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.

What in the world would prompt Donald Trump to rail against military heroes?

Who knows?   A question that could be asked of many, if not most, of Trump’s actions and comments, even as he appeals to Americans to give him an unthinkable four more years in office.

As my headline indicates, this alone is enough to send him down the road from the White House.

But, rather that write about this myself, I choose to reprint a piece by national columnist Eugene Robinson.  He chooses words eloqently to write about Trump’s character – or, more precisely, his lack of character. 

So, here is Robinson.

**********

What was in it for our American soldiers? 

The American Cemetery at Normandy sits on a bluff overlooking the beach where, on June 6, 1944, American soldiers waded ashore to begin the invasion of France. The old battlefield is marked with shell craters and gun pits offering mute testimony to the fury of that day. In the cemetery itself stand endless rows of white crosses and the occasional Star of David — mute testimony to the sacrifice it required.

If you’ve ever been there, ever knelt to read names on marble markers or stood in contemplation of the gray waters of the English Channel, you understand why my thoughts flew back there last week. That, of course, is when The Atlantic posted a story alleging that Donald Trump described American military personnel captured or wounded in war as “losers” and “suckers.”

Reporter Jeffrey Goldberg, citing four anonymous sources, writes of how Trump canceled a planned visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in 2018 to commemorate the centennial of the World War I Battle of Belleau Wood. The public explanation was that it was raining too hard for the presidential helicopter to fly, and the Secret Service nixed the idea of a motorcade.

“Neither claim,” writes Goldberg, “was true.”

He quotes Trump asking, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” Separately, according to Goldberg, he described the 1,811 marines who died in the battle ? which stopped the Germans from reaching Paris ? as “suckers” for getting killed. Plus, says Goldberg, he was concerned the rain might muss his hair.

Then there’s this: On a 2017 Memorial Day visit to Arlington National Cemetery accompanied by then-Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, Trump reportedly joined Kelly at the grave of Kelly’s son, a 29-year-old marine killed in Afghanistan.

“I don’t get it,” said Trump. “What was in it for them?”

And here, I am obligated to note that Trump has forcefully denied these reports. I also note that Kelly, who could easily clear his ex-boss with a simple denial, has maintained an eloquent silence. Meantime, a number of other news organizations, including the Associated Press, the Washington Post and, incredibly, Fox, have confirmed the story, in whole or in part.

More to the point, given his very public denigration of Sen. John McCain’s wartime service, his attack on Gold Star father Khizr Khan, his oafish condolence call to the widow of Army Sgt. La David Johnson (“He knew what he signed up for”) and his willingness to use the military as a political prop, is it so hard to believe Trump said those words?

No, it is not. So in response, I’ll simply say this: He’s right. American military personnel are losers.

They’ve lost limbs and eyesight, blood and guts, minds and lives in the jungles of Guadalcanal, the mountains of Afghanistan, the streets of Gettysburg.

And yes, they’re suckers, too. Sucker enough to venerate corny ideals like duty and valor and the responsibility to answer when country calls.

What was in it for them? Nothing much. Just mud, snow, terror, hunger, horror, jungle rot and a good chance of death.

It is no surprise Donald Trump understands none of this. He is the favored son of a rich man who never taught him to look beyond the horizon of his own self-interest. But on a bluff in France, in graveyards, fields, forests, deserts and jungles around the world, dead Americans lie in silent rebuke of his selfishness. These “losers” and “suckers” never thought to ask what was in it for them. They already knew, yet they did not shirk. Their country asked them to go forward into danger.

And they did.

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 in golf is the fairway.  The middle ground in public policy is often where the best decisions lie. 

The headline in this blog could pertain to golf when you play two others in a tough match.  Call it a “threesome.”

This time, though, the headline pertains to three issues we are facing now:

• The Covid-19 virus that continues to perplex the world

• The Black Lives Matter protests in this country that continue to affect various American cities, including Portland, Oregon

• The forest fire season in the Northwest that, as it continues, is being described as the worst in Oregon’s history

Why would I write about this?

Well, the answer was provided by something my wife, Nancy, and I read in the Washington Post yesterday.  On the occasion of the 19^th anniversary of the 9/11 attack on Washington, D.C., the author, Hamil Harris, wrote about a sermon given at the 19^th Street Baptist Church in D.C. 10 years after the tragedy. 

Looking for the phrase, “God is our refuge and strength,” Nancy found the citation in the Bible – Psalm 46.  But she found more.

What came up appears below.

First, for the Post to print this is noteworthy, it being, by design, one of America’s great secular newspapers.

Second, the words have direct application today as we face Covid-19, racism protests and forest fires, which, taken together, can be very foreboding.

Here is Harris’ story in the Post, under the headline:

Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength”

The Reverend Derrick Harkins sermon at the 19th Street Baptist Church on Sunday, September 11, 10 years after the tragedy, came from Psalm 46. The Northwest Washington, D.C. congregation was filled with more than 400 people as he spoke from the title, “On the Far Side of Trouble.”

Harkins said his message was partly inspired by the presence of family members of Army Major Malcolm Patterson, who perished at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.  Below are some excerpts from the sermon and his reflections on them.

“Psalm 46 is a strong biblical passage that reminds us that even in the face of trouble, God is our refuge and strength.”

“Harkins talked about the fact that the bible doesn’t portray the absence of calamity, but God promises his presence in trying times.  September 11 was not the first, and sadly it will not be the last time we will see inhuman acts, but we always can depend on God’s presence when tragedy strikes.”

In his text, Harkins quoted from writing on the walls inside the Auschwitz Concentration Camp:  ”I believe in the sun even when it is not shining.  I believe in love, even when I alone.  I believe in God, even when he is silent.  In the midst of tragic circumstances, God is still present, even when it is hard to see or perceive him.”

“Psalm 46 says God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  The reality is that there will be difficult times, but God promises to be our refuge.  When buildings crumble and our world is shaken, God has not failed us.  He has promised to be with us in the middle of tragedy.  We sometimes think that, when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances, God has abandoned us, but this is not the case.”

The senior choir, at Harkins’s request, sang “God Leads His Dear Children Along.”  It was written by George Young after his home was burned to the ground:  “Some through the water, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood. Some through great sorrow, but God gives us a song in the night season and all the day long.”

Now, after the piece by Harris, here is my conclusion.

I believe it makes sense to rely on God despite difficult circumstances, not just when circumstances are comfortable. 

Tough?  Yes.

But, this recognition is what is sustaining me at the moment in the face of the tough issues of Covid-19, race, and fires.

God is my refuge and strength.

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.

Even as the Republican National Convention (RNC) ended a few days ago – mercifully — I cannot help but think of various words to describe Donald Trump as, incredibly, he seeks a second term after as disastrous four years in office.

I did not watch or listen to the RNC, but I read just enough to know that it was just another reality TV show venture for Trump and his sycophants.

So, here are the first words that come to my mind when I think of Trump.

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

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

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

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

Finally, with help from my wife, I thought of this old saying – “The emperor has no clothes” – when it comes to Trump.

According to my on-line dictionary, “this expression is used to describe a situation in which people are afraid to criticize something or someone because the perceived wisdom of the masses is that the thing or person is good or important.”

Right.  That’s true at least of Trump’s sycophants – but, I hope, not of “the masses.”

We need a leader in the Office of President who will be honest, empathetic, decent, and act with a conscience.

This fall, that’s Joe Biden.  And I hope “the masses” will agree.

**********

And, here’s a footnote for you.  Catherine Rampell, a Washington Post writer, posted an excellent column which said that “what’s needed are different units for measuring the Trump administration’s failures and scandals, since the standard metrics aren’t registering.

“His record should be quantified in scales that a Fox News viewer might be more familiar with:  Not body counts or dollars, but Benghazis and Solyndras.”

Rampell reports:

• The number of lives lost to Covic-19 is roughly equal to the death toll of 60 9/11 attacks.

• Or, that number equals about 46,000 Benghazis.
  
  
• Trump once took credit for saving approximately 700 jobs at an Indiana plant run by Carrier, but last week alone 1.6 million people applied for unemployment benefits, the equivalent of 2,300 Carrier plants.

Enough!

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 it what I long for in both politics and golf. The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions like. And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

Is the fact that Joe Biden suffers from stuttering enough reason to vote for him for president?

Probably not in and of itself, but the fact that he has readily admitted his speech problem, as well as developed a way to surmount it, does indicate something of his real character.

And, for me, this reality provides another reason to vote for Biden.

Stuttering is a speech malady that affects millions of Americans. It is difficult to conquer. Plus, especially in today’s ridicule-dominated society, those who stutter can be subjected to taunts and derision.

Biden’s stutter still sometimes affects his speech and, in some quarters, has given rise to the notion that he lacks the mental chops to be president.

The fact is that his stutter can, at times, obscure what he intends to say – or at least how he says it. But it cannot be left to obscure the quality of his life, the contributions he has made to public service, and his example of empathy in life.

Why does all of this matter to me?

Well, in the spirit of full disclosure, I have been one of those who has suffered from stuttering. It developed in my childhood and, while I have not had professional help to conquer it, I have managed to do so on my own, which is not to suggest that I deserve any huge dose of personal credit for the achievement.

I just managed to find a way around it, so much so that, in a series of strange twists, I spent much of my professional career speaking in public or before television cameras.

So, with that context, I appreciate the commitment of Biden to surmount a problem and serve a long political career that involved a lot of public speaking, despite his speech malady.

To me, his achievement – also his willingness to assume a public position (admitting his stutter) that he could have avoided – is another sign of his decency.

And, what about that young man, Brayden Harrington, who spoke for Biden at the Democrat Convention…with his stutter?

“Twenty seconds into his speech, Brayden Harrington started to stutter.

“He knew he would — it was the reason the 13-year-old was addressing millions of viewers from his bedroom. As he had explained to kick off his speech, his life had changed after meeting former vice president Joe Biden in February.

“He told me that we were members of the same club. We … ” Brayden said, shutting his eyes as he drew out an “s” sound, willing the word to emerge: “… stutter.

“And then, he kept going — smiling, poised, and delivering a powerful message about how Biden had inspired him to reach higher.”

In the Washington Post, commentator Michael Gerson, though he was not writing about stuttering, put it this way about Biden:

“The former vice president delivered a sober, direct, large-hearted and aspirational speech (in the Democrat National Convention) in which nearly every word was an implied rebuke to President Trump’s paranoid style of politics.  In 25 well-crafted minutes, Biden managed to capture the romance of decency.”

Back to stuttering. Atlantic Magazine writer, John Hendrickson, wrote a long piece about what he labeled “The Biden Talk.” And, to add reality to his piece, Hendrickson said that he, too, stutters.

As Hendrickson put it in the lead for his story:

“His (Biden’s) verbal stumbles have voters worried about his mental fitness. Maybe they’d be more understanding if they knew he’s still fighting a stutter

“His eyes fall to the floor when I ask him to describe it. We’ve been tiptoeing toward it for 45 minutes, and so far, every time he seems close, he backs away, or leads us in a new direction. There are competing theories in the press, but Joe Biden has kept mum on the subject. I want to hear him explain it. I ask him to walk me through the night he appeared to lose control of his words onstage.

“’I—um—I don’t remember,’ Biden says. His voice has that familiar shake, the creak and the croak. ‘I’d have to see it. I-I-I don’t remember.’”

So, all of this is another reason for my vote for Biden this fall.

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 it what I long for in both politics and golf. The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions like. And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

As the Republican National Convention (RNC) has just ended – mercifully — I cannot help but think of various words to describe Donald Trump as, incredibly, he seeks a second term after such a disastrous four years in office.

I have not watched or listened to the RNC, but I have read just enough to know that it was just another reality TV show venture for Trump and his sycophants.

So, here are the first words that come to my mind when I think of Trump

• Lacks HONESTY. Why else lies come to him as second nature?
• Lacks a CONSCIENCE.  Why else, for example, could he tolerate his own action to separate immigrant children from their families?
• Lacks EMPATHY.  Why else would he criticize U.S. military war hero John McCain, both in life and in death?
• Lacks decency. Why else would he act toward women as if they are just objects.

Finally, with help from my wife, I thought of this old saying – “The emperor has no clothes.”

According to my on-line dictionary, “this expression is used to describe a situation in which people are afraid to criticize something or someone because the perceived wisdom of the masses is that the thing or person is good or important.”

Right.  That’s true at least of Trump’s sycophants – and, I hope, not the masses.

We need a leader in the Office of President who will be honest, empathetic, decent, and act with a conscience.

This fall, that’s Joe Biden.

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 it what I long for in both politics and golf. The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions like. And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

I had an interesting discussion the other day about whether Donald Trump follows any strategy in his bid for a second term as president.

For me, during my tenure as a State of Oregon manager and as a lobbyist, honing a strategy was a first step in deciding what to do. Commit to a strategy, then follow up with tactics designed to achieve the overarching goal.

If you start with tactics, first, they often are easier to divine and, second, they might not serve the strategy.

Sound like Trump? Does he pursue a strategy or strategies?

I say no. Emphatically.

Trump always flies by the seat of his pants, saying anything and everything that happens to pop into his brain. Strategy be damned.

We got another dose of the sans-strategy approach at the Republican National Convention (RNC) that opened this week.

It was a paean to the greatness of Trump who was exclaimed to be a an exalted leader who would save Americans from the evils of the Democrats…all of them.

By contrast, reputable political polling had said the election should be about anything but Trump, given his tendency to lie at every turn, to enable the pandemic to succeed beyond bounds, and to treat the presidency as just another reality TV show.

Republican strategists – and they were usually quoted off the record so as to avoid irritating Trump – suggested the RNC should be about other stuff than Trump. For instance, what do Republicans want to do for American if they remain in charge?

Then, Trump showed up, injecting himself into every aspect of the convention. He couldn’t help it; remember, he is the exact representation of a narcissist.

One political commentator in the Washington Post put it this way:

“We could have saved the brain-power we spent on speculation. The first night of the GOP convention was, inevitably, a cocktail of kitsch spiked with dystopian fiction, an outsize slice of American cheese served up to a president in desperate need of comfort food. As an act of communication with the American public, it was a dishonest travesty. But as entertainment tailored for President Trump’s hardcore base, it was a brilliant act of fan service.”

There you have it. All about Trump.

My hope is that the focus on Trump – remember he will continue to put himself at the center of every issue – will work to the advantage of the Democrats this fall.

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 it what I long for in both politics and golf. The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions like. And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

Every once in awhile, a column runs in the Wall Street Journal or Washington Post that deserves to be reprinted in my blog, without much, if any, comment from me.

Such a piece ran in the Post this morning written by political commentator Kathleen Parker.

Here, then, is a key excerpt without comment, for it deserves to stand alone:

“Decency, empathy and reason are, of course, the opposite of what one sees or expects from the incumbent president. Trump’s indecent dog whistles to America’s underbelly, his winks at racists and misogynists (Charlottesville and grab’m); his utter lack of empathy (migrant children torn from their parents and housed in glorified cages); his rejection of reason and science regarding covid-19 (or anything else that runs counter to his singular purpose of self-aggrandizement and the satisfaction of his rapacious narcissism) — all point to a man who never should have become president of the United States in the first place.”

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 it what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions like.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

That question – character vs. policy – has been one of the issues dominating news coverage of the just-concluded Democrat National Convention.

It is an important question for all of us who will vote this fall.

My view:  I will emphasize character every time.

For, if you, as a presidential candidate, lack character, that will influence every action you take on policy.  Meaning that actions will reflect selfishness and narcissism, not the good of the country.

To see the reality of self-dealing, look only so far as Donald Trump.

As he accepted the Democrat nomination for president, Joe Biden said this:

“The current president has cloaked America in darkness for much too long. Too much anger, too much fear, too much division.  Here and now, I give you my word:  If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us, not the worst. I’ll be an ally of the light, not the darkness.”

Then to close his acceptance speech, Biden quoted a favorite Irish poet, Seamus Heaney:

“This is our moment to ‘make hope and history rhyme.’”

Now, in response to this enlightened view of the potential and possibilities of a united America, guess what Trump said?

“If you want a vision of your life under a Biden presidency, think of the smoldering ruins in Minneapolis, the violent anarchy of Portland, the bloodstained sidewalks of Chicago.  And imagine the mayhem coming to your town and every single town in America.”

No indication from Trump that he has any feeling or empathy for the plight of Black America.  To be sure, demonstrations in places like Chicago, Minneapolis and Portland have gone much too far as extremists use the venues to break law.  But the concerns of Black America are still worth considering, especially if, by position, you are a political leader.

Overall, Biden’s case to be president is as much about HOW he wants to govern as it is about WHAT he wants to accomplish.

Washington Post editorial writers put it this way:

“It is easier in today’s climate to play the zealot than to look for the best in one’s opponents.  Coalition-building wins few adherents on Twitter and rarely makes for exciting television.  But it gets things done.  And in contrast to Trump’s strategy to divide, deny and despoil, Biden’s invitation to all Americans to join in a more hopeful vision represents welcome and dramatic change.”

And, from Biden as he closed his acceptance speech:

“The current president has cloaked America in darkness for much too long. Too much anger. Too much fear. Too much division.  Here and now, I give you my word — if you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us, not the worst. I will be an ally of the light, not the darkness.  We will choose hope over fear, facts over fiction, fairness over privilege.”

As for me, that’s why I will choose character this fall.

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 it what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions like.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

This blog headline was similar to one the Washington Post ran this morning in an opinion piece by one of its writers, Dana Milbank.

It appeared on the occasion of the second day of a Democrat convention to nominate Joe Biden as its candidate for president.

Milbank is not one of my favorite commentators, but in this piece, he makes a number of good points about what is at stake in the fall presidential election.

So, the election is not just a contest between two differing personalities – Joe Biden’s and Donald Trump’s.

Would that that was the case because, if so, Biden would win in a landslide.

What’s more at stake in the very future of our nation, which to follow the image, has a soul – and that soul has been corrupted by Trump.  What is a soul?  Well, if you are a Christian, as I am, it is the base of who you are and, thus, is difficult to define.

So, then, what is the “soul of a nation?”  For this purpose, the dictionary defines the word soul as “emotional or intellectual energy or intensity.”  That would exactly what Trump lacks.

And it is exactly what Biden has, especially that he knows how to display empathy, if only because of the tragedies he has endured in his life, a fact which enables him to understand and express “empathy” for and about others.

From Milbank, regarding the second day of the virtual D convention:

• “Democrats from Maine to Guam, assembled virtually for their convention Tuesday night, spoke of a nation that has lost lives, jobs, fairness and friends because of President Trump’s leadership. But at core they were talking about a nation that has lost its soul.
• “’We are in a battle for the soul of our nation,’ Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried began in a keynote montage of elected officials from around the country.
• A young Naval Academy graduate and former Marine Corps officer, DeMarcus Gilliard, told he convention that “there is nothing more important for me right now than making sure that we restore the soul of our nation.”
• Colin Powell, the Republican former secretary of state and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said, from Washington: “What a difference it will make to have a president who unites us, who restores our strength and our soul.”
• And Jill Biden closed the night by saying that kindness and courage are “the soul of America Joe Biden is fighting for now.”

Of course, it could be said that Democrats didn’t have to convince anybody that the heart and soul of our Republic are on the ballot in November.  Trump had already done it for all of us when, earlier on Tuesday, he again reminded the country that he has little regard for democracy itself.

“It’ll end up being a rigged election,” he said from the White House, continuing his baseless campaign to discredit mail-in balloting during the pandemic. “Or they will never come out with an outcome.  They’ll have to do it again.”

Milbank wrote:  “A do-over! Trump supposes the election is like his golf game:  If he shanks one into the woods, he simply takes a mulligan and hits a new ball.”

I say that, if American democracy still has a pulse, voters will join the battle for our national soul and elect Biden as president.

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 it what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions like.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama gave me a lot of reasons to vote for Joe Biden when she spoke yesterday at the Democrat National Convention, this time a video affair by remote control in the continuing coronavirus.

Through her great speech, Obama gave new and textured meaning to the phrase she invented several years ago – “we go high while they go low.”  She and Biden are high.  Trump is low.

Her address has sparked legions of positive comments, though, in fact, she mentioned Donald Trump by name only once.  Still, her meaning was crystal clear – don’t re-elect a jerk like Trump who cannot be trusted with nation’s future.

There is no better way to summarize Michelle Obama’s comments than to re-print excerpts from them.

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It’s a hard time, and everyone’s feeling it in different ways. And I know a lot of folks are reluctant to tune into a political convention right now or to politics in general.  Believe me, I get that.  But I am here tonight because I love this country with all my heart, and it pains me to see so many people hurting.

I am one of a handful of people living today who have seen firsthand the immense weight and awesome power of the presidency.  And let me once again tell you this:  The job is hard.  It requires clear-headed judgment, a mastery of complex and competing issues, a devotion to facts and history, a moral compass, and an ability to listen—and an abiding belief that each of the 330,000,000 lives in this country has meaning and worth.

A president’s words have the power to move markets.  They can start wars or broker peace. They can summon our better angels or awaken our worst instincts.  You simply cannot fake your way through this job.

Four years later, the state of this nation is very different. More than 150,000 people have died, and our economy is in shambles because of a virus that this president downplayed for too long. It has left millions of people jobless.

Too many have lost their health care; too many are struggling to take care of basic necessities like food and rent; too many communities have been left in the lurch to grapple with whether and how to open our schools safely.

Internationally, we’ve turned our back, not just on agreements forged by my husband, but on alliances championed by presidents like Reagan and Eisenhower.

And here at home, as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and a never-ending list of innocent people of color continue to be murdered, stating the simple fact that a Black life matters is still met with derision from the nation’s highest office.

Because whenever we look to this White House for some leadership or consolation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division, and a total and utter lack of empathy.=

Empathy:  That’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately.  The ability to walk in someone else’s shoes; the recognition that someone else’s experience has value, too.  Most of us practice this without a second thought.  If we see someone suffering or struggling, we don’t stand in judgment.  We reach out because, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” I t is not a hard concept to grasp.  It’s what we teach our children.

…right now, kids in this country are seeing what happens when we stop requiring empathy of one another.  They’re looking around wondering if we’ve been lying to them this whole time about who we are and what we truly value.

They see people shouting in grocery stores, unwilling to wear a mask to keep us all safe. They see people calling the police on folks minding their own business just because of the color of their skin. They see an entitlement that says only certain people belong here, that greed is good, and winning is everything because as long as you come out on top, it doesn’t matter what happens to everyone else. And they see what happens when that lack of empathy is ginned up into outright disdain.

They see our leaders labeling fellow citizens enemies of the state while emboldening torch-bearing white supremacists.  They watch in horror as children are torn from their families and thrown into cages, and pepper spray and rubber bullets are used on peaceful protestors for a photo-op.

Sadly, this is the America that is on display for the next generation. A nation that’s underperforming not simply on matters of policy but on matters of character. And that’s not just disappointing; it’s downright infuriating, because I know the goodness and the grace that is out there in households and neighborhoods all across this nation.

And I know that regardless of our race, age, religion, or politics, when we close out the noise and the fear and truly open our hearts, we know that what’s going on in this country is just not right. This is not who we want to be.

But let’s be clear: going high does not mean putting on a smile and saying nice things when confronted by viciousness and cruelty. Going high means taking the harder path. It means scraping and clawing our way to that mountain top. Going high means standing fierce against hatred while remembering that we are one nation under God, and if we want to survive, we’ve got to find a way to live together and work together across our differences.

And going high means unlocking the shackles of lies and mistrust with the only thing that can truly set us free:  The cold hard truth.

So let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can. Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is.

…if you take one thing from my words tonight, it is this:  If you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can; and they will if we don’t make a change in this election. If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it.

And if we want to keep the possibility of progress alive in our time, if we want to be able to look our children in the eye after this election, we have got to reassert our place in American history. And we have got to do everything we can to elect my friend, Joe Biden, as the next president of the United States.

Thank you all. God bless.