This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all 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 I write this, I am still dwelling on the harsh reality of a Good Friday service last night at the church we attend here in La Quinta, California, Southwest Church.

To put it simply, the staff there did a great calling our attention to the excruciating death Christ suffered on the cross, an act he took on to provide a way for us to have a relationship with God.

This was a powerful, yet stark, prelude to Easter on Sunday when we will have a chance to get past death to life.

So, for Sunday, I have another blog in the planning stage to celebrate that the “sun” has risen, and that the “son” his risen.

But, before that, I cannot help by post a column written by New York Times analyst Maureen Dowd.

She writes about the other-worldly experience seeing one Donald Trump hawk Bibles in this Easter season as if he knows what’s in the greatest book ever written.  He doesn’t.

Speaking of dissonance – Trump and Bibles.  This is it.

I’ll Dowd illustrate the truth of the dissonance.

**********

On this holy weekend, one man is taking the Resurrection personally.

Donald Trump is presenting himself as the Man on the Cross, tortured for our sins.  “I consider it a great badge of courage,” he tells crowds.  “I am being indicted for you.”  Instead of Christ-like redemption, he promises Lucifer-like retribution if resurrected.

In January, he put up a video on Truth Social about how he is a messenger from God, “a shepherd to mankind.”

Trump is, as the nuns who taught me used to say, “a bold, brazen piece.” He is a miserable human who cheated on his wives, cheats at golf, cheats at politics, incites violence, targets judges and their families and looked on, pleased, as thugs threatened to hang his actually pious vice president.

Yet, more and more, Trump is wallowing in his Messiah complex.

Trump wouldn’t know the difference between Old and New Testaments. So he may not realize that, rather than a sacrificial lamb, he is the Golden Calf, the false god worshiped by Israelites when Moses went up to Mount Sinai to get the Ten Commandments.

Just as the Israelites melted their ornaments and jewelry to make the calf, Trump is trading tacky products for gilt to pay gazillions in obligations. After his $399 golden “Never Surrender High-Top Sneaker,” Trump is selling a $99 “Victory” cologne for “movers, shakers and history makers” with “a crisp opening of citrus blends into a cedar heart, underpinned by a rich base of leather and amber, crafting a commanding presence.”  A gold bust of Trump tops the bottle. (“Victory” perfume for women comes in a Miss Universe-shape bottle.)

Weaponizing his martyrdom, Trump is selling $59.99 “God Bless the USA” Bibles adorned with a flag and the chorus of Lee Greenwood’s song handwritten by the singer, plus the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Pledge of Allegiance.

“Happy Holy Week!” he wrote on Truth Social.  “Let’s Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of  the God Bless The USA Bible.”

David Axelrod says that, even as a secular Jew, he’s offended:  “This is a guy who has violated 11 of the Ten Commandments.”

Trump posted a promotional video claiming “Christians are under siege” and vowing to “protect content that is pro-God.”  He held up the Bible — recalling the appalling moment in 2020 when Ivanka handed him a Bible from her designer bag and he clutched it in front of St. John’s Church, opposite the White House, moments after the police tear-gassed protesters and journalists in adjacent Lafayette Square at a demonstration about George Floyd’s murder.

“All Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many,” Trump barked.  “It’s my favorite book.”  Maybe the Bible has replaced that Hitler book Trump’s ex-wife said he kept by his bed.

But it’s all a scam.  Running for president is about enriching himself, just as when he peddled NFTs, steaks, ties, suits, bath towels, vodka, water, office chairs, Trump University and mug-shot mugs.  He even sold pieces of the suit he was wearing when he took the mug shot.

“I want to have a lot of people have it,” Trump said of his Bible.  “You have to have it for your heart, for your soul.”

Just what the world needs:  A soul cleanse with a grifter Bible, where the profits could well be going to pay legal costs in trials about breaking commandments — bearing false witness to try to steal democracy, coveting a porn star, then paying the star hush money to keep quiet about the sex.

What could be more Elmer Gantry than that?  As Sinclair Lewis wrote about his corrupt, power-hungry, narcissistic, womanizing preacher, “He had, in fact, got everything from the church and Sunday school, except, perhaps, any longing whatever for decency and kindness and reason.”

Religious snake-oil salesmen have a storied history in American literature and films, from Flannery O’Connor’s “Wise Blood” to Peter Bogdanovich’s beloved movie “Paper Moon,” about a conniving Bible salesman and his small helper.  But it’s shocking when the charlatan might be in the Oval.

In her 2016 book, “The Confidence Game,” Maria Konnikova explained that we’re easy prey for faux Nigerian princes because of all the chaos in our world.  “The whirlwind advance of technology heralds a new golden age of the grift,” she wrote.  “Cons thrive in times of transition and fast change.”

If there is one thing Trump knows how to do, it’s exploit chaos he creates.

There has to be a yearning in the populace that the con man can channel; and, at a time when religion and patriotism are waning, people are searching for more. Unfortunately, these days that search often takes the form of conspiracy theories.

As Donie O’Sullivan reported for CNN, no sooner had the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in Baltimore than a bunch of crazy conspiracy tales blossomed about terrorism, D.E.I., Obama, Israel and Ukraine.

Declining faith in religion and rising faith in conspiracies create fertile ground for a faker like Trump. If the profane pol is re-elected, we’ll all reap the whirlwind.

This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all 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 open this department, one of five I run as a very competent manager, to cite three very good quotes.

The other departments I run are the Department of Words Matter, the Department of Pet Peeves, the Department of “Just Saying,” and the Department of Inquiring Minds Want to know.

So, for the good quotes.

FROM COLUMNIST FRANK BRUNI IN THE NEW YORK TIMES:  “In terms of optics and in terms of energy, I wish President Biden were younger.  There’s no point in pretending otherwise.

“And from the casual conversations all around me and the formal polling of voters, I know I’m in robust company.  A great many Americans consider his age unideal, and that belief is why there’s no wishing away the focus on it.  The swell of attention to it over the past few months is more beginning than end.  There are tsunamis yet to come.

“Even so, aspects of the subject get too little consideration, starting with this crushingly obvious and yet frequently overlooked fact:  The presidency isn’t a solo mission.  Not even close.  It’s a team effort, and the administration that a president puts together matters much, much more than his brawn or his brio.”

COMMENT:  Bruni is right on.  The presidency is not a “solo mission” and I would rather have Joe Biden in charge of appointments than Donald Trump.  Given Trump’s previous track record, he would appoint scofflaws like Rudy Guilani!  Biden won’t.

FROM COLUMNIST JAMELLE BOUIE, ALSO IN THE TIMES:  “As the week began, it looked as though Donald Trump would finally face consequences — or at least, a consequence — for his actions.

“Last month, a New York state trial court found the former president liable for inflating his net worth and misleading banks and insurers in order to receive favorable loans for his various businesses and commercial enterprises.

“The judge, Arthur F. Engoron, imposed a penalty of $454 million, to be paid into the state’s general fund.  Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, gave Trump a 30-day grace period to secure bond as he pursued appeal of the judgment.  ‘If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets,’ James said last month.

“As of Sunday, Trump did not have the funds lined up.  He could not find a company willing to pledge nearly half a billion dollars on his behalf.  And even if he could, he would need to pledge at least as much in collateral to the company.

“Almost any other defendant would have to face the consequences of coming to court empty-handed. On Monday, the day the money was due, a New York appeals court said that it would accept a far smaller bond of $175 million, a significant and unexpected victory for the former president. He has 10 days to pay.”

COMMENT:  Again, Trump gets away without consequences for his alleged actions.  I wish it wasn’t so.

AND MORE FROM THE TIMES:  “The news that NBC had hired and then abruptly cut ties with the former Republican Party chair Ronna McDaniel this week may feel like a flashback for TV insiders and viewers.

“Once again, a major news network is on the defensive over an attempt to balance out its ranks of talking heads — a mainstay of the genre — with a pro-Trump surrogate whose qualifications for the role appeared to run counter to the basic tenets of journalism.

“McDaniel, after all, had been a prominent exponent of the false notion that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.  McDaniel was also at times involved in Trump’s attempts to stave off the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.

“While the crack-up may seem as if it was inevitable in retrospect, it was also reflective of a hallmark of the Trump era:  After two impeachments, a Capitol riot and numerous criminal indictments, the question of how to cover Trump is no closer to being solved.”

COMMENT:  The Times has it right.  The question of how journalists cover Trump is not being solved.

To that, as a former journalist myself, I add this:  Journalists need to remember that Trump not only acted a lot like Hitler in his first term as president, he values Hitler now.

Trump wants to be a dictator in the spirit of Hitler.  Presiding over killing people – especially migrants looking for a better life – doesn’t bother him at all.

As Hitler rose to power after the first World War, I wonder if journalists thought about their rule in covering him as a dictator.  Probably not because they lived at the time, with no benefit of hindsight.

Tough for journalists in this country, as well, and they have not found their footing yet.  A difference is that today’s journalist don’t need hindsight.  They have all the information they need given how Trump conducted himself in his first trip through the Oval Office.  And, of course, they have all of Trump’s fulminations, which focus on dishonesty and selfish ambitions.

The Ronna McDaniel issue is only the tip of the iceberg.  Better for wise journalists – yes, there are some left – to decide new ways of covering trip before we go under as a nation.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and 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.

Those who know me know that I cannot sing a lick.  I remember the time my late mother-in-law heard me try to sing and dissolved into gales of laughter.

No wonder.  But that’s not the primary point of this blog.

This next paragraph is.

For me, one of the best ways to focus on the true meaning of Easter – commemorating the fact that Christ rose from the dead – is to think of words from great songs we sing at this time of year.  Not just to think about the lyrics, but also to focus on the true meaning of what Christ accomplished for all of us.

Easter is more than eggs, candy, and brunch.  It is a time for remembrance and reflection.  The words of the songs below do a far better job than I could of capturing the real meaning of Easter.

Easter would not be complete for me unless this first song was performed in a powerful, upbeat way. 

UP FROM THE GRAVE HE AROSE

Low in the grave He lay,
Jesus, my Savior,
Waiting the coming day,
Jesus, my Lord!

Refrain:
Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Vainly they watch His bed,
Jesus, my Savior;
Vainly they seal the dead,
Jesus, my Lord!

Death cannot keep his Prey,
Jesus, my Savior;
He tore the bars away,
Jesus, my Lord!

As a person who likes words, the next song uses two words “cross” and “bridge” interchangeably, with different definitions, to make the point about what Christ has done for us.

A BRIDGE ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE; A CROSS TO BRIDGE THE GREAT DIVIDE

Trying to fathom the distance
Looking out ‘cross the canyon carved by my hands
God is gracious
Sin would still separate us
Were it not for the bridge His grace has made us
His love will carry me

There’s a bridge to cross the great divide
A way was made to reach the other side
The mercy of the Father, cost His son His life
His love is deep, His love is wide
There’s a cross to bridge the great divide

God is faithful
On my own I’m unable
He found me hopeless, alone and sent a Savior
He’s provided a path and promised to guide us
Safely past all the sin that would divide us
His love delivers me

The cross that cost my Lord His life
Has given me mine
There’s a bridge to cross the great divide
There’s a cross to bridge the great divide

If I had to pick my favorite Christian song of all time, a bit of an artificial act, I admit, this next song would be at the top of the list.  It asks us to survey the cross and understand that “love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”

WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Celebrations at Easter are good for the soul and life, especially during this difficult time in our history.  Reflecting on the good words above is one way to focus your mind and remember what Christ did for all of us as he arose, thus confirming a way for us to have a relationship with God.

So, sing — or at least think — about the good words of Easter songs.

This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all 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 thought a lot about the question in the headline as I reflect back on a life going to church.

First, I went in Portland, Oregon, where I grew up and my family attended church regularly.  Good for the family and me.

Second, I attended church in Salem, Oregon, where I and my family have lived since 1979.  Salem Alliance was – and is — our church home there.  It is a church that focuses on Christ and what he has done for us.  And, further, it avoids divisive political issues.   

Third, as my wife and I now spend our winters in the California desert, we attend Southwest Church.  It is a huge church in our area that has, as its theme, “We are a gospel-centered, multi-ethnic, inter-generational church… and we love discipleship!”

Now, there is no way to argue with that sense of mission!

To answer the question in the headline, I have come to several conclusions:

• Sunday sermons should be designed and delivered to help assure that those who attend are thankful they were in church to honor God and their relationship with Him.

• Sunday sermons should be designed and delivered to encourage those who have not yet made a decision to follow Christ to make that decision.

• Sunday sermons, especially given the large numbers of people who attend Southwest Church in La Quinta, California – all ages, all backgrounds, all ethnic derivations, all economic standing – should be designed and delivered to avoid divisive topics.  Especially politics.

One recent example for me highlights the problem with focusing on divisive topics that just happen to be part of a sermon series that hews to a particular book of the Bible.  In three weeks at this one church, the topics in order from the book in question were, (a) advice on church discipline, (b) admonitions against Christians going to court against other Christians, and (c) commitments to avoid sexual sin.

All might have been good topics for a class or seminar that persons chose to attend in the spirit of the scriptural admonition “to rightly divide the word of truth.”

But, for a Sunday sermon, not good topics.

Back to Salem Alliance Church.  I had the privilege of serving in a church leadership volunteer position there over a number of years where the topic of Sunday sermons was a frequent one for us.

We tried to adhere to what I listed above and, with emphasis, I add that we avoided politics, which, if it had been emphasized, contained more potential to divide than to unify.

I say all this as we embark today on another Easter season.  Last Sunday was “Palm Sunday,” and now we are in the midst of a week to mark Easter and, in the process, to focus on what Christ has done for us.

Which is to offer salvation to us based on His grace, not on our works.

So, have a great Easter season to celebrate Christ’s resurrection and what that means for all of us.

**********

Later this week, I intend to write several more blogs to highlight the reason for the Easter season.

This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all 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.

To answer the question in this blog headline:

• To Trump, “hostages” means the now-convicted protestors he pledges to release as soon as he becomes president again – IF he becomes president again.

• To the rest of us, “hostages” means that we are hostages facing the prospect of huge dislocation – perhaps a near-civil war – if Trump makes it again to the Oval Office.

This came to mind for me this week when I read a column by Tom Nichols in Atlantic Magazine when he wrote under this headline – “Donald Trump’s plan to pardon people in prison for their crimes on January 6 — people he now calls “hostages” — is yet another dangerous and un-American attack on the rule of law.”

More from Nichols:

“This past weekend, Trump stirred up one of his usual controversies by declaring that there would be a ‘bloodbath’ if he isn’t elected.  Trump’s supporters played a game of gotcha with outraged critics by claiming that Trump was merely describing an economic meltdown in the auto industry.

“Unfortunately, Trump decided, as he so often does, to pull the rug out from under his apologists by defending bloodbath as a common expression and clarifying that he meant it to refer to ‘getting slaughtered economically, when you’re getting slaughtered socially, when you’re getting slaughtered.’”

Nichols says Trump’s threats and violent language are nothing new.

“But while the nation’s pundits and partisans examine what it means for a presidential contender to mull over ‘getting slaughtered socially,’ Trump has added a much more disturbing project to his list of campaign promises:  He intends to pardon all the people jailed for the attack on the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection.”

Nichols remembers that, back in 2021, Trump claimed to be appalled by the violence at the Capitol.   But that didn’t last long — and there is no reason to assume Trump was sincere in the first place.

“The only surprise here is that it took Trump this long to adopt a radical position supporting the people who were willing to do violence on his behalf.  According to the House Select Committee’s investigation, his own staff had trouble getting him to call off the January 6 mob, to whom he said, ‘We love you.’  Many of those convicted for various crimes committed on that day went off to prison convinced they’d done the right thing, and Trump — a sucker for sycophancy — must have been moved by such shows of support, which included people singing to him in jail.”

Both as president and in business – if “business” is what he does – Trump has shown an innate disgust with the whole idea of the impartial rule of law.  He’s in serious financial trouble for lying about the value of his properties when it suited his interests; he has always seemed to believe that rules are for chumps, and that people — especially people named Donald Trump — should be free to enjoy the benefits of whatever they can get away with, legal or otherwise.

And more from Nichols:

“…in promising pardons, Trump may have a motive even darker than his general hatred for rules and laws.  As he makes his third run at the presidency, Trump no longer has a reservoir of establishment Republicans who will support him or serve him.  He distrusts the U.S. military, not least because senior officers and appointees thwarted his efforts to use the armed forces for his own political purposes.  And although he may yet win re-election, his MAGA movement is now dependent on the kind of people who will go to his rallies and buy the trinkets and hats and shirts that go on sale whenever he speaks.”

Where, then, Nichols asks, can Trump find a truly loyal cadre willing to offer unconditional support.

In prison, that’s where.

“Trump is no longer flirting with this idea. The man whose constitutional duty as president would be to ‘take care that the laws be faithfully executed’ is now promising to let hundreds of rioters and insurrectionists out of prison with full pardons.  And eventually, he will make clear what he expects in return.”

So, to conclude, if we needed another reason to oppose Trump, we just got one.  Hundreds of folks will get out of jail as they continue to offer obedience to their corrupt leader, Trump.

This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all 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.

This time, in this department, one of five I run with a free hand to manage as I see fit, I focus on words that could be used to describe Donald Trump, the scofflaw who wants to be U.S. president again.

By the way, first, the other departments I run are the Department of Pet Peeves, the Department of “Just Saying,” the Department of Good Quotes Worth Remembering, and the Department of Inquiring Minds Want to Know.

Are there duplicate jurisdictions in these departments?  Probably.  But who cares?  I am in charge of all of them, so it doesn’t matter.

On to the words about Trump.

Caricature:  To describe Trump, this was the first word I thought of yesterday as I contemplated writing this blog.  Here is what it means:  “A picture, description, or imitation of a person in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect.”

That’s Trump.  Never a real human being.  Just a caricature he creates to suit the moment, all for his own ends.

Narcissist:  I have used this word often to describe Trump.  Here is what it means:  “Having an excessive or erotic interest in oneself and one’s physical appearance.”

Sound like Trump?  Sure.

Shoot Americans:  Say what?  Trump actually has said this.  Note this quote from Trump’s Secretary of Defense Mark Esper who said, “He wanted to deploy active-duty troops on the streets of Washington, D.C., and suggested actually that we shoot Americans in the street.  That’s kind of more of what you’ll see.”  Esper further cautioned that Trump is not “fit for office because he puts himself first and I think anybody running for office should put the country first.”

Unfit to Serve:  That surely describes Trump who never served anyone or anything other than himself.  And that includes not serving in the military.

Some former advisers have gone so far as to warn that Trump is mentally unfit to serve.  Former U.S. Attorney William Barr said that “Trump is a consummate narcissist.  And he constantly engages in reckless conduct.   He’s a very petty individual who will always put his interests ahead of the country’s.  But our country can’t be a therapy session for a troubled man like this.”

Retribution:  That’s what Trump says he wants to do as president.  Seek retribution. 

More from Barr:  “He’s already saying it’s going to be about retribution.  And he’s, he’s a very petty man.  And it’s all about him.  And he has a very fragile ego.  Something happened to him as a kid and I’m not going to spend time psychoanalyzing it but, in every encounter, he has to come out showing the other guy that he’s better.  It’s all about the assertion of his ego, and I think he will be self-indulgent in a new administration and won’t be as effective as he could otherwise be and probably things would start moving toward chaos.”

Duty To Warn:  Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin used this phrase in what she recently wrote.

The “duty to warn” is a concept associated with mental health professionals who must alert authorities or a potential victim if their patient appears to be a threat to others.  In a non-medical context, those who once took the oath of office have a “duty to warn” the country of the fundamental threat to national security and democratic institutions that Trump represents.

A couple years ago, I wrote another blog on this subject.  Here are excerpts from that blog – more words about Trump. They are still true today as they were then:

• Lacks honesty.  Why else do lies come to him so easily as second nature?

• Lacks conscience.  Why else, for example, could he tolerate his own action to separate immigrant children from their families.

• Lacks empathy.  Why else would he criticize U.S. military war hero John McCain, both in life and in death?

• Lacks decency.  Why else would he act toward women as if they are just objects?

Enough for today.  The Department of Words Matter is now closed, unless I think of more words about Trump.

This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all 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.

Golf was in the news again last week, perhaps in part due to the fact that the Tournament Players Club tournament was under way in Florida near the home of the Professional Golf Tour.

The consensus appears to be this:  Pro golf, as we used to know it, is broken.  And the process for fixing it won’t be easy.

Part of the reason is money.  Well, perhaps most of the reason.

I wish this were not true, so the headline in this blog ASKS whether pro golf is broken; it doesn’t posit the answer.

For pro golf, the grasp for money taints the sport because money appears to be THE driver, not the love of the game.

I add quickly that it is inappropriate to offer a huge generalization.  It is likely that some pro golfers still play “for the love of the game.”

Here is a quick summary of the stories last week.

First, the Wall Street Journal carried a story with this under headline:  The Tournament That Became the Biggest Loser in Golf’s Civil War; The Players Championship has an awkward problem — it’s missing a bunch of the world’s best players.

Here is how the story started:

“Ever since the Players Championship first teed off half a century ago, it has been unofficially regarded as golf’s fifth major. The PGA Tour’s flagship event boasts an iconic course, exorbitant prize money, and the promise of the strongest field in all of golf. 

“Except that last part is no longer quite accurate. 

“Among golf’s showcase events, no tournament has been hit harder by the sport’s split.  Most of the top golfers who defected from the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf are still making their way into the major championships.  But not the Players Championship.”

Still, despite the Wall Street Journal story, Data Golf reported that 41 of the world’s top-50 rated golfers competed in the Players, which, to me at least, does not sound bad.  All nine of the missing players had joined the competing organization, LIV.

Second, Golf Digest carried a story under this headline:  Pro golf is broken. How are we going to put it back together?

Editor Jerry Tarde wrote this:

“The first book I remember my father reading was Situation Golf by Arnold Palmer.  The first golf tournament I remember watching was the 1972 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach won by Jack Nicklaus.  

“I’ve been rooting for pro golf my whole life, so take this as a lover’s lament, not the grieving of a cynic:  Pro golf is broken, and I’m worried about how it can be put back together.”

Beyond golf, Tarde says golf’s brokenness shouldn’t be surprising because it follows a familiar pattern.

“Bret Stephens in The New York Times wrote that ‘brokenness has become the defining feature of much of American life: broken families, broken public schools, broken small towns and inner cities, broken universities, broken health care, broken media, broken churches, broken borders, broken government.’”

Why shouldn’t pro golf be broken, too, Tarde asks.

Tarde adds:

“We thought the PGA Tour was invincible until it wasn’t.  We watched every other industry undergo disruption while pro golf only up-ticked continuously.  Tournament prize money increased year after year despite recessions, wars, scandals, pandemics, and all forms of economic turbulence.

“Ever since World War II, pro golf built its foundation on five principles: (1) The top players like Arnie and Jack always put the game above themselves.  (2) Golfers are accountable to their performance — nothing’s guaranteed.  (3) The pro tours are kept in check and balance by the four independent governing bodies controlling the major championships and acting in the best interests of the game.  (4) Pro golf is underpinned by charity; that’s why hundreds of volunteers show up every week to help run the tournaments.  (5) The game’s leaders — not always, but generally — have used the time-honored Masters strategy of leaving money on the table in exchange for control and sustainability.”

It began to break down, Tarde writes, “when suspect morals and unlimited resources tested the first two principles.  Some top players saw themselves as victims of income disparity and thought they were not only entitled to the growing prize money, but it wasn’t enough.  Defections and betrayal followed.”

Still, according to Golf Digest, golf as most of us play it is not doing badly:

•  Rounds played are up 20 per cent since the start of the pandemic (2019), an all-time record at 531 million.

•  More than 90 per cent of golfers expect to play as much or more in 2024.

•  “Green-grass” participation hit 26.6 million last year — the biggest single-year jump since the 2001.

•  On-course participation growth since Covid shows increases in play by youth (up 40 per cent), people of color (up 27 per cent) and women (up 25 per cent).

•  Sixty per cent of the growth since 2019 has been female participation.

•  Latent demand among non-golfers’ interest in taking up the game has hit a record 22.4 million.

•  Alternative forms of the game like Topgolf are up 130 per cent, driving a record number of total golfers to 45 million, and people with this off-course experience are five to six times more interested in playing on-course golf, portending even better news for the game’s future.

So, does golf need to be fixed?  Well, I think pro golf does.

As for regular golf, no.  The statistics above show it is alive and well.

This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all 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.

When you have a lot of time on your hands, as I do here in La Quinta, California, questions like the one in the headline cross your mind.

Does Donald Trump, the once and I-want-to-be-again president, ever express regret for any of his actions?

Put differently, goes he ever apologize?

I believe the answer is “no.” 

And, every day he proves I am right.

As a person who has been involved in politics for many years, I always have thought a major credential for those involved is this:  When you make a mistake, admit it, take responsibility, and move on.

One of the best examples of this was George Bush, the younger, who served as president from 2001-09.

Here is the way the Today Show on NBC reported his apology under this headline:  The Iraq war my biggest regret, Bush admits.

“George Bush, in a moment of reflection ahead of his departure from the White House, admitted that the decision to go to war against Saddam Hussein on the basis of flawed intelligence was the biggest regret of his presidency.

“The acknowledgment marks the first time that Bush has publicly expressed doubts about his rationale for going to war on Iraq.

“In the run-up to the war, the White House adopted a position of absolute certainty that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, basing its arguments on intelligence that was later exposed as flimsy and wrong.

“The biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq.  I wish the intelligence had been different.”

In his post-presidency book, Decision Points, Bush makes the same apology.

Good for him, I always have thought.

But, I also have thought that any president bases his or her action on the information each has at the moment.  If that information proves later to have been wrong, well, that is the benefit of hindsight.

Given the information he had AT THE TIME, it is not hard for me to understand why Bush and all his military advisors decided to go to war.  They were out to protect America from what they thought were “weapons of mass destruction.

So, back to one Donald Trump.

Why doesn’t he feel the need to apologize for his missteps, since there have been so many?

• His sexual assault against Jean Carroll.
• His criticism against John McCain for being captured as McCain fought for America in Vietnam War when Trump never served a minute in the military.
• His actions to overvalue his assets for PR purposes, then undervalue the same assets for tax purposes.
• His advocacy for sedition as Americans he valued – not to mention came close to order — invaded the U.S. Capitol after his election loss to Joseph Biden.  The goal, orchestrated by Trump, was to try to overturn the result.
• Others, too numerous to list here.

The answer on why Trump never apologizes:  He is the epitome of the narcissist who believes he always is right, no matter the reality.

And, for me, that is not a trait Americans need in a president.  

This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all 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 answer the question in the headline this way:

On the night Harry Truman beat back expectations to defeat Thomas Dewey in the 1948 presidential election, I was just being born.

Yes, on November 2, 1948.

Do I remember that time?

Well, not exactly.

But, since then, I have come to remember the date because Truman overcame a huge deficit to defeat Dewey.  And, some newspapers wrote headlines heralding Dewey’s win on November 2, then had to apologize and back-track with new headlines proclaiming Truman the victor.

Wall Street Journal columnist and former Republican operative Karl Rove recalled all this for me when he wrote for the Wall Street Journal under this headline:  Biden Can Shout, but He’s No Truman.

Rove added this:

“America’s octogenarian president delivered a 67-minute State of the Union address last week.  Joe Biden did it with what the press called ‘high energy,’ a synonym for lots of shouting.  His address was punctuated by Democrats chanting ‘Four more years, four more years!

“Biden did what he had to do.  He exceeded the low expectations many Americans had for his performance.  He calmed — for the moment — Democrat bed-wetters concerned about his stamina, energy, and ability to deliver a message.

“Still, it is far from clear he changed voters’ fundamental concerns.  He is too old.  He has memory problems.  He does lack stamina.  And shouting or no, Americans know it.

“Polls in the coming weeks are likely to show little or no positive impact of Biden’s State of the Union performance on his standing on the issues or with voters.  The Democrat nervous Nellies may start hyperventilating again.”

I like Rove because he goes after any candidate he believes is having difficulty with campaigns.  That means, in the current presidential context, both Biden and Trump, not just the Democrat.

But I also think Rove sells Biden short, though he, Biden, will have to do a lot to counter Trump.

As for hyperventilating, that’s probably what I do when it comes to Trump.

If, as Rove contends, wrongly I submit, that Biden’s age is a disqualifying factor to run for president, then Trump is not qualified because he is nothing if not a jerk. 

He ridicules people.  He criticizes everyone.  He hates military heroes, including Vietnam War hero John McCain when he, Trump, never served.  He inflates his net worth, except when it comes to paying taxes where he deflates.  He asks his followers to subvert the U.S. Constitution and declare him to be president despite the FACT that he lost the last election.

So, when the time comes for the next presidential election, now only a few months away, will there be an upset as there was in 1948.  And, if there was an upset, what would that be – Biden over Trump or Trump over Biden?

As in 1948, we’ll find out in early November…on or about my birthday.

This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all 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.

This is one of five departments I run with a free hand to manage as I see fit, given my long career in top-level management positions.  Yes, a long career!

The other departments are the Department of Pet Peeves, the Department of “Just Saying,” the Department of Inquiring Minds Want to Know, and the Department of Words Matter.

So, now for new good quotes.

FROM A SALEM FREE CLINIC E-MAIL:  “We are so pleased and thankful when we look back on 2023. 

“With the generosity of our volunteers, donors, partners, and staff, we were able to provide move than 5,800 free patient appointments in 2023.

“This past year, we also teamed up with the Salem-Keizer School District to promote sports physicals as part of our services.  We were able to provide 185 such physicals to students who had no access or where otherwise unable to obtain one.

“We had the privilege of serving patients ranging from 1 years old to 97 years old.  Among many patients, 15 different languages were represented.  From Chuukese, to Spanish, to Swahili, we are proud that all are able to receive compassionate care, in their own language.”

COMMENT:  Salem Free Clinics is clearly one of the pieces of good news around Salem.  It was started by churches several years ago – churches like the one my wife and I have attended for 30 years, Salem Alliance.

More than 70 churches are involved supporting the clinic and helping to fund it in its main location at our church.

To me, it is a good story of “putting feet to the gospel of Christ,” because Christ loves ALL people.

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES:  “Immigration has propelled the U.S. job market further than just about anyone expected, helping cement the country’s economic rebound from the pandemic as the most robust in the world.

“That momentum picked up aggressively over the past year.  About 50 per cent of the labor market’s extraordinary recent growth came from foreign-born workers between January 2023 and January 2024, according to an Economic Policy Institute analysis of federal data.

“And even before that, by the middle of 2022, the foreign-born labor force had grown so fast that it closed the labor force gap created by the pandemic, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.”

COMMENT:  I have written several times recently on the immigration issue, especially because Donald Trump and his ilk have turned the issue into a political one, not a substantive one based on fact.

Now the NY Times joins with another fact:  Immigrants are helping to fuel U.S. economic growth.

That should be recognized, but, also, not used as a shield by those in Congress to avoid doing something about the illegal immigrant issue.  They had a solution in their sights a couple weeks ago until Trump said he wanted no public policy solution so he could continue to play loose with facts on the campaign trail.

FROM PEGGY NOONAN IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL:  “A man on CNN is reporting live from outside a polling place in suburban South Carolina and recounts a small story.  An 18-year-old man had just voted, and the election clerk called out, ‘Ladies and gentlemen we have a first-time voter.’  The room burst into applause.  ‘They say that’s a tradition here,’ the reporter said.  It touched me.

“All the networks had been showing all these normal Americans who showed up to vote, the people who make the country work, and interviewing them on the way in and out.  ‘I voted for Trump because . . .’  ‘I’m for Haley.’  All of them patient and good-natured with the media folk.

“I thought, not for the first time, that America has become an 80/20 country, with 80 per cent so sterling and responsible and constructive, taking part, keeping the whole edifice up and operating, of all faiths, colors and persuasions. 

“But we only pay attention to the 20 per cent because they make all the news — outrageousness of every sort, hurting people on the street or making threats on TikTok or acting out in every field, including politics, in some ignorant way.

“The 80 per cent never make news because they’re modestly doing what’s expected.  But we should never forget who we are, a good people, and by an overwhelming majority. That gets drowned out in the daily drumbeat.”

COMMENT:  Noonan looks on the bright side – and that’s worth doing on occasion with all the “bad news” going on around us, especially in politics. 

Good that she does this to remind us to remember that many Americans are trying to do the right thing these days, even as stupid Americans tend to get all the publicity.

FROM SALEM REPORTER, WITH ADDITIONS FROM ONE MY EARLIER BLOGS:  “Salem Reporter performed a solid public service a few days ago when it hosted an evening public seminar on the prolific use of guns in the Salem-Keizer community.

As chronicled by Salem Reporter Editor Les Zaitz, various citizens stopped him in the lobby of the Elsinore Theater, site of the event, to thank him for Salem Reporter’s initiative to arrange and host the Town Hall.

As Zaitz put it in a summary of the event:

“Really, it is those who attended or watched on TV who deserve the credit, not Salem Reporter.”

He went on:

“The amount of gun violence in Salem was the issue.

“Over the months, we’ve reported on gun crimes.  And we have provided details of the Salem Police Department’s analysis, but we judged it was time for more stories.” 

COMMENT:  And time for citizens of goodwill and solid intent to gather in one place to talk about the problem.

Zaitz said talking together and forthrightly can be the start of finding solutions in a very complicated issue.

As I wrote above, Salem Reporter performed a valuable public service by organizing and hosting the public forum.  Better than just standing by to watch more gun violence.

So, overall, kudos to these journalism outfits:  The New York Times for its report on immigration and the economy; the Washington Post for its report on an immigration test that sets the record straight on the facts, not the innuendo; Salem Reporter for its focus on gun control, and the Wall Street Journal for finding out that there is, at least on occasion, a bright side in politics.