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.

It’s been only a few days since the incredible, life-taking attack on Israel, but, still, Donald Trump has managed to make the tragedy all about himself.

No surprise, I guess.

Consider the following from late-night TV host, Jimmy Kimmel, who also demurred from taking his usual comedic swipe at political events, given the incredible loss of human life in Israel:

Kimmel called the Hamas attack a “nightmare situation,” earning condemnation from world leaders, including “our super-duper, pro-Israel former President Donald Trump.”

Kimmel added that Trump, “immediately found a way to make it about himself.”

He reported that Trump said this: 

‘The horrible attack on Israel, much like the attack on Ukraine, would never have happened if I were president.  Zero chance!’  

That’s right, Kimmel added, “if Trump was president, we’d all be blissfully downing jiggers of bleach. There’d be no war anywhere.”

Kimmel recapped statements Trump made at a Saturday rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where this piece of stupidity who wants to be president again compared his physical prowess to President Biden’s.

“On the day one of our closest allies is hit by a devastating terrorist attack, Trump is onstage talking about how much better his body is than Joe Biden’s,” Kimmel said.

Enough!

If you think about it for only a minute or so, as I said earlier, this is not surprising conduct from Trump.

What else would you expect from the epitome of a narcissist?

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.

New, very positive economic statistics – more jobs than predicted – raise a fundamental question.

Does anyone – a president, a governor – deserve credit for the good news?

Or, the other way around, does such a leader deserve debit when economic conditions sour?

This issue came back to me over the weekend as I read a column by Catherine Rampell in the Washington Post.  It appeared under this headline: “Three milestones from a stunning jobs report.”

Here is the story’s lead:

“The U.S. economy added nearly twice as many jobs in September as economists had forecast, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  And that’s before you consider how much job growth was revised upward in July and August.  All in all, it was an astonishingly good report.”

Near the end of the column, she raised the question about political credit or debit.

In remarks Friday afternoon, Biden took credit.

“It’s Bidenomics, growing the economy from the middle-out, bottom-up, not the top down.”

Rampell answered:

“In truth, presidents have very limited control over economic conditions, but since Biden gets blamed for the bad things no matter what, it’s hard to chastise him for taking credit for the good ones.”

That’s a great point, one I dealt with back when I worked, not in D.C., but in Oregon state government. 

Did governors – including the one for whom I worked, Victor Atiyeh —  deserve credit for good economic conditions or debit when the economy turned sour?

The best answer is “no” in both cases.  A state’s economy – not to mention, of course, the federal economy – is beyond the specific reach of any public figure, a governor or a president.

To be sure, what such leaders can do is advocate for policies and actions that have the potential to allow growth to occur, or at least not to stymie it.

That’s what Atiyeh did in Oregon and, for producing a positive climate, he won a second term with an incredible 62 per cent of the public vote.

Regarding Biden, there is little question but that, as he runs for re-election, he will tout economic growth, including his role in it.

As the writer Rampell says, he gets to do that because, if conditions sour, he will get debit, as well.

Just for the record, Rampell, cited three major elements of good news – “milestones” as she called them:

1. Raise a glass:  “When covid hit, the shuttering of businesses around the country and reluctance of consumers to dine out eliminated about half the jobs across the industry.  That is, between February and April 2020, about 6 million restaurant and bar jobs vanished.

“Even as the economy reopened, these employers struggled to hire back workers.

“But bars and restaurants have steadily been recovering, and as of last month, employment levels were finally back to where then were in February 2020.”

2. A boon for public-sector workers:  “Public-sector employment also took a hit early in the pandemic.  The sector overall has finally recovered all the jobs lost, though that milestone is entirely driven by growth in the federal government.”

3. They can do it:  “Despite all those warnings about a ‘she-cession’ setting working women back a generation, working women seem to be doing better than ever.  After some stagnation in women’s employment early in the 21st century, women ages 25 to 54 are more likely to be working today than at any previous time in history.”

Good news?  Yes. 

Count on Biden to trumpet it and, as he does, don’t blame him.  Just relish the good news.

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.

We faced another sad truth in American politics this week:  The never-ending election campaign reared its ugly head.

During the debate over the future of U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the architect of the approach to strip McCarthy of his office, one Representative Matt Gaetz, came under heavy criticism for his so-called “work.”

First, Gaetz colleagues in the House wish he would just go away, given his over-the-top conduct.  But, in addition to going after McCarthy, Gaetz immediately turned his so-called “work” into political fundraising.

In the debate over McCarthy’s future, one of his allies denounced Gaetz for sending out fundraising solicitations that cited his motion to vacate.

“Using official actions, to raise money:  It is disgusting,” the McCarthy ally said.

Yet, Gaetz was only doing precisely what two top lieutenants of McCarthy had done in the past couple of weeks:  Both Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith had sent out fundraising appeals that cited their work on Biden’s impeachment.

I have written in the past about the perils of the “permanent election campaign,” in the U.S. House of Representatives.

It tends to mean never getting anything done, especially in the midele-ground.

So, what is it?

The term was first coined by Sidney Blumenthal in his 1980 book, The Permanent Campaign, in which he explained how the breakdown in political parties forced politicians to govern in different ways.

Blumenthal contended that politicians increasingly used political consultants to help them monitor their job approval numbers and media exposure, even when not on the campaign trail.  This means those in office are always in campaign mode, even when they are supposed to be in office “governing.”

The theory of the permanent campaign is also credited to political strategist Patrick Caddell who wrote a memo for President-elect Jimmy Carter just after his election in 1976 in which he asserted, “governing with public approval requires a continuing political campaign.”

In the U.S. House, those who win election serve only for two years, so, as soon as they win, the next campaign starts.

Instead of “legislating,” (deciding on useful additions to U.S. law), the 435 members of the U.S. House start campaigning, often with a negative twist compounded by irritating TV ads, of which the aforementioned Gaetz is only one example, perhaps the best, but still only one.

Essayist Joseph Epstein, in a piece for the Wall Street Journal added to my thinking as he wrote a few years ago about the last mid-term election.  His column carried this subhead:  “A dispiriting mid-term cycle has only just finished and the 2024 presidential race has already started.”

Here is how his column started:

“Has there ever been an election so relentlessly dreary as the one we have just been through?  The day after Election Day a cable-show panelist remarked that ‘there are only 727 days until the next election.’  He laughed. I didn’t.

“I’m suffering from political exhaustion.  I’m bored and saddened, satiated with talk of electoral politics.  In some places, it took nearly three weeks to count the votes.  I’ve seen more polls than Poland has Poles.  And most of those polls turned out to be wrong.”

Epstein concluded:

“How much better things would be if time — eight or nine months, say —were set aside to knock off all the blather, kick back, chill.  But it is not to be.  Perhaps it never will be again, and the country will henceforth live in a permanent state of electoral frenzy:  A state of claim and counter-claim, insults delivered and returned, hyperbole everywhere, agitation reigning generally.”

With Epstein, I do not hold out much hope for change.

Wall Street Journal’s William Galston put it this way:

“Campaigning is one thing, governing another.  Opposing is not the same as legislating.”

He is right.  And right even as we endure the relentless, permanent campaign.

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 four departments I run with a free hand to manage as I – and only I – see fit.

The others are the Department of Pet Peeves, the Department of Inquiring Minds Want to Know, and the Department of “Just Saying.”

Thus, here are some good quotes.

From Wall Street Journal editorial writers:  “The ouster (of Keven McCarthy from the House Speaker position) captures the degraded state of the Republican Party in this era of rage.  Members in safe seats can fuel their own fund-raising and careers by claiming to ‘fight’ against all and sundry without doing the hard work to accomplish what they claim to be fighting for.

“Representative Matt Gaetz is the prototype of this modern performance artist, as he raises money for a potential run for Florida Governor.”

Comment:  Gaetz appears to enjoy the spotlight, no matter the issue.  In that way, he is a lot like Donald Trump.  As narcissists, the issue always is themselves and themselves alone.

From Gerard Baker, former editor of the Wall Street Journal:  “The larger point is that this kind of emotionally satisfying posturing characterizes much of Republican politics today.  It is mirrored in the process unfolding in the presidential primary.

“Republicans could unite behind a leader who is committed to doing things they believe in — and things that can actually be achieved in a nation that is as sharply divided as Congress is. Or they could pick someone who makes the right noises, makes them feel good about themselves, and sees allies as opponents and opponents as traitors.

“In the process, just as they delivered a heavily Democrat-favored bill last weekend, they risk delivering us another four years of Joe Biden, this time aided and abetted by Speaker Hakeem Jeffries.”

Comment:  Baker is a columnist with whom I usually disagree, but this time Baker is spot on as he says Republicans are more interesting is posturing for their own benefit than in doing business in this country. 

In the Washington Post, comments by John Kelly, military veteran and former chief of staff to Donald Trump:  “’What can I add that has not already been said?’ Kelly said, calling Trump a ‘person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’”

Comment:  When Kelly talks about this issue – Trump’s hate of the military he once led as, supposedly, commander in chief, you must listen.  If only because Kelly, himself, lost a son to combat in Iraq.

Trump’s disdain for the military, all the more incredible because he did not “serve” his country (if it ever could be said that Trump “served” anything except his own ends), was epitomized by his disdain for the late John McCain.

McCain served in a U.S. war in Vietnam, was captured and held in prison for seven years.  He was a true American hero.  Of course, Trump ridiculed him.

From Jennifer Rubin in the Washington Post:  “The former president’s defenders appear to believe Trump should derive special treatment by virtue of his decision to run for office, a blatant attempt to cast any prosecution as political persecution.  Their argument gives the back of the hand to the principle that there is one standard for all in our judicial system.  Worse, these Trump enablers cavalierly ignore the very real danger he poses to judges, prosecutors, court personnel and witnesses. It amounts to legal nihilism that places Trump’s desire to return to office above the interests of the rule of law and the safety of others.”

Comment:  Rubin is right to criticize Trump, but also those who follow him mindlessly.  This time, the issue is the gag order that the court imposed on Trump, which is richly deserves, but only will tell how he avoids to advance his own personal ambitions, no matter how it affects our country.

Those who follow Trump deserve as much ridicule as he does.

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.

Wall Street Journal editorial writers asked a good question this morning as they commented on the start of Donald Trump’s fraud trial in New York.

They asked:  Is this a case about inflated asset values or partisan politics?

Then, they answered their own question by saying “yes.”

While I guess they have a point, there remains little question that Trump did what he always does, which is lie about everything to advance his own image, at least the image he has of himself as a narcissist.

Consider this summary from the Journal this morning:

“Judge Arthur Engoron granted partial summary judgment to the state last week, ruling that Trump presented grossly inflated financial figures to lenders.  This is ‘not a matter of rounding errors or reasonable experts disagreeing,’ he wrote.  Trump’s famed triplex residence in Trump Tower is 10,996 square feet, but he repeatedly claimed 30,000 square feet.

“Defendants absurdly suggest that ‘the calculation of square footage is a subjective process that could lead to differing results,’ the judge added. ‘Well yes, perhaps, if the area is rounded or oddly shaped,’ but ‘good-faith measurements could vary by as much as 10-20 per cent, not 200 per cent.

“A discrepancy of this order of magnitude, by a real estate developer sizing up his own living space of decades, can only be considered fraud.”

The ruling goes on for pages.  Despite four appraisals pegging his Seven Springs estate at $30 million or less, Trump claimed it was worth $261 million.  He valued apartments in New York as if their rents weren’t regulated.  His figures for several golf clubs “included a 15 per cent or 30 per cent ‘premium’ based on the ‘Trump brand,” according to the judge, even while lenders were told no such premium was added.

Finally, we get some facts on what we suspect Trump has done all along, which is to inflate the size of the value of his assets in New York. 

No doubt he has done the same elsewhere, or when it came time to file tax returns, deflated those same assets.

Of course, on that score, we don’t know because Trump won’t release his tax returns.

Now the Journal, for its part of displaying “both sides” of an issue, says that the AG in New York may be out to get Trump and campaigned for office on just that promise.

I say let the facts prevail.

Trump, of course, showed up in court yesterday for a reason, using every opportunity to portray himself as a political victim.

No, he is not the victim. 

The victims are Americans, especially those who have succumbed to his lies and innuendo.

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.

First, this true confession:  I did not watch much of the just-completed Ryder Cup because I was volunteering at an Oregon Golf Association tournament in Central Oregon.

I would have been rooting for the Americans, of course, but so much for rooting.  It didn’t matter.  Never does.

The Americans got their “hats” handed to them by the European squad.

I put the word “hats” in quotes because, based on reading various on-line golf publications, it appeared there was a lot of controversy over why American golfer Pat Cantlay was not wearing a hat when he played.  The lack of a hat occupied a lot of writers, and on-site fans, as well.

For Cantlay’s part, he said the hat didn’t fit well.  Others said it was a protest because he thought Ryder Cup players should be paid to play.

Who knows?

But the hat battle apparently did spark a bit of a set-to between Euro golfer Rory McIroy and Joe LaCava, Cantley’s caddy who, McIlroy said, demonstrated too much and too close to him on a green during Saturday’s play.

For his part, McIlroy said the set-to propelled him to victory in his singles match on Sunday.

Back to the first day of the Ryder Cup.  I heard commentator Paul Azinger, himself a former Ryder Cupper, put it best when he said this:

“European players have the Ryder Cup in their hearts.  U.S. players have the Ryder Cup in their heads.”

The difference, I guess, explains how the two sides play and how much value they put in the biennial match.  Hearts vs. heads.

Two years from now, the Americans will try to redeem themselves at home at the Bethpage Black course in New York.

But in the just-completed tournament, in addition to Azinger’s telling comment, this much is true:  The Euros played better than the Americans.

Simple as that.

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.

Have you ever thought about the characteristics of a person who should not serve in the U.S. Congress?

Not a thought-line for everyday Americans.

But, for me, a political junkie, I have thought about this question.

And for the answer I look no farther than Matt Gaetz, an egotistical, self-absorbed member of the U.S. House from Florida who doesn’t give a whit about solid, middle-ground public policy.  [By the way, egotist and self-absorbed are synonyms, but so what – together, they provide the proper emphasis.]

There is no way Gaetz should be in any kind of leadership position, either in government or in the private sector.

Still, he persists and is making a name for himself these days by leading the House toward a government shutdown.

The good news today is that no less than Karl Rove, a long-time and reasonable Republican strategist, whether you agree with him or not, now a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, agrees with me.  Or, perhaps I agree with him.

Here is what he wrote in a recent column for the Journal:

“A stupid, needless government shutdown looms.  The culprits aren’t Democrats but hard-right House Republicans who say they won’t agree to a bi-partisan continuing resolution to fund the government when the fiscal year ends at mid-night Saturday.

“They mean it.  Twice last week, five Republicans voted with Democrats to stop the House from taking up a Republican-drafted Defense Department appropriations bill.  It was an unprecedented breach of party discipline.

“This ‘Chaos Caucus’s’ leader, Florida’s reckless Representative Matt Gaetz, is practically giddy at the prospect of a shutdown.  Though he voted for the Pentagon funding bill to protect his Armed Services Committee seat, he is heading the opposition to a bi-partisan continuing resolution.

“Failure to enact such a stopgap measure this week would mean a shutdown, which Gaetz predicts in six or eight days will produce ‘maximum momentum on paradigm-changing’ pressure on Democrats to make deep spending cuts.”

Rove, accurately, calls this “blather.”

He says smart Democrats know that, when federal offices are shuttered, services curtailed, and the military goes without pay, voters generally blame Republicans.

Gaetz doesn’t care – about House chaos, what Democrats think, or the country’s economic status.

He cares only about himself, which is what narcissists do.

Rove writes that “the Chaos Caucus is willing to risk the GOP’s narrow majority because they believe that most Americans ‘won’t even miss it if the government is shut down temporarily.’”

Military members who don’t get their paychecks for their service will notice.  So will those who depend on government for sustenance in daily life.

There must be a better way to impose federal spending discipline.  But it would take officials better than Gaetz to do that deed.

More from Rove:

“Gaetz and his band of egotistical performance artists either are certain they’re the exception to history or don’t care.  Gaetz and his fellow travelers forget that conservative progress in Congress requires team effort and that the perfect can’t be the enemy of the good — especially when Democrats control the Senate and White House.”

Perhaps Gaetz is spending more time defending himself from various charges of sexual charades more emblematic of idiots in frat houses than in the U.S. House.  Or, he is courting favor from those on the far right as he hones a likely bid to run for governor in Florida.

Either way, I hope he is out of Congress soon so it will be possible – perhaps not likely, but still possible – to get somebody better than a buffoon such as Gaetz.

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.

Many people in this country think of Donald Trump as a “conservative” in terms of his rise to power with the label Republican in his name.

But, to me, Trump is not conservative in the traditional meaning of that term.  Nor is he a traditional Republican.  And, not a liberal.

Frankly, he is nothing but immersed in himself, changing every moment to fit his own description of himself as the top dog.

Tom Nichols, a writer for Atlantic Magazine, made this point for me in a current column.  Here is an excerpt.

“Slightly more than a year ago, I tried to think through what being a conservative means in the current era of American politics. I have not been a Republican for several years, but I still describe myself as a conservative:  I believe in public order as a prerequisite for politics; I respect tradition, and I am reluctant to acquiesce to change too precipitously; I think human nature is fixed rather than malleable; I am suspicious of centralized government power; I distrust mass movements.

“To contrast these with progressivism, I think most folks on the left, for example, would weigh social justice over abstract commitments to order, be more inclined to see traditions as obstacles to progress, and regard mass protests as generally positive forces.”

I agree with Nichols. 

Traditional political conservatives “believe in public order as a prerequisite for politics, respect tradition, are reluctant to acquiesce to change too precipitously, think human nature is fixed rather than malleable, are suspicious of centralized government power, and distrust mass movements.”

And liberals?

I have never been one in the traditional meaning of the term, except when, back in college, I voted for a classic liberal for president, George McGovern.

But the Atlantic writer Nichols captures a solid description of today’s liberal:  “I think most folks on the left, for example, would weigh social justice over abstract commitments to order, be more inclined to see traditions as obstacles to progress, and regard mass protests as generally positive forces.”

Note the last phrase – liberals think positively about mass protests.

I don’t.

For years, in and around the State Capitol in Salem, Oregon, where I worked as government manager and a lobbyist, I saw hundreds of folks engage in protests.  They apparently thought protesting was a means to get their way on various issues.

Participants might have gained media coverage, but not the final result they sought.  That required dealing with both sides – perhaps all sides – of an important public policy issue.

Here are elements of what being conservative means to me, though I also like the term “centrist” far more because the solution to most pressing issues lies somewhere in the middle:

• Be skeptical of government as the all-the-time, any-time solution to any problem.  Read skepticism, NOY cynicism.

• Because skepticism can breed cogent analysis of proposed government solutions.

• Expect government programs to produce results, or, if they don’t, discard those programs.

• Expect candidates running for office to talk about WHY they want to be elected and WHAT they would propose to do if they got there.

• Expect candidates to talk about whether or not they would be open to compromise – call it “middle ground” – in selected situations, or whether compromise always would slam their principles.

Not a complete list, but, for me at least, a decent start on being a real conservative, not a pretend one.

Nichols adds:

“In any case, the immediate problem America faces is that it no longer has a center-right party that represents traditional conservatism, or even respects basic constitutional principles such as the rule of law. The pressing question for American democracy, then, is not so much the future of conservatism but the future of the Republican Party.

“The United States, like any other nation, needs political parties that can represent views on the left and the right.  The role of the state, the reach of the law, the allocation of social and economic resources — these are all inevitable areas of disagreement, and every functioning democracy needs parties that can contest these issues within the circumscribed limits of a democratic and rights-respecting constitution.

“Today’s Republican Party rarely exhibits such commitments to the rule of law, constitutionalism, or democracy itself.

“The current GOP is not so much conservative as it is reactionary:  Today’s right-wing voters are a loose movement of various groups, but especially of white men, obsessed with a supposedly better past in which they were not the aggrieved minority they see themselves as today. These reactionary voters are reflexively countercultural:  They reject almost everything in the current social and political order because everything around them is the product of the hated now that has displaced the sacred then.”

Enough.

**********

But a moment for me to applaud good news on the political front and bad news for Trump:

“A New York judge on Tuesday found that Donald Trump and his family business committed fraud by making false and misleading valuations on much of his real-estate empire and ordered the cancellation of legal certificates that have allowed the Trumps to do business in the state.”

Trump and family are guilty, so, voters who may want to choose him in the next presidential election, should ponder their choice.

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.

With the second Republican presidential debate tomorrow night, I had an idea last night and I followed through on it this morning.

When you hear the idea, you may wonder why I thought of it – and here’s the deal, the idea came to me while I was preparing for my colonoscopy exam later today.

Appropriate.

The idea:  To illustrate what I would like to ask if I was a “moderator” for the debate, whatever a “moderator” really is these days, I came up with questions I would pose to Donald Trump.  If he chose to participate in the debate, which, of course, he won’t.

These:

• Describe why you want to be president, especially given how you handled the job the last time around.

• Describe the role you propose for women in your administration if you win this time around.

• Follow-Up:  How does that jibe with verified reports of your intent and actions to treat women as nothing more than sexual objects?

• Another Follow-Up:  Describe the abuse you heaped on Jean Carroll?

• Describe the traits you value in a world leader.

• What are your aspirations for U.S relations with China?

• What are your aspirations for U.S. relations with North Korea?

• What are your aspirations for U.S. relations with Ukraine?

• What are your aspirations for U.S. relations with Russia?

• Do you think immigrants in this country – some would call them refugees escaping from threats and oppression in certain counties – have played any kind of valuable role here?

• Why does the evidence show that you enticed the mob on January 6 takeover the U.S. Capitol by force?

• Why did you and your colleagues over-value assets in New York City to obtain more insurance coverage, then under-value those same assets to pay less taxes?

• What is the total tax bill you have paid over the last 20-30 years?

• The definition of politics has been called “the art of compromise.”  What is your view of that kind of compromise, which is trying to find middle ground among extremes?

Would Trump answer any of these questions?  No.

He would do what he usually does which is deflect and smear, if nothing else, then the questioner.

The phrase that comes to mind about Trump:  Shuck and jive.

That’s what he always does to shift the issue to his latest falsehood where, ever-the-narcissist, he is always at the center, no matter the truth.

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 weekend for me dealt with a lot of sports, so…

SOLHEIM CUP STAYS IN EUROPE:  The cut stayed in Europe even though the event ended in a 14-14 tie.

Which prompted several TV commentators to contend there should be a way to break a tie.  Perhaps like is done at the Presidents Cup where many golf fans remember the epic playoff duel between Tiger Woods and Ernie Els, the one that ended in a tie because it got dark.

One idea that came up on TV:  Have the team captains participate in a playoff.  Good idea.  Would have been fun to see who prevailed – Suzanne Pedersen for the Euros or Stacy Lewis for the Americans!

TAYLOR SWIFT UPSTATES EVEN KANSAS CITY CHIEFS:  Here is what a column from ___ in the Wall Street Journal said:

“Taylor Swift is perhaps the only star on earth with the fame to overwhelm an NFL Sunday.  Her appearance happened at the perfect moment, as that other nexus of football and celebrity — Colorado and Coach Prime — is sliding down the charts after a 42-6 thrashing Saturday by the webbed feet of Oregon.”

AND ABOUT THE U OF O AND COLORADO:  As I watched football Sunday, Colorado coach Deion Sanders got a lot of air-time in various commercials.

None of them mentioned the thrashing Sanders’ team took from the Ducks. 

The Buffalos may recover and it would be good for college football if they did.

But, the Ducks?  I suspect they continue to get better, including a run for the Heisman by quarterback Bo Nix, the “bo-dacious” one whose mug is all over huge advertising photos in New York and elsewhere.

PLAYING GOLF IN A SANDBOX:  That’s what I was doing this weekend as the golf course where I play – Illahe Hills Golf and Country Club in Salem, Oregon – continues to recover from what every course has to endure from to time…aerification.

That’s a big word, one hard to spell correctly.  It describes tearing up the course (call it thatching on steroids) to allow grass to grow better.

Regarding the sandbox, better for me to play there than not at all.

AND THE PACKERS:  The team loved by one of my best friends will be just fine after the departure of all-pro quarterback Aaron Rodgers.  In his place, the Packers are playing Jordan Love and he, with help from others, course, brought team back from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to an 18-17 win.

Good for him – and for my Packer friend.