalooza featuring Bombshell Testimony, Gaveling, Points of Order, Yielding of Time, False Civility, Really Long Questions That Are Not Actually Questions and all the other elements that would make for riveting drama if everybody on the planet didn’t already know the outcome, specifically that the Democrats would conclude that the president committed impeachable offenses, and the Republicans would conclude that he didn’t. When it’s all over, the public remains divided exactly as it was between the people who loathe Trump and the people who loathe the people who loathe Trump.
• In other political news, Joe Biden, seeking to add some “zing” to his presidential campaign, tours Iowa in a bus sporting, in big letters, his new slogan: “No Malarkey!” (“Malarkey” is an ancient Gaelic word meaning “clue.”) This slogan was selected after being tested on a focus group of voters, half of whom were senior citizens and the other half of whom were dead. The runner-up slogans were “You’re Darned Tooting He Can Cut the Mustard!” and “Stay Off His Lawn!”

  Write on, Mr. Barry.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This 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 of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, 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.

The New Year has arrived and, with it, from some quarters, we are hearing predictions of gloom and doom, especially with regard to the federal government.

But, if you want to have a good experience on this first day of 2020, you might take time to watch a You Tube video on a startling development in Congress. A group of about 25 members of Congress – both Democrats and Republicans — gather once every week, at an early morning hour, for prayer and discussion, including, even, singing a hymn together.

Incredible.

Two senators were interviewed by a CBS reporter for the interview that made it onto You Tube:

• Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware
• James Lankford, a Republican from Oklahoma

Even as various issues – impeachment, abortion, gun control, homosexual rights, race relations, immigration and others – threaten to tear the country apart, not to mention create dissension in Congress, Coons and Lankford and a number of other colleagues have found a way to talk to each other and to listen, even amidst the din of dissension.

Hearing them discuss key traits that should mark Members of Congress sparks hope that there is a better way to govern and be governed.

Humility.

Mutual respect.

Listening.

Finding middle ground (that doesn’t force compromising values).

Both Coons and Lankford, from different spots on the political spectrum, not to mention very different states, criticize what they call “the cottage industry“ of lobbying groups in the Nation’s Capital that exist to spread disagreement and dissension, not find solutions to pressing national problems.

Those groups benefit when problems are not solved.

It’s time, they say, for a different approach and, without suggesting that they have a set of magic answers, they advocate “living your faith.” Or, they would add, if you don’t have what could be called “faith,” live with respect for fellow human beings as human beings.

Seeing and hearing Coons and Lankford on You Tube was a great way for me to start this New Year.

It could be for you, too.

It only takes 30 minutes and it will be time well spent.

Here is the identifier to access the video:

https://youtu.be/xt7UcjPP6uQ

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This 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 of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, 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.

Depending on your perspective, we stand today either on the precipice or the mountain top of new year, not to mention a “new decade.”

The passage of one decade into another is a bit of an artificial milestone. Still, various media outlets – yes, there are few credible ones left that don’t just pander to one conspiracy theory or another — are chronicling what happened between 2010 and 2020 and even adding notions about what may happen in 2020 and beyond.

The New York Times, in a “decade in review” piece, called the last 10 years “A Decade of Distrust.” Too negative? Perhaps.

In the Washington Post, Dave Barry wrote his annual look back at the last year (2019), not the last 10 years, and his piece was its usual hilarious read as, time and again he wondered what has made Brexit so important, not to mention so hard to define.

Donald Trump also came in for substantial criticism from Barry, as did Congress, which in Barry’s words, “resumed spending insane amounts of money that the nation does not have.”

I am not nearly as incisive as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal or the Washington Post as they review the past decade, nor as witty as Barry, but, in this blog, I will list a few aspects of life in the last 10 years, as well as presume to propose actions for 2020 and beyond.

Too presumptuous? Yes. Still, for me, a useful exercise.

Reflection #1: The definition of family has changed. New York Times writers have reported that “an increasingly diverse array of arrangements has replaced “married-with-children paradigm” that most of us experienced as we grew up.

More from the Times: “Marriage is playing a smaller role within families, although one exception is same-sex couples, who are marrying at higher rates after winning the nationwide right to do so in 2015. Separately, multi-generational households are becoming more prevalent.”

Comment: The changing definition of family is not all bad and all of must remember to retain respect for all peoples, not just ones like us. But, if the changes mean the disintegration of family life, even amidst the still-emerging definition of family, that will be a foreboding development.

I do not mean here to criticize same-sex marriage, though I could. What I mean is that family, by whatever definition, should be a critical part of our future.

Reflection #2: Also according to the Times, institutional religion’s role is declining.   “More than one in four adults say they don’t identify with any religious group.”

Comment: I can understand that if you note that “organized religion” has become disorganized, if not passé, in its approach to the masses. But, if the fact that the role of religion is on the decline means that people ignore the reality of God, that is foreboding. For all of us should recognize God’s role in all of creation, including us.

Reflection #3: The people arriving in the U.S. are changing, too. The number of illegal immigrants from Mexico has declined significantly, and in their place have come families and children traveling alone, most from Central America. Still, to Trump and many of his ilk, immigrants are dirty people no matter where they live and want to come to the United States.

Comment: What Trump has done, over his three years in the Oval Office, is to define ALL immigrants as enemies. Surely there are scofflaws among immigrants, but to impugn the character of all them illustrates troubling realties: Many Americans don’t recognize the inherent value of most immigrants and they, too – the Americans — are either immigrants themselves or descended from immigrants who were looking for a better way of life.

They found it in the U.S. and here’s hoping that others will, too, so we, as a country, can continue to benefit from the melting pot.

Beyond just the immigrant issue, I was struck by the way New York Times writer Paul Waldman put it recently in an analysis of Trump.

“One of the central challenges that Donald Trump has faced over the course of his presidency,” Waldman writes, “is the need to keep supporters in a state of constant agitation. It’s an unending task, because, while you can get people angry enough to stomp to the polls to express their outrage, once you’ve won, it becomes hard to maintain that energy. The last thing you want is for them to feel satisfied, which could lead to complacency.

“Which is why Trump weaves a narrative of constant victimhood, telling his supporters not only that they are besieged and brutalized, but also that no one is more a victim than him. There has surely never been a president who spent so much time complaining — the media aren’t good enough to me, I’m not getting the credit I deserve, the Democrats don’t give me due process, my toilet isn’t powerful enough, it’s unfair, it’s unfair, it’s unfair.”

I appreciate Waldman’s words, which, for me, underscore what
Trump has done to vilify immigrants. Every day, we, as Americans, are subjected to scurrilous acts by the worst president in U.S. history who is not worthy to hold the nation’s highest office.

Reflection #4: Divisions in both American society and its political system have widened and hardened, much of the widening and hardening due to Trump who sets out to sow dissension, then capitalize on it.

The past decade has produced a more barren political landscape than at nearly any time in the recent past.   The parallel rise of populist and nationalist sentiment on the right and socialist sentiment on the left has left the political and social center smaller than ever.

Comment: As a veteran of political processes over more than 40 years, there is almost nothing more troubling in politics than Trump’s excesses, an element of which is the “barren center.” The center is where I try to reside, given the inherent complexity of the issues we face. They don’t lend themselves to simple “left” or “right” solutions, which are the ones that tend to be used by officials who say they represent us.

So, in the face of developments such as these, I propose several notions, which do not add up to some kind of automatic panacea, but are important – even as 2020 is a day away.

• We need to see people as people, not as some kind of threat to our own existence, as is the case with Trump.
• We need to avoid hating people with whom we happen to disagree, which is the exact opposite of Trump.  [One of my approaches will be continued in the coming year — I will set out to thank someone every day for their acts or attitudes that have benefited me.]
• We need to return to the notion of politics as the “art of compromise,” which is anathema to Trump and many others involved in politics these days, including those on the far left.
• We need to recognize the important role of individual effort as long as that effort does not trample on the rights of others – and that individual effort should be in sync with what I call “enlightened capitalism,” rather than the far-left-leaning version of socialism as advocated by many of those running for the Democrat nomination to be president.
• We need to consider the role of God in everyone’s life, recognizing what Christ has done to provide a path to life with God, if you choose that path – and, make no mistake, it is a

Will such values as these solve all of the problems we face? Of course not. But, at the same time, they will be a way to a more rational existence as we anticipate a new year and a new decade.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This 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 of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, 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.

We have just come through another Christmas, so, before too much more time elapses and we begin to focus on the New Year, just a few words on ”our” Christmas traditions.

Christmas is always is a great time for me and my family. One of the reasons is that my wife, Nancy, has established a range of Christmas activities, which have become traditions, ones our kids (and grandkids) don’t want to miss, even as they celebrate the season with their own, smaller families.

The activities listed below are secondary to the real meaning of Christmas, which is the time Christ came to earth to be born as a baby and, based on his life, provide a way for us to have a relationship with Him.

Here is a brief summary of the traditions Nancy has emphasized for our family over the years:

Breakfast: One of the highlights is a breakfast meal – the same one every year. A feature is sweet rolls that rise overnight and, then, in the oven, are warmed with brown sugar and who knows what else top make them the highlight of the meal.=

The rolls are combined with bacon, eggs, berries and mimosas to make a feast.

Presents in stockings: Breakfast is preceded by a time to open stockings. Everyone has one, which, for a few days, have been hung over the fireplace.=

More presents: After breakfast, we open all of other presents, which is a time for the grandkids to exclaim over various gifts. Seeing their faces lights up the house!

The Christmas tree: Several years ago, after usually cutting down a live tree as a family Christmas experience, we opted for an artificial tree. Time has shown it was a good decision.

But not just because of the “new” tree, which is the same one every year.

One of the most meaningful traditions around our house revolves around a major tradition, one owing – as with all other Christmas traditions — to the forethought and commitment of my wife.

Since she was a little girl, she has collected Christmas tree ornaments so that, today, she has more than 500. Just think how long it takes to place the ornaments on the tree or take them down after Christmas!   A long time.

But it’s worth it.

We have the most incredible tree in all of the world!

The Christmas Story: Another tradition is always to read the Christmas story chronicled in Luke Chapter 2. The words are, (a) very meaningful to describe the miracle of Christ’s birth, and (b) assure that, along with a great tree, a traditional breakfast and Christmas presents, all of his remember the real meaning of Christmas – the time of the birth of Christ who came to provide a way of salvation for all of us.

So, thanks to my wife for all of our Christmas traditions. They are meaningful every year, including the one just past.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This 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 of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, 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.

My answer to the question in this blog headline is yes. And, I found some.

It is the good news of the Salem Free Clinic.

Forget about the impeachment of one Donald Trump and his various violations of character. Forget about other aspects of bad news trumpeted by various media, especially local TV stations, trying to woo listeners, viewers and readers. Forget about the far left Democrats who want to change this country.

Just focus on the Free Clinic.

It is a piece of good news sponsored by various charitable organizations in the Salem-Keizer communites, plus the volunteerism of publicly-spirited individuals – along with, incredibly, 70 area churches which have banded together to do the “good work.”

Those involved didn’t believe that the “Affordable Health Care Act,” which was passed several years ago by Congress, would do the job of providing health care to every citizen. It may have been well-intentioned, but it just would not extend to all populations.

Neither did Clinic supporters believe the so-called “Medicare for All Plan” would ever see the light of day.

So, they acted. They created a place for citizens to get free health care if they didn’t already have coverage.

Here are a couple stories about Free Clinic results:

• A homeless woman came to the clinic struggling with a painful abscessed tooth. She was prescribed an antibiotic for the infection and was able to have the diseased tooth extracted one week later. A patient navigator at the Clinic was able to provide the patient with food boxes and bus vouchers.
• Last month, a new walk-in patient came to the Clinic experiencing extreme abdominal pain. An ultra-sound revealed bladder cancer. The patient was referred to Kaiser Permanente, which agreed to provide, at no cost, all the specialized care and resources to treat the cancer.

Every patient who walks into the facility – it is housed in a building called Broadway Commons, which is adjacent to one of the major church sponsors, Salem Alliance Church — receives free care. [In the spirit of full disclosure, my wife and I have attended Salem Alliance for more than 30 years and we appreciate its emphasis on helping Salem “to become a city at peace with God,” one aspect of which is the Free Clinic.]

Providing the care costs an estimated $120 per visit, but that cost is covered by donations from interested parties, including those who attend the 70 churches that work together to operate the Clinic.

Money doesn’t tell all of the story, of course, though a recent “return on community investment study” reported that the Clinic provides $3 million in benefits to the patients and the community.

What does tell the story are the incredible accounts of those who receive needed help, as well as the commitment of many in the Salem-Keizer area to “put feet to the Gospel.”

By that I mean that, if those individuals who walk into the Clinic want counseling, they get it. The goal is to help individuals understand that, beyond Clinic services, God cares for them, as well.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This 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 of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, 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.

Consider the words of a hymn, one that, thankfully, was part of several of our church services during this Christmas season.

O Holy Night

The stars are brightly shining

It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth

Long lay the world in sin and error pining

‘Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth

A thrill of hope a weary world rejoices

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices

O night divine, O night when Christ was born

O night divine, O night, O night divine

Truly He taught us to love one another

His law is love and His gospel is peace

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother

And in His name all oppression shall cease

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we

Let all within us praise His holy name

Just think for a moment about those words, including these sentences: “His law is love and his gospel is peace. Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother. And, in his name, all oppression shall cease.”

Love and peace. No one is a slave to another. Oppression shall cease.

Doesn’t sound like this world, does it? Because it’s not this world during a time marked by dissension, distrust and violence, the latter in word, if not in deed.

So it was, with these words echoing in my mind, that I came across the headline, which I used for this blog. It appeared over a column in the Washington Post by one of my favorite writers, Michael Gerson.

A former speechwriter for President George Bush, Gerson demonstrates two traits – a solid writing ability, and an acute sense of analysis. And all of this is informed by his Christian convictions.

The word he uses – “advent” — is not necessarily in common usage these days, though its meaning is clear:

Advent is the start of something.

Here is how the dictionary defines the term:

• Coming into place, view, or being; arrival: The advent of the holiday season.
• The coming of Christ into the world – and, specifically, the period beginning four Sundays before Christmas, observed in commemoration of the coming of Christ into the world.

Gerson makes the point that, even in the face of confounding issues in the U.S. and the world, “advent” fosters a sense of hope because it remembers the day Christ came into the world to develop a way for each of us to have a relationship with Him.

“America’s political culture,” Gerson continues, “is dominated by fear. For some, it is fear that the triumph of progressivism would bring anti-religious persecution and fundamentally alter the American way of life. For others, it is fear that the re-election of President Trump would remove the last restraints on his cruelty, vindictiveness and contempt for the rule of law.

“My anxieties are firmly in the second camp. But the general mood of trepidation is universal. Our greatest political passion seems dedicated not to the pursuit of dreams, but to the avoidance of nightmares.

“This is the time of the Christian year dedicated to expectant longing. God, we are assured, is at mysterious work in the world. Evil and conflict are real, but not ultimate. Grace and deliverance are unrealized, but certain. Patient waiting is rewarded because the trajectory of history is tilted upward by a powerful hand.

“This is the fullest expression of the hope of advent — that all wrongs will finally be righted, that all the scales will eventually balance and that no one will be exploited or afraid. But this hope is not yet fulfilled.

“Poets and theologians have strained for ways to describe this sense of anticipation. It is like a seed in the cold earth. Like the first barely detectable signs of a thaw. Like a child growing in a womb.”

Gerson weaves his words into an incredible picture – a picture of a world marked by hope that God is returning to “establish his kingdom,” which will be marked by no slavery, no oppression and peace.

I choose – yes, it is a choice – to rest in this HOPE. God is returning and, meanwhile, we can have a relationship with Him through what Christ has done for us, a relationship defined very well by the words of O Holy Night.

Truly He taught us to love one another

His law is love and His gospel is peace

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother

And in His name all oppression shall cease

Great emphases and hope for this Christmas season!