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.

Well, the answer to the question posed in this blog headline is easy.

As I traveled overseas for our vacation, the first stop being Amsterdam, I was able to watch movies or TV series on a screen on the back of the seat in front of me on the Delta Airlines flight.

And one of the series I watched was Seal Team and, in both episodes, there was a dog joining the members of the team on a mission.

Yes, a dog!

Even when one, tethered to his trainer, jumped out of an airplane.

So, I become interested in the subject – dogs on major military missions.

As always, Mr. Google provided useful information.

“Just as the Navy SEALS and other elite special forces are the sharp point of the American military machine, so too are their dogs at the top of a canine military hierarchy.

“In all, the U.S. military currently has about 2,800 active-duty dogs deployed around the world.

“Navy SEAL dogs, or SEAL dogs for short, have been used extensively in various missions carried out by the U.S. Navy SEAL teams.  These dogs are highly trained to perform a wide range of tasks, including search and rescue, tracking, explosives detection, and more.

“A man’s best friend is also a Navy SEAL’s best friend.  SEAL teams have often utilized animals from Dolphins to K9’s.  Most canines used by the elite special forces branch are Belgian Malinois.  A slightly smaller, lighter, and faster cousin of the German Shepard.  Both dogs have high intelligence.”

Compared to German Shepherds, a Belgian Malinois is much easier to take on missions because of its size, allowing Navy SEALs to carry the dog everywhere.

SEAL Dogs will also skydive on a mission.  Their handler will strap the SEAL dog to their chest and jump.  Or, get this – sometimes dogs jump solo.

Incredible!

To see a dog jump out of an airplane as occurred on one TV episode, is a sight to behold.  I would not make such a jump!

The dogs carry out a wide range of specialized duties for the military teams to which they are attached.

• With a sense of smell 40 times greater than a human’s, the dogs are trained to detect and identify both explosive material and hostile or hiding humans.
• SEAL Dogs can be equipped with video cameras and other recording devices.  Their small size and skill sets combined with senses allow them to reach areas SEALs can’t on missions.
• Like human SEALS, the training the dogs go through is intensive and arduous; only 1 per cent of candidates graduate.  They must learn how to ignore their instincts and follow the orders of their handlers.  There must be a complete sense of trust between the two.
• Dogs have to able to swim a distance that takes them to where they can no longer see the shore.
• They have to be comfortable around gunfire

• They have to show they are mentally capable of their job (yes; just like the human SEALS, the dogs must have a high level of mental toughness and psychological stability)
• They have to navigate through combat environments
• And back to an earlier point – they have to be comfortable jumping out of an airplane, either on their own, or strapped to the chest of a handler

Please, Googld provided a summary of some missions for SEAL dogs:

• Operation Neptune Spear:  In 2011, a SEAL team used a dog named Cairo to help take down Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.  Cairo was trained to detect explosives and was used to sweep the compound where bin Laden was hiding.
• Operation Iraqi Freedom:  SEAL dogs were deployed to Iraq to assist with bomb detection and other missions.
• Operation Enduring Freedom:  SEAL dogs were also used in Afghanistan to detect improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and to track down insurgents.
• Operation Red Wings:  In 2005, a SEAL team used a dog named Remco during a mission in Afghanistan.  [Remco was killed in action, but his bravery and sacrifice were honored with a posthumous award.]

I am a dog lover, having one of my own, Callaway, a miniature poodle, thus not a candidate for SEAL dog school.  Neither was his uncle, Hogan, our first dog.

But, the dog lover part of me has found a new-found respect for SEAL dogs.

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.

The question in this blog headline crossed my mind as I sat on our cruise ship and, in the harbor in Corfu, Greece, saw two more cruise ships that, by size, dwarfed our own, the Viking Neptune.

The question illustrates a reality for me:  I like words better than numbers, so, when it comes to numbers, I tend to be at sea.  And, in military service, I was in the Army, not the Navy, so never was on a huge Navy ship (except one time when a friend of mine when I was in college, invited me on a short ride on a major U.S. military ice-breaker).

Consider these statistics for our Viking ship:

• Capacity:  930 passengers
• Decks:  14
• Gross tonnage:  47,800
• Length:  745 feet
• Beam: 94.5 feet

Consider the gross tonnage number for just a moment – 47,800.  I ask again, how does that float?

The two other larger cruise ships here in Corfu – a Norwegian brand ship and one from Celebrity Cruises. — are about three times as large as our Viking ship.

So, more tonnage – in the range of 120,000-125,000.

Plus, both carry 3,200 passengers.  Our?  Only 930.

Again, I ask – remember I am a “words guy,” not “numbers guy” – how do they float?

But, I add, I am just glad they do because I am on board for a few more days and I’d rather float than sink.

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.

If I used the word “boat” to describe where I am, I would probably be thrown overboard.

What I am on is a “ship” – a Viking cruise ship traveling the Mediterranean, Aegean, and Ionic Seas.

Yes, a “ship.”

Here are a few statistics about our boat – er, “ship:”

• Guests:  930

• Crew:  About 700

• Length:  745 feet

• Beam:  94.5 feet

• Class:  “Small ship”

• Restaurants:  Seven

• Flag:  Norwegian

• Registration:  Malta

I would not call myself a “fully dedicated cruiser,” at least compared to some folks who have been on hundreds of voyages. 

My wife and I have been on several on the Mediterranean, as well as several on European Rivers.

It’s a great way to see new parts of the world, especially as you get situated in your cabin and leave your stuff there for the daily adventures when your ship is in port.

Better than packing up every day and, say, getting on a bus or driving a car.

So, here we go on with stops in Greece and Croatia, and ending in Venice.  From there, we fly home to Oregon direct from Amsterdam.

And, oh yeah, I thought of another job I don’t want – washing dishes on a cruise ship.  It would seem to be never-ending.  So, I guess what I’ll do instead is eat more and make more dishes to wash.

“As I continue to watch the GOP flail about, I have been thinking about an alternate history of a United States where Donald Trump lost the 2016 election.

“I am convinced that the chaos now overtaking much of the American political system was not inevitable:  The source of our ongoing political disorder is because of a razor-thin victory in an election in 2016 decided by a relatively tiny number of voters.”

Nichols dates the intent to produce discord and chaos back to Newt Gingrich who, when he became U.S. House speaker, “proved that political nastiness was an effective campaign strategy.”

Further, unrelated to Nichols, Washington Post columnist George Will adds this salient fact about current events:

“After Trump was charged with 91 felony counts in four separate cases for allegedly mishandling classified information, obstructing justice, conspiring to overturn the 2020 election, and falsifying business records in connection to hush money paid to an adult-film star, the Republican Party seems more wedded to him than ever before.  Trump also faces an ongoing civil trial in New York over alleged business fraud by him and his company.

“Instead of voters turning on him because they are appalled by his behavior, fearful he would not be electable or exhausted by his perpetual drama, the indictments have boomeranged to his favor among Republicans.”

More from Nichols in The Atlantic:

“At the least, a Trump loss would have let other Republicans avoid sinking in the populist swamp.  Elise Stefanik might be a relentless political opportunist, but without Trump, she and other GOP leaders could have pronounced Trumpian extremism a failure and stayed in something like a center-right lane.

“On the Earth Where Trump Lost, Fox-addicted voters might still have sent irresponsible performance artists such as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz to Congress, but the institutional Republicans would have had every incentive to marginalize them.

“Had Trump lost, someone might even have bothered to read (and act on) the so-called Republican National Committee ‘autopsy’ of 2013, which argued that the future of the party relies on better appeals to immigrants, women, minorities, and young people.

“With Trump’s win, that kind of talk went out the window.  Instead, the Trump GOP chained itself to the votes of older white Americans — a declining population.  Republicans thus had to squeeze more votes out of a shrinking base, and the only way to do that was to build on Trump’s bond with his personality cult and defend him at all costs.

“Perhaps most important, a Trump loss would have prevented (or at least delayed) the normalization of violence and authoritarianism in American politics.  This is not to say that the Republicans would today be a healthy party, but Trump’s victory confirmed the surrender of the national GOP to a sociopathic autocrat.”

So, look back at Trump – or look at him now – and worry about the future of our country.

Footnote:  This blog makes even more sense as we see dislocation in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Republicans don’t know how to organize anything, including their own operation.

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 blog headline refers to the fact that, here in Santorini, Greece, I am toying with going on a donkey ride today.

DONKEYS:  Those animals – call them assess – take riders up and down the steep steps in Santorini high above the Mediterranean Sea.

Poor things.

But, I have been told they love it.

Even if I don’t manage to find time “to get my ass in gear today,” our next to the last in Santorini, I couldn’t resist using the headline.

Plus, my friends back home in Salem, Oregon will like the fact that I wanted “to get my ass in gear.”  They have wanted that for some time.

Well, what may prompt to avoid the donkey – ass – is this quote from a brochure in our room:

“You can pay to ride up on a donkey, but the stench and the bumpy ride make this far less romantic than it sounds.”

Pass.

VISITING A WINERY:   An actual highlight worth commenting on today – the day of our 50^th wedding anniversary —  was a trip to a winery, The Sigalas Santorini.

We had tasting of eight – yes, eight – wines from the region, along with cheese and bread.

The brochure on Sigalas says this:

“The vineyards of Santorini form one of the oldest viticultural regions of the world still active today, being part of the global historic wine legacy with more than 3,000 years of consecutive wine-making tradition.  Santorini’s volcanic soil is naturally immune to phylloxera, forming on entirely self-rooted vineyard of grape types older than time.  Assyrtiko, Aidani, Mavrotragano, and the rest of the 24 varietals recorded as indigenous to Santorini literally originate in prehistoric times.”

With all that, we enjoyed the wine, even as we sat only feet from vineyard that already had been picked, and were of the type that grow without water, given limitations on water on Santorini, though it is surrounded by oceans.

JOBS I DON’T WANT:  I have come across at least three jobs I don’t want during this trip.

• Cleaning Airplanes:  As we waited for a flight from Athens to Santorini, we were delayed by folks cleaning our airplane.  Who would want that job anyway?

• More Donkeys:  It’s one thing, I guess, to ride a donkey.  It’s another to pick up after them – and you know what I mean by picking up after them!

• Lugging Suitcases:  Here in Santorini, various folks make their living suitcases up and down numerous steep steps.  If that were me, I would do more falling than walking.

Enough for Day 2.

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.

Soon that will be the case for me and my wife.

We landed in Greece yesterday after a day-long trip from Portland, Oregon and will be spending the next 10 days here, the first four in the resort town of Santorini and the next several on a Viking cruise ship.

It took a long time to get here – about 12 hours or so as we flew through the night to reach our destination.

Here are just a few highlights from our first day heading away from our home in Salem, Oregon to Greece:

• Wonder of wonders!  When we got in our Amanda’s Taxi for the drive from Salem to Portland to catch our plane, we learned that our driver volunteers at Salem Free Clinic to provide Spanish interpreting for persons served there.

This is important because the Clinic – a great program that provides free medical and dental care to the underserved – was started by our church in Salem, Salem Alliance.  Now, more than 70 churches in Salem-Keizer cooperate to run the Clinic.

• Hours in the air:  I knew this would be the case, but 10 hours in the air is what it takes to get from Portland to Amsterdam.  So be it.  I got to look at movies for the entire trip, including one called Black Berries, which chronicled the rise and fall of the first phone that allowed remote users to receive e-mails.

This reminded of the time many years when the lobbying and public relations firm I helped to found obtained Black Berries – the first firm in Salem to do so.  And the acquisition enabled us to work anywhere, including, for me, on the golf course.

• Arrival in Amsterdam:  We have been through the Amsterdam Airport on several trips overseas, but, this time, the crowd in the airport was amazing – over-the-top.  We could hardly walk to get to our next gate for the trip to Athens!

• Passport check in Athens:  This was especially imposing.  The line to get through was at least four blocks long!  Yes, four blocks!

I don’t know why, but an especially thoughtful attendant asked us to step outside of the line and go up to the front.  Good for her.  She probably respected us because we are old; or else she thought Nancy looked beautiful, which is true.  Forget me.

• Arrival in Santorini and the trip to our resort from the airport:  We had two previous stops in Santorini off cruise ships, but, this time, we had a 20-minute taxi drive from the airport to our hotel.  We went through areas that can only be described as economically deprived.

A stark contrast our hotel area where, in addition to us, there are thousands of people off the four cruise ships in the harbor just below our hotel room.

• Steps and more steps:  Frankly, this is not a resort for old people who have trouble walking.  There are hundreds of steps u and down a steep cliff.  I stopped counting at 300.  If you go anywhere, it takes exertion to get there.

In America, no one would be allowed to build anything in such an area.  And I have no idea how the workers in Greece did it.

There.  A first day in Greece.  More to come.

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 the first of two blogs on golf rules, a hot-button for me………

The question in the headline has two answers.

• For some, no.  Certain players believe golf rules apply to everyone else, not to them, so honor is not involved.
• For others, yes.  They abide by the rules for the good of the game, thus preserving honor.

Jerry Tarde, editor of Golf Digest, dealt with issues like this in what he wrote recently, which appeared under a headline commemorating 10 of the rules most golfers ignore.

Here is his list:

1. The three-minute lost ball:  Three minutes is allowed by the rules, but my opponents search for 10 minutes and then really start looking.  One of my favorite rules officials, David Fay, former executive director of the United States Golf Association, says, “I’m a one-minute guy. If I can’t find it in one minute, screw it.”

2. The Anderson Leaf Rule:  Especially in fall golf, if you lose your ball in the leaves, no penalty, just drop one where you think it should be.  You can tie but can’t win the hole.  Named after the esteemed Dave Anderson, the late New York Times sports columnist who had a great waggle.

Comment:  We often play what we call “the leaf rule” in the Pacific Northwest.  If you didn’t, with as many leaves as we have in the fall, rounds would take far longer. 

3. The Mulligan:  Invented on the first tee at Winged Foot, a member named Mulligan always required a second drive to find the fairway, and it spread as common practice everywhere.

4. The Gimme:  Legal in match play but widely applied in stroke-play club tournaments.  What starts as “no gimmes” on the first few holes becomes “inside the leather” by the turn and three-and four-footers when you’ve shot yourself out of it.  

Comment:  Most women who play at the course where I play, Illahe Hills Golf and Country, never take gimmes in stroke play.  The rules don’t allow it.  As for men, all of us gentlemen, of course, we give and take “gimmes,” but sometimes, it gets a little ridiculous – like taking 6-footers.

5. Failing to post:  It’s not a rule of golf, but if you have a handicap, you’re expected to post every score to maintain an accurate handicap, unless you play alone when posting is not permitted.  Vanity players post only their low scores; sandbaggers only the high ones.

6. Carrying more than 14 clubs:  My buddies laughed when pro golfer Wesley Bryan got penalized four strokes for accidentally having two 7-irons in his bag at a PGA Tour Monday qualifier.  I’ve seen guys with more than 14 headcovers!

7. The Consultant:  What’d ya hit?  Some guys take a survey before making a club selection on par 3s.

8. In the interest of public safety:  Moving your ball from a tree root — or even a tree trunk — without penalty might be a sensible rule.  Same with cleaning mud off your ball in the fairway.  If you remove a loose impediment, and the ball moves, disregard the penalty.  Dropping incorrectly on the golf-hole side of a paved cart path instead of the actual “nearest point of relief” is acceptable.

So is taking relief from immovable objects like irrigation boxes as “mental interference,” as well as disregarding the difference between red and yellow stakes and taking the more favorable drop from water hazards as if they’re all lateral (red).

Comment:  So, to speak for those who don’t honor golf rules, follow the notions above.  Where I play, with literally hundreds of trees, we do worry about the roots.  As gentlemen, we often authorize taking free relief, rather than hurting yourself or your golf clubs.  So be it.

9. Stroke and distance on out-of-bounds

It’s legal now if a local rule is observed, but we’ve been doing it for years.  Only, if you do, you’re hitting your fourth stroke.  My pals look at O.B. as a water hazard, drop and hit 3. It saves going back to the tee and slowing play.

Comment:  Right.  If you take stroke and distance on hole with out-of-bounds, this emphasis — you are hitting your fourth shot.

10. Teeing off in front of the markers:  You mean that’s against the rules?  Yes.

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 to manage as I – and only I – see fit.

The others are the Department of Pet Peeves, the Department of Good Quotes Worth Remembering, and the Department of “Just Saying.”  So, you can see that I am busy!

So, inquiring minds want to know:

HOW DOES AMAZON IT DO WHAT IT DOES EVERY DAY?

I ask that question after another dazzling experience yesterday.

When I read the Wall Street Journal a couple days ago, I noted a story about a new book, “The Times:  How the Newspaper of Record Survived Scandal, Scorn, and the Transformation of Journalism.”  By Adam Nagourney, it was a book about the New York Times.

The book interested me for two reasons:  First, I read The Times every day on-line, and, second, I have a background in journalism, though, of course, not at The Times.

So, my wife and I, who live in Salem, Oregon, ordered the book from Amazon, expecting it to arrive in a week or so best.

But, guess what?  It arrived in one day.

For inquiring minds, this raises several questions:

• How does Amazon have all the stuff people need in local warehouses, including the one in Salem, Oregon?

• Who makes the decision about what to order and place in those warehouses and how do that person, or that group, make such decisions?

• In those warehouses, how do local workers find the stuff people want – and find the item in short order?

• And, how do those workers have time to package stuff in appropriate-size boxes, with appropriate protections for the items?

• Who loads stuff onto to local trucks and how do the drivers find our house in time for a one-day delivery?

Well, part of the answer to these and other questions for inquiring minds, rests with Amazon scion Jeff Bezos, who making loads of money based on the process.

So, inquiring minds want to know.

WHY DO ROADSIDE REST AREAS AND TRUCKS LOOK SO UNCOMFORTABLE?

As I have driven north and south along I-5, when I pass roadside rest areas, I wonder why so many 18-wheelers start exiting the rest area, but stop on the shoulder before entering the highway?

Is there not enough room in the rest area?

Must be an explanation somewhere.

So, inquiring minds want to know.

WHERE IS “BALANCE” IN POLITICS?

The word “balance” is tough to define these days, especially in politics.

But, like a lot of stuff, you know it when you see it.

To me, balance means that those in political office have enough sense to work to strike a balance between (a) what they believe it will take to win their next election, clearly a priority for them, sometimes too much so, and (b) what it could take to work with other office-holders to find middle ground on tough national and international issues.

That’s balance.

So, inquiring minds wonder when balance will show up in politics.  If ever.

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.

The point of this blog headline has struck me over the years, both when I worked for state government, as well as when I spent about 25 years as a private sector lobbyist here in Oregon.

I came to this conclusion:  You know political leadership when you see it.

Not when, in the absence of events, you try to define it.

So, consider the escalating tragedy of the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East.

Amidst the incredible toll of human sacrifice, we saw two versions of political leadership in the last couple days, as the Middle East war continues to heat up.

One came from President Joe Biden as calculated by Washington Post editorial writers who said this:

“At a time when the United States, and the world, desperately need decency and moral clarity, President Biden has provided both.  His words regarding the wanton atrocities Hamas has committed against hundreds of Israeli civilians, as well as many Americans and citizens of other countries, in the past week have been unequivocal.

“In remarks to a gathering of American Jewish leaders Wednesday, he described the mass murder as ‘sheer evil’ and likened it to ‘the worst atrocities of ISIS.’

“In short, Biden has so far met the elementary test of political leadership amid crisis, as those who placed their trust in him at the ballot box three years ago hoped he could.”

Or consider Ben Sasse, a former U.S. senator from Nebraska who now is president of the University of Florida.

Here is what Post editorial writers said about Sasse who made his thoughts known in a letter to “Jewish Gators:”

“In the face of Hamas’s atrocities, some U.S. college administrators at first said little or issued equivocating mush, such as what Dartmouth College put out Tuesday in its ‘Statement on the Israel-Gaza War.’ A notable exception:  University of Florida President Ben Sasse.

What Sasse wrote:

“I will not tiptoe around this simple fact:  What Hamas did is evil and there is no defense for terrorism.  This shouldn’t be hard.  Sadly, too many people in elite academia have been so weakened by their moral confusion that, when they see videos of raped women, hear of a beheaded baby, or learn of a grandmother murdered in her home, the first reaction of some is to ‘provide context’ and try to blame the raped women, beheaded baby, or the murdered grandmother.

“In other grotesque cases, they express simple support for the terrorists.”

Like Biden, Sasse’s comments illustrate leadership.

He faced stern opposition when he was asked to leave the U.S. Senate to compete for the job to run the University of Florida, but now he stands out for his principled actions.

Speaking of principles, or the lack of them, consider this from one Donald Trump, as reported by the Post:

“In a reckless category of their own, however, were the comments of GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump.  To be sure, he labeled the Hamas attack a ‘disgrace’ shortly after it occurred — then pivoted to blaming it on Biden’s policies.

“That was about par for the partisan course, alas.  Yet, the former president went in a bizarre new direction by heaping scorn on Israel itself for failing to anticipate the attack and lecturing the Jewish state to ‘step up their game.’

“He labeled the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group ‘very smart,’ comparing it to an authoritarian he rates highly for ruling ‘1.4 billion people … with an iron fist:’  Chinese President Xi Jinping.”

The Post puts it right when it says, “The difficult days ahead will require rhetorical precision, empathy for victims, and strategic thinking about U.S. interests.  Real leaders rise to the occasion.”

Real leaders like Biden and Sasse.  Not Trump, who lowers himself every time he speaks.

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.

Just think of technology for a moment.

It has changed all of us.

My parents, smart and good people as they were, would be amazed at what is now possible.

Just to mention four examples:

1. With Google – or, as my Microsoft friends would advocate, Bing – you can find out anything you want in only moments.  No one has a bookcase of encyclopedias anymore!

• For newspapers, given my background long ago as a journalist, I always wanted to get ink on my hands, with a newspaper in front of me.  No longer, at least most of the time.  I go on-line routinely to read the Oregonian, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.

This was driven home to me the other day when I was talking with a colleague about whether to respond to a negative article in a newspaper.  I said this:  “Be careful about whether you want to argue with someone who buys ink by the barrel.”

These days, I should have said, “Be careful about arguing with someone who measures performance by clicks.”

•  Or consider phone numbers.  I used to have hundreds of numbers in my head, including one for The Daily Astorian newspaper where I worked in the mid-1970s.  It was 325-3211.  I dare you to prove me wrong.  Now, I just go to the address book on my phone to find all the numbers I need.

• The fourth example is not my own.  It is drawn from a Wall Street Journal article that appeared under this headline – “Why AI Is Medicine’s Biggest Moment Since Antibiotics.”

Dr. Lloyd Minor, the dean of Stanford University’s School of Medicine, was quoted as saying he “thinks artificial intelligence will transform the medicines you take, the care you get, and the training of doctors.” 

Perhaps.  But, closer to home, I had a conversation with a doctor of mine and he said there was much more to need to know about AI in medicine before adopting it, either in part or wholesale.

So, with these kinds of technology, the results can be positive.  But that is not always the case.

Technology can be used for evil and that seems especially to be the case as all of us contend with artificial intelligence (AI) and the ways that can pervert and soil, with all due respect to the perspectives above on the potential for AI to improve health care.

I wish that we could rely on Congress and the Executive Branch Administration to come up with a reasonable regulatory approach to the uses of technology, especially AI.

These days, that hope could be misplaced, given the character of our government where supposed “leaders” worry more about their next election than about governing.

So, for the moment, I intend to use the technology resources I understand for good.

In the headline, I wrote not to tell my grandchildren.  I said that because, they dwarf me when it comes to technology.  They would be embarrassed about their grandpa.

Not really, especially, as I have done, if I continue to ask for their help and advice.