PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus 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 of 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 clock is ticking.

In 12 days, Donald Trump won’t be president and, I hope, we can get on with life, albeit amidst the pandemic.

I was going to write this morning about ways to get rid of Trump sooner than 12 days – invoke the 25^th amendment, begin impeachment, charge him under criminal law with sedition (conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state), or vote in Congress for censure (though that won’t kick him out of office). 

But, then, no surprise, Peggy Noonan beat me to it in her column in this morning’s Wall Street Journal.

Note what she wrote in one of the last paragraphs, comparing Trump to Hitler and suggesting that both “were in bunkers.”  The Hitler comparison has struck me for several years, so I am glad that Noonan raised it.

Beyond that, the former speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan has a way with words using the backdrop of her long experience in and around politics.

So, I choose to reprint her column in this blog.  I agree with every word she wrote, including with respect to Hitler.

**********

Bring the Insurrectionists to Justice

The politicians who egged them on should also be made to pay a heavy price.

How do we deal with all that has happened?

We remember who we are. We are a great nation and a strong one; we have, since our beginning, been a miracle in the political history of man. We have brought much good. We are also in trouble, no point not admitting it.

We regain our confidence. We’ve got through trouble before. We love this place and will keep it. We have a Constitution that’s gotten us this far and will get us further.

We lower the boom. No civilized country can accept or allow what we saw Wednesday with the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol. This was an attack on democracy itself. That is not just a phrase. Rule by the people relies on adherence to law and process. The assault and siege was an attempt to stop the work of democracy by halting the peaceful transfer of presidential power, our crowning glory for more than two centuries.

This was a sin against history.

When something like this happens it tends to be repeated. It is our job to make sure it is not.

And so we should come down like a hammer on all those responsible, moving with brute dispatch against members of the mob and their instigators.

On the rioters: Find them, drag them out of their basements, and bring them to justice. Use all resources, whatever it takes, with focus and speed. We have pictures of half of them; they like to pose. They larked about taking selfies and smiling unashamed smiles as one strolled out with a House podium. They were so arrogant they were quoted by name in news reports. It is our good luck they are idiots. Capitalize on that luck.

Throw the book at them. Make it a book of commentaries on the Constitution. Throw it hard.

They have shamed and embarrassed their country in the eyes of the world, which is not only a painful fact but a dangerous one. The world, and the young—all of us—need to see them pay the price.

Now to the devil and his apprentices.

As for the chief instigator, the president of the United States, he should be removed from office by the 25th Amendment or impeachment, whichever is faster. This, with only a week and a half to go, would be a most extraordinary action, but this has been an extraordinary time. Mike Pence is a normal American political figure; he will not have to mount a new government; he appears to be sane; he will in this brief, strange interlude do fine.

The president should be removed for reasons of justice—he urged a crowd to march on Congress, and, when it turned violent, had to be dragged into telling them, equivocally, to go home—and prudence. Mitt Romney had it exactly right: “What happened here . . . was an insurrection, incited by the president of the United States.” As for prudence, Mr. Trump is a sick, bad man and therefore, as president, a dangerous one. He has grown casually bloody-minded, nattering on about force and denouncing even his own vice president as a coward for not supporting unconstitutional measures. No one seems to be certain how Mr. Trump spends his days. He doesn’t bother to do his job. The White House is in meltdown. The only thing that captures his interest is the fact that he lost, which fills him with thoughts of vengeance.

Removing him would go some distance to restoring our reputation, reinforcing our standards, and clarifying constitutional boundaries for future presidents who might need it.

As for his appointees and staff, the garbage they talk to rationalize their staying is no longer acceptable to anyone. “But my career.” Your career, in the great scheme of things, is nothing. “But my future in politics.” Your future, even if your wildest schemes are fulfilled, is a footnote to a footnote. There are ways to be a footnote honorably. “But my kids.” When they are 20 they will read the history. You want them proud of your role, not petitioning the court for a name change.

It was honorable to arrive with high hopes and idealistic commitments. It is not honorable to stay.

As for the other instigators, a side note.

True conservatives tend to have a particular understanding of the fragility of things. They understand that every human institution is, in its way, built on sand. It’s all so frail. They see how thin the veil is between civilization and chaos, and understand that we have to go through every day, each in our way, trying to make the veil thicker. And so we value the things in the phrase that others use to disparage us, “law and order.” Yes, always, the rule of law, and order so that the people of a great nation can move freely on the streets and do their work and pursue their lives.

To the devil’s apprentices, Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz. They are clever men, highly educated, well-credentialed, endlessly articulate. They see themselves as leading conservative lights, but in this drama they have proved themselves punks practicing punk politics. They are like people who know the value of nothing, who see no frailty around them, who inherited a great deal—an estate built by the work and wealth of others—and feel no responsibility for maintaining the foundation because pop gave them a strong house, right? They are careless inheritors of a nation, an institution, a party that previous generations built at some cost.

They backed a lie and held out the chimera of some possible Trump victory that couldn’t happen, and hid behind the pretense that they were just trying to be fair to all parties and investigate any suspicions of vote fraud, when what they were really doing was playing—coolly, with lawyerly sophistication—not to the base but to the sickness within the base. They should have stood up and told the truth, that democracy moves forward, that the election was imperfect as all elections are, and more so because of the pandemic rules, which need to be changed, but the fact is the voters of America chose Biden-Harris, not Trump-Pence.

Here’s to you, boys. Did you see the broken glass, the crowd roaming the halls like vandals in late Rome, the staff cowering in locked closets and barricading offices? Look on your mighty works and despair.

The price they will pay is up to their states. But the reputational cost should be harsh and high.

Again, on the president: There have been leaders before who, facing imminent downfall, decide to tear everything down with them. They want to go out surrounded by flames. Hitler, at the end, wanted to blow up Germany, its buildings and bridges. His people had let him down. Now he hated them. They must suffer.

I have resisted Nazi comparisons for five years, for the most part easily. But that is like what is happening here, the same kind of spirit, as the president departs, as he angrily channel-surfs in his bunker.

He is a bad man and not a stable one and he is dangerous. America is not safe in his hands.

It is not too late. Removal of the president would be the prudent move, not the wild one. Get rid of him. Now.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus 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 of 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.

13.

That’s the number of days Donald Trump has remaining in his presidency…if his Cabinet does not enact the 25^th amendment and take him out of office.  Which, I add, would be hard to achieve in just 13 days with the clock ticking.  Hard, but warranted.

The question for all of us:  Will we survive those 13 days?

Even after having a few hours to reflect on what happened yesterday, I suspect January 6, 2021 will be a day that will live in infamy.  We’ll remember that day much as we remember other fateful days in U.S. history, fateful days such as Pearl Harbor and 9/11.

Who knows what Trump and his minions will do to wreak further havoc on this country.  Every time he does something, he tops his previous most devious act. 

Various lawmakers – including Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley and Oregon Representative Peter DeDazio – called the protest an attempted coup.  Senator Chuck Schumer, who soon will be majority leader in the new Senate, called for using the 25^th amendment to remove Trump from office.

Here is how the Washington Post described the situation yesterday: 

“The world watched with dismay as a surreal scene at the U.S. Capitol, like little else seen in its history, unfolded on Wednesday.

“Many foreign observers, already glued to news of the final chapters of the election saga, reacted with alarm and even grief, especially in allied countries that have looked to U.S. democracy for inspiration.”

In Trump’s attempted coup, he is aided and abetted by some Republicans in the Senate and the House who still are bowing at the altar of Trump as they seek to reverse his election loss.

In the Wall Street Journal, columnist Gerald Seib labeled one of those  correctly when he wrote:  “Senator Cruz laments the fire as he wields a flamethrower.”

Incoming President Joe Biden put the entire tragedy in perspective when he said:

“This is not dissent.  It’s disorder. It’s chaos. It borders on sedition and it must end now.”

It wasn’t only in D.C. where demonstrators wreaked havoc.  In Oregon, they showed up at the Capitol in Salem to express their anger.  According to the Oregonian newspaper, “Some demonstrators burned an effigy of Governor Kate Brown.  Counter-demonstrators had arrived by about 2 p.m., and the event was declared an unlawful assembly.”

But, step back from the startling events of the last day and consider the litany of Trump’s egregious offenses:

• He instructed his attorneys to file more than 60 suits in various courts to overturn election results.  They lost each of them, often with derisive comments from judges who thought the suits lacked merit.

• He complimented white supremacists when they went after Blacks and other persons of color.

• He made special efforts to disown Republicans who didn’t express fealty to him – and that included Vice President Mike Pence when Pence would not use his honorary position leading the Senate to overturn the election.

• He assumed the U.S. Supreme Court eventually would rule in his favor, which it has not and will not.

• He motivated mobs of his supporters to demonstrate all the time and everywhere, including by ransacking the U.S. Capital.

All of this is new to me and most other Americans.  But, all I can do is hope that we will survive the next 13 days – to the point, on January 20, when I hope Trump will become the worst kind of afterthought as Joe Biden is sworn as president.

Again, from columnist Seib in the Wall Street Journal:

“It’s possible that the sheer horror that most Americans felt, and that most Republicans expressed, at the scenes of mayhem will cause everyone to take a step back from divisive political behavior and look harder for common ground. It’s surely an exaggeration to say the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol did Mr. Biden a favor, but they lent some new urgency to his calls to back away from the bitter politics of the last few years.”

We’ll see.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus 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 of 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 Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker, I endorse this blog headline. 

It mimics what appeared over Parker’s column in this morning’s on-line Post.

Because Parker is clearly a better analyst than I am – if not a better writer – I simply reprint her column this morning as my blog.

With Parker, I say it is past time for Donald Trump, the epitome of a narcissist, to exit stage left (or right if he were to choose that).

So, here’s Parker.

**********

In “King Lear,” Shakespeare’s tragic protagonist comes to life as fiction’s most powerful example of narcissistic personality disorder, a man who devolves from being a mere fool to gradually going mad.

For the past four years, we’ve witnessed a similar tragedy in the person of Donald Trump, who might have been a great president but for his own many personality disorders. If only his craziness, starkly evident in his recent phone call to Georgia’s secretary of state to beg for votes — “I just want to find 11,780 votes” — stemmed from betrayal by his children, as Lear’s was. (Instead, Trump’s children enabled their father’s worst instincts and impulses, becoming partners in crime to the theft of America’s dignity.)

One tragedy is that Trump, notwithstanding his irksome personality, could have been a great president had he been able to control his temper and his tongue. Like Lear, he suffers from intermittent explosive disorder, overreacting to all kinds of unimportant matters. Trump’s stream-of-consciousness Twitter storms in response to any perceived slight were childish tantrums, indicating a lack of emotional maturity that put terror in the hearts of normal adults.

Typical of narcissists, Trump demonstrated no capacity for empathy, whether it was letting stand a dubious policy of separating children from their immigrant parents — many of whom remain lost to their families — or demonstrating little concern for hurricane victims beyond their walk-on role in his continuing reality show.

Finally, Trump’s willingness to demonize certain people (Mexicans, Muslims and the media) while accepting unacceptable behavior from others (white supremacists, racists and armed radicals) damaged the nation. “Make America Great Again” was a fine slogan as long as it pertained only to business or military strength. But we soon learned that MAGA also stood for Whiteness and the good old days when White men were in charge.

One can safely say, for example, that our borders need to be more secure — and even suggest that reinforcements are essential — without making many people feel threatened. Or without separating young children from parents seeking refuge from drug lords, bloodthirsty gangs and destitution.

 “Some, I assume, are good people,” Trump said, referring to the caravans of people crossing our southern border. He might instead have added, “I know that most of those trying to enter our country are good people, but some are not, and we have to make sure that drug dealers, thieves and rapists don’t get through.”

Great leaders know how to say hard things without wounding the innocent or stimulating dark hearts. Trump’s instinct for the jugular may have served him well in the deal-making meat-grinder of his native Queens, but most people in Main Street America prefer to get along and leave well enough alone. Trump has managed to make enemies of neighbors and divide families along partisan lines.

This brings me to the question I’m often asked and that I sometimes ask myself: How could Republicans, Christians, evangelicals and other “good” people support someone such as Trump, especially as he threatened our democratic republic by denying the 2020 election results? What could Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) be thinking in joining his crusade to reverse the election’s results — that is, other than their own 2024 presidential campaigns and their craven desire to appeal to Trump’s loyal base?

I think I know the answer: A certain percentage of conservatives think Trump saved the country simply by deregulating industry and keeping his promise to appoint conservatives to the Supreme Court. Full stop. He was their bulwark against decline and fall. They believe in his unsubstantiated claims that the election was rigged for the same reasons. It is all in the service of a higher calling: free markets, freedom of conscience, and a pro-life position that can’t be compromised as a matter of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

If these are your operating principles, and if you believe the other side will irrevocably alter them, then holding onto power isn’t negotiable. Denial isn’t so much a political decision as a religious conviction. Or, as one political soothsayer recently said to me: “When politics becomes your religion, people become irrational.”

In this context, Trump is all they’ve got. They’ll take him any day over Joe Biden and Kamala D. Harris, who they fear will take Biden’s place before 2024 arrives.

That’s not how things work here, however. To believe all that is a fiction of its own.

Speaking of which, if this were ancient Britain and Shakespeare were writing this column, then Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) would duel to bring this drama to a close. And Trump would make his exit.

But alas. For such is fiction writ.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus 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 of 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 follow politics and know that my air travel occurred between 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. yesterday, then you would realize that Donald Trump stooped to a new low during that time period.

He placed a call to the Georgia Secretary of State, a Republican, and, incredibly, cajoled him “to find about 12,000 votes” to overturn the presidential election in that state and, thus, declare Trump the winner.

As I got off the plane yesterday, I called one of my friends and, with a huge note of disdain in his voice, he alerted me to what happened.

Since Joe Biden’s victory in the election, I have wondered how low Trump would go to avoid the stamp of loser.  Well, he went lower than ever yesterday, committing violations of law that could follow him for months.  Who knows what he’ll do in his last 15 days in office?

Is it possible to go to sleep and wake up after 15 days with America still intact from Trump’s tirades?

One thing that has amazed me is how much Trump does to stay in an office — the presidency – when he eschews so many of the normal functions of the office, preferring instead to watch right-wing “news” programs, then fire off offensive tweets.

To understand the gravity of Trump’s efforts to overturn the Georgia election, I turned to the Washington Post this morning.  One article was by Dan Balz, one of country’s best political reporters who surveyed the damage done by Trump and his sycophants.  The second article was by Jennifer Rubin in an opinion piece that displayed how Trump violated the law by his latest actions.

Both appear below.

From Dan Balz in the Washington Post

There are but 16 days left in President Trump’s term, but there is no doubt that he will use all of his remaining time in office to inflict as much damage as he can on democracy — with members of a now-divided Republican Party acting as enablers.

That there are no limits to the lengths to which he will go in this ruinous effort was made clear from a phone call he made Saturday to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.  In the call, Trump repeatedly urged Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to allow the secretary to recalculate the election results to show that the president, rather than President-elect Joe Biden, won the state.

Trump will never let this go, not between now and the day he is forced to give up the office and Biden is sworn in, not in the days and weeks and months after that.  That he is on a mission is evident, but to what end, other than to avoid the ignominious label of “loser” after a single term in the White House?  That, at least, is consistent with the behavior he has exhibited throughout the four years of his presidency.  He cares nothing about collateral damage to democracy.

The president, however, is not on this mission alone.  Instead, he continues to gather support from members of a party he has remade in his own image.  On Wednesday, members of the House and the Senate will meet to approve the results from the electoral college.  

From Jennifer Rubin on the Post

…pressuring a campaign official to change the vote tally is a federal offense, as former Justice Department inspector general Michael Bromwich tweeted Sunday, citing Title 52 U.S. Section 20511. That law states:   “A person, including an election official, who in any election for Federal office … knowingly and willfully deprives, defrauds, or attempts to deprive or defraud the residents of a State of a fair and impartially conducted election process, by … the procurement, casting, or tabulation of ballots that are known by the person to be materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent under the laws of the State in which the election is held” is subject to imprisonment of up to five years.

Threatening Raffensperger with criminal consequences is also arguably extortion. Title 18 Section 875 of the U.S. Code reads: “Whoever, with intent to extort from any person, firm, association, or corporation, any money or other thing of value, transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any threat to injure the property or reputation of the addressee or of another or the reputation of a deceased person or any threat to accuse the addressee or any other person of a crime, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.”

Alternatively, the state attorney general of Georgia might investigate and bring applicable charges under state law. That would have one clear advantage: Trump cannot receive a federal pardon for state crimes.

**********

So, there it is:  Trump committed another violation of law yesterday.  One only can hope that his illegal conduct will catch up to him after he leaves office, with no ability to pardon himself prospectively if a state violation is in view. 

We’ll see if hope can survive the next 15 days.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus 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 of 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.

On the theory that 2021 will be better than 2020, I headline the salutation, adding the phrase, “sort of.”

Even on this first day of the year, another act in the Donald Trump debacle is playing out in the Nation’s Capital.

Why, I ask.  Why can’t we just be through with Trump, the loser, as the New Year dawns.

Well, it’s because at least one Republican senator just won’t let the election be over.

What’s ahead on January 6 is a procedure that is usually just a pro-forma one where the U.S. Senate and House simply hear and ratify the results of the election using documents that have been produced by the states.

This time, no. 

Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri who appears to fashion himself as presidential candidate in 2024, is going to oppose endorsing the results – the real, actual results.

In the Washington Post today, columnist Michael Gerson inveighs against Hawley’s incredible promise on January 6 to try to overturn the will of the people.

Gerson wrote:

“This is the type of politics that Hawley is enabling — a form of politics that abolishes politics.  A contest of policy visions can result in compromise.  The attempt to delegitimize your opponent requires their political annihilation.  And a fight to the political death is always conducted in the shadow of possible violence.”

Hawley’s effort won’t succeed, if only because the U.S. House would have to go along with his injustice – and it won’t.  The Senate might no go along, either.

Another Washington Post writer, Paul Waldman, put it well when he wrote:

“…there is a silver lining to be found in this final act, the election. The point of rituals like the one that will take place at the Capitol on January 6 is to demonstrate the power of the system under which we all live, to show us that it is larger than any one person or any one party.

“That is the wall against which Trump will beat his tiny fists next week, with the help of Hawley and a few members of the House Chucklehead Caucus. For all the damage he has done to American institutions and all the systemic weaknesses he has revealed, this is one place where Trump will fail spectacularly.  The ceremony will be the sight, not of his deliverance but his abject defeat.

“So bring it on Trump and Senator Hawley.  Take your spectacle of sore loserdom to the floor.  Show us how pathetic you are, one more time.  We’ll all watch while you make a last attempt to bend the system to your crude and selfish will.  At a time of so much misery and despair, the sound of that gavel banging down will give us something to feel good about.”

So, on with 2021.  I am hoping for inauguration day January 20 when Trump and his sycophants will be confirmed, once and for all, as losers.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus 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 of 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.

…for a saner level of political discourse in our country at local, regional, state and national levels (which should be possible if only because Donald Trump exits as a loser)

…for a recognition that compromise is not a dirty word no matter where compromise occurs

…for a recognition that, especially in Oregon, there is a major difference between urban and rural parts of the state and legislators ought to understand the differences, then try to bridge them

…for a recognition that most immigrants are looking for the potential of a better way of life, not a criminal enterprise

…for a recognition that those who represent us ought to expect government programs to produce results, not just exist

…for a recognition that good things can happen if government and private sector work together, not just one or the other

…for a commitment on the part of the media to cover politics from the standpoint of issues important to Americans, just the horse-race mentality

…for continued success of quality journalism outlets, including Oregon Public Broadcasting (one of my former lobbying clients), the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the New York Times (and, if you want, add The Atlantic Magazine to this list)

…a recognition of compassion and empathy as important credentials in anyone who wants to hold public office

…for success of Biden Administration as it works to, (a) exert more control over the pandemic, (b) generate even-handed economic recovery, and (c) inject reality and truth into America’s political system

There.  Call these New Year’s resolutions, if you will.  For me, they are just wishes, which, if you think about it, hearken back to some of my blog posts in 2020.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus 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 of 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.

After Donald Trump lost his re-election campaign, I pledged that I would not write about the oaf anymore. 

I have violated that pledge a couple times.  And I do so again today.
I can’t help myself (though I continue to hope that Trump becomes nothing more than a cantankerous after-thought when Joe Biden takes over as president next month).

The question in the headline has bothered me for nearly four years as we have watched Trump act only in his own interests, not America’s.

As we near the end of 2020, Derek Thompson, writing for The Atlantic, answered the question better than most.

Here is a summary of what he wrote:

“The deep story went like this:  You are an older white man without a college degree standing in the middle of a line with hundreds of millions of Americans.  The queue leads up a hill, toward a haven just over the ridge, which is the American dream.

“Behind you in line, you can see a train of woeful souls—many poor, mostly non-white, born in America and abroad, young and old.  It’s scary to look back.  There are so many behind you, and in principle you wish them well.  Still, you’ve waited a long time.

“Now you’re stuck in line, because the economy isn’t working.  And worse than stuck, you’re stigmatized; liberals in the media say every traditional thing you believe is racist and sexist.  And what’s this?  People are cutting in line in front of you!  Something is wrong.  The old line wasn’t perfect, but at least it was a promise.  There is order in the fact of a line.  And if that order is coming apart, then so is America.”

It was in this context that Trump appeared four years ago.

Without a shred of political decency, Trump appealed to those disaffected – those in the line who opposed cutters, or at least their perception of cutters.

The Atlantic continues:  “When Trump appeared to the members of the broken line, he embodied the most ineffable aspects of the deep story.  Trump might be a lifelong bullshitter, but one thing he has never had to bullshit about is his grievance toward liberal elites and his antipathy for the groups whom Tea Party Republicans already knew they hated.

“He animated their distrust toward Barack Obama with his ‘birtherism’ claims.  He gave shape to their hatred for Hillary Clinton by leading ‘Lock her up!’ chants.  From his first rallies, Trump’s basic message has always been ‘I love you, and you love me, and we all hate the same people.’

“A lot of liberals can’t tune into the frequency on which Trump is speaking to the right.  Throughout his term, the president has been laser-focused, not so much on the day-to-day tasks of the job, but rather on calling out his political enemies — the press, the bureaucracy, the far left, the impeachers, the vote-counting software.

“But although liberals might see pathological anger here, sources have told The Atlantic they perceive something deeper than rage. They see suffering.  Suffering consolidates and strengthens belief.  It puts an “ism” to the word Trump and gives a political project the shape of a religious movement.

“Perhaps in part because Trump considers himself godlike, he is absorbing the underlying religious paradigm of voters who are seeking some new creed to explain the broken line and mend it.”

This explanation resonated with me because I have a number of friends who, to my surprise, supported Tr ump and still do to this day.  They appear to believe that “elites in Washington, D.C., including President Barack Obama,” have done them dirt.  They say they remained silent during Obama’s terms and, now, don’t trust Biden.  So, it is past time , they believe, to right the wrongs – and, to put a point on it, vote for and support Trump, even though he now is a loser.

For these folks, Trump “appears” to embody the notion that his supporters have been harmed (a) by Washington, D.C, which caters too often to itself, and (b) by minority groups (including immigrants) who are “cutting in line” ahead of them.

I put the word “appears” in quotes because Trump was and is nothing like he wants to appear via his rampant tweets.  Whatever he says in tweets, he always has been out for himself and no one else.

So, what’s the fix?  It’s mostly that government begins to work for the people.  And that we — “the people” — accept the fact that government will might produce compromise, as well help the less fortunate among us, including immigrants and minorities.

Both of these represent a high calling.  Only time will tell if America is up to the challenge.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus 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 of 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.

There is no need to have a professional motto, but I did have one over the years.

It was this:

Work hard and smart to make a difference.

Notice, the word was “a,” not “the.”

Hard to make “the” difference at all times.  It is more logical to make “a” difference in your work. 

In my case, the work was lobbying on behalf of many clients who needed my best effort on their behalf for them to succeed.  Making a difference was what I set out to do every day.

Making “a difference” could involve small touches to make sure clients understood I was working in their best interests.  Or, making “a difference” could involve larger-gauge issues to achieve client objectives.

Beyond my motto, speaking of words, I also dealt with various phrases during my 25-year career as a lobbyist.  Not mottos.  Just phrases.  In previous posts, I may have referred to them, but here is a list:

• Many legislators dealt with issues as if they were part of a circular firing squad

• Or, to make a political point, legislators often practiced this — ready, shoot, aim

• If I wanted to kill a bill, I might say it represented a camel’s nose under the tent

• Or, to use another “kill a bill” phrase, it would constitute the first step down a slippery slope

• One of my favorite legislators over years used this phrase — what goes around comes around – to convey a kye point about the lawmaking process — passing legislation often involves starting, stopping, and then starting again, all with recognition of making enemies in the process is stupid.  Just make your points and move on.

And, back to one of my important mottos, perhaps secondary to the one above, but still critical.  It was this aspiration:  Your word is your bond.

If lobbyists and legislators lived up to that, it would improve the process of lawmaking.

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

As a manager for all seasons, I run three departments – the Department of Pet Peeves, the Department of ”just Saying,” and the Department of Good Quotes Worth Remembering.

This is the latter.  It is open again. 

And, given my supreme power, there are various prospects for inclusion.  Each is totally within my power to cite.

Here they are:

FROM THE WASHINGTON POST/  “It [the response to the pandemic) fits a pattern that stretches back decades: Many of the biggest technological breakthroughs in American history have not sprung from the private sector. They have instead been the result of collaboration between private companies and the federal government.”

Comment:  Well said – or, rather, well written.  Good things can happen if the government and the private sector work together for the good of the public, which does not happen enough these days.

FROM THE NEW YORK POST/  “Business owners in Queens, New York, are reportedly furious at Democrats and especially Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York), after she and colleagues chased Amazon out of the city, which is now struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Almost two years after Amazon pulled out from a proposal to build a massive headquarters along the Queens waterfront, the site is a vacant eyesore — and, to many locals, the squandered economic opportunity is even more painful amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“The world’s largest e-tailer abruptly canceled its projected 25,000 job-producing campus in February 2019 after being taken aback by ferocious opposition from local pols — including Democratic socialist Representative Ocasio-Cortez and State Senator Mike Gianaris.”

Comment:  Such is the stupidity of Ocasio-Cortex and her ilk.  They turn their back on thousands of jobs, including with good benefits.  Not just the value of having a job, but just think of the tax revenue jobs produce.  Amazon’s second headquarters would have produced solid economic stimuli.

FROM THE ATLANTIC/  “By making himself synonymous with the party, by blocking the emergence of rivals, by putting the party on the wrong side of democracy, and by replacing ideas with disinformation, Donald Trump is not leading the Republican Party so much as holding it hostage.  He and his supporters can block but not build.  They are spoilers who can foment chaos, encourage radicalism, divide the polity, and stymie rivals, but they cannot construct a coherent agenda or forge the post-Trump future.

“To assess the legacy of Donald Trump’s presidency, start by quantifying it.  Since last February, more than a quarter of a million Americans have died from COVID-19—a fifth of the world’s deaths from the disease, the highest number of any country.  In the three years before the pandemic, 2.3 million Americans lost their health insurance, accounting for up to 10,000 ‘excess deaths;’ millions more lost coverage during the pandemic.

“The United States’ score on the human-rights organization Freedom House’s annual index dropped from 90 out of 100 under President Barack Obama to 86 under Trump, below that of Greece and Mauritius.  Trump withdrew the U.S. from 13 international organizations, agreements, and treaties.

“The number of refugees admitted into the country annually fell from 85,000 to 12,000.  About 400 miles of barrier were built along the southern border.  The whereabouts of the parents of 666 children seized at the border by U.S. officials remain unknown.”

Comment:  Such is the legacy of Donald Trump, easily the worst president in U.S. history.

FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL/  “Two rare events occurred this week and no one alive is likely to see either of them again.

“The first was the celestial conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, in which the planets appeared closer together than they have in almost 400 years.

“The second was a sincere political apology.

“General Gustave Perna, head of Operation Warp Speed, apologized for miscalculating the number of doses of anti-Covid vaccine available to the states. Listening to Perna’s apology, one thought:  Gee, he actually means it.

Comment:  The Wall Street Journal has it right.  Genuine political apologies are relatively infrequent.  They should occur more often – and, as voters, we should accept an apology if it appears to be given in a real, genuine way, including what a public figures hopes to learn from a mistake.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus 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 of 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 coronavirus raging around the world, it’s easy to look back on 2020 and believe that not much good happened.

Easy.  Not right.

The Washington Post performed a solid service last week when it ran a story under this headline:  20 good things that happened in 2020.

I’ll repeat that list below, but, taking the Post story as a challenge, I thought back on some good things that happened this year for me and my family, even amidst the virus.  Here’s my list.

• Everyone in my family has managed to avoid getting the virus.
• Wife Nancy successfully is phasing down her 35-year career as a realtor, though she still handles calls from past clients and friends.
• It has been rewarding to watch our son, Eric, successfully run the real estate company where Nancy worked.
• We have been thrilled to watch the resilience of our daughter, Lissy, along with two grandkids, as they adjust to living after a divorce, a divorce which was the right action to take.
• Have benefitted from great relationships with a number of friends, especially on the golf course, as golf helps all of us make an adjustment to the virus, as well as cement those friendships.
• One of the specific benefits, beyond golf, was continuance of a Friday meeting by way of Zoom among friends committed to studying the Bible through lessons created by Links Players,, which emphasizes Christian relationships through golf.
• Good links (pardon the play on words) to a group of golfers in La Quinta, California who play at The Palms and have welcomed me into the group.
• Great progress by our three grandchildren, who are lights of our life – Mason, Drew and Kate.
• Good work by my old lobbying and public relations firm, CFM Advocates, as it earns enough money, for one thing, to continue buying out my shares in the company, now more than 25 years old, a pinnacle for our firm like ours.
• Rewarding work for the Oregon Golf Association, Oregon’s leading golf promotion organization, where I am privileged to be a member of the Board of Directors Executive Committee.
• Rewarding work for Oregon Government Ethics Commission (OGEC), which exists as a model for state ethics organizations around the country.  The OGEC also stands as one of the best- run state agencies in Oregon – and I say that after a 40-year career in and around state government.

Beyond my list, I ncourage you to do the same – focus on good things in the last year, even as you reckon with the bad, probably led by the virus.

So, back to the Washington Post list, which began with these paragraphs:

When we began listing good things that happened in the year to match the year’s number — 16 good things in 2016, 17 good things in 2017, and so on — we knew the exercise would grow more challenging as the century wore on. To be honest, though, we didn’t think it would get this hard, this fast. The year 2020 turned out to be a difficult one to love.

Still, good things did happen. Perhaps more than usual, our list this year includes silver linings — “Yes, a terrible plague struck humankind, but…” We don’t apologize for that; finding the silver linings is how we all make it through.  

Without further ado, then, 20 good things — starting with a few of those silver linings.

1

A terrible plague struck humankind, but scientists responded with unprecedented speed and common purpose; cooperating across national lines to decode the virus and then discover and manufacture

2

Thousands of people volunteered to take the experimental vaccines — at some risk to themselves — so safety and efficacy could be tested and proven.

3

We learned to appreciate the selfless dedication of nurses, orderlies, doctors and other health workers who risked their lives to save ours — and the selfless dedication of truck drivers, grocery stockers, farmworkers and so many more who risked their lives to keep the economy from collapsing.

4

Many of us felt isolated and frustrated in our social distancing, but many found meaning and connection with young or adult children, older relatives and other pod mates.

5

We also connected and reconnected with friends, relatives, colleagues and therapists across great distances as we became accustomed to Zoom calls and FaceTime video chats. We wouldn’t suggest that in-person wedding celebrations are gone forever — but the advances we made in telehealth, remote work and virtual gatherings will outlast the pandemic.

6

As movie theater chains struggled across the country, some family-owned drive-ins made a comeback, bringing a sense of community to small towns that had thought they were gone forever.

7

A record number of Americans turned out to vote in our national election, pandemic notwithstanding.

8

As the president launched an unprecedented assault on the democratic process, local and state officials of courage and integrity stood up to his assault and did their jobs with honor. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Michigan Board of State Canvassers vice chair Aaron Van Langevelde and other Republicans stayed true to law and principle despite the corrupting pressure of their president, the cowardly silence of their national leadership, and, at times, vile and violent threats to them and their families.

9

And… he lost. We realize that for 74 million Americans, that doesn’t count as a good thing, but the result was welcomed by 81 million — ourselves among them. And this is our list. We celebrate the defeat of the worst president in U.S. history.

10

Black women led the nation to this fortunate result, with more than 9 in 10 voting for Democratic candidate Joe Biden in an election that was far closer than it should have been.

11

In so doing, they helped elect America’s first female vice-president, first Black vice-president and first Asian American vice-president: Sen. Kamala Harris of California.

12

The Supreme Court ruled that no one can be fired for being gay or transgender

13

When the country was really in trouble, Republicans and Democrats came together in Congress and the administration to pass the Cares Act, which provided relief to businesses and workers suffering through no fault of their own.

14

The Federal Reserve, under the leadership of chair Jerome H. Powell, mounted an innovative rescue effort that kept the economy battered, but afloat.

15

One of the most horrifying acts of police brutality ever caught on video — the killing of George Floyd — led to an outpouring of protest and reflection and, in many cities and state capitals, the beginning of reform.

16

NASA named its headquarters building in D.C. after Mary W. Jackson, the agency’s first African American female engineer. Mississippi replaced a flag that had featured Confederate symbolism. Fairfax County renamed Robert E. Lee High School for the late civil rights leader John Lewis. Congress voted to rename 10 Army installations that honored Confederate generals. Despite resistance, Americans began to reckon more honestly with their history.

17

The United States launched astronauts to the International Space Station on a U.S.-made rocket, after years of dependence on Russian technology. The reusable booster did its job and then returned safely, potentially opening an era of more cost-efficient space travel.

18

Carbon dioxide emissions declined — in part due to the recession, yes, but also because the cost of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, is declining more quickly than many experts had predicted.

19

With the United States set to rejoin the Paris agreement, and China pledging to reach carbon neutrality by 2060, momentum grew for the global community to take its climate emergency seriously.

20

After four years of an administration appointing mostly White men to the judiciary and the executive branch, the government was set to look more like America. And not just with its new vice president, but with a plethora of new faces including the most Native Americans elected to Congress, the most trans people elected to state legislatures, a burst of Republican women elected to Congress and a highly diverse and competent array of nominees for the incoming Cabinet.

Oh — and a panda was born at the National Zoo!

Happy new year.