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.

NOTE:  I labeled this blog part 2 because it follows one yesterday where I quoted several columnists dealing with all the lies Donald Trump has told as a matter of course, believing that repetition equals truth.  This time I reprint the entire column by one of those writers, Peter Baker, who works for the New York Times.  He is one of the best political writers going these days.

Baker joined The Times in 2008 after 20 years at The Washington Post and has covered the White House over the course of the past six presidencies, starting in 1996 with Bill Clinton and continuing through George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald J. Trump, Joseph R. Biden Jr., and now Trump again.

So, his analysis matters.  Kudos to him for being willing to share it.

*********

By Peter Baker

The United States sent $50 million in condoms to Hamas.  Diversity programs caused a plane crash.  China controls the Panama Canal.  Ukraine started the war with Russia.

Except, no.

None of that is true.

Not that it stops Trump.  In the first month since he returned to power, he has demonstrated once again a brazen willingness to advance distortions, conspiracy theories and outright lies to justify major policy decisions.

Trump has long been unfettered by truth when it comes to boasting about his record and tearing down his enemies.  But what were dubbed “alternative facts” in his first term have quickly become a whole alternative reality in his second to lay the groundwork for radical change as he moves aggressively to reshape America and the world.

If the U.S. Agency for International Development is stupid enough to send prophylactics to a Palestinian terrorist group in Gaza, he claims, then it deserves to be dismantled.  If recruiting people other than white men to work in the airline sector compromises safety, such programs should be eliminated.  If China controls the strategic passage through the continent, the United States should take it back.  If Ukraine is the aggressor, it should make concessions to Moscow.

“One of the biggest presidential powers that Trump has deployed is the ability to shape his own narrative,” said Julian E. Zelizer, a Princeton history professor and editor of a book of essays about Trump’s first term.  “We have seen repeatedly how Trump creates his own reality to legitimate his actions and simultaneously discredit warnings about his decisions.”

Taking his real-estate hucksterism and reality-show storytelling into politics, Trump has for years succeeded in selling his version of events.  The world according to Trump is one where he is a master of every challenge and any failure is someone else’s fault.

He claimed to have built the greatest economy in history during his first term so many times that even some of his critics came to accept that it was better than it really was.  He dismissed intelligence reports that Russia intervened in the 2016 elections on his behalf so often that many supporters accepted his denial.

Most significantly, Trump has waged a four-year campaign to persuade Americans that he did not lose the 2020 election when in fact he did, making one false assertion of widespread fraud after another that would all be debunked yet still leave most Republicans convinced it was stolen, according to polls.

At the same time, he has recast the January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by supporters trying to stop the transfer of power from a “heinous attack,” as he originally termed it, to a “day of love,” as he now calls it.  This revised interpretation helped him rationalize pardoning nearly 1,600 people who were charged, including many who had beaten police officers.

“Trump is a highly skilled narrator and propagandist,” said Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author of “Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present” and a historian at New York University who specializes in fascism and authoritarianism.  “Actually, he is one of the most skilled propagandists in history.”

Ben-Ghiat said what made Trump’s “easily refutable lie” about the 2020 election so remarkable was that he was “working not in a one-party state or authoritarian context with a controlled media, but in a totally open society with a free press.”

But she and other scholars said some of Trump’s themes resemble those seen in authoritarian states.  “The kind of propaganda and disinformation that we see now is not particularly new and not dependent on the internet,” said Benjamin Carter Hett, a historian of World War II at Hunter College.  “Exactly the same kind of thing happened in the very diverse and lively German press of the 1920s and 1930s.”

Trump’s aides have long recognized his penchant for prevarication and either adjusted or eventually broke with him.  John F. Kelly, his longest-serving White House chief of staff in his first term, has said that Trump would tell his press aides to publicly repeat something that he had just made up.  When Kelly would object, saying, “but that’s not true,” Trump would say, “but it sounds good.”

Stephanie Grisham, who served as a White House press secretary in the first term, once recalled that Trump would tell aides that “as long as you keep repeating something, it doesn’t matter what you say.”  And that trickled down to the staff.  “Casual dishonesty filtered through the White House as though it were in the air-conditioning system,” she wrote in her memoir.

Anthony Scaramucci, a former Trump ally who served briefly as his White House communications director, said on Friday that Trump believes dishonesty works.  Trump, he said, is at “50 years of distorting things and telling lies and he is at 50 years of getting away with it, so why wouldn’t he make the lies bigger and more impactful in this last stretch?”

The exaggerations and falsehoods serve a strategic purpose.  While Trump won a clean victory in November, including in the popular vote, which he lost in 2016, he did not win a majority and his 1.5-percentage-point margin was one of the lowest since the 19th century.  But he regularly says that he won a “landslide victory,” which serves not just to stroke his ego but to assert an expansive popular mandate for his agenda.

Trump, who repeatedly disparaged media fact-checking during last year’s campaign, does not back off after misleading statements and lies are exposed.  Instead, he tends to double down, repeating them even after it’s been reported that they are not true.

After reporters determined that the $50 million for condoms story was untrue, Trump not only repeated it, he increased the supposed total to $100 million.  Nor did he back down after falsely claiming that U.S.A.I.D. had provided grants to media organizations as “a ‘payoff’ for creating good stories about the Democrats,” even after learning the money was simply for subscriptions.

Likewise, Trump made his claim about diversity programs and air safety the day after the midair collision of a passenger jet and Army helicopter in Washington without an ounce of proof, nor did he ever follow up with any.  And while a Hong Kong company operates two of five ports adjacent to the Panama Canal, he continues to say the passage is controlled by China when in fact Panama operates it.

And to support his effort to rescind the constitutional right to birthright citizenship, Trump keeps saying that the United States is “the only country in the world that does this,” even though it has been repeatedly reported that in fact more than 30 countries do.

“Opponents end up arguing about his narratives regardless of how grounded they are in fact,” said Dr. Zelizer.  “This has put President Trump in a perpetual position of advantage since he decides the terms of debate rather than anyone seeking to stop him.”

In Trump’s facts-are-fungible world, conspiracy theories at times are given as much weight as tangible evidence and those who traffic in them are granted access that no other president would give.  Just this past week, he talked about going to Fort Knox to see if the nation’s gold really is there, indulging a fringe suspicion that it is somehow missing.

Invited to accompany Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to Europe was Jack Posobiec, a far-right influencer who promoted the lie that Democrats were running a pedophile ring out of a Washington pizza parlor, a lie that inspired an armed man to burst in and open fire to save the supposed victims.  Posobiec ended up not going but later accompanied Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to Ukraine.

Trump’s blame-the-victim revisionism over Ukraine in recent days has been among the most striking efforts to translate his alternative reality into policy.  Over the course of several recent days, he said that Ukraine “started” the war with Russia in 2022 and called the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, a “dictator without elections,” while absolving President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, an actual dictator who had invaded his neighbor.  He went even further on Friday, saying, “It’s not Russia’s fault.”

By undercutting public sympathy for Ukraine, Trump may make it easier for him to strike a peace agreement with Putin giving Russia much of what it wants even over any objections by Zelensky or European leaders.  Since Zelensky is a dictator responsible for the war, this reasoning goes, he deserves less consideration.

One of Trump’s claims about Ukraine offers a case study in his mythmaking.  He said that the United States has provided $350 billion in aid to Ukraine, three times as much as Europe, but that much of the money is “missing” and that Zelensky “admits that half of the money we sent him is missing.”

In fact, the United States has allocated about a third of what Trump claimed, even less than Europe, and none of it is known to be missing.

The dollar figures cited for U.S. aid to Ukraine can vary depending on how government officials present them, what time period they cover and whether they include humanitarian and economic assistance.

How did Trump arrive at his claim?  The White House did not respond to a request for elaboration.  But it appears that Trump was referring to a recent interview with Zelensky that the president or his staff either misunderstood or distorted.

In the interview, Zelensky was asked by The Associated Press about exaggerated numbers and he corrected them.  “When it’s said that Ukraine received $200 billion to support the army during the war, that’s not true,” Zelensky said according to a translation by Ukrainska Pravda, a Ukrainian news outlet.  “I don’t know where all that money went.”

Zelensky was not saying that there was $200 billion and that he did not know where all of it went.  He was saying there never was $200 billion in the first place.  Even Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, has indicated no concern over missing money, saying that “we have a pretty good accounting of where it’s going.”  Indeed, the vast bulk of U.S. aid approved for Ukraine has been in the form of weapons, not cash.

But that does not comport with the official line at the White House.  Once Trump makes an assertion, those who work for him — and want to keep working for him — are compelled to tailor their own versions of reality to match his.  Even if it requires them to abandon previous understandings of the facts.

So, there was Michael Waltz, the former Republican congressman from Florida now serving as Trump’s national security adviser, pressed last week to reconcile his past comments about who was responsible for the war in Ukraine with his boss’s current position.

A reporter read aloud from an opinion column that Waltz had written in 2023 stating that “Putin is to blame, certainly, like Al Qaeda was to blame for 9/11.”  Waltz was asked if he still believed that or whether he now shared Trump’s assessment that Ukraine had started the war.

“Well,” Waltz said carefully, “it shouldn’t surprise you that I share the president’s assessment on all kinds of issues.  What I wrote as a member of Congress was as a former member of Congress.”

And so, Waltz’s actual reality gave way to Trump’s alternative version.

*********

And, I add this conclusion by drawing a quote from what Baker wrote…here it is:

“The kind of propaganda and disinformation that we see now is not particularly new and not dependent on the internet…Exactly the same kind of thing happened in the very diverse and lively German press of the 1920s and 1930s.”

So, there it is.  A comparison between Hitler and Trump, though the former is not mentioned by name, though it was in the 20s and 30s that Hitler rose to power and tried to kill off a race of people – the Jews.  It appears that Trump is mimicking the German killer; he wants to be like him and that should concern all Americans.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is

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.

NOTE:  This is the first of two blogs dealing with this “repeating lies” concept.  This first installment covers various media reports as I open the Department Good Quotes Worth Remembering.  The last quote is drawn from a column by Peter Baker in the New York Times.  So, in blog #2, I reprint Baker’s entire column because it is so good.

The headline on this blog came from Atlantic Magazine writer Tom Nichols.

Regarding Donald Trump, it rings true.

Trump believes that, just because he says something, it is true.

And, if accused of lying, that charge doesn’t stop him.  He just repeats the lie and appears to believe that repetition produces truth.

Nichols’ good line prompts me to open one of the five departments I run – this one is the Department of Good Quotes Worth Remembering.  No need here to mention the other four departments I manage; each stands on its own.

From the New York Times:  The scariest thing about what President Trump is doing with his tariffs-for-all strategy, I believe, is that he has no clue what he is doing — or how the world economy operates, for that matter.  He’s just making it all up as he goes along — and we are all along for the ride.

From The Atlantic Magazine:  Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Saudi Arabia pretending to be in charge of negotiations between the U.S. and Russia over the fate of Ukraine.  Rubio is the perfect fall guy for this assignment.  Confirmed as secretary of state by a 99–0 vote, he’s won praise from all sides for his commitment to American institutions and values.

The word “pretending” above is drawn to make comparisons to William Rogers who, under President Nixon, was Secretary of State.  But, Nixon didn’t involve Rogers in Vietnam peace talks, so Rogers was nothing more than a figurehead.  Rubio may be suffering the same fate.

More from The Atlantic:  This week, Donald Trump falsely accused Ukraine of starting a war against a much larger neighbor, inviting invasion and mass death.  At this point, Trump — who has a history of trusting Russian President Vladimir Putin more than he trusts the Americans who are sworn to defend the United States — may even believe it.

Casting Ukraine as the aggressor (and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “dictator,” which Trump has done) makes political sense for Trump, who is innately deferential to Putin, and likely views the conflict as a distraction from his own personal and political agendas.  The U.S. president has now chosen to throw America to Putin’s side and is more than willing to see this war end on Russian terms.

Repeating lies, however, does not make them true.

Russia, and specifically Putin, launched this war in 2014 and widened it in 2022.  The information and media ecosystem around Trump and the Republican Party has tried for years to submerge the Russian war against Ukraine in a sump of moral relativism, because many in the GOP admire Putin as some sort of Christian strongman.  But Putin is making war on a country that is mostly composed of his fellow Orthodox Christians, solely based on his own grandiose fantasies.

From hill.com:  Elon Musk was never elected to any office, yet he is running roughshod over many parts of the federal government. 

Musk and the make-believe Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to tap into databases across the government is facing broad pushback from a variety of groups sounding the alarm over the privacy and security risks.

From the New York Times:  One of the best political writers going these days, Peter Baker, puts it this way:

The United States sent $50 million in condoms to Hamas.  Diversity programs caused a plane crash.  China controls the Panama Canal.  Ukraine started the war with Russia.

Except, no.  None of that is true.  Not that it stops Trump.  In the first month since he returned to power, he has demonstrated once again a brazen willingness to advance distortions, conspiracy theories, and outright lies to justify major policy decisions.

Trump has long been unfettered by truth when it comes to boasting about his record and tearing down his enemies.  But what were dubbed “alternative facts” in his first term have quickly become a whole alternative reality in his second to lay the groundwork for radical change as he moves to aggressively reshape America and the world.

And, from me, enough for today, even though there are many more good quotes.  Next time.

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.

An unorthodox putting technique called aim-point is taking over the sport.  Not everyone is happy about it.

Including those, like me, who worry about slow play in professional golf because aim-point aggravates the slowness.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Andrew Beaton, tried to explain aim-point.

“When the best golfers in the world line up a putt these days,” Beaton wrote, “many of them look completely deranged. 

“Their process for reading greens everywhere from Augusta National to St. Andrews involves standing over the line of the putt, closing one eye and sticking a couple fingers in the air as if they’re trying to hail a cab to the clubhouse.  

“Never in the centuries since a bunch of Scots started malleting balls toward a cup had anyone studied greens quite like this before.”

However, Beaton writes that aim-point has become as popular as it is polarizing.  

“One PGA Tour veteran, 2009 U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, recently inflamed the controversy when he called for aim-point to be banned and cited it as a factor in golf’s pace-of-play debate.  Others have criticized it for simply looking silly — or worse, violating the game’s unwritten rules when players stomp around too close to the hole.”

Even so, a growing number of top pros swear by it.  They argue it makes the maddening art of reading a green more scientific and that the backlash against it is just uninformed.  

One is Collin Morikawa.

“Aim-point has 1,000 per cent helped me,” he says.  “I don’t think people understand how aim-point works to really say this is right or wrong.”

Beaton goes on to explain the technique this way: 

“First, you straddle the putt’s line at the point of the biggest break.  Then you use your footing to discern the amount of tilt, at which point you assign a number — usually one, two or three — to the slope’s severity.  

“Next, standing behind the ball with one eye closed and a pointer finger aimed at the center of the hole, you raise the number of fingers that corresponds to that slope.  And that’s your line.  So, if you estimate the slope at 2 per cent from right to left, you aim at the point outside your middle finger.  Voilà. 

‘There is nothing textbook about it to players who have been taught to bend over and read a green with their eyes.  Aim-point is feeling instead of seeing.”

And that’s the exact idea an unemployed golf nut with no professional experience in the game had when he first came up with aim-point. 

More from Beaton:

“’Your body is very, very good at balancing itself,’ says aim-point’s pioneer, 57-year-old Mark Sweeney.  ‘And your eyes are very easy to trick with optical illusions.’

“The idea dates back to 2003, when Sweeney was at home watching the final round of Ben Curtis’s improbable victory at the British Open.  On that afternoon, he kept seeing something repeat itself:  Players were misreading the same putt in the same direction on the 18th green.

“I don’t understand why this is so difficult,’ he thought.  

“With all the technology flooding into the game, he believed there had to be a better way to read greens. 

“Sweeney had never played the game competitively, but he did have a background in finance and software development.  So, he wrote 100,000 lines of code for a program that would laser scan greens and calculate the optimal path and speed for every putt.  This was long enough ago that the first platform he made for it was for a PalmPilot.  

“But because golfers can’t lug laboratory equipment with them to model every green, it wasn’t practical on the course.  Its first widespread use was actually on television broadcasts, and Sweeney was part of a Golf Channel team that won a Sports Emmy for the tech in 2008. 

“As Sweeney heard feedback from the industry and parlayed his expertise into a new career as a putting guru, golfers wanted something they could actually use.  First, he came up with a system of charts that told players where to aim.  That was still cumbersome and complicated.  It was only when he was teaching some 7-year-olds that he came up with the version of aim-point that’s widely used today. 

“Sweeney was giving a lesson to a bunch of kids in 2013 and wanted a basic way of teaching them to feel the high side of the hole, so he had them straddle their line like an invisible seesaw.  What he quickly discovered was that the slope corresponds to the number of fingers you hold up because it even accounts for distance.  On a longer putt, those fingers block more of the green and tell you to aim farther from the cup, the same way golfers need to calculate for more break.

“It isn’t an exact science.  It can take time for players to learn how to read slope with their own balance, though Sweeney says most people get within a half percentage point quickly.  Putts can also break more than once, and there are adjustments players need to learn to make, such as how far they hold out their arm with their fingers raised, based on the speed of the green.  Yet he found it was more accurate than simply eyeballing it and guessing. 

“’It happens to match the physics of a golf ball rolling on a green,’ Sweeney says.  ‘For whatever crazy reason.’” 

Some pro golfers were crazy enough to try it.  Brian Gay, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour, was the first in early 2014, and he says it came naturally to him as someone who always used his feet to feel a green’s slope.  But that doesn’t mean everyone accepted it.  

“Other golfers,” Beaton wrote, “looked at him as though he was using an umbrella for a putter.  ‘Most guys were like, ‘What is he doing?’

“Yet, others such as Adam Scott soon followed.  Since then, it’s taken off so much that instructors all across the globe teach the technique.  Viktor Hovland, Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose have all used it.  Nowadays, it isn’t unusual to see an entire group of players and their caddies in the middle of greens, aiming and pointing.” 

The opposite of the benefits of aim-point revolve around the fact that it takes far longer than old-school green reading and slows down the game for fans.

Even beyond pace of play, others chafe at how some players pace around too close to the hole to feel the break. 

So, make your own decision, as I have.  I don’t use it – not smart enough – and I don’t like its use on pro golf tours.

The bottom-line for me:  Using aim-point already slows down what has come to be a slow game anyway.  So, ban it and return to reading greens like they deserve to be ready, which means bending down to see the line and then putting.

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.

A close friend and I were talking the other day and asked each other if the United States’ historic system of “checks and balances” was still in effect in Trump 2.

We suspected the answer was “no.”  Congress kneels before Donald Trump.  Courts wonder what to do as Trump tells them “to go to ____.”  And, the Supreme Court waits for who knows what.

But, what about public opinion?

It appears Trump doesn’t know or care about it because, of course, he is always the smartest person in the room, unless Elon Musk is there, too, and they share the glory.

Then, today, I read a column in the Washington Post by a solid political reporter, Aaron Blake, who wondered, based on public opinion polls, whether the “Trump honeymoon was over.”

For my part, I didn’t know Trump had one, but Blake’s report in worth reading and pondering.

Here is how he started his column:

“New polling shows Trump’s approval ratings declining and major warning signs are appearing.

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“…Trump came into office claiming a sweeping and historic mandate, but that was always oversold.

“Trump’s win was relatively modest, historically speaking.  And while his approval rating upon taking office reached a new all-time high for him — around 50 per cent — his ‘honeymoon’ phase still paled in comparison with every modern president not named Trump.

“And now, after one month in office, whatever honeymoon (or mandate) Trump enjoyed appears to be slipping away.”

Here is a summary of how Blake made his point:

• Multiple polls this week show Trump’s approval rating dropping into more normal territory for him, in the mid-40s.  A new Washington Post-Ipsos poll crystallizes a number of warning signs for Trump’s agenda of drastic and legally dubious change.

Indeed, Americans seem to be quite concerned by how far Trump is going, and most of his signature policies and initiatives appear to be quite unpopular — especially those spearheaded by billionaire Elon Musk.

• Trump’s approval ratings this week in polls — including the Post-Ipsos poll and others from Reuters, Quinnipiac University, CNN and Gallup — have ranged from 44 per cent to 47 percent.  In all of them, more disapprove than approve of him.
• A big question has been whether Trump’s drastic attempts to overhaul the federal government might hurt him.  And it appears that’s happening.
• Many Americans don’t like his government cuts and tariffs.  But this, of course, depend on what issues pollsters test.  Some loom large as strikes against Trump.

One is Trump tariffs.  The CNN poll shows Americans oppose his tariffs on aluminum and steel by 15 points (49-34), while the Post-Ipsos poll shows nearly 2-to-1 opposition to his 25 per cent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada.  About 7 in 10 Americans think tariffs generally increase the price of products in the United States.

• Many Americans also don’t like firing large numbers of government workers, which is opposed by 19 points (58-39) in the Post-Ipsos poll.
• Americans strongly oppose deporting undocumented immigrants who aren’t criminals (57-39), who arrived as children (70-26) and who have U.S. citizen children (66-30).  That accounts for a huge number of would-be deportees, and it suggests that a true mass-deportation operation could be politically problematic.
• The finding about the firings of government workers gets at one of the biggest emerging strikes against Trump:  Musk.  The writing has been on the wall that Americans are skeptical of the influence suddenly wielded by the world’s richest man, who has spearheaded those firings through the U.S. DOGE Service, which he leads, and the situation appears to have gotten worse.
• Perhaps no Trump action is as unpopular as one of his first ones:  Pardoning virtually all January 6 defendants.  Previous polling has focused only broadly on the pardons, without drilling down on the most controversial among them:  The pardons of violent offenders — those convicted of assaulting police.

Blake acknowledges a big caveat with unpopular policies and efforts — how much people actually view them as affecting their lives.

More from Blake:

“But the new polling does highlight perhaps the most significant emerging problem for Trump:  The economy.  While this has long been his strength, that no longer appears to be the case.

“The Post-Ipsos poll shows Americans disapprove of his handling of the economy 53 to 45.  Those are his worst economic numbers since 2017.  The Reuters poll shows his economic approval at 39 per cent, which is lower than it ever was in his first term.

“It’s possible to read too much into these numbers.  They could be in large part a reflection of continued economic unrest and persistent inflation, rather than anything specific to Trump.

“But the data also suggest that Americans see Trump as misplacing his priorities.”

So, with these polling realities, does Trump care?

I suspect the answer is “no.”  He only cares about himself, so he assumes that he has a God-given right to do what he is doing – and perhaps he views himself as a God in the first place.  Or, at least as a “king” as he described himself yesterday.

This check on Trump – public opinion – may not amount to much, especially as he has nearly four years left in his term.  And, of course, he now says, despite a Constitutional bar, he wants and deserves a third term.

Perish the thought!

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.

For several weeks, I have toyed with opening this department, one of five I run with a free hand to manage as I see fit.  But there was always something else to do.

Now, I have time to open this department and, to add a point, I won’t list here the other departments I run because they are able to stand on their own.

This time, I report on words used by Donald Trump that have different meanings than what the dictionary says is the case.

I write about this with due credit to Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post writer who produces the acclaimed “Fact Checker” column.

Here is how he started his most recent column, the one about Trump words:

“Trump is sweeping through the U.S. government, terminating dozens of programs, laying off tens of thousands of workers, even dismantling entire agencies.  At the same time, the White House has adopted a unique lexicon to describe its agenda — in some cases, using words that in ordinary contexts mean the opposite.”

He then provided a guide to the verbiage, drawn from remarks made by Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Transparency:  Traditionally, transparency in the federal government has meant access to data, federal contracts and government reports, even if they shed light on problems.

But Trump has fired nearly a score of inspectors general (IG), who root out fraud and malfeasance in federal agencies.  Eight have filed suit, saying they were fired illegally.  One IG, for the U.S. Agency for International Development, was booted as soon as he issued a critical report on the aid stoppage ordered by the president.

When reports emerged that a State Department website revealed that Tesla, a company owned by billionaire Elon Musk, Trump’s biggest financial backer, received a $400 million contract, the contract document was scrubbed to remove any reference to Tesla.

Meanwhile, the Musk-led U.S. DOGE Service — which is targeting agencies for contract terminations and personnel cuts — operates in secret and the people on his team have not been revealed, though reporters have figured out the identity of some key players.

But the White House says the administration is transparent because Trump often answers questions from reporters, even if, as usual, honesty is not involved.

Free speech:  The First Amendment enshrines a right to free speech — the right to articulate opinions and ideas without interference, retaliation or punishment from the government.  There’s always been some tension in this notion — does this give someone the right to yell “fire” in a crowded theater when there is no fire?

Conservatives objected to social media platforms such as Twitter (before Musk bought it and turned it into X) and Facebook downgrading or removing posts that contained inaccurate or false information, especially during the covid pandemic.  Trump himself was removed from many platforms after he instigated a riot at the U.S. Capitol to prevent the certification of Biden’s victory in 2020.  But he’s been re-instated and many social media companies have scaled back efforts to police false information circulating on their platforms.

:I stopped government censorship once and for all and we brought back free speech to America,” Trump told House GOP members after taking office.

But the White House in recent days has barred Associated Press reporters from news events because the agency still refers to the Gulf of Mexico, the internationally recognized name for the body of water that has been in use since the mid-17th century.

Fraud and abuse:  Fraud generally means deception, often criminal, in pursuit of financial and personal gain.  But Trump has upended that definition — broadening it to include programs and policies he disagrees with — while at the same time making it harder to detect fraud.

“We’re finding tremendous fraud and tremendous abuse,” Trump said as Musk stood by his side in Oval Office.  But a Fact Checker accounting of the announcements from DOGE, or Department of Government Efficiency, of terminated programs found that most concern diversity, transgender, and climate change programs.

Deficit:  In Washington, deficit usually means the federal budget deficit.  But for Trump, the deficit that matters:  The trade deficit.  He imposed 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum, threatened tariffs against Canada and Mexico, and proposed to upend the current trading system by imposing reciprocal tariffs.

“We have a tremendous deficit with Mexico,” Trump said last week.  “We have a tremendous deficit with Canada.  We have a tremendous deficit with Europe, the E.U., with China, I don’t even want to tell you what Biden allowed to happen with China.”

Actually, under Biden, the trade deficit with China fell to its lowest level in 10 years, according to the Census Bureau.

So, there you have it.  A new lexicon from Trump who apparently doesn’t refer to the dictionary to understand the meaning of words.

He just talks.

When he speaks, it is as if whatever happens to cross his mind ends up coming out of his mouth.

Both sides of his mouth, with no care for accuracy or context.

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.

Nicholas Kristof. 

Remember him?

He is a New York Times reporter who has deep roots in Oregon.  He wanted to run for governor in Oregon last time around, but, despite the fact that he owned a home and property in Yamhill County, courts ruled he did not meet residency standards.

Too bad.

Win or lose, he would have run a solid campaign.

After the legal decision, he returned to the NY Times and still writes cogent commentary, one of which is referenced below.

His latest contribution appeared under this headline:  Not quite a unified theory of Trumpism, but still an alarming pattern

Here is how the column started:

“Trump’s second term dizzies many Americans, but I find it oddly familiar — an echo of the time I lived in China as a reporter.

“Americans sometimes misperceive Trump’s actions as a fire hose of bizarre and disparate moves, a kaleidoscope of craziness.  Yet, there is a method to it, and I’ve seen parallels in authoritarian countries I’ve covered around the world over the past four decades.

“It’s not that I offer a unified theory of Trumpism, but there is a coherence there that requires a coherent response.  Strongmen seek power — political power but also other currencies, including wealth and a glittering place in history — through a pattern of behavior that is increasingly being replicated in Washington.”

Kristof contends that what he calls “parallels to Adolph Hitler and 1930s Germany are overdrawn and diminish the horror of the Third Reich.”

He may be right, but I have thought for a few years that Trump reminds me of Hitler, though, of course, I only know Hitler through history books. 

Still, Trump appears to admire Hitler, if only with the Mein Kampf book near his bed.  After all, Trump believes he is nearly a God, or perhaps in his judgment, fully a God.  He thinks he deserves to be worshipped.

And, he doesn’t care who he dislocates, kills or maims as he covets more and more power.  Just think of immigrants if you want an example.

More from Kristof:

“Democracy is not an on-off switch but a dial.  We won’t become North Korea, but we could look more like Viktor Orban’s Hungary.  This is a question not of ideology but of power grabs:  Leftists eroded democracy in Venezuela and Nicaragua, and rightists did so in Hungary, India and (for a time) the Philippines and Poland.  The U.S. is the next test case.

“When authoritarians covet power, they pursue several common strategies.”

• First, they go after checks and balances within the government.

“Trump ignores laws he finds inconvenient.  He cannot legally fire inspectors general without 30 days’ notice, but he did so anyway.  He moved to eliminate independent congressionally established agencies, which he has no authority to do.  Probably unlawfully, he is sidelining Congress’s constitutional role by impounding funds.  Even when faced with court orders, he appears not to be fully obeying in some cases.”

• Second, authoritarians try to crush independent referees and civil society institutions, including news organizations, universities, statistical agencies and central banks.

“After I covered the Tiananmen Square massacre as an eyewitness in 1989, The People’s Daily declared that I ‘spread new lies,’ and the prime minister’s office ordered an audit of my taxes and tried to bar my infant son from getting a residence permit.

“For similar reasons, Trump is doing his best to intimidate news organizations and discredit them as ‘enemies of the people.’  

• Third, authoritarians sometimes recruit shadowy private enforcersto employ violence to intimidate or punish critics.

“China has used triad gangsters to suppress dissent, and India and Iran appear to have hired thugs to silence critics in Canada and the United States.

“Trump has not gone that far, and I hope he never will.  But his mass clemency of January 6 rioters, including those who clubbed police officers, was a signal of impunity for violent political offenders acting in his name.  His removal of security from former officials facing death threats, such as Anthony Fauci and Mark Milley, indicates a lack of concern for the fate of critics.

“There are other characteristics of authoritarians that are evident in Washington today.  The sycophantic praise directed at Trump by his aides is familiar to anyone who has seen personality cults from Turkmenistan to Bangladesh.  Assertions that God has anointed a ruler or ‘spared my life for a reason,’ as Trump put it, have been a dime a dozen.”

So, Kristof concludes:  “Let’s pay attention to the larger mosaic, not just the individual tiles of outrage.  The upheaval in Washington is 1,000 things, yes, but what’s emerging is a pattern of undercutting restraints on executive power in ways that weaken the democracy that we inherited and that we must fight to preserve.”

Good words from Kristof worth pondering. 

And, I say, even if not a 100 per cent, parallel, keep the Trump-as-Hitler parallel top of mind.  For, if it continues to ring true, real citizens should have no choice but to raise their voices in protest.

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.

There is a lot to like about new pro golf star, Ludwig Aberg, who won the Genesis Invitational last Sunday.

My favorite:  He plays fast.  He gets over his next shot, whatever it is, waggles a couple times and then hits.

It often goes where he is aiming.

Far better than slow players such as Tom Kim who stands over his shot for a long time, then finally hits it.

So, for me, Aberg is a good example of fixing one of the main things wrong with golf – slow play.

His play – and, of course, his excellence – underlines one of the simple solutions, play faster.

The win Sunday was his second in a career that is on an upward trajectory.

Here’s way Global Golf Post (by the way, if you don’t subscribe, do so…it’s worth it) describes Aberg’s win:

“So, it’s the biggest moment of your life thus far.  Thousands of people surround you as you go for the biggest win of your career.  Two years ago, you were in college courses, studying between tournaments.  Now, you’re tied for the lead on the 18th hole with a chance, 224 yards from the pin, with water sitting in front of the hole, ready to ruin your day.  Everybody in the golf world is watching to see if you can live up to what you’re supposed to be.

“How long do you take?

“Do you think about it?  Do you take an extra few breaths?  Do you make sure you have this before committing full tilt?

“Or are you Åberg, the tall, handsome and comically nonchalant Swede who steps up to the ball and doesn’t even let a beat pass before launching into the smoothest swing the game has seen in some time?

“There are no pauses for Åberg.  There are no hesitations.  He just goes.  So, he arrived on tour and finished T4 immediately.  He won two tournaments in his first four professional months.  He played on a winning European Ryder Cup team before he set foot in a major.  He became a week-in, week-out top-10 golfer before many fans even knew his name.

“’You’re not gonna slow down on purpose, right?’ his caddie, Joe Skovron, said, grinning.  ‘Just stay in the rhythm, as long as we go through our stuff, and he’s ready to go. …

“’Just let him go.’”

Åberg didn’t slow down.  He went up to the birdie putt to win the Genesis Invitational, didn’t take so much as a moment and hit it in for $4 million and official validation as the best young player in the world.  He overcame a three-shot deficit over six holes to steal a signature win.

To me, Aberg is a solid example of what should happen in pro golf.  Players should play faster on their own.

Scottie Scheffler is another example of a player who goes about his business with speed and finesse.

Not Tom Kim.

Not Patrick Cantley.

Not J.B. Holmes.

Not Keegan Bradley.

All examples of slow players I have mentioned before – slow players who are no fun to watch.

For them – as well as some others – it will take a decision by those who run pro golf to penalize players who take too much time over each shot.  That will be the only way to get their attention.  Affect their pocketbook.

And this conclusion from Global Golf Post:

“For all of Åberg’s burgeoning superpowers, maybe the most relevant to follow is the development of a leaderboard anchor.  Nobody causes fear like Scheffler, but Åberg has become the type of player who’s always hanging near the top, ready to go on a run at any moment.  He doesn’t fall far.  He goes with the flow.  And he can outlast most of the field over 72 holes with his lengthy drives and dialed iron play.

And he plays fast.  Good for him!

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.

There is a lot to like about new pro golf star, Ludwig Aberg, who won the Genesis Invitational last Sunday.

My favorite:  He plays fast.  He gets over his next shot, whatever it is, waggles a couple times and then hits.

It often goes where he is aiming.

Far better than slow players such as Tom Kim who stands over his shot for a long time, then finally hits it.

So, for me, Aberg is a good example of fixing one of the main things wrong with golf – slow play.

His play – and, of course, his excellence – underlines one of the simple solutions, play faster.

The win Sunday was his second in a career that is on an upward trajectory.

Here’s way Global Golf Post (by the way, if you don’t subscribe, do so…it’s worth it) describes Aberg’s win:

“So, it’s the biggest moment of your life thus far.  Thousands of people surround you as you go for the biggest win of your career.  Two years ago, you were in college courses, studying between tournaments.  Now, you’re tied for the lead on the 18th hole with a chance, 224 yards from the pin, with water sitting in front of the hole, ready to ruin your day.  Everybody in the golf world is watching to see if you can live up to what you’re supposed to be.

“How long do you take?

“Do you think about it?  Do you take an extra few breaths?  Do you make sure you have this before committing full tilt?

“Or are you Åberg, the tall, handsome and comically nonchalant Swede who steps up to the ball and doesn’t even let a beat pass before launching into the smoothest swing the game has seen in some time?

“There are no pauses for Åberg.  There are no hesitations.  He just goes.  So, he arrived on tour and finished T4 immediately.  He won two tournaments in his first four professional months.  He played on a winning European Ryder Cup team before he set foot in a major.  He became a week-in, week-out top-10 golfer before many fans even knew his name.

“’You’re not gonna slow down on purpose, right?’ his caddie, Joe Skovron, said, grinning.  ‘Just stay in the rhythm, as long as we go through our stuff, and he’s ready to go. …

“’Just let him go.’”

Åberg didn’t slow down.  He went up to the birdie putt to win the Genesis Invitational, didn’t take so much as a moment and hit it in for $4 million and official validation as the best young player in the world.  He overcame a three-shot deficit over six holes to steal a signature win.

To me, Aberg is a solid example of what should happen in pro golf.  Players should play faster on their own.

Scottie Scheffler is another example of a player who goes about his business with speed and finesse.

Not Tom Kim.

Not Patrick Cantley.

Not J.B. Holmes.

Not Keegan Bradley.

All examples of slow players I have mentioned before – slow players who are no fun to watch.

For them – as well as some others – it will take a decision by those who run pro golf to penalize players who take too much time over each shot.  That will be the only way to get their attention.  Affect their pocketbook.

And this conclusion from Global Golf Post:

“For all of Åberg’s burgeoning superpowers, maybe the most relevant to follow is the development of a leaderboard anchor.  Nobody causes fear like Scheffler, but Åberg has become the type of player who’s always hanging near the top, ready to go on a run at any moment.  He doesn’t fall far.  He goes with the flow.  And he can outlast most of the field over 72 holes with his lengthy drives and dialed iron play. And h

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.

Ever thought about two words – sympathy and empathy – and what they mean.

In a way, they sound alike, but their meaning is different.

• Sympathy:  The act or state of feeling sorrow or compassion for another.
• Empathy:  The psychological identification with or vicarious experiencing of the emotions, thoughts, or attitudes of another.

The definition of this empathy clearly goes deeper than just sympathy.  With empathy, you go beyond to come close to experiencing the pain of others.

So, my question this morning is whether Donald Trump has either – sympathy or empathy.

The answer, I submit, is “no.” 

He thinks only of himself and how what he does will benefit him and his family, which is the definition of a narcissist.

Consider these facts:

• U.S. aid workers have been left to fend entirely for themselves in foreign countries where they were sent to convey good news from America.  Not even money for them to get home.

• Immigrants came to America, not as criminals, but as real people looking for a new way of life.  And now, many relatives of these immigrants wonder why they voted for Trump in the first place if it means deportation for their loved ones.

• Farmworkers and owners apparently have no choice but to accept Trump’s decision to gore the federal Department of Agriculture, which provides funds for farming.

• And, in Oregon, the Oregon Health & Science University stands to lose tens of millions of dollars in federal funding under the Trump’s directive to cap National Institutes of Health payments to research institutions.  Plus, who knows what gains will be lost if research ends.

In the New York Times, columnist David French wrote about this by describing what he called “the new right,” which Trump has welcomed into his array of MAGA supporters.

“The new religious right,” French wrote, “has turned against the old religious right.

“Or, to put it another way, the focus of the movement is changing.  I spent more than 20 years defending religious liberty in federal courts.  Our objective was to defend liberty so that religious organizations enjoyed the liberty to do good, free from state discrimination.

“Yet, now the focus of Christian right isn’t on the defense of liberty; it’s on the accumulation of power.  And it is using that power to impose its will, including by imposing its will on Christian organizations it has decided are woke or opposed to Trump’s agenda.”

Few things, French says, illustrate this reality more clearly than Trump’s decision unilaterally — and often unlawfully — to defund Christian organizations, including evangelical organizations, that serve poor and marginalized people at home and abroad.

“Trump cuts are immaterial to the deficit,” French adds.  “U.S.A.I.D.’s foreign assistance constituted less than 1 per cent of the federal budget, for example.  All direct foreign aid (including the surge in aid to Ukraine) adds up to a mere 1.17 per cent of total government spending in the 2023 fiscal year.

“Yet, cuts to foreign aid endanger people’s lives, including those of Afghan refugees who risked everything helping Americans during our longest war.”

French wasn’t necessarily writing about the words “sympathy” and “empathy,” though, for the latter, he bemoaned the loss of “Christian empathy.”

I share his perspective.

Trump goes on with something new and divisive every day. 

No sympathy.

No empathy.

Neither is in his DNA.

And, worse, some persons who say they are Christians salivate in support of his non-Christian invective.

In conclusion, I say adhere to these verses in the Bible, March 12:30-31:

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  The second is this:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no other commandment greater than these.”

This is both sympathy and empathy. 

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.

Here in La Quinta, California – which is part of the Palm Springs environs – we have been several times to a great theater-music venue, the McCallum Theater.

As some of my friends would say, “there is a not bad seat in the house.”

My wife and I would attest to the virtue of that exclamation.

The events we have attended include:

• Traveling through the Beatles best hits, played by a combination of the Desert Symphony and six guys who are making a living mimicking the Beatles.  And I use the word “mimic” in a positive sense.

• A theatrical presentation of the movie, “You Are Here: A Come From Away Story,” which told the story when 9/11 forced 38 planes to land in Gander, Newfoundland.  There, locals welcomed 6,500 stranded passengers for five days, showing extraordinary kindness that inspired a Broadway musical and the movie.

• Two guys “mimicking” Simon and Garfunkel, singing all the songs we knew growing up.  And the two even looked the part.

• A presentation by original members of the Fifth Dimension, Billy Davis, Jr. and Marilyn McCoo – and singing many of the songs we also knew growing up.  Even in their 80s, Davis and McCoo belted out the memorable songs, talking on stage between the numbers.  

So, without much knowledge of the McCallum’s Theater’s background, I relied on Mr. Google.  Here is what he said:

“The McCallum Theatre’s mission is to entertain, educate and enrich the Coachella Valley community through world-class performances, critically acclaimed education experiences, and serving as the desert’s premier performing arts center.

“In May 1973, a group of Coachella Valley business, education and cultural leaders organized as Friends of the Cultural Center, Inc. committed themselves to the creation of a state-of-the-art performing arts center. 

“Their vision was to enhance and enrich the lives of Palm Springs and Palm Desert residents by making the performing arts available to as many people as possible.  Fundraising began in earnest with 13 sold-out performances by Fred Waring.

“By 1984, local developer Terry Hahn contributed $1 million to the project and Gerald Ford became part of the board of directors.  Ford, in turn, convinced Bob Hope to contribute to the project.

“Vision became reality in January 1988, with the opening of McCallum Theatre.  Opening night was an all-star tribute to Hope.  According to the magazine, Palm Springs Life, Van Cliburn inaugurated the Steinway piano.

“In the audience that night were Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Gerald and Betty Ford, Walter and Leonore Annenberg, and many other notable VIPs.

“Named for a pioneering desert family, the McCallum has gained acclaim as one of the country’s finest presenting theaters by audiences and entertainers alike.  Ticket sales consistently place the McCallum in the top 50 theaters in the world.  Education programs have served more than one million local schoolchildren, educators and community members, while top entertainers praise the venue and its audiences.”

Now, as for such performers as those who mimicked Simon and Garfunkel, here’s more.

Simply, it has always been said that imitation is the highest form of flattery, so to those who mimic Simon and Garfunkel, I say “thank you.”

But, after all this “good” news, let me add one piece of bad.

A few weeks ago, we attended a theatrical presentation of the “Book of Mormon.”  We were sorry we were there and nearly walked out early.  It was crass, gross and disrespectful, not just of Mormons (and I am not one, I hastily add), but of African people general and anyone else who believes there is God.

So, while the Book of Mormon has opened to rave reviews in some places, if is playing near you, don’t go!

And, back to the McCallum.  A great venue and we’ll love to go again.