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.

From our winter base in La Quinta, California, my wife, Nancy; our dog, Callaway; and me headed East and West the other day on a one-and-a-half-hour drive to an outpost in the California desert, Borrego Springs.

I guess we had nothing better to do on a Saturday than make the drive, which I had done once before.  So, I was eager to show my wife the sights and sounds of the 90-mile transit.

To get to Borrego from La Quinta, you head mostly East on I-86, which takes you by the Salton Sea, still a large body of water, despite predictions that it is dying.  One reason, of course, is that it is “infested” with salt that harms fish populations and exudes a smell the drives many visitors away from its beaches.

They still exist, I guess, with signs that are falling down, heralding such beaches as one named appropriately – Salton Beach.

Although large seas have cyclically formed and dried over historic time in the basin due to natural flooding from the Colorado River, the current Salton Sea was formed when Colorado floodwaters breached an irrigation canal being constructed in the Imperial Valley in 1905 and flowed into the Salton Sink.

Thus, the Salton Sea, which does not have much going for it these days other than that it might be a site for mining lithium, which is needed for many of today’s batteries.  Various companies are exploring mines in and around the Sea (just as, for instance, they are doing in far East and South reaches of Oregon, the state where we live, except in the winter).

About 50 miles East from La Quinta, you turn West on a difficult road to traverse.  On many bumps, you go around and through vast expanses of sand with nary a tree in sight.

And, then, about 10 miles in on the 30-mile drive to Borrego, you see RV after RV positioned out in the sand-scaped vistas with their four-wheel drive vehicles nearby ready to traverse the land.

I guess there is no need for permit to camp on the land.  Just show up and set up, if you can stand the heat and the sand without trees.

When we got to Borrego, it didn’t appear that there was much to see.  There was street fare in the central turnaround of the city and it appeared that many residents and visitors frequented the area during the day, especially when there was music to enjoy.

We drove around to see what we could see, wondering all the time why anyone would choose to live in Borrego, especially when water is so scarce.

We do have a handful of friends who have chosen winter homes there and one reason, they say, is that the pace of life is slower than it would be in the Palm Springs environs. 

No doubt true.

The best area we saw on our trip was the de Anza Golf Course, where one of my friends has played for years.  There was a friendly clubhouse there and a course that looked inviting, at least at first blush, though I did not play it.

There also were homes around course, much as exists in Palm Springs around the more than 100 golf courses in our area. 

My wife and I said we could sojourn there in the winter, but not elsewhere in Borrego.

Here is what Mr. Google says about de Anza:

“People from all around the world are attracted to de Anza Desert Club for the fabulous Borrego Springs golf in conjunction with the desert’s beauty and tranquility.  Located 90 minutes from Palms Springs and San Diego, de Anza Desert Club is a great escape from the hustle and bustle.  

“And for people who desire the outdoors, de Anza Desert Club is surrounded by the grandeur of the 600,000-acre Anza Borrego State Park, California’s largest state park.”

The most famous golf course in Borrego is Rams Hill and, when we drove by it on our trip, there was a long waiting line on the first tee.  A couple years ago, I played it once and, while a decent course, once is enough for me.

Speaking of Mr. Google, here is what he says about living in Borrego:

“You get to enjoy a small community that has natural treasures surrounding it.  The desert is not just a flat patch of burning sand.  The canyons in the mountains around Borrego Springs will testify to that.  You have an opportunity to see some of the natural wonders of Southern California right outside your door.”

Okay, I get it.  But for me, my wife, and my dog, we prefer La Quinta.

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 you want to stay awake at night worrying about the future of this country, don’t ponder bank health.  Just think of this:  Donald Trump wants you to give him four more years in the country’s highest political office, the presidency.

Don’t!

Atlantic Magazine raised the Trump issue in its lead on-line article a few days ago.

“Former president Donald Trump gave a long and deranged speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference.  We need to stop treating support for Trump as if it’s just another political choice and, instead, work to isolate his renewed threat to our democracy and our national security.”

The Atlantic writer, Tom Nichols, asked readers to consider what he called “a more unsettling question.”  How, he asked, in 2023, “after all we know about this man and his attacks on our government and our Constitution, do we engage people who heard that speech and support Trump’s candidacy?  How do we turn the discussion away from partisanship and toward good citizenship – and to the protection of our constitutional order?”

Good question.

And, now, in a typical Trump action, he says he wants to be arrested for sending hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels.  Including, he says, a “perp walk,” where he would smile for the cameras and, which, he believes would redound to his credit among those who support him no matter what.

A few years ago, on a trip to Germany, I asked myself a question regarding how the German people tolerated Adolph Hitler as he committed the worst evil known to mankind, attempting to obliterate an entire race of people, the Jews.

I know comparisons between Hitler and Trump may come across as unfair or out-of-bounds, but, to me at least, they are roughly appropriate in that they deal with two despots.

I add quickly that it may be unfair to tar Germans with a tainted brush because, as general citizens, they may not have had an effective way to oppose Hitler, or, perhaps, they didn’t know what he was doing until it was too late.

So, give the Germans of today space to be real citizens — even as their country’s leader committed heinous acts many years ago.

Regarding the prospect of more Trump – including what, to me, is his worst offense, fomenting a take-over-the-country riot — the Atlantic put it this way:  “The Trumpian time in the presidency turned into a tawdry four years of grubby incompetence and ignominious loss.  If Trump wins again, there will be a flurry of pardons, the same cast of miscreants will return to Pennsylvania Avenue and, this time, they won’t even pretend to care about the Constitution or the rule of law.”

My prescription:  Vote for someone else.

In that way, express your real American citizenship.

**********

And this postscript from an article in the Washington Post by political analyst Philip Bump:

“One of the most important things to understand about Donald Trump is that he thinks zero moves ahead.  He is by nature a salesman eager to close the deal.  He’ll tell you what he thinks will get the job done and if he says something contradictory or inaccurate, he’ll just talk more to get you back where he wants you.

“On Monday, Trump gave his first speech in Iowa since announcing his 2024 bid for the Republican presidential nomination.  On the way there, he spoke with reporters about his candidacy and his former presidency.  As part of that conversation, he offered an obviously ridiculous claim:  The violence that unfolded at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, was really Vice President Mike Pence’s fault.”

Sure.  Trump at his vile “best,” speaking off the cuff at the moment without any thought for context or accuracy.

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.

Over my years working in and around government in Oregon for more than 40 years, a few facts stood out.

One of them is that the divide between urban Oregonians and rural Oregonians is real.  And it persists.

So, says a major story that appeared a few days ago in the New York Times.  It appeared under this headline and subhead:

“Oregon’s Rural-Urban Divide Sparks Talk of Secession

“Conservatives have approved a series of ballot measures in pursuit of an improbable plan to redraw the state’s border.  We spent time in the region under dispute to see what the debate says about the country’s divisions.

“We’re exploring how America defines itself one place at a time. Residents in eastern Oregon say they are tired of being ruled by more liberal parts of the state.”

The reporters, Mike Baker and Hillary Swift, produced a fascinating story – perhaps even a foreboding one – about the reality.  It is serious enough that some East Oregonians want to be part of Idaho, not Oregon.  They are not likely to get their way, but they still try, if only because of the experience of trying.

For my part, I encountered the urban-rural divide in several ways:

• When I worked as deputy director of the Oregon Economic Development Department, the issue was front and center for us.  We wish we could have helped to produce results for rural Oregon – and we did in a few cases — but it was very difficult, given limits on time, space, and transportation systems.
• When I worked as a state lobbyist, I saw the factor straight ahead as the Oregon Legislature often illustrated that its key urban leaders did not understand rural issues, or even, on occasion, didn’t care to learn about them.
• One reason was Oregon is now and has been for years led by Democrats and many rural Oregonians are Republicans.  Plus, all legislative leaders in the last years have come from urban Oregon, so rural Oregonians have felt left out or even ignored.

Here are a few excerpts from the Times story, which is worth reading in its entirety:

• Corey Cook still holds a fondness for her days living in Portland, where the downtown pubs and riverfront cherry blossoms made her proud to call the Rose City home during her 20s.  But as she started growing wary of the metro area’s congestion and liberal politics, she moved to the suburbs, then the exurbs, before heading east, eventually escaping Portland’s sphere of influence on the other side of the Cascade Mountains in 2017.  But even here, where she now runs a Christian camp amid the foothill pines overlooking the Grande Ronde Valley, she cannot help but notice how the values of western Oregon are held over the eastern part of the state by way of laws making guns less accessible and abortions more accessible.
• The broad sense of estrangement felt across rural Oregon has led conservatives in recent years to pursue a scrupulous strategy to open a theoretical escape hatch, gathering thousands of signatures for a series of ballot measures that have now passed in 11 counties.  Those measures require regular meetings to discuss the idea of secession.  In those places, including Union County, Cook’s new home, county commissioners in rooms adorned by Oregon flags and maps are now obligated to talk about whether it would one day make sense to be part of Idaho.
• The “Greater Idaho” movement joins a long history of U.S. defection struggles.  In California, for example, there have been more than 200 attempts over the years to break up the state.  Greater Idaho sees its solution as simple — a shift in an existing border that would claim the entire eastern half of Oregon without creating an entirely new state.  Despite being a political long shot, the sustained and growing interest from residents in the area and attention from politicians in Idaho have illustrated how much the state is already divided in spirit.
• Oregon’s culture and politics have long been defined by east-west, rural-urban divides, with the Cascade Mountains standing like a curtain separating two distinct halves of the state.  The western side is rainier and denser in population, home to the state’s major universities and largest employers.  The eastern side has high deserts and vast skies and a more scattered population that recognizes a decades-long decline in conservative clout.
• A Republican has not been elected governor in 40 years.  [I worked for last one and, while he has great at his job, no Republican has been able to follow him.]
• Contrasts are part of eastern Oregon’s past and present.  Here, sagebrush flatlands are corralled by mountain peaks that approach 10,000 feet high, and desert terrains get buried in winter snow.  Communities longing for the robust timber industry of decades prior also embrace the pristine forests that draw people to a growing eco-tourism economy.

Now, as for the secession movement.  It is not very likely to be successful, given all that must happen – passage in the state legislatures of both Oregon and Idaho, as well as in Congress.  Tall asks.

To some residents in eastern Oregon, however, the secession movement has been cathartic, a sort of relief valve for decades of boiling frustrations with government in a region that feels absolutely neglected by Oregon’s power structure center west of the Cascade Mountain Range.

Further, redrawing state maps would require much more than fresh cartography.  Logistical challenges grow even more thorny with each new question.  Would people in eastern Oregon be ready to embrace a sales tax from Idaho?  How would Idaho, which bans legal marijuana, manage eastern Oregon’s thriving weed industry?  How would the states transition eastern Oregon’s state government employees, with some benefits already earned, to a new retirement system with different rules and compensation?

All tough questions. 

But the reality is that they won’t need to be answered because Eastern Oregon will not become part of Idaho any time soon.

Still, all this underlines again the need for political leaders and citizens in the West to find new and effective ways to understand citizens from the East.  After all, everyone is part of Oregon today.

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’ve written about this before – hindsight vs. foresight regarding the U.S. decision to go to war in Iraq.

That conundrum applies to many other decisions in government.  What makes sense at the time often looks strange or bad years later.  It’s part of the reality of government leadership.

That go-to-war decision on Iraq is now 20 years old, so it is time for more news commentary on the issue. 

Before citing two examples of commentary, here is my bottom-line view, supported only by perception, not by independently acquired facts:  At the time 20 years ago, in the Administration of President George W. Bush, it made sense to rely on foresight.  The best intelligence at the time showed Iraq had access to weapons of mass destruction, so removing Saddam Hussein’s ability to use them against the U.S. made eminent sense. 

Retired Wall Street Journal editor Gerard Baker disagrees.  Here is what he wrote in the Journal under this headline and subhead:  Two Decades Later, the Iraq War Is Hard to Defend; Baghdad is no longer a threat, but it’s fallacious to claim invasion was the only means to that end.

“Some of those who supported the invasion of Iraq 20 years ago this week are making the best defense they can of what the rest of us long ago concluded was probably the most flawed decision in American foreign policy since the founding of the republic.

“The case for the war two decades in the rearview mirror goes something like this:   It was messy and poorly executed, true, but Iraq is better off now than it was then, and more important, it no longer poses a threat to the U.S., its allies and its interests.  

“Tragic as American and allied military deaths and injuries are, this was achieved with the loss of a fraction of the casualties in Korea or Vietnam, let alone the world wars.  The fiscal cost was relatively small too, perhaps $100 billion a year for eight years, well below 1 per cent of U.S. gross domestic product.

“What’s more, the defenders say, we tend to see events like these through a static rather than a dynamic view of history.  Even if the U.S. hadn’t invaded Iraq in 2003, it’s likely that over the next 10 years terrible violence would have unfolded there.  Sooner or later the suppression of the Shiite two-thirds of the population by the Sunni Arab quarter would have ended in mass bloodshed.”

Baker makes his claims with the benefit of hindsight, which, definition, gives him information he would not have had 20 years ago when, if he had been president, would have forced a decision.

Atlantic Magazine writer Tom Nichols makes a different case.

“Twenty years after the United States led a coalition to overthrow Saddam Hussein, the conventional wisdom is now that the postwar fiasco proved that the war was a mistake from its inception.  The war, as it was executed, was indeed a disaster, but there was ample cause for launching it.”

Guess who wants no part of this debate?

George W. Bush.

Here is how writer Peter Baker put in the New York Times:

“Twenty years later, veterans are reflecting on their service and remembering fallen comrades.  Iraqis are talking about how their country has changed and how it has not.  American lawmakers are debating whether to finally repeal the legislation authorizing the invasion.

“One person not heard from in recent days:  Former President George W. Bush.

“That is how he wants it.  He has no interest in being part of the debate anymore.  He did what he did and does not engage in second-guessing, at least not out loud.  He knows the questions he would be asked if he spoke out now:  Was it worth it?  Does he regret it?  What would he have done differently?  How will history remember it?  

“As far as he is concerned, the world is better off without Saddam Hussein, and he has told advisers he has not changed his mind about that.”

I don’t have enough information to render a final judgment.  All I will say is that George W. Bush made a decision as president based on his judgment of the best intelligence information he had at the time – not what analysts contend now — and that’s good enough for me.

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.

Taylor Moore won his first PGA Golf event in Florida yesterday, but, with all due respect to him, his win is not what I will remember from the event.

Instead, this:

One of the players he beat – Adam Shenk – also was trying to win his first professional golf event.  At one point, one of the TV commentators said Schenk – it almost sounds like the bad golf word, “shank” right? – had been part of a threesome on the Korn Ferry Tour with these last names:

• Shenk (nearly “shank”)

• Yip

• Hack

If I had any of these last names and was trying to be a pro golfer, I would change it, at least when I played.

This reminded me of two things:

1. When I was serving as a starter at a Oregon Golf Association golf event for juniors, there was a player with the last name mentioned above – Shank.

I had to say his name out loud on the tee and it was all I could to do to pull it off.  Just imagine what this kid had to endure on a golf course!

• As I thought about the incredibly named threesome above, I also was reminded of the time two players on the PGA Tour were in the same group and they had two-letter last names – Bennett An and Kevin Na.  An and Na!

Okay enough of this, at least for today.

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.

Bandon Dunes, a golf mecca on the Southern Oregon Coast, is set to get bigger.

That’s the news imparted by the recent on-line edition of Links Magazine.

Here’s how the story by writer Al Lunsford started:

“Bandon Dunes Golf Resort is adding even more golf to a resort already home to five 18-hole courses and a 13-hole par-3.

“Set on an inland dunescape between the first hole of Bandon Trails and the Pacific Ocean, development is proceeding on a second par-3 layout (this one spanning 19 holes) affectionately being referred to as “Course No. 7” by the team behind the design—Rod Whitman, Dave Axland, and Keith Cutten.

“In fact, the trio will finish building and turfing the resort’s newest golf offering this year, with the potential for preview play in Fall 2023 and a formal opening expected sometime in 2024.”

So, more development at Bandon, which already has added much – including economic vitality – to the South Oregon Coast.

Mike Keiser, the golf visionary who started the Bandon Dunes development years ago, says he authorized the 7^th course because of the popularity of the first six.

“…if you’ve tried booking tee times there (at Bandon), you understand that demand is high, and reservations must be booked more than a year in advance.”

So, who is Mike Keiser?

Well, he made his fortune in Chicago, co-founding, of all things, a greeting card company that was sold for nine figures.  Working from offices in Chicago, he then gained fame as a golf course developer, constructing courses in Oregon, Michigan, Canada, and Australia.

The addition of another par-3 course at Bandon — complimenting Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw’s 13-hole short course, The Preserve — made perfect sense to Keiser.

According to Links Magazine:

Keiser turned his attention to the south side of the property and found that nature had already done much of the work for him.

He has a scoring system when he walks a routing for the first time, ranking every hole from 1–10.  When he walked this proposed course, he gave it the highest cumulative score he’s ever given.

“Words don’t really do the site justice. It has so much potential.  There are so many natural pockets for greens.  It’s all chopped up with dunes that when you look at them, especially with Rod’s routing at hand, it’s like God laid them out.  It’s great green site after great green site after great green site.  It’s a much better site than The Preserve, in my opinion.”

Holes on the new course are in the range of 60–160 yards, with the option of getting a few up to 180 yards.  There are numerous teeing areas, including a forward tee where players can use their putter on every hole.

The layout begins and ends steps below a new clubhouse, located on one of the highest points on property.  The structure will be comparable to the existing space at Old Macdonald, but while modest in size, the vistas stretching from Pacific Dunes in the north all the way down to the rocks outside of the town of Bandon will be a great visual for guests, and an unquestionably popular place to enjoy a Bandon sunset.

So, what has Bandon Dunes meant to the South Oregon Coast?

To verify what I thought – economic vitality — I turned to local journalism in a newspaper, Bandon Western World.  I wanted to confirm how Bandon had changed from a forestry and fishing village to an internationally-know golf mecca.

Here are excerpts of what was written:

• Top of Form

Bottom of Form

• When Mike Keiser’s staff applied to the Coos County Planning Department in the 1990s to build a golf resort just north of Bandon, they met with more than just a little push-back.  Some residents testified they were concerned an upscale resort would change the nature of the South Coast area and its residents.
• And it has.  But many agree the area has been changed for the better. 
• In 1999, Bandon was still recovering from the economic hardships of the declining timber, fishing, and cranberry industries.  While other areas around the state had switched economic gears, Bandon was sluggishly behind and had not yet fully embraced the idea of the area being strongly marketed as a tourist destination.  That’s a hard sell when people feel protective of their old way of life.
• But the natural landscape and outdoor recreational opportunities of Bandon were begging to be discovered. 
• Bandon needed the influx of visitors who would spend money and prompt the city’s leaders and business owners to prioritize upgrades.  It wasn’t just Bandon.  The county also needed the revenue.  Despite tax break incentives by building in the county’s Enterprise Zone, Coos County officials knew Bandon Dunes would eventually be on the tax rolls as a direct economic benefit.  Job creation, from construction to services, also boosted the economy. 
• Twenty years later, the resort has been more of a success than anyone, including Keiser himself, anticipated.  The resort has five golf courses: Bandon Dunes, which opened in 1999, Pacific Dunes (2001), Bandon Trails (2005), Old Macdonald (2010), the Bally Bandon Sheep Ranch (2020), and the 13-hole par-3 course Bandon Preserve (2012).
• It is ranked by Golf Digest as the No. 1 Golf Resort in North America.
• Notably, Bandon Dunes is one of the largest employers in the county, employing 560 people, with an additional 350-plus caddies during the summer.  [Seriously, some old loggers or fishermen have learned the caddy art over the years.] 
• For years, after the downturn in the lumbering and fishing industries, when young people graduated from high school, they pretty much had to leave home to find good paying jobs.  That is not the case today.  Many of the brightest graduates have great jobs at Bandon Dunes.  

I have been to Bandon to play golf a few times over the years.  From Salem, Oregon where I live, it is a four-hour drive.  A couple times, I made the trip in the morning, played 18-holes, then drove back home.

I wouldn’t recommend such a trip. 

But, for anyone who has not played Bandon, I would recommend the trip, if you stay for a few days, either at accommodations on-site or in the small town of Bandon.

It’s a great story to see both good golf and solid economic development.

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 heard of pieces stupidity these days, but one from Fox News the other day takes the cake.

Fox News is touting its “journalistic standards.”

Say what?

Here is the way Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple put it in his most recent column:

“…a motion that Fox News filed on Friday may outpace all the internal correspondence for sheer risibility.  It argues that the Delaware court presiding over the case should maintain the confidentiality of discovery material already redacted by the network, shielding it from the public’s curious eyes.

“As anyone who has read through the Dominion filings can attest, swaths of black lines cover passage after passage in briefs and exhibits.  Could the redacted text be as scandalous as the public text?”

Fox News lawyers, Wemple adds, say one reason for the confidentiality is that competitors will pounce:  “Prematurely disclosing these other details on Fox’s internal and proprietary journalistic processes may allow competitors to appropriate these processes for their own competitive advantage, to Fox’s detriment, and may chill future newsgathering activity.”

For Fox News to emphasize its “news and journalistic standards” is the height if irony.  It maintains few, if any, journalistic standards, given that entertainment, mostly falsehoods, cover its air.

Dominion Voting Systems has filed suit against Fox for setting out intentionally to tarnish Dominion’s reputation.  Even as the suit is winding its way toward a decision, Fox already has lost the public relations battle. 

Quotes from Fox minions, including Tucker Carlson, illustrate that Fox knew it was focusing in lies and innuendo in its “news” broadcast.  Still, trying to gain ratings trashed journalism to a fault.

More from Wemple:

“Hold on here.  Given the revelations that have emerged thus far from the litigation, what ‘journalistic processes’ are in place at Fox News, proprietary or otherwise?  And if another media organization moved to ‘appropriate’ them, wouldn’t its editor-in-chief be sacked?

“One of the tidbits to emerge from discovery in the case, after all, is that Fox has no written editorial guidelines — ‘remarkably,’ writes Dominion in a February 16 brief seeking summary judgment.

“When asked about her journalism standards, Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott responded, ‘I would rather be right than first on a story.… better to have the facts first.’  Dominion argues that Fox News did have the facts at hand in reporting about the company.  When network hosts and guests floated theories that the voting machine company played a role in the alleged election fraud of November 2020, Dominion argues, they knew it was false.

I know a lot of Americans watch Fox News and believe it provides solid information.  But recent disclosures have indicated that Fox reporters propound false information because they believe it infuses ratings. 

Wemple concludes:

“So, whatever the judge’s decision, Fox News’s argument that competitors stand to benefit from the network’s journalistic practices signals a desperation to avoid an additional round of damaging disclosures.  At this point, it’s hard to say which is more severe — its legal predicament or its public relations predicament.”

Agreed.

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.

Fred Hiatt, the late editorial page editor of the Washington Post, wrote a compelling column before his untimely death.

It dealt with the idea that journalists – and others – should choose to capitalize the letter ‘B” in the word “Black.”

Here is how Hiatt started his column:

“How much controversy can there be in a capital letter?  Quite a bit, it turns out.  

“The social justice movement that gained force in the wake of George Floyd’s brutal killing under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer has spurred calls to start capitalizing the word ‘Black.’  Many news organizations have shifted their style.

But, Hiatt asked, if you capitalize “Black,” what about “white”?  A capital “W,” he said, can evoke the odious writings of white supremacists, so many people resist that change.

Hiatt continued that historian Nell Irvin Painter wrote that, “One way of re-making race is through spelling — using or not using capital letters.  A more potent way, of course, is through behavior.”

That’s right.

Changing behavior to avoid racism matters more than just capitalization.

But, as one admittedly small step in that, direction, I intend in the future to capitalize all words that describe a person’s ethnicity because ethnicity is important and a key part of who a person is.

Black.  White. Brown.  Etc.

So be it.  

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.

Scottie Scheffler occupies this spot – my favorite pro golfer.

Actually, he has been close to the top for most of the last year as he has carved out a special place in golf.

But, with this Players Championship win last weekend, the top spot is his.

I first ran into Scheffler when I watched him play in the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship in 2015 as the event was held at Eugene Golf and Country Club.  Scheffler led his University of Texas team into the match play portion of the tournament.  In the finals, Texas played the University of Oregon Ducks.

Eventually, in a great result for U of O coach Casey Martin, a Eugene resident, the Ducks prevailed 3 and 2.

In one of the five matches, Scheffler played the Ducks’ number one player, Aaron Wise, and beat him.  Still, the Ducks won.

Besides being a great final, it was, overall, a star-studded field, with four players in the field who are now making a name for themselves on the PGA Tour – Scheffler, Wise, John Rahm, and Beau Hossler. 

I used to say that Phil Mickelson was my favorite golfer, but his defection to LIV golf, not to mention his antics since bolting, have removed him from my favor.  However, I suspect he wouldn’t care.

While there are a handful of pro golfers I also like – Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Max Homa, to name three – Scheffler stands alone.

Here’s why:

• His style of playing is to illustrate that old golf question and answer:  What’s the most important shot in golf?  The next one.  He talks about “staying in the moment,” which is hugely important in pro tournaments.

• His Christian lifestyle is attractive and he often talks about his “values,” which include living a life for God.

• He values his family and talks about the great relationship he has with his wife, as well as his parents, his siblings, and his grandmother.

• After a victorious round, such as the one last Sunday, he is quick to praise his caddy, Ted Scott, for the role he played in producing the victory.  Many players don’t do that; I like that Scheffler recognizes his accomplishments are not singular.

Shortly after Scheffler and Scott got together more than a year ago, they shared how their Christian faith had buoyed them individually over the years and how their shared values would form a solid foundation for their tandem.

So, here’s to both of them – Scheffler and Scott.

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.

In my career as a journalist, state government manager, and lobbyist, I often thought about leadership.

What did it entail?  What are its aspects?  How did good leaders go about their business?

All good questions, with no easy or pat answers.

I asked one of my friends, a business consultant, and he said the answer would depend on the specific situation in corporate life, which is where he consulted.  His basic answer, however, was that a good leader would know how to take appropriate advantage of the perspectives of those under him or her, giving them a sense that they had a stake in the outcome of any decision or operation.

As I thought about this issue, I reflected on a person for whom I worked in Oregon state government.  In corporate terms, he held the position of “chief operating officer” in the Oregon Executive Department and reported to the CEO, the governor of the State of Oregon.

It was huge job.  So, this manager surrounded himself with four leaders whose perspectives he valued and who, based on their individual attributes, could help him manage Oregon state government.

I was fortunate to be one of the four.

My skills revolved around communications.  The other three persons included those with expertise in budget management, personnel management, and executive recruitment.

Call this a team, for that is what it was.  To use an athletic image, the COO was the quarterback and the four of us played on offense under his direction.  We found ways to work together well, merging our various skills and the process produced results for the benefit of state government.

We often would gather in a room and talk about challenges we faced.  It was open communication.  Every one of us was free to talk, even argue.

I give the COO huge credit for the way in which he worked.  He was “in charge,” but knew he needed help, so gave all four of us a stake in the outcome.  As I look back on a 40-year professional career, this experience is clearly one of the highlights.  And, frankly, the dynamics of this experience was one of the major reasons I had mixed emotions about leaving state government in 1990.

Another highlight was when the State of Oregon was threatened with labor unrest, even a strike.  This COO was not sure how to proceed, so with three of us, all of us asked for help from another state agency head.  Before joining state government, he had a background in labor relations, so his advice was helpful and on-target.

He agreed to consult with us, he said, based on his desire that, rather than fight employees, we would try to find middle ground with their union negotiators.  That’s often to find, but this agency helped us greatly.  So, for a time, it was five, not just four!

For me, what appears below are not magic answers to the question of leadership.  Instead, they are standards I watched in action, such as in the examples above, and to which I aspired when I held leadership positions.

These are all important; they appear in no particular order of priority.  

• Place a priority on listening before talking.

• Think of the long-term, not just the short-term.

• Value the perceptions of those who report to you – and let them know it.

• Assume a main mantle of leadership, which is to set expectations with an open hand, not a closed fist.

• Honesty and integrity are always the best policies.

• Understand what you know AND what you don’t know, which often these days is a lost art.

• Don’t allow criticism to affect your leadership, though assess the criticism carefully, as to source and content.

• And, in whatever discipline, know there is always room for improvement.

Two other points I often made back in the day: 

1.  First, you know leadership when you see it in action, not when someone talks about having it.

•  Second, leadership works well when the leader doesn’t set out to get credit for good results.  He or she deflects credit to others.  [The best example I saw of this was when I had the privilege to work for Oregon Governor Vic Atiyeh, the last Republican to hold the state’s highest office.  He worked hard and well as governor, always deflecting credit to others.]

I was fortunate to see this kind of leadership in action and I hope I have been able, at least on occasion, to mimic it.