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.

Two views of the “State of the State” emerged in Oregon this week as Governor Tina Kotek delivered her semi- annual “State of the State” address.

In a story reported by a solid local news organization, Salem Reporter, here is a summary:

FROM KOTEK/She called for resilience and optimism even as she struck notes of frustration with the enormous problems facing Oregon that only have been partially solved.

Kotek’s first State of the State address was delivered to a joint session of the House and Senate, with Attorney General Dan Rayfield, Secretary of State Tobias Read and Labor Commissioner Christina Stephenson listening, as well as more than a dozen judges and the leaders of Oregon’s nine tribal nations.

It came two years after she took office and began with a reminder of the challenges Oregon faced five years ago:  2020 began with reports of a mysterious disease outbreak in China, and the resulting COVID pandemic upended everything.  That fall, the 2020 Labor Day fires burned more than 850,000 acres and destroyed more than 4,000 homes.

As she spoke Monday, more than 400 Oregon firefighters and 235 engines were at work fighting another fire in California. That, Kotek said, is what Oregon does for its neighbors. 

FROM REPUBLICANS/House Minority Leader Christine Drazan, R-Canby, and Senate Minority Leader Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles, recorded a joint video rebuttal to Kotek’s speech, which Drazan called a “doubling down of the status quo and the failed policies of the past.”

She and Bonham said Kotek’s Administration is responsible for driving up costs of food, fuel and housing and driving Oregonians to leave the state. 

“If you listen to just the words that were presented today, Tina Kotek paints a very flowery picture of Oregon, one full of hope and optimism and a bright vision for the future,” Bonham said. “But if you look at her 10 years as speaker of the House and first two as governor, what you’re faced with is abject failure.”

So, there you have it.  Two very different views.

Part of the difference arises because there are still “two Oregons” – urban Oregon where most of the Democrat legislative leaders live, and rural Oregon which is represented mostly by Republicans.

The two sides have had difficulty over the years seeing issues from each other’s perspective.  The division continues.

What happened this – differing comments from Democrats and Republicans — is normal as the two sides square off to spend the next six months together in Salem for the long legislative session.

What emerges over those months will be more pivotal than comments from either side at the start of the session.

Will the two parties be able to work together to find solutions to housing, homelessness, K-12 education (including its funding) and transportation?  The fact is that workable solutions, as always, lie somewhere in the middle, but finding that middle ground compromise is always fraught with peril.

For me, as I saw all this in the last few days, the display prompted me to remember my 25 years as a lobbyist in Oregon in which I watched such speeches and responses first-hand at the Capitol. 

Then as now, early comments from both sides are important, but not as important as the final actions later this spring.  So, pay attention.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

I have not spent a lot on the West Coast of California, so it is hard for to imagine in my mind the reality of the tragic wildfires.

Shots on TV are the best that I can do.

But I do have a lot of friends who grew up in California and they have difficulty describing the new, fire-ravaged reality.

Then comes Donald Trump.

At a time when he ALL other Americans should be thanking those on the front lines fighting the fires, he does what a deranged, egotist would do:  He attacks the firefighters as if they are not doing enough.

Here is the description in the New York Times as its reporter wrote about this what late-night host – and Los Angeles resident – Jimmy Kimmel said on the program:

“Tonight, I don’t want to get into all the vile and irresponsible and stupid things our alleged future president and his gaggle of scumbags chose to say during our darkest and most terrifying hour.  

“The fact that they chose to attack our firefighters, who apparently aren’t white enough to be out there, risking their lives on our behalf is — it’s disgusting, but it’s not surprising.

“Instead, I want to focus on thanking those men and women, because that’s all we should be doing right now, and we should never stop thanking them.”

Kimmel, of course, didn’t tell his usual round of jokes.  Conditions were too serious.  He just thanked those who had worked – and were working – to save people and possessions in Los Angeles.

It was exactly what a president should do.  Instead, Trump focused on himself and his cockeyed perceptions of what America should be – of course, an America in exactly his image.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

In some ways, for those of us who value the notion of American democracy, President Joe Biden is a tragic figure.

He misread politics in this country.  He misread whatever he thought his mandate was.  His misread voters.  He misread the current way of doing business in Washington, D.C.

And, he underestimated the thousands of Americans who thought that Donald Trump, despite his bombast, his lying, and his status as a felon, deserved another term in the Oval Office.

In this way, Biden is, as I wrote above, a tragic figure.

Here is the bottom-line summary from The Atlantic Magazine in a piece written by Charles Sykes:

“As the passing of Jimmy Carter reminds us, presidential legacies are complicated matters, and it is difficult to predict the verdict of history.  But as Biden leaves office, he is less a transformational figure than a historical parenthesis.  He failed to grasp both the political moment and the essential mission of his presidency.”

And, that means the rest of us will have to suffer under a second Trump term.

Here is more from the well-written Atlantic article:

“President Joe Biden still imagines that he could have won.  Asked byUSA Today’s Susan Page whether he could have beaten Donald Trump if he had stayed in the race, Biden responded:   ‘It’s presumptuous to say that, but I think yes.’

“Reality thinks not.

“Of course, we’ll never know for sure, but the evidence (including polling) suggests that he would have been crushed by an even larger margin than Kamala Harris was.  

“Biden’s answer is a reminder that his legacy will be tarnished by his fundamental misreading of the moment and his own role in it.

“To be sure, Biden can point to some impressive successes.  He leaves behind a healthy and growing economy, a record of legislative accomplishment, and more than 230 judicial appointments, including a Supreme Court justice.  

“And then there were the failures: the chaotic exit from Afghanistan; a massive surge of migrants at the border in 2023.”

Now, as Biden leaves the highest political office in America in only a few days, he can take solace from this fact released over the weekend:

U.S. adds whopping 256K jobs in December

The U.S. added 256,000 jobs and the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1 per cent in December, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department.

The December jobs report showed the U.S. economy blowing past expectations to end the year.  Economists projected the U.S. to gain 155,000 jobs and hold the jobless rate at 4.2 per cent, according to consensus estimates.

The new jobs data caps off another year of sturdy job gains since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

So, Biden will be able to leave office in more than whimper.

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.

It used to be that having the word “felon” appended to your name would have disqualified you for trying to be president of the United States.

When Donald Trump is sworn in January 20, it will be the first time the word “felon” has moved into the Oval Office.  On his back.

Here is the way New York Times political reporter Peter Baker put it this week:

“A big economic package, mass deportations, maybe even some invasions of other countries.   Oh, and one more item.  ‘I’ll do my little thing tomorrow,’ a busy President-elect Donald J. Trump mentioned the other night.

“That little thing was the first criminal sentencing of an American president.  That little thing was confirmation that Trump, just 10 days later, would become the first president to move into the White House with a rap sheet.  That little thing is the latest shift in standards that once governed high office.

“Trump does not really consider it a little thing, of course, given how strenuously he sought to avoid Friday’s sentencing for 34 felony counts in his hush money case.  But to a remarkable degree, he has succeeded in making it a little thing in the body politic.  What was once a pretty-much-guaranteed disqualifier for the presidency is now just one more political event seen through a partisan lens.

After all, no one seemed shocked after Friday’s sentencing in New York.  While Trump was spared jail time or financial penalties, he effectively had the word ‘felon’ tattooed on his record for all time unless a higher court overturns the conviction.  But that development was already baked into the system.  Voters knew last fall that Trump had been found guilty by a jury of his peers, and enough of them decided it was either illegitimate or not as important as other issues.”

Baker is right, again.

American voters knew most of this before they elevated Trump to the presidency…again.

A bad tale for America.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

An interesting piece of advocacy came across my desk late this week.

It was a column by Dick Hughes, a former editor of the Salem Statesman-Journal’s editorial page who now writes for himself – and for folks like me who like what he writes.

This time, as this blog headline indicates, he decided to write about “kindness in politics,” often a foreign notion these days as all of us are confronted by Donald Trump for whom the word kindness apparently never crosses his mind or emerged from his mouth.

A summary from Hughes:

“Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

This is not the column I planned to write, the one for which I interviewed legislators this week.

“This is not the column I wanted to write. But it is the column I must write.

“It is a plea. No matter how much we dislike the current U.S. president or the incoming president, do not demonize either him or his followers.

“No matter how much we disdain Oregon’s Democrat leaders or the Republicans who oppose their policies, please forgo the inflammatory rhetoric.

“We might save a life.”

By the last phrase, Hughes referred to the recent tragedies in New Orleans and Las Vegas where individuals, probably acting alone, committed acts that qualified as “domestic terrorism.”

For background, I have known him for more than 30 since back in the days when I worked in state government he worked for the Salem Statesman-Journal.  One of my assignments then was to relate to media on behalf of state government.

So, Hughes and I talked a lot and, despite different assignments, managed to show each other the word Hughes now advocates using – “kindness.”

He writes on:

“How did we let ourselves go so far astray?  Have we substituted “All’s fair in love and war” for the Golden Rule, which existed in various forms since antiquity:  ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’

“In our homes, our schools, our religious institutions and elsewhere, we are taught to treat one another with respect.  We are encouraged, in what has almost become a cliché, to ‘disagree without being disagreeable.’  Those of us of the Christian faith are instructed, regardless of the circumstances, to follow Jesus’ teaching:  “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’

Yet, today, Hughes continues, we feel justified in “denigrating not just the other person’s view but the person themselves.”

“We want civics taught in our schools but fail to act civilly.  We have gone from criticizing an idea as idiotic to branding its adherents as idiots.

“Think back to the negative ads that many Oregon candidates deployed in the 2024 elections and which voters embraced.  The campaigns’ desire to win outwitted common decency.  Is this how politicians and the public will act as the 2025 Legislature begins its work on Monday?

“Oregon’s political and social divides are not new, but they are wider and deeper.”

Oregon used to be known, Hughes writes and I agree, as a political trendsetter in positive ways.  Here, in the past, Republicans managed to find a way to work with Democrats and Democrats managed to find a way to work with Republicans.

So, Hughes challenges all of us to put civil discourse above personal and political gain, to demonstrate kindness toward all, regardless of politics or personal situation and, yes, to disagree without being so disagreeable.

Possible?  Well, to use a time worn phrase, only time will tell.  But in these early days of 2025, I prefer to land on the side of a bit of optimism.

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.

As former president Jimmy Carter is laid to rest in his home in Plains, Georgia, it is good to reflect on the life he led.

Both when he served as president of this country from 1977-81, as well as the humanitarian good he did in his long post-president life until he died at age 100.

I, of course, did not know Carter well, if at all, though I did meet him at the White House back in 1977-78 when I worked in Washington, D.C. for an Oregon congressman.  We spent a bit of time at the White House in those days and I was able to shake Carter’s hand.

Not long after that, he lost his bid for re-election because of the start of what has come to be called “the Reagan Revolution.”

Still, Carter has come to be known as a “decent” president.

With that appellation, I couldn’t let more time pass before commenting on Carter’s life and times.

Consider these words from a letter-to-the-editor in the Washington Post:

“Reading the many articles on the life of former president Jimmy Carter, including the December 30 on-line article ‘Jimmy Carter’s death prompts condolences, praise around the world,’ I’ve found it interesting how many people refer to him as a ‘decent’ man.

“As if that adjective is so surprising, which I guess it is in today’s world. Decent, according to the American Heritage College Dictionary, means characterized by conformity to standards of propriety or morality.

“Americans used to believe that most presidents would strive to be decent.  This adjective will likely not be found in the next president’s obituary.”

Or, consider how President Joe Biden, a friend of Carter during his life, eulogized him in death:

“President Joe Biden eulogized former president Jimmy Carter on Thursday as a man who ‘taught me the strength of character’ and refused to let personal ambition or politics erode his inherent goodness, thus using one of his final speeches as president to issue an indirect rebuke to the politics of today.

“Character, I believe, is destiny.  Destiny in our lives and, quite frankly, destiny in the life of our nation, Biden used the word ‘character’ nearly a dozen times in 10 minutes.  ‘We have an obligation to give hate no safe harbor and to stand up to what my dad said is the greatest sin of all:  The abuse of power.’

“Biden said that Carter did justice, loved mercy, walked humbly,’ quoting the Bible’s Book of Micah.”

As we reflect on Carter’s life, two words are used – decency and character.  And those are words used less and less in today’s form politics, which renders disagreement enmity.

I long for the day when those words will not just be used, but will be an apt description of status and commitment.

So goodbye to a Godly man, Jimmy Carter.  Rest in peace.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

I noticed the word “fealty” in a column that appeared in the Wall Street Journal this week.

I could have opened one of the departments I run, the Department of Words Matter, to discuss this word.

But I decided not to do that and just discuss the word.

Here is what the dictionary says it means:

“A feudal tenant’s or vassal’s sworn loyalty to a lord, as in these sentences:  They owed fealty to the Earl rather than the King; formal acknowledgement of loyalty to a lord.  A property for which she did fealty.”

A bit confusing to read this definition, for it relies on history.  But the point is that “fealty” prescribes bowing and scraping to a lord as if you were a servant.

That’s what Donald Trump, the soon-to-inaugurated president, wants from those who work for him — no from “those who serve him.”

The person who used the word fealty, was John Bolton, the longest-serving national security adviser in the first Trump administration and an assistant attorney general for the civil division at the Justice Department in the Reagan administration.  He is the author of “The Room Where It Happened.”

He probably rues the day he took a job in the Trump administration.

He wrote this:

“Four years ago this Monday, Donald Trump pressured Mike Pence to pursue a surreal interpretation of the vice president’s constitutional role in counting the Electoral College’s votes.  Pence refused, igniting Trump’s fury for not subordinating either philosophical or constitutional principles in service to him, thereby showing ‘disloyalty.’

“Now, Trump is selecting key personnel for his second term.  Although the prospective appointees vary in philosophy, competence and character, one requirement for them is unfortunately consistent:  The likelihood that they will carry out Trump’s orders blind to norms and standards underlying effective governance, or perhaps even to legality.”

So, on it goes.  Trump as lord with vassals and – here’s that word again – those with fealty toward 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.

If you want to know what the word “statesmanship” means, consider this:

Vice President Kamala stepped up the plate this week to perform what must have been awkward test for her — certifying the vote she lost.

Here’s the definition of the word:

“The ability, qualifications, or practice of a statesman; wisdom and skill in the management of public affairs.”  Or, to change the words, stateswomen or statesperson to make it includes Harris.

The vice presidency comes with plenty of indignities, but probably none greater than the one Harris endured on Monday when she presided over the certification of her defeat.

Consider the stark contrast.

Donald Trump, after he lost Joe Biden, tried to stay in office by all means possible.  Even instructing his followers to attack the U.S. Capitol, which stands, for Trump, as major criminal offense, one for which it appears he will not pay a price.  Even as he contemplates pardoning those who are in prison for following his orders.

Under the Constitution, the vice president takes the gavel when the two houses of Congress meet to count formally the Electoral College votes for president.  While not every vice president has chosen to fulfill the duty, Harris carried out the painful task.

Here is more information from political writer Peter Baker in the New York
Times:

“Unlike Trump, Harris has made no effort to cast doubt on the election but has instead accepted defeat graciously.  Neither she nor President Biden has sought to pressure the Justice Department, members of Congress, governors, state legislators or election officials to reverse the vote she lost, as Trump did four years ago.

“She has not filed dozens of lawsuits that would be tossed out by judges as frivolous or unfounded.  She has not repeated false fraud allegations or wild conspiracy theories that her own advisers told her were untrue.

“Nor has she considered trying to use her role as presiding officer to reject votes for Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance the way Trump tried to get Pence to do to Biden and Harris in 2021

“The contrast between the two January 6 events could hardly be starker.  Four years ago, the mob ransacking the Capitol chanted, “Hang Mike Pence,” while the Secret Service rushed the outgoing vice president to safety.  Harris, then a senator on the verge of becoming vice president, was at Democrat National Committee headquarters at the time and also had to be evacuated, when a pipe bomb was found near a park bench outside.”

So, keep the stark contrast in mind even as Biden welcomes Trump to the White House, something Trump did not do when the roles were reversed.

It’s another act of statesmanship.

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 this question?

Who comes up with the names for golf drivers, especially for me, for Callaway whose golf clubs I play?

When I bought a Callaway driver several years ago, it was called Epic.  And that was followed each year by new names:

• Epic Flash

• Rogue

• Mavrik

• Paradym smoke

• Big Bertha

• And perhaps others.

Now, I have just learned that Callaway is marketing a driver with a new name – “Elyte.”

Not sure how the new name is pronounced.  But I suspect it is “elite,” not “e-light.”  The latter would not be a goal of Callaway staff who have designed and now make the new driver.

In all this, I wish my job would have been to think up new names for the new drivers.  For all I know, it is done with two objectives in mind – first, that the name sounds good and, second, that the new name translates into marketing more drivers.

My own driver – the Epic – has been in my golf bag for about five or so years now.  I have tried the new ones is that I don’t need to spend money for a new driver.  Plus, if I was to spend the money, I would need two – one for my home in Salem, Oregon and another for my winter home in La Quinta, California.

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.

Once in awhile, I find a column worth repeating intact in my blog.  This is such a time.

Writing in The Atlantic Magazine, Tom Nichols advocated that Americans who care about America – and that does not include Donald Trump – need to band together to stop Trump pollution.

Even as we head toward Trump’s inauguration, which I will not watch, we should not forget Trump’s ill-conceived plan for America – one where he is always the acknowledged ruler…rather than just president.

And, today, in a huge irony, Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump, will preside over the routine in the U.S. Senate to declare Trump the winner.  The episode will stand in huge contrast to Trump who did the reverse last time around – urging supporters to ransack the U.S Capitol and ordering his vice president, Mike Pence, to undo the election, which would have been unlawful act.

There also is a lot of major news coverage today about Trump’s promise to pardon persons who are in prison, having been found guilty for January 6, 2022 crimes.

But, enough words from me.  Here are Nichols’ words.

*********

An aspiring fascist is the president-elect, again, of the United States.

This is our political reality:  Donald Trump is going to bring a claque of opportunists and kooks (led by the vice president–elect, a person who once compared Trump to Hitler) into government this winter, and even if senescence overtakes the president-elect, Trump’s minions will continue his assault on democracy, the rule of law, and the Constitution.

The urge to cast blame will be overwhelming, because there is so much of it to go around.  When the history of this dark moment is written, those responsible will include not only Trump voters but also easily gulled Americans who didn’t vote or who voted for independent or third-party candidates because of their own selfish peeves.

Trump’s opponents will also blame Russia and other malign powers.  Without a doubt, America’s enemies — some of whom dearly hoped for a Trump win — made efforts to flood the public square with propaganda.  According to federal and state government reports, several bomb threats that appeared to originate from Russian email domains were aimed at areas with minority voters.  But as always, the power to stop Trump rested with American voters at the ballot box, and blaming others is a pointless exercise.

So now what?

The first order of business is to redouble every effort to preserve American democracy.  If I may invoke Winston Churchill, this is not the end or the beginning of the end; it is the end of the beginning.

For a decade, Trump has been trying to destroy America’s constitutional order.  His election in 2016 was something like a prank gone very wrong, and he likely never expected to win.  But once in office, he and his administration became a rocket sled of corruption, chaos, and sedition.  Trump’s lawlessness finally caught up with him after he was forced from office by the electorate.  He knew that his only hope was to return to the presidency and destroy the last instruments of accountability.

Paradoxically, however, Trump’s reckless venality is a reason for hope.  Trump has the soul of a fascist but the mind of a disordered child.  He will likely be surrounded by terrible but incompetent people.  All of them can be beaten:  In court, in Congress, in statehouses around the nation, and in the public arena.

America is a federal republic, and the states — at least those in the union that will still care about democracy — have ways to protect their citizens from a rogue president.  Nothing is inevitable, and democracy will not fall overnight.

Do not misunderstand me.  I am not counseling complacency:  Trump’s re-election is a national emergency.

If we have learned anything from the past several years, it’s that feel-good, performative politics can’t win elections, but if there was ever a time to exercise the American right of free assembly, it is now — not least because Trump is determined to end such rights and silence his opponents.

Americans must stay engaged and make their voices heard at every turn.  They should find and support organizations and institutions committed to American democracy, and especially those determined to fight Trump in the courts.  They must encourage candidates in the coming 2026 elections who will oppose Trump’s plans and challenge his legislative enablers.

After Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, then–Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed to make Obama a one-term president, and obstructed him at every turn. McConnell, of course, cared only about seizing power for his party, and later, he could not muster that same bravado when faced with Trump’s assaults on the government.

Patriotic Americans and their representatives might now make a similar commitment, but for better aims:  Although they cannot remove Trump from office, they can declare their determination to prevent Trump from implementing the ghastly policies he committed himself to while campaigning.

The kinds of actions that will stop Trump from destroying America in 2025 are the same ones that stopped many of his plans the first time around.  They are not flashy, and they will require sustained attention, because the next battles for democracy will be fought by lawyers and legislators, in Washington and in every state capitol.  

They will be fought by citizens banding together in associations and movements to rouse others from the sleepwalk that has led America into this moment.

Trump’s victory is a grim day for the United States and for democracies around the world.  You have every right to be appalled, saddened, shocked, and frightened.  Soon, however, you should dust yourself off, square your shoulders, and take a deep breath.  Americans who care about democracy have work to do.

To this, I add this quote from Jennifer Rubin writing in the Washington Post.

“Democrats strain credulity if they imagine they can find common ground with someone who vows, among other mind-boggling schemes, to imprison opponents, deploy the military against immigrants, snatch the power of the purse from Congress and pay for tax cuts for billionaires with cuts to entitlements and other programs that serve ordinary Americans. (What would common ground even look like? Deport just 5.5 million people, not 11 million? Cut Social Security only a little bit?)