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, 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.

As we stay at home, with a lot of time on our hands, it is easy to spend some of that time thinking about the pandemic.

• How did it start?
• Will I or my family be infected or affected?
• When, if at all, will life return to normal?
• What is the prediction for an effective vaccine?
• Will the economy be able to re-start and how quickly?

Normal questions for all of us.

For me, I have thought about a few issues in the pandemic as, fortunately, between golf games on a course that has remained open, I have had time on my hands. You’ll no doubt be glad to know that I may have more impressions, but, for now, here are a few.

NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS OR BORDERS: This is not a big, new thought, but consider the point for a moment.

The coronavirus honors no borders. Everyone is subject to contracting it. No block of persons or countries is immune.

COMMENT: So, this is truly is a world issue, more widespread than even, say World Wars I or II. And the reality argues for collective effort – world effort — to stall the virus, which no one country can handle on its own.

ABOUT THE PROTESTS: Relatively small protests have broken out in the United States in recent days against the restrictions designed to slow the spreading virus.

As Washington Post editorial writers said: “People have a right to protest, if they conduct themselves without endangering others. But leaders have an obligation to point out that the behavior the protesters are encouraging could reignite the virus and cost lives.

“The pursuit of liberty does not mean a license to endanger the lives of others.”

COMMENT: Another way to put it: If you are going to engage in civil disobedience, the consequences, if there are consequences, should fall on you, not your neighbors.

THE CRITICAL VARIABLE IN RE-OPENING: The Wall Street Journal carried this story earlier this week:

“Governments across Europe and in the U.S. say they have driven down a key variable to levels that suggest that the lockdowns that plunged their economies into the deep freeze are succeeding in containing the spread of the deadly new coronavirus.

“The variable measures the average number of other people each carrier of the new coronavirus infects. This infection ratio will be avidly watched as policy makers calibrate the task of rolling back measures that have kept hundreds of millions of people at home.

“If the reproduction ratio is below one, the epidemic peters out. The closer to one, the slower the decline, and the greater risk of a resurgence. If the ratio sticks above one, the epidemic will gather momentum. The good news is across Europe and in parts of the U.S. the ratio has fallen below one.”

COMMENT: Fascinating point. As tough as it will be to measure, it strikes me that this “critical variable” provides a credible basis for decisions about re-opening. Of course, more testing is also critical.

HEALTH AND THE ECONOMY: If we didn’t already know it, the coronavirus pandemic has shown that health vitality and economic vitality are inextricably linked.

Maintaining health is one obvious priority. But maintaining economic vitality is another, for, with a downturn, there can be an adverse effect on health, not just on the economy.

Look only so far as the current economic problems that are forcihng some hospitals, especially in rural areas, to the brink of collapse and some clinics to lay off hundreds of employees.

COMMENT: All I can say is that I would not want to be in a position where I had to make decisions about what to do next. Another way of saying this is that I am willing to give political leaders – those who are trying to be honest and forthright as they make decisions (which, I add, removes Donald Trump from the equation) – some room to operate.

No matter the decision, the results will be opposed by someone or by some group. For one thing, there is no right answer…just a series of options.

PROSPECTS FOR A VIRUS VACCINE: Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) showed up this week with a solid piece of journalism, better than I have seen anywhere else. These were the first paragraphs in a story on prospects for a vaccine.

“When any new and dangerous infectious disease comes on the scene, there’s an immediate and concerted push to develop a vaccine. For COVID-19, federal health officials have said we will have a vaccine in 12-18 months. \

“Just last week, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci told CBS, there have been “no glitches” in the process and that it’s “possible to shave a couple months off that.”

“But this timeline is optimistic – perhaps exceedingly so. The reasons have to do with the complexities of vaccine testing, development and production.

COMMENT: The key to surviving the virus is to come up with a vaccine and, with Fauci, I hope the clinical trial regime can be shorter than normal.

Go on line at opb.org to get solid information on this issue.

NOTE: THIS IS INSTALLMENT TWO ON THIS SUBJECT

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, 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 wrote yesterday about the subject of political leadership, suggesting that, if there is one salient fact about it, it is this: You know leadership when you see it as opposed to when someone says they have it.

It is easy to talk about leadership. It takes effort, commitment and ingenuity to display it.

During my 40 years of involvement in politics, I have seen what I would label credible political leadership. In that time, I developed a few perceptions about leadership credentials, which I will share in this blog.

I was motivated to deal with this subject, frankly, by what I see in the current occupant of Oval Office in Washington, D.C., one Donald Trump who demonstrates exactly none of qualities I list below.

I also think the traits I list below apply in general, but assume even greater importance during a challenging time, such as we are in now in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

So, here is my list of key political leadership traits, which is identical to what I wrote yesterday, except that I have been specific this time around about how Trump possesses none of the traits.  Just call him an easy target.

INTEGRITY: Without honesty and a sense of ethical behavior, there can be no qualified leader.

The dictionary defines integrity as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.”

Look only at Trump. He tells an untold number of lies every day with no recognition of the consequences.

ACCOUNTABILITY: Without accountability, there can be no qualified leader.

A lot of politicians who suggest they are leaders are adept at pointing the finger at everyone else rather than taking responsibility for their own actions.

Look only at Trump. As second nature, he practices the blame game.

This is the way columnist Dana Milbank put in it in the Washington Post:

“Trump came to power on the basis of smears — against opponents, immigrants and minorities. Now he prepares to center his re-election campaign on demonizing China, even though he repeatedly praised China’s response to the virus, specifically that of his ‘very, very good friend,’ Chinese President Xi Jinping. Key to this attack is making a scapegoat of the World Health Organization, which fits his usual criteria because, like the U.N. and the World Trade Organization, it is an international entity run by a foreigner.”

COMPROMISE: Ability to find middle ground should be one goal of a political leader who understands that anything good in politics is a tribute to people working together, not to any one person.

But beyond talk, a leader must be able to provide concrete examples of when he or she was able to bring disparate parties together to produce solutions.

Look only at Trump. He does not recognize compromise because he always, in his own mind, as a narcissist, is the smartest person in any room and, thus, does not pay attention to the thoughts of anyone else.

COMMUNICATION: Any good leader demonstrates the ability to communicate his or her thoughts in a way that generates understanding, and perhaps even support.

A leader must be able to speak in complete sentences that convey coherent messages, as well as to invite conversations and exchanges that prompt him or her to expand their horizons beyond what they may know themselves.

Look only at Trump. His vocabulary is so limited that he has trouble stringing words together in a sentence that makes sense. And he demonstrates no interest in listening to views other than his own.

EMPATHY: Any good leader demonstrates the ability to share the feelings of those he or she represents.

A leader must have the courage to show emotion and feeling in the midst of tragedy and be able to console in response to pain and suffering.

Look only at Trump. In the current coronavirus pandemic, he has squandered any opportunity to express any genuine concern for the plight of those who have experienced dislocation, if not worse, in the current pandemic. To fail at this is to fail at a central function of the presidency.

HUMILITY: Any good leader demonstrates the ability to accept responsibility for mistakes, admit political failures, and acknowledge their own contributions to a problem.

A leader must be able to say, “I am not perfect. I’ve made decisions that, with the benefit of hindsight, may not have been the best. But I have learned through these situations, which will influence how I interact with others and make decisions in the future.”

A leader also must be smart enough and savvy enough to know what he or she does NOT know and decisive enough to surround themselves with others who can fill in the gaps.

Such self-effacing ability does not risk leadership; instead, it supports it.

Look only at Trump. He is never responsible for anything that doesn’t work out as planned…as if Trump, a seat-of-the-pants operator, makes advance plans for anything. He doesn’t.

In hill.com yesterday, columnist Niall Stange wrote this:

“Trust in President Trump’s ability to deal with the coronavirus crisis — and even to impart reliable information about it — is eroding, posing a significant danger to his re-election hopes.

“In several polls, the share of the population that finds Trump trustworthy on the crisis is lower than his overall job approval number — an indication that the lack of public trust cannot be attributed only to the nation’s partisan divide.

“The fact that concerns about Trump’s accuracy are felt beyond the ranks of his ideological foes could be a political time-bomb as the nation begins to grapple with the tough question of when to begin reopening.”

Or this from Washington Post political columnist David Byler:

”If Trump wins a second term, Americans will understandably start to see him as the new normal. Attacks on the press, Twitter outbursts, constant lying, authoritarian saber-rattling, complete incompetence, disregard for expertise — all these features of Trumpism will be permanent parts of our politics.”

Here’s hoping the lack-of-trust factor brings Trump down.

]\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, 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.

If there is one salient fact about political leadership, it is this: You know leadership when you see it as opposed to when someone says they have it.

It is easy to talk about leadership. It takes effort, commitment and ingenuity to display it.

During my 40 years of involvement in politics, I have seen what I would label credible political leadership. In that time, I developed a few perceptions about leadership credentials, which I will share in this blog.

I was motivated to do so, frankly, by what I see in the current occupant of Oval Office in Washington, D.C., one Donald Trump who demonstrates exactly none of qualities I list below.

I also think the traits I list below apply in general, but assume even greater importance during a challenging time, such as we are in now in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

And, of course, they apply as we face another presidential election. In that sense, it is important to look forward to what we hope occurs in the next administration, not to look back at the failures of the current regime.

So, here is my list of key political leadership traits:

INTEGRITY: Without honesty and a sense of ethical behavior, there can be no qualified leader.

The dictionary defines integrity as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.”

As an aside, I have served for more than a year on an Ethics Committee formed by Oregon Common Cause to propose ways to strengthen ethical behavior as an important credential for those seeking public office.

Since Watergate, now more than 50 years ago, ethics has receded as an important credential in public life, both on the part of some of those who hold public office, as well as on the part of some voters.

Here’s the way retired federal Ethics Director Walter Shaub put it:

“We now find ourselves in an ethical crisis that jeopardizes not only public trust in government, but also national security. This crisis has exposed the fragility of the current framework for Executive Branch ethics, a framework put in place in response to the Watergate scandal that has relied on voluntary adherence to ethical norms due to limitations on investigation and enforcement of this requirement. While the trigger for this crisis is the current administration’s departure from ethical norms, the issue is ultimately bigger than any one president or scandal.”

ACCOUNTABILITY: Without accountability, there can be no qualified leader.

A lot of politicians who suggest they are leaders are adept at pointing the finger at everyone else rather than taking responsibility for their own actions.

COMPROMISE: Ability to find middle ground should be one goal of a political leader who understands that anything good in politics is a tribute to people working together, not to any one person.

But beyond talk, a leader must be able to provide concrete examples of when he or she was able to bring disparate parties together to produce solutions.

COMMUNICATION: Any good leader demonstrates the ability to communicate his or her thoughts in a way that generates understanding, and perhaps even support.

A leader must be able to speak in complete sentences that convey coherent messages, as well as to invite conversations and exchanges that prompt him or her to expand their horizons beyond what they may know themselves.

EMPATHY: Any good leader demonstrates the ability to share the feelings of those he or she represents.

A leader must have the courage to show emotion and feeling in the midst of tragedy and be able to console in response to pain and suffering.

HUMILITY: Any good leader demonstrates the ability to accept responsibility for mistakes, admit political failures, and acknowledge their own contributions to a problem.

A leader must be able to say, “I am not perfect. I’ve made decisions that, with the benefit of hindsight, may not have been the best. But I have learned through these situations, which will influence how I interact with others and make decisions in the future.”

A leader also must be smart enough and savvy enough to know what he or she does NOT know and decisive enough to surround themselves with others who can fill in the gaps.

Such self-effacing ability does not risk leadership; instead, it supports it.

Permit me to reflect on my past to cite an individual in Oregon, who, by his demeanor, behavior and actions, demonstrated solid leadership credentials.

He was Governor Vic Atiyeh for whom I worked in Salem, Oregon, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He demonstrated the qualities listed above, not perfectly, of course, but genuinely.

He had one other key credential, which I remember playing out often, both in public and behind the scenes.

He never cared who got credit for good things that happened in state government, even if he had played a major role in the achievement. He was simply pleased with the result – and this had the effect of burnishing, not blurring, his leadership.

*********

Footnote: Guess what?   A person from New Hampshire wrote a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal last week and the letter agrees with me:

“I suspect that many voters aren’t looking for a candidate with new ideas. They are looking for the return of old idea — integrity, honesty, dignity, leadership, competence, courtesy, decency, respect, thoughtfulness, compassion, humility.”

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, 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.

It’s very tempting to utter the words in this blog headline.

They should used to provide a lesson to U.S. Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez from New York. She has established one of the worst records ever in her short stint in Congress.

She is far better at making waves than making policy.

One of the best examples occurred last year when she railed against Amazon as it was planning to open a second headquarters location in New York with the lure of a huge investment abnd many news jobs for citizens who needed those jobs.

Her overblown rhetoric was one of the major factors that led Amazon to reconsider a New York location.

Now, the good news is that Ocasio-Cortez has an opponent in her bid for re-election – Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, a former CNBC anchor.

Caruso-Cabrera painted the choice better than I could when she penned a piece for the Wall Street Journal under the headline, “Why I’m Running Against AOC: The virus hit Queens hard. Those Amazon jobs could’ve helped.”

Here are excerpts of what she wrote:

“The Covid-19 crisis is especially dire in this New York City borough. Our neighborhoods, many of them in Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s district, are called ‘the epicenter of the epicenter,’ and our hospitals ‘hot zones.’

“Dense neighborhoods with several generations living under the same roof suffered a rapid spread of the disease, producing 38,733 cases as of Sunday, the highest of the five boroughs.

“The economy has also been devastated. Tens of thousands are out of work because their jobs can’t be done from home. Before the pandemic, roughly 120,000 residents in the 14th Congressional District—which covers northwest Queens and part of the Bronx—worked in food service, hotels, arts and entertainment, retail or construction. Now, most of them are out of work. That’s over one-third of the district’s working population of 350,000.

“Restaurants and hotels had to shut down, but one massive employer has held on to staff and even is hiring tens of thousands more around the country: Amazon.

“For the people of Queens, that is a thumb in the eye. We had the chance to let Amazon open a second headquarters here with 25,000 new jobs. Economists debate the multiplier effect it would have had, with some saying there would be five new jobs, many of them in Queens, for every Amazon hire.

“Even the most skeptical economists put the figure at seven other jobs per 10 Amazon hires. In other words those 25,000 Amazon jobs would have meant at least 42,500 total jobs, and perhaps as many as 125,000. Govvernor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who backed the deal, put the number at 107,000.

“That’s why New York City’s minority residents were overwhelmingly in favor of Amazon. Tenants in the Queensbridge Houses, the largest housing project in the U.S. and the one closest to what would’ve been the new Amazon campus, pushed hard for the opportunities it would bring.

Nonetheless, several politicians campaigned against the project, and Amazon pulled out. The loudest opponent was Ocasio-Cortez.

The most egregious violation of truth occurred when Ocasio-Cortez uttered a now-famous phrase: New York shouldn’t, she said, “give Amazon $3 billion of taxpayer money to locate in the state.”

In truth, New York City and state would have received $27 billion in tax revenue over 10 years instead of $30 billion—a return of 800 per cent on the $3 billion tax break, which was just that..a tax break, not an expenditure.

“Once residents understood that subsidies is merely a discount on taxes rather than a cash payment to companies,” Caruso-Cabrera said, “they feel bamboozled, angry and betrayed by Ocasio-Cortez.

“Imagine how much better off Queens would be in this emergency if we could count on a strong and growing employer like Amazon—still hiring even now—to provide residents with jobs on the way to our recovery.”

I hope Caruso-Cabrera is right.

Plus, just think of all the tax money that would accrue to New York with all the new jobs held by residents who held those new jobs.

I served as deputy director of the Oregon Economic Development in the 1980s, a credential I used last year to criticize Ocasio-Cortez’ stupidity. The sad fact is that New York residents are paying the price for that stupidity.

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, 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.

Two developments yesterday showed how it is possible for the federal government to gum up relief in the current coronavirus emergency.

And the developments do not have any partisan twist. They describe the ill intent on both sides of the political ledger.

There is no time like the present for Congress and the president to act quickly and effectively to respond to the pandemic.

The developments are:

First, Donald Trump has instructed the IRS to place his signature on all of checks coming from Relief Package #1, even if it delays transmission of the checks or makes it more difficult to process the relief.

There should be no surprise here.

Trump always wants to take credit for everything. No doubt he expects that Americans will be pleased with him when they get checks with his name emblazoned on the paper.

I won’t get a check, but this stunt says volumes about the leader of our country who demonstrates no understanding of the depth of the problem we facing. Empathy? He has none.

The second troubling issue was summarized in a piece for the Wall Street Journal by U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and Senator Tim Scott, Republican from South Carolina.

As Republicans, they blamed Democrats for wanting to gum up the works as Congress considers Relief Package #2.

Is this a partisan shot? No doubt it is, at least in part. But is the basic point still worth noting? Yes.

Here are excerpts of what McCarthy and Scott wrote:

“Small-business layoffs increased tenfold in March as economic activity shut down to prevent the spread of Covid-19. As Congress continues to address this crisis, we must replenish funds for the Paycheck Protection Program, the largest small-business relief package in American history. According to the Small Business Administration, more than one million loans have been approved, with more than $247 billion processed. The $350 billion Congress allocated is expected to run out by Friday.

“Everyone agrees the program needs more money. But instead of acting quickly to protect millions more jobs, Democrats are pressing for revisions that would make the program more costly, complicated and confusing for small businesses and their employees to receive loans in a timely fashion.

“Program participation is now a straightforward, three-step process. First, fill out a two-page ‘Borrower Application Form,’ which can be found on the SBA’s website. Second, make a copy of your payroll documentation. Third, submit the form and payroll documents to any lender backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. This simplicity makes the program accessible for mom-and-pop shops that don’t have a government-compliance department.

“Democrats want to replace simplicity with more bureaucracy. They propose mandating that small-business owners submit personal data about themselves and other owners and investors to their banks and the federal government.”

I understand the intent of those who want to assure that Trump and his minions – or, for that matter, Members of Congress themselves – don’t take organize benefits for themselves.

But, watching from my position in the cheap seats out West, I wish Congress would act with all deliberate speed in the new relief package.

Too much is at stake to allow issues to gum up the need for quick action.

The first time around a couple weeks ago, Congress found the will to act quickly. Learn from history – repeat it.

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, 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.

If you need more indication that I have too much time on my hands in retirement – and/or the coronavirus pandemic — here’s another one.

As I walked around my golf course the other day here in Salem, Oregon – glad I was still able to do so — I had enough time to think about some of my favorite golf phrases over the years.

Better, I say, to think about stuff like that than to focus on all of the information, plus misinformation, we get on the pandemic. It would be possible to drown in the information if we let ourselves do so.

Here’s my list:

First, how about these two from highly-paid golf commentators on TV?

• If he hit harder, it would have gone farther. [Comment: Oh, really, I didn’t know that.]
• He has a lot of work left. [Comment: As if having a five-foot putt constitutes real work.]

Second, how about this one I have often uttered in light of huge endorsement deals golf companies cut with top players?

• Callaway pays Phil Mickelson to play its golf equipment while I pay Callaway to do so.

Third, how about this one — I also came up with it —  to indicate how much better at golf my son is than I am?  [By the way, the fact that this is true is one of the highlights of my life. The first time my son beat me he was 12 years old – or what is 11? At the time, that result irritated me greatly – you know how fathers and sons are. All of the other times – and let me say that it has been “all of the other times” — I am very proud of him…for his golf, for his life, and for his family.]

• I taught my son all I know about golf and then he turned five.

During the current pandemic, we are fortunate in Oregon to have golf as an outlet – as long we live within both the spirit and the letter of the various rules and executive orders that have been in place, as well as our own actions.

Let me add that the course where I play in Salem – Illahe Hills Golf and Country Club – has done a superlative job of keeping the course open for the benefit of those who need just a bit respite from “stay at home” orders. There are a number of restrictions governing golf and all of them make eminent sense.

It is a tribute to the management and staff at the Club – as well as the volunteer Board of Directors – that they have risen to the current 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, 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 ask the question in the headline as all of us contend with incredible volleys of news – or sometimes what passes for “news” — during the coronavirus pandemic.

One of the steps I have taken as to try to limit my consumption of news to the early morning hours.

Perhaps that relates to the fact that I am a former newspaper reporter and, thus, remember the days when the daily edition arrived in the morning. You could catch up the previous day’s news at one time.

Now, there is no longer what journalists would call a “news cycle.” There is news almost literally every minute, if not every second.

It comes from a number of TV cable outlets, as well as the major networks. And, it even comes from quality newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Oregonian and others around the country, which send news to your e-mail or phones all the time.

So does Oregon Public Broadcasting, one of the highest quality news purveyors in Oregon.

With all of this, especially during the virus, it is possible to drown in the product.

For me, Stephen Smith, former editor of National Journal and U.S. News and World Report and executive editor of Newsweek, made several good suggestions in a piece he wrote for the Wall Street Journal this morning. His focus was on TV, not print, but still, a few excerpts are worth including here:

“Have you watched network news lately? I had stopped more than 20 years ago. I was drawn away by the speed and heat of cable news. So were millions more, judging by the sharp audience declines at ABC, CBS and NBC.

“Then earlier this month, I caught part of a network newscast after hearing my sister was about to appear in a segment. I found myself oddly soothed, for reasons I didn’t quite understand.

“Watching network newscasts the next evening was a revelation. They reported all the important stories, no matter how gloomy. Politics played a minor role. President Trump didn’t even appear on one program. He made a cameo on another and got a little more airtime on the third. His eagerness to get people working again was tempered by health-care professionals worried about another coronavirus surge if lockdowns end too soon.

“Most of the newscasts took place at ground level. Children talking about a dead parent. A husband and wife dying in the same hospital two floors apart. Interviews with farmers leaving tomatoes to rot in the field because demand had dropped so much with the closing of restaurants, hotels and schools.

“Sprinkled amid the hardship were uplifting stories from the frontlines—doctors and nurses caring for the ill, truckers driving extra hours to bring vital supplies, an actor picking up the grocery-store tabs for seniors in Georgia and Louisiana.”

Smith adds that one of the most striking aspects for him as he watched network news was how little time reporters and even anchors spent on the screen.

“They put ordinary Americans on the air. Washington and Manhattan weren’t at center stage. The whole country was —Kentucky to Massachusetts, Michigan to Florida, Texas to Pennsylvania. It created a sense of unity, showing a series of communities struggling to survive these strange times.”

Too often, I add, especially in TV news, those involved become the story rather than reporting the story.

Smith ends with this:

“…in a mere 22 minutes, what networks offer is a snapshot of America — dare I say, the real America. The one in which an anchor opened a broadcast by saying: ‘We have made it through another week together.’”

I end with this. To cope with the deluge of news, especially now, limit your consumption to those outlets that emphasize quality, not quantity. Also, view a range of outlets so you don’t risk just getting one bias.

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, 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.

As I sit mostly at home during the coronavirus pandemic, I don’t have much else to do than to think of new blog topics.

So, this morning, in recognition of the fact that I run the three departments named in the headline, I prepared this blog not knowing for sure in which department the various posts belonged.

Doesn’t matter, for, as the director of all three, I get to make the final decisions without regard to what anyone else thinks.

Sound familiar?

Yes, you may say, reminds of the guy sitting the Oval Office today who makes all the decisions without regard to what anyone else thinks other than the group that has come to be called “Trumpians.” All of us are paying the price for his unenlightened leadership – but that is a topic for another post.

So, for today, here goes.

FFOM THE WASHINGTON POST: “President Trump often speaks of federal payments coming to many Americans as an act of his own benevolence, calling the bipartisan stimulus legislation “a Trump administration initiative” and reportedly musing about printing his thick-and-jagged signature on the government checks.

Trump touts the deployment of the USS Comfort to New York Harbor in personal terms, saying it was his choice to allow the hulking Navy hospital ship to be used to for coronavirus patients — and even traveling to “kiss it goodbye” before its trek north.

“And Trump talks about the Strategic National Stockpile of ventilators and medical equipment being shipped to hard-hit states as if it were his own storage unit, with governors saying they recognize that in turn they are expected to tread gingerly with him or risk jeopardizing their supply chain.”

COMMENT: Sounds like Trump whose rhetoric is bolstered by his own belief that he is the smartest person in any – yes, any – room., That arrogant view is bolstered by Trump’s son-in-law Jarod Kushner who described federal medical stockpiles as “his” stockpiles.”

When we need enlightened leaders who will put America first, we get Trump who puts himself first.

THE SPEED OF VACCINES IN A PANDEMIC: The Wall Street Journal reported this late last week:

“Everyone is eager to find a cure for covid-19. Some people — notably President Trump, in his nightly press briefings on the pandemic — have touted the promise of hydroxychloroquine, an old malaria treatment. He’s suggested that patients should take it, asking, ‘What do you have to lose?’

“Even experienced scientists and clinicians tend to overestimate the promise of new drugs and minimize the risks. This is why randomized clinical trials are the gold standard in medicine, and why we use randomization even when testing treatments for patients who might be willing to try anything (those with late-stage cancers, say, or highly fatal infectious diseases like Ebola).

“The question today is: How do we conduct such trials at pandemic speed? Officials, families of patients and the public are clamoring for results; researchers, even scrupulous ones, may find it tempting to jump the gun on announcing promising news. The answer is to stick with the gold-standard research methodology — no shortcuts — but look closely at each of the steps involved in running a trial, to see how to make them faster. The good news is that we can accelerate the process without compromising scientific standards.”

COMMENT: It always s has struck me that the key to our future without COVID 19 is to find a vaccine. Not a brilliant thought, I know, but still ”a thought.”

And, without trying to come across as some kind of expert, it also has struck me that it should be possible for smart scientists, supported by smart government managers, to bring vaccines to market in shorter time frames than the customnary one year.

Here’s hoping for the smart people to prevail, thus leading us out of the COVID 19 thicket.

FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: Columnist Max Boot does a great job in his most recent piece excoriating Donald Trump for his outrageous conduct. Here’s how Boot wrote it:

“The most dangerous contagion we now confront is the coronavirus, which has killed more than 20,000 Americans and thrown more than 16 million out of work. The second-most-dangerous contagion is the conspiracy-mongering, hostility to science and outright irrationality promulgated by President Trump and his loudmouth media enablers. It will take intensive contact tracing to follow the spread of crackpot ideas: Is Trump infecting the cable news hosts, or are they infecting him? Suffice it to say, the president and his media fans are both afflicted with perilous misconceptions that are making the threat from the coronavirus far more acute.”

COMMENT: There is a proper balance between the views of government scientists and the views of the nation’s political leaders. And Trump has not found it.

The latest indication  is that Trump may be thinking of firing the nation’s leading epidemiologist in the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has come across to many Americans as a reasonable and reasoned expert.

If Trump does fire him, it will only confirm our worst instincts about this president. But, then again, those instincts, at least for me, are pretty well carved in stone already.

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 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 a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and 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.

Those who know me know that I cannot sing a lick. I remember the time my late mother-in-law heard me try to sing and she dissolved into gales of laughter.

No wonder. But that’s not the primary point of this blog.

This next paragraph is.

For me, one of the best ways to focus on the true meaning of Easter – commemorating the fact that Christ rose from the dead – is to think of words from great songs we sing at this time of year. Not just to think about the lyrics, but also to focus on the true meaning of what Christ accomplished for all of us.

Easter is more than eggs, candy, and brunch. It is a time for remembrance and reflection. The words of the songs below do a far better job than I could of capturing the real meaning of Easter.

Easter would not be complete for me unless this first song was performed in a powerful, upbeat way. A friend of mine said the same thing last week as we shared Easter reflections. This year, however, I’ll be sitting at home for the Easter service on-line as all of us deal with the coronavirus pandemic. But the words are good enough that they will ring loud and long anyway. 

UP FROM THE GRAVE HE AROSE

Low in the grave He lay,
Jesus, my Savior,
Waiting the coming day,
Jesus, my Lord!

Refrain:
Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Vainly they watch His bed,
Jesus, my Savior;
Vainly they seal the dead,
Jesus, my Lord!

Death cannot keep his Prey,
Jesus, my Savior;
He tore the bars away,
Jesus, my Lord!

As a person who likes words, the next song uses two words “cross” and “bridge” interchangeably, with different definitions, to make the point about what Christ has done for us.

A BRIDGE ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE; A CROSS TO BRIDGE THE GREAT DIVIDE

Trying to fathom the distance
Looking out ‘cross the canyon carved by my hands
God is gracious
Sin would still separate us
Were it not for the bridge His grace has made us
His love will carry me

There’s a bridge to cross the great divide
A way was made to reach the other side
The mercy of the Father, cost His son His life
His love is deep, His love is wide
There’s a cross to bridge the great divide

God is faithful
On my own I’m unable
He found me hopeless, alone and sent a Savior
He’s provided a path and promised to guide us
Safely past all the sin that would divide us
His love delivers me

The cross that cost my Lord His life
Has given me mine
There’s a bridge to cross the great divide
There’s a cross to bridge the great divide

If I had to pick my favorite Christian song of all time, a bit of an artificial act, I admit, this next song would be at the top of the list. It asks us to survey the cross and understand that “love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”

WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Celebrations at Easter are good for the soul and life, especially during this difficult time in the our history. Reflecting on the good words above is one way to focus your mind and remember what Christ did for all of us as he arose, thus confirming a way for us to have a relationship with God.

So, sing — or think — about the good words of Easter songs.

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, 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.

As I write this headline, things are different for the Masters golf tournament this year – and for almost everything else in our coronavirus-dominated world.

I’ll be sitting in my man cave watching past Master tournaments on TV instead of being wrapped up in the current one.

This year, there is no tournament, which, for me, always has been one of the rites of spring. It has been delayed until the fall and, I suppose, there is even a question about whether it will be played then, if at all, this year.

Sitting in my Masters chair, with my Master’s sweatshirt on, I’ll be able to see old versions of the tournament or perhaps just highlights on the Golf Channel, ESPN or CBS-TV.

Better than nothing.

A piece of good news is that I’ll be watching Masters coverage with my daughter, Lissy, who will be sitting in her Master’s chair drinking out of her Masters mug in the living room of her home in Woodinville, Washington.

The distance between Woodinville and Salem, Oregon, where I live, won’t get in the way of our mutual enjoyment.

It will take us back to the 2015 tournament when we had the privilege of living a life-long dream – attending the Masters in person.

We may never head to Augusta, Georgia again – though my daughter signs up for the lottery every year in hopes of getting tickets again – but the one trip in 2015 was worth the price of admission.

And, on occasion, that price was high.

As only one example, we stayed in a La Quinta Motel about a mile from the iconic Augusta National course. The regular price was about $50 per night. We paid $550 – and were happy to do so.

Among my fond Masters memories, three stand out.

• In 1997, as a 21-year-old player just out of college, Tiger
  Woods won his first Masters by an incredible 14 strokes. I am not necessarily a Woods fan, but it was hard not to marvel about this first Masters victory on his way to four titles, including one last year.
• In 2004, one of my daughter’s and my favorite players, Phil Mickelson, won his first Masters. Great stuff as he reveled in his victory by jumping about two inches off the ground, then welcoming his family on the 18^th green with a now-famous exclamation to his kids: “Daddy won!”
• In 1986, I was riveted to the screen as Jack Nicklaus, then 46 years old with son Jackie on the bag as caddy, played one of best final nine holes in history to win his sixth green jacket, the emblem of victory. I have watched this tournament several times since 1986 – including once this week — and doing so always brings tears to my eyes.

To get this Masters weekend off to a solid start, I read an essay by Thomas Boswell in the Washington Post this morning. The entire piece is worth reading, but here is how Boswell started his tome on the Masters:

“The Masters is about revealing, exposing, humiliating, improving, discovering, understanding and, sometimes, redeeming yourself. That’s what we will miss Sunday: The humanity — the spectrum of rejoicing, collapsing, coping, choking and recovering — even more than the golf.

“As the years pass, the memories of shots fade, but the images, emotions and words of the players become more vivid. The power of the personal story is almost always the unseen driver of the action at Augusta National. The Masters measures the arc of a life, not just the plane of a swing.”

Good words.

I’ll miss the Masters this weekend, but I’ll revel in the joint joy of the tournament with my daughter.

Our experience, either on TV or in person in 2015, will live on in our hearts and minds.