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

First, I post this blog on Memorial Day 2024, so it is appropriate to write something on that important Day before moving into another column on how Donald Trump boggles the mind – my mind.

Think of the standard phrase, “Thank you for your service.”

When I say that to a veteran who has served the United States of America with distinction, I mean it.  “Thank you for your service.”

It is an appropriate accolade for those who have served – and, to get back to Trump, he has never done so (though, below, I recount how he, incredibly, he has denigrated those who have served).

So, back to my blog post for today.

Okay, as a regular human being, think of stuff you would never say.

Then, think of Donald Trump.  He says all that stuff.  Plus, he believes it.

Such as:

• Wants to model himself after Adolph Hitler who supervised the killing of six million Jews, even as he, Trump, keeps the Hitler book Mein Kampf, by his bedside for easy reading.

• Says immigrants are “poisoning the blood of country,” even as the fact is that all of us either are immigrants or have been descended from immigrants.

• Says the late Senator John McCain, a veritable hero from the Vietnam War, was not a hero because he got captured – and that stupid statement comes from a person, Trump, who never bothered to serve his country.

• Wants to model himself after Hannibal Lecter, the cannibal in the Silence of the Lambs film, whom Atlantic Magazine describes this way:  “Amid an anti-migrant tirade at a rally earlier this month in New Jersey, Trump gave a shout-out to the “late, great Hannibal Lecter, referring to the fava bean–loving cannibal played by Anthony Hopkins as a ‘wonderful man.’”

• Sees women as sexual objects, believing that groping and raping them is the province of every man.

• Sees President Joseph Biden as the architect of the FBI’s trip to Mar-A-Lago to find the national security papers that Trump had embargoed and sequestered.  Plus, Trump even said Biden was “out to kill” him by the FBI’s actions.

But, have no doubt – every time Trump talks he will liken himself to dictators and autocrats that he wants to model.

I’ll give Atlantic Magazine the last word today.

“’At what other moment in American history could a presidential candidate praise a fictional serial killer (Lecter), and inspire almost no reaction at all?’

“…the nation shrugged, because this was simply the latest in a long list of 2024’s bizarre and disorienting moments.  ‘The scale of the abnormality is so staggering,’ ABC’s George Stephanopoulos argued recently, ‘that it can actually become numbing.’

“But Americans’ reaction is less like numbness and more a response to something like airsickness, which results when we experience a disconnect between our senses — a nausea-inducing conflict between what we know and what we see.  

“Motion sickness is caused by a discrepancy between what the inner ear detects and what the eye sees.  The effect can be vertiginous — so the way people avoid being nauseated is by trying to ignore the dissonance.

“Call it anomie or call it airsickness — we find ourselves in a land of confusion. Trump pays off a porn star and yet is hailed as a champion of Christian values.  He mocks prisoners of war and calls dead soldiers ‘suckers,’ and his MAGA base is thrilled by his patriotism.

“And, Trump brags about his tight relationship with America’s implacable adversary, Vladimir Putin, claiming that the Russian president will release detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, ‘for me, but not for anyone else.’

“To hear conservative Christians argue that personal character doesn’t matter, or to witness self-described constitutional conservatives defend a relentless attack on the rule of law, is disorienting.

“To see advocates of law-and-order embrace rioters who attacked the Capitol and beat police officers is baffling.

“To watch the party of Ronald Reagan embracing isolationism and following Trump in truckling to the Butcher of Ukraine, Putin, is bewildering.”

My conclusion:  Fully agree.  Trump is ludicrous and disorienting.

And, the point about the duplicity of so-called Christians who hail Trump despite paying off a porn star is worth another post from me.  Later.

For now, allow the unsettling Trump stuff to boggle your mind.

Subhead:  No, Trump isn’t Hitler. But his copycat words lead nowhere good.

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

I borrowed the headline and subhead in this blog from a column that ran in the Washington Post.

By columnist Dana Milbank, the column made a key point better than I have done in the past.  This:  Donald Trump fancies himself like Adolph Hitler!

Scary?

Yes.  Very.

To compare himself to a despot who supervised the killing of six million Jews portends great problems for our country, the United States of America, if, as he vows to do, Trump becomes president again.

Our country may not survive.  And, with Trump, that is just fine with him.  He wants to be a dictator who kills people for the fun of doing so.

Today, rather than write another of my post deriding Trump and emphasizing his aspiration to be like Hitler, I choose to post the entire column by Milbank.

It is worth reading.

**********

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As you’ve probably heard, Donald Trump has once again raised a führer.The former president’s Truth Social account posted a video posing the question “What happens after Donald Trump wins?” and providing a possible answer: In the background was the phrase “unified Reich.”

This follows Trump’s echoing Adolf Hitler in campaign speeches, saying that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” and calling his opponents “vermin.”

And that, in turn, followed Trump’s dining at Mar-a-Lago with high-profile antisemite Ye (Kanye West) and white supremacist leader Nick Fuentes, who likened incinerating Jews to baking cookies.

Under the three-Reichs-and-you’re-out rule, Trump should be on the bench. Yet he keeps swinging — and this week provided a sobering measure of how numb we have become to his undeniably fascist rhetoric.

Almost exactly eight years ago, Trump attacked Gonzalo Curiel, then the district judge in the Trump University fraud case, saying that his “Mexican heritage” posed “an inherent conflict of interest.” In the uproar that followed, even Republican leaders were appalled, and then-House Speaker Paul Ryan said Trump’s statement was “the textbook definition of a racist comment.”

This week, Trump did almost the same thing when he left court on Tuesday after his defense rested in the Stormy Daniels hush money case. “The judge hates Donald Trump,” he said. “Just take a look. Take a look at him. Take a look at where he comes from.” New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan emigrated from Colombia as a child. But this time there was little outcry from the inured populace, and if Republican leaders had any complaints about Trump’s textbook racism (or on his third Reich moment of this campaign) I must have missed them.

Vilifying migrants is a standard fascist trope. So is the constant claiming of victim status. Trump falsely alleged in a fundraising email this week that his opponent conspired to kill him. “Joe Biden was locked & loaded ready to take me out & put my family in danger” during the FBI’s 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago for missing classified documents, Trump wrote.

He separately claimed that Biden’s Justice Department “AUTHORIZED THE FBI TO USE DEADLY (LETHAL) FORCE.” In reality, the FBI took extra precautions to avoid a confrontation by conducting the search when Trump was away and alerted the Secret Service. Agents were operating under the same standard rules of engagement they used when searching Biden’s home: Lethal force can be used only if in “imminent danger of death or serious physical injury.”

Also this week, Trump, asked by Pittsburgh’s KDKA-TV whether he favored restricting Americans’ access to birth control, responded: “We’re looking at that, and I’m going to have a policy on that very shortly.” After the televised interview was broadcast, Trump said the notion that he would advocate restrictions on contraception was “a Democrat fabricated lie.”

That maneuver — floating an outrageous policy and then pretending he had done no such thing — is another tool that Trump routinely uses. After Trump’s Truth Social account shared the video with the slightly-blurred “unified Reich” message during a lunch break in Trump’s trial in New York, his spokeswoman claimed the video had been “created by a random account online and reposted by a staffer who clearly did not see the word, while the president was in court.” The campaign removed the post.

Sound familiar? During the 2016 campaign, Trump tweeted an image that had been used by white supremacists of a Star of David atop a pile of cash. The campaign removed the offending post and Trump said it had been posted by a staffer. He later told a crowd that his aides “shouldn’t have taken it down.”

During that same campaign, Trump also tweeted an image of an American flag containing an image of what appeared to be Nazi Waffen-SS soldiers. The campaign removed this post, too, and blamed an intern.

The disavowal is part of the game, says Jason Stanley, a Yale philosophy professor who specializes in the rhetoric of fascism. “You do it and then you deny it and it’s just systematic, over and over and over again,” he told me in a phone call. “The people who want to hear it hear it, and it signals the direction you want to go in.” And for those uncomfortable with the extremism, the denial provides “a way of lying to themselves and telling themselves this is not what’s really going on.”

But it is. From Nazi Germany to Viktor Orban’s Hungary, Stanley says, people invariably thought the rhetoric of the rising authoritarian was exaggerated and just for dramatic effect. “Historically, people always, always don’t take it seriously,” he said.

Perhaps they don’t realize that Trump is deploying the exact same tropes — against migrants, judges, gender nonconforming people, universities, the media, “Marxists” — now being used by autocrats in Russia, India and Hungary. “If you look at what Trump is saying … everywhere in the world the authoritarians are saying that.”

And yet we drift, placidly, into autocracy. Okay, Trump is unifying the Reich. But Biden is so old!

Trump’s fascist rhetoric is supported by an array of authoritarian polices, which he and his campaign have helpfully divulged.

Trump has said that his (false) election fraud claims justify “the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.” He said he wouldn’t be a dictator, “other than day one,” when he would use absolute power to seal the border and drill for oil. He has proposed that those shoplifting from stores should “fully expect to be shot.”

He said he would round up as many as 20 million illegal immigrants and, perhaps, put them in mass deportation camps, taking money from the military if necessary.

He said he would appoint a special prosecutor to “go after” Biden, his family and “all others involved with the destruction of our elections, borders and our country itself.” He said he would order prosecutors to “go down and indict” his political opponents if they are “doing well and beating me” — and he would fire prosecutors who don’t follow such orders.

He said he would use the National Guard, and perhaps the regular military, to crack down on protests against him. He would strip civil service protections so he could replace federal workers with Trump loyalists, and he might take over independent agencies, including the Federal Reserve. He suggested he would change laws to attack what he perceives as “anti-White” bias.

Speaking at the National Rifle Association, Trump asked the crowd whether he should “be considered three term or two term?” Several in the crowd shouted out: “Three!” Earlier this spring, the American Conservative published an article titled “Trump 2028” that argued the 22nd Amendment, which limits a president to two terms, “is an arbitrary restraint on presidents who serve nonconsecutive terms.”

The group is part of Project 2025, to which the Trump campaign has informally outsourced its policy planning.

Trump has hinted that he would pardon those sentenced for attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He included in his courtroom entourage this week two convicted felons, Bernard Kerik, the former New York police commissioner he pardoned, and Chuck Zito, a former Hells Angels leader.

During testimony, defense witness Robert Costello showed the same sort of contempt for the judge as Trump did outside the courtroom. He rolled his eyes, talked under his breath, called the proceedings “ridiculous” and complained with a “jeez” when he disagreed with Merchan’s ruling.

Trump has promised “retribution” against his political opponents, and outside Trump’s trial this week, his allies amplified the threat. “They fear Donald Trump and they fear what’s going to happen if he becomes president again — and, I tell you, they should fear,” said Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas.).

“Yes,” agreed Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas.), at his side, wearing a necktie with Trump’s face printed on it.

Trump had one final thing to say before he left the courthouse this week. Just a day after his post about the “unified Reich,” he offered a message for “Jewish people that vote for Biden and the Democrats: They should have their head examined.”

Well, I have had my head examined, and it was found to contain the following memories of things Trump has said and done:

He told his White House chief of staff John Kelly that “Hitler did some good things” and complained that U.S. generals weren’t “totally loyal” to him the way Nazi generals were to Hitler. He spoke of the “very fine people” marching among the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville.

He closed out his 2016 campaign with an ad that singled out three prominent Jews with suggestions that they manipulate a “global power structure.” He was reluctant to disavow David Duke or supporters of his who harassed and threatened Jewish journalists. He has shared innumerable messages on social media from white supremacists. He has repeatedly questioned the loyalty of American Jews.

Long ago, Vanity Fair reported that Trump’s ex-wife Ivana said he read from a book of Hitler’s speeches, which he kept in a cabinet by his bed. Trump confirmed that he had the book but denied that he read it. By coincidence or design, there has been a startling overlap in their language of late.

Trump speaks of immigrants “poisoning the blood of our country” and “coming in with disease.” Hitler said that great civilizations died “as a result of contamination of the blood,” and he called Jews “the worst kind of germ-carriers in poisoning human souls.”

Trump calls his political opponents “radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.” Hitler called Jews “an inferior race that multiplies like vermin.”

Trump says that “the enemies from within are more dangerous, to me, than the enemies of the outside. Russia and China, we can handle.” Hitler spoke of “the greater inner enemy” and said that when “the internal enemy was not recognized … all efforts to resist the external enemy were bound to be in vain.”

Trump complains that “fake news is all you get, and they are indeed the enemy of the people.” Hitler complained of “the lying Marxist press” and said “the function of the so-called liberal press was to dig the grave for the German people.”

Trump claims that “we’ve never done worse than we’ve done now. … We’re so disrespected. The whole world is laughing at us.” And he warns: “If we don’t win this election, I believe we will no longer have a country.” Hitler claimed that “the Reich had fallen from a height which can hardly be imagined in these days of misery and humiliation.” He warned that “one year of Bolshevism would destroy Germany” and transform it “into chaos and a heap of ruins.”

Trump, at the end of his speeches, likes to say: “We will drive out the globalists. We will cast out the communists, Marxists, fascists. We will throw off the sick political class that hates our country.” Hitler spoke of a “world conspiracy” made up of “Jews and democrats, Bolshevists and reactionaries” and motivated by a “hatred” of Germans.

No, Trump isn’t Hitler, and the 21st century United States isn’t Weimar Germany. But Trump’s words, so obviously ripped from history’s darkest pages, lead no place good. The only thing poisoning the blood of our country is his copycat fascism.

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

It seems these days that Donald Trump is always on trial.  Sometimes in court.  Other times facing a future court date.

Most of the time appearing not to care about anything other than himself.

As the hush money trial in New York heads toward the jury, two seasoned political observers – Dan Balz in the Washington Post, and Aaron Blake, also in the Posts – provided recent commentary.

Here is a summary of their views:

FROM DAN BALZ, chief political analyst for the Washington Post:

“Throughout his life, whether as a flamboyant developer, a reality-TV star or a politician who became president, Trump has always found ways to keep the bright lights focused squarely on himself.  Good stories or bad stories, it never really mattered.  

“What was always important was to dominate, to be the center of attention, to win the ratings war, to cloud out everyone else.

“Rarely has there been a time that underscored that aspect of his being. Both the justices on the Supreme Court and the jurors in the Manhattan courtroom were confronted with the alleged misdeeds of the former president.  Nothing about either matter cast Trump positively.

“And yet it is not knowable today whether these proceedings will help or hurt his chances of being elected president again in November.”

FROM AARON BLAKE, another political analyst for the Post:

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“One of Donald Trump’s most tried and true political strategies is rubber-and-glue:  When he gets accused of something serious, he’ll just accuse his opponents of the same thing in the service of creating distractions.

“Mentally unstable?  It’s actually his opponents who fit the bill.  A ‘bigot’ and a ‘racist?’  Again, his opponents.  Ditto inflammatory rhetoric, threatening democracy, being a puppet for Vladimir Putin, habitual lying, obstruction of justice, and on and on.

“But rarely has this strategy been as pronounced and transparent as it is right now.  In his first criminal trial in Manhattan, Trump has relentlessly claimed his various prosecutions and civil court cases amount to 2024 ‘election interference.’

“It’s not only the same crime that he stands accused of in this case; Trump’s own actual and alleged election interference defines most of his biggest scandals and legal issues to date.”

So, there is Trump.  Under criminal charges that would make most of us worry about our future.

Not Trump.  He loves the limelight, no matter how dim it is.  And he translates whatever is happening to him into fodder for the MAGA clan.

For the future, I am hoping that Trump’s misdeeds eventually will catch up with him.

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

In recent weeks, with probably too much time on my hands, I have thought of this:

What I would do differently in one past major assignment if I knew then what I know now.

Stupid, I know.

Handsight is great, I guess.

This came to my mind the other day when I saw Gerry Thompson at a social event and, sitting around, both of us recalled a very strange time in Oregon’s history – the time when a cult leader from India, Bhagwhan Shree Rajneesh, invaded Oregon with hundreds of followers.

Gerry was the chief of staff for Governor Vic Atiyeh when I served as the governor’s press secretary back in the mid 1980s.  So, Gerry and I knew each well then and have maintained a friendship over the years.  We also were close with Atiyeh, the last Republican governor in Oregon – working for him on one hand, and maintaining a friendship on the other.

Leaders of the cult came to Oregon, asking thousands of “members” to re-locate here, garbed in what came to be famous – all red clothing.  They went to a ranch in Eastern Oregon, near the town of Antelope.

There, they tried to take over local government in that part of the state and, not just with cult members. 

One strategy for cult leaders was to transport “homeless persons” from around the country, transplant them into Eastern Oregon, register them to vote and, thereby, control local government.

It turned out to be a strategy that did not work out well, so cult leaders, with too many homeless persons in Eastern Oregon, decided to “dump” them into Portland, thus giving charities in Oregon’s largest city there more than they could handle.

That was the context I entered.

Governor Atiyeh and Gerry asked me to head up to Portland from my home in Salem each day to coordinate with the heads of charities. 

What to do?

Too many homeless persons taxed local infrastructure beyond any ability to respond.

By hindsight, this was the assignment which, upon reflection, I could have handled better, knowing what I know now about how government works.

I told Gerry this the other day and she said “not to worry.”

I was there in Portland, she reminded me, as a visible of a “Governor’s Office presence” to make sure local folks knew that had a governor who cared about what they were facing.

The eventual decision?  Buy bus tickets for the homeless persons to get back “home” as a way to spread the responsibility for their care.  Oregon, of course, would take its share.

Here is an excerpt on all this from a biography on Atiyeh that has not reached print:

“…the Oregon Community Foundation was able to help raise money which was funneled to the Salvation Army to help pay for bus tickets.  By the third week in November, the Salvation Army reported that it had raised $56,000 for its efforts, including $20,000 from Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon.

“Behind the scenes, the governor was ready for whatever happened.  The State of Oregon quietly directed donated funds to the Salvation Army to deal with the homeless who were flooding back into the cities.  None of this was ever public.

“Atiyeh remembered:  We couldn’t let the homeless be the victims, so we got some money…to the Salvation Army.

“A report by the State Police counted around 1,900 homeless people departures from Rajneeshpuram (the cult’s name for Antelope).”

Fond memories?

No.

It was a difficult time in Oregon history and my memory is that Governor Atiyeh and Gerry Thompson responded with skill, aplomb, and diplomacy.

If I was able to help.  Good.

Still, I wish I would have found a way to do better.

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

Liar.

Cheater.

Stealer.

Rapist.

Groper.

Just think of those words and ask yourself who in the world they could represent.

Well, the answer is that they describe one of the candidates who is running for another term as U.S. president.  Donald Trump.

Incredible?  Yes.

Stupid?  Yes.

These days, Trump, with a band of sycophants in the background, is spending time in court – or snoozing in court – as his lies catch up with him.

On this, The New York Times performed a public service recently when it carried a story under the headline I used for this blog.

Here is how the story started:

“Since the beginning of his political career, Donald J. Trump has misled, mischaracterized, dissembled, exaggerated and, at times, flatly lied.  His flawed statements about the border, the economy, the coronavirus pandemic, and the 2020 election have formed the bedrock of his 2024 campaign.

“Though his penchant for bending, and often breaking, the truth has been well documented, a close study of how he does so reveals a kind of technique to his dishonesty:  A set of recurring rhetorical moves with which Trump fuels his popularity among his supporters.”

So, here I reprint most of the Times story by listing in bold face the Times summary of the specific Trump lies, then follow with the Times analysis of those lies.

For me, this doesn’t provide a clear answer about why Trump lies.  He does it all the time.  It is second nature to him.  He probably believes what he is saying no matter what he is saying.  Who knows why he does what he does?

The fact is that some voters believe him, too – or, perhaps, they don’t care that he lies incessantly. 

That fact is scary for me and others those who believe in our American form of government, which would be directly in a second Trump term as president when he fancies himself as more dictator than president.

So, here is the Times story.

What Trump says:  He grossly distorts his opponents’ records and proposals to make them sound unreasonable.  “While Joe Biden is pushing the largest tax hike in American history — you know he wants to quadruple your taxes.   I will make the Trump tax cuts permanent.“

The fact:  President Biden has not proposed quadrupling taxes.  In fact, he has consistently vowed not to raise taxes on anyone earning less than $400,000.

What Trump says:  I mean, what Biden’s doing with energy with an all-electric mandate, where you won’t be able to buy any other form of car in a very short period of time.

The fact:  Biden has not implemented an electric car mandate.  The Administration has announced rules that would limit tailpipe emissions from cars and light trucks, effectively requiring automakers to sell more electric vehicles and hybrids.  It doesn’t ban gas cars.

What Trump says:  He exaggerates and twists the facts to make his record sound better than it is.  “And think of it, for four years we had no terror problem.  I had the terror ban.  I had bans on people coming in from areas where there’s going to be problem.  You don’t have that anymore.   And think of it, for four years we had no terror problem.”

The fact:  There were in fact terrorist attacks in the United States during the Trump Administration.  In 2017, to name one, a native of Uzbekistan plowed a pickup truck down a bike path in Manhattan, killing eight people.  The Justice Department said the driver, Sayfullo Saipov, carried out the terrorist attack in the name of ISIS.

What Trump says:  “We had the best economy.  We had no inflation.”

The fact:  The economy wasn’t the “best” under Trump.  Even setting aside Covid, the average growth rate was lower under Trump than under former Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan.  And inflation was low, but it wasn’t non-existent.

What Trump says:  “We had gasoline at $1.87 per gallon.”

The fact:  The national average price of a gallon of gasoline dropped to that price during one week amid the Covid lockdown in 2020, when demand was extraordinarily low.  But when Trump left office in January 2021, the national average was $2.42.

What Trump says:  He relies on both well-worn and fresh claims of election rigging to suggest he can lose only if his opponents cheat. “Radical left Democrats rigged the presidential election of 2020, and we’re not going to allow them to rig the presidential election of 2024.   We’re not going to allow it to happen.”

The fact:  The 2020 election was not rigged.  Trump has uttered hundreds of inaccurate claims to support the false claim that it was — mischaracterizing voting processes, citing baseless cases of supposed fraud, and sharing conspiracy theories about voting machines.

What Trump says:  “As you know, Nikki Haley, in particular, is counting on the Democrats and liberals to infiltrate your Republican primary.”

The fact:  Registered Democrats were not able to vote in the New Hampshire Republican primary.  The contest was open to registered Republicans and independents.  Any Democrats who switched parties or re-registered as independents to vote in the Republican primary — and some did — had to do so before an October 2023 deadline, months before the contest.

What Trump says:  “The Republicans went to vote and none of the machines were working.  This was not good.  But of course, they said, well, this was just the way it goes.  You know, thousands of people were not allowed to vote.”

The fact:  The claim that “thousands” of voters were blocked from casting their ballots in Arizona’s 2022 gubernatorial election — at the expense of Trump’s preferred candidate, Kari Lake — is false. There were some glitches in Maricopa County, but voters were largely able to cast their votes.

What Trump says:  He has turned his criminal cases into a rallying cry, baselessly asserting that he is being persecuted by his successor.  “Your indictments, and for the people out there that say there’s another shoe that’s going to fall with all of this stuff.  I know you say it’s all political.  These are all Biden indictments.  These aren’t indictments.  These are Biden.  This is a political opponent.  He’s coming after a political opponent.”

The fact:  Trump has not offered any evidence for his contention that Biden has orchestrated the criminal charges against him.  Two of his four cases were brought at the state level.  At the federal level, Trump’s criminal charges — in relation to his effort to remain in power after losing the 2020 election and, separately, over his retention of classified documents after leaving office — are handled by a special counsel and were put before grand juries.

What Trump says: “ I’ve been indicted more than Al Capone.”

The fact:  Trump has been indicted four times.  Capone was indicted at least six times.

What Trump says:  He makes claims about what the world would have been like had he secured a second term.  “We wouldn’t have Russia attacking Ukraine.   We wouldn’t have inflation.  We wouldn’t have the attack on Israel.  Kim Jong-un of north Korea wouldn’t be threatening us with the nuclear missiles again.”

The fact:  There is no evidence that these events wouldn’t or couldn’t have occurred had the 2020 election outcome been different — and it’s impossible to prove.  But experts say the context surrounding those events render his claims highly questionable.

What Trump says:  He describes the United States as a nation in ruins.  “We are a nation that screens its citizens viciously at all ports.  But if you’re an illegal alien, you’re allowed to flow through our country with no check, whatsoever.  We are a nation that screens its citizens viciously at all ports. But if you are an illegal alien, you’re allowed to flow through our country with no check whatsoever.”

The fact:  Undocumented immigrants caught crossing the border are processed, whether they are returned to other countries or later released into the country awaiting future proceedings.

What Trump says:  “And now we are a nation that wants to make our revered and very powerful Army tanks – the best anywhere in the world – all electric.”

The fact:  There are no plans to make Army tanks all electric.

What Trump says:  “We are a third-world nation.”

The fact:  This is, of course, false.

What Trump says:  We are no longer energy independent or energy dominant as we were just a few short years ago.

The fact:  Energy production — including oil and gas — has boomed under Biden. Under both administrations, the United States has been a net exporter of petroleum and natural gas, but it still relies on imports.

What Trump says: “ I don’t know what it is with Catholics, but the FBI is going after Catholics.”

The fact:  Trump’s claim is most likely based on an FBI field office memo that warned of the potential for extremism among adherents of a “radical-traditionalist Catholic” ideology.  But the memo was withdrawn and repeatedly condemned by the nation’s top law enforcement officials.

With kudos to the New York Times, there you have it.  Lies by Trump.  Facts by the Times.

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

I have written about this before as we have watched protests waggle across the country from college to college.

Protesters, some of whom are genuine and some of whom are motivated by professional protesters, are concerned, in some way or form, about conditions in the Middle East, either pro-Israeli or pro-Palestine.  Many of the protesters describe themselves as “pro-Palestine.”

For me, protests recall two things:

• As a lobbyist for about 25 years at the State Capitol in Salem, Oregon, I saw a lot of protests.  Most of them amounted to just that – protests that did not achieve much in the way of change.  Those who protested on the steps of the State Capitol may have gotten media coverage, but not much else.

• As a graduating college student in 1970, I saw Vietnam War protests, not necessarily at “my” campus, Seattle Pacific College, but around the country.  And, it would not be an exaggeration to say those protests accomplished something – emphasizing an unjust War and even helping to prompt the task of bringing it to a conclusion, so more lives would not be lost in pursuit of who knows what.

During that same period, I also watched civil rights protests, often led by Martin Luther King, and those protests, usually non-violent, played a major role in emphasizing an important subject – civil rights for ALL Americans, regardless of the color of their skin.

Here are a couple other protest comments recently.

• From Oregon Public Broadcasting/In the spring of 1970, the Portland State University campus had been a hive of anti-Vietnam War activity for months.

But things got hot on May 11 when Portland Mayor Terry Schrunk ordered police to forcibly remove protesters from a collection of tents and makeshift barricades in the Park Blocks. About 30 demonstrators were injured.

This was just a week after national guardsmen opened fire on students during an anti-war demonstration at Kent State University in Ohio, killing four and wounding nine others.

As a resident of Seattle, Washington, at the time, I was not on-hand in Oregon to see and hear about this, but, from afar off, I did watch the Portland mayor bring the protest to the an end for fear of injuries to the general public.

• From the Wall Street Journal:  Protesters on college campuses in the 1960s and ‘70s are watching a familiar story play out.

Back then, student demonstrators denounced the Vietnam War and marched for civil rights.  They made a long list of demands.  Police arrested them.

Today, pro-Palestinian protesters have disrupted campus life at universities across the U.S.  They have their own demands, including colleges divesting themselves of investments in companies doing business with Israel.  Thousands have been arrested.

Regarding the pro-Palestine protests, only time will tell whether they achieve their objective.

And, then this from the Wall Street Journal, drawing on a law in Ohio (and elsewhere) that hearkens back to KKK protests:

“Campus protesters may be enjoying the spring weather in their encampments, but, in some states, they will need to wave their Palestinian flags with masks off.  In a letter to university presidents last week, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost reminded them that the state has a law against those who use masks to disguise their identity.

Masks worn today “to harass Jews are no different than those that were once worn to intimidate blacks or the Catholics who were also a Klan target.  Masks have been a disturbing element of the campus protests because they add a menacing element to anti-semetic slogans and chants.”

The Journal also congratulated the University of Chicago for its efforts to “control” – my word – protests on its campus.  The effort stems from this logical, sensible statement, as chronicled in a column by the Journal’s William Galston:

“The committee (one created by the university) stated that the university may restrict expression that violates the law, defames individuals, or constitutes a ‘genuine threat or harassment, that invades protected privacy or confidentiality, or is incompatible with the functioning of the university.”

Good statement.  I wish all colleges and universities would follow it.

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

I have a cousin on the East Coast who often sends along interesting e-mails.

Such was the case this week when his e-mail asked whether I and other recipients were feeling old in 2024.

For me, the obvious answer is yes.

And, then, my cousin provided a few reasons for feeling old:
 

• The Beatles split 49 years ago.

• The movie ‘Wizard of Oz’ is 84 years old.
  
  
• Elvis died 46 years ago.  He’d be 88 today.
  
  
• Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ video is 41 years old.
  
  
• Mickey Mantle retired 54 years ago.  [Don’t ask who Mickey Mantle is!]
  
  
• The movie ‘Saturday Night Fever’ is 48 years old.
  
  
• The Ed Sullivan show ended 52 years ago.
  
  
• The Corvette turned 70 years old this year.
  
  
• The Mustang is 59.

Does that help?

Probably not.

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

The two words above – salacious and risqué – are being used by reporters as they recount lurid testimony from porn star Stormy Daniels in Donald Trump’s New York trial.

Say what you want, my basic impression is that Trump deserves no less, given the “salacious and risqué” way he has conducted himself over the years, including with Daniels.

No sympathy for him here.

However, it is possible that Daniels’ testimony, given how far afield it went from the specific legal charges against Trump, will just add to the fodder for an appeal.  But, no matter, Trump, if found guilty, was going to appeal for whatever reason, or for no reason at all.  Just for the delay.

Here are a couple excerpts from news and commentary reports:

FROM DANA MILBANK IN THE WASHINGTON POST:  “The trial, which on Monday had been in the doldrums of bookkeepers’ testimony about general ledgers and accounts payable, exploded into its most memorable day yet with the arrival on the witness stand of adult-film actress Stormy Daniels herself.

“For nearly a decade, Trump has been the nation’s main chaos agent:  He causes the mayhem, and the rest of us have to react, adjust, adapt, and try to stay calm.

“But for one day, somebody else was causing the chaos, and Trump and his lawyers were the ones who had to react and adapt.  They had to ride out Stormy’s storm.

MY COMMENT:  Good to see Trump in the hot seat.  I found myself wondering what all his staunch followers would think as I say, he often fell asleep at the defense table despite all the “salacious and risqué” details.

FROM JENNIFER RUBIN IN THE WASHINGTON POST:  “Outside of MAGA-friendly media, observers are not sanguine about his dozing off.

“The Atlantic’s David A. Graham called Trump’s slumbers ‘worrisome.’  He asked, ‘If Trump can’t manage to stay awake during a trial when his very freedom is on the line, what are the chances that he will be able to focus on the intricacies of a spiraling regional war, a trade policy, or any new crisis that might face him if he returns to the White House?’

“One might ask the same of his unhinged rants, juvenile musing about Gettysburg and slurred speech:  Is this a man ready to resume the presidency?”

MY COMMENT:  The dozing off is incredible for a person who describes himself as mentally and physically alert enough to serve as president.

MORE FROM RUBIN:  “Whatever the cause for his frequent drifting off, Trump has drawn plenty of fire from social media and late-night comedians.  The man who has an insulting nickname for so many political foes now gets ribbed as ‘DonSnorleone’ or ‘Sleepy Don’ or ‘TheNodfather.’

“Just as Trump felt compelled to ludicrously lie that his inauguration had the biggest attendance ever, his latest silly fabrication to protect his own ego is revealing — and frightening.  Whether it is crowd size or sleeping or the outcome of an election, Trump demands that we believe him, not our ‘lying eyes.’

“Maintaining his self-image of invincibility entails obliterating objective truth, discrediting independent sources of information (the media was targeted as the ‘enemy of the people’), and propagandizing nonstop.  This is all part of the authoritarian handbook.  If a strongman cannot convince the masses that he is the sole source of truth, at least he can confuse them (‘alternative facts’) so they do not know whom to believe.

“Trump cannot afford to lose the aura of power, control, and defiance he wields to keep his supporters entranced.  A weak, sleepy, and docile Trump is not what drew them to the cult.”

MY COMMENT:  Rubin’s characterization is accurate.  Trump wants to be authoritarian and a dictator. 

America deserves better.

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

How about this for a story!

Pretend you have just been elected to the Oregon Senate as a Republican representing the Pendleton area in Eastern Oregon, a Republican stronghold in the state.  You look forward to the challenge.

You know Democrats are in charge in at the Capitol in Salem, but you think you can have some effect.

But, soon you will learn what being in the “minority” really means.

Those in charge want to shove such issues as “abortion-on-demand” down the throats of everyone, including Eastern Oregonians.  They want gun control.  They aren’t much interested in rural issues, so they rarely talk to you and your colleagues.

What do you do?

Well, you argue assertively that rural Oregonians deserve to be heard. 

But, despite your arguments, which you utter clearly and respectfully, the Ds don’t listen.

Now, what’s your choice?

Vote and lose?

Or, walk out?

Ten Oregon senators chose the latter in the last legislative session and they are now paying a price, which means they are barred from running for re-election.  Most of them feel the effort was worth it.

Regarding what I will call the “walk-out tactic,” I had a friendly debate with a friend of mine this week about a move that tests an age-old question in OREGON:  What does it mean to represent voters who sent you to serve in the Oregon Legislature?

He thought, once elected, individuals incurred an obligation to stay at the Capitol, come what may.

I responded that, on occasion, given the depth of certain issues, walking out might be the only answer to someone from the East.

The bottom-line question:  Is it right or appropriate for elected officials to “walk out of the Capitol” and stay away to prevent the House or Senate from having a quorum to do the public’s business.

Two views, expressed more generally than just between my friend and myself:

• On one hand, some of those who have won election – like the individual I described above — believe that some issues are so important that the only way to prevent their consideration is to walk out.  In other words, they believe they would be representing their constituents if they walked.

• On the other hand, many observers contend that individuals got elected, so their obligation is to serve on-site regardless of the outcome on sensitive issues.  In other words, they would be representing their constituents if they stayed.

Frankly, I see both sides.  And, remember, by going both ways, I exhibit my traits as a long-time lobbyist in Oregon.

KGW-TV provides this further background.

“In Oregon, the walk-out tactic has become most heavily associated with Senate Republicans in recent years, but both parties have used the tactic in the past, and in both chambers.

“The frequency has increased from 2019 onward, but use of the tactic in Oregon dates all the way back to 1971.”

To understand the gravity of this tactic, consider the plight of Republicans such as the one from Pendleton I described above.  They are not in charge and often chafe under Democrat control.

Plus, voters in Eastern Oregon sent them to Salem for several purposes — to avoid abortion-on-demand, to avoid gun control, and to argue against what has come to be called “the two-Oregons.”  

Urban Democrats are in charge in Salem and rural Republicans have had to play defense lately.

So, last session, the 10 Senate Republicans who walked came up against a voter-passed initiative that said, if legislators incurred too many absences, they could not run for re-election.

The upshot is that 10 senators are shut out from seeking to head to Salem again, though in two cases, relatives of those who cannot run are running instead.

As a retired lobbyist, my solution to the walk-out tactic is straightforward and simple, but probably requires too much “give” from either side to have much of a chance.

It is this:

• If you are from urban Oregon, work hard to understand rural perspectives.
• If you are from rural Oregon, work hard to understand urban perspectives.
• If you are in charge at the Capitol in Salem, do your best to avoid hugely controversial public policy issues – abortion, for instance – that will prevent you from doing the one thing you have to do when you are in Salem, which is to pass the next two-year State of Oregon budget.

See.  Simple. 

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

Remember that “pin of the head” analogy I have used in the past.

Well, if not, it applies to the subject of “golf course architecture,” which I write about in this blog.

What I know about the subject would fit on head of a pin.  Still, it is an interesting topic for me if only because I have had the privilege of playing more than 200 golf courses in my life with a variety of architectural styles.

One, a so-called “parkland style” is characteristic of where I play most of my golf, Illahe Hills Golf and Country Club in the town where I live, Salem, Oregon.  It also applies to the course I play in La Quinta, California, The Palms.

Then, for a difference, I have had the privilege of playing golf in Scotland, the “home of golf,” on five different occasions.  There, you encounter “links-style” golf which means you play the ball much closer to the ground, with few trees in your way, close by the ocean.

The idea to write just a bit about this came when I read an article in Links Magazine about two top-level golf course architects who usually work together – Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.  The article listed great “public” courses they had designed.

Crenshaw’s name will ring bells because, besides getting into architecture, he also played professionally, winning two Master’s tournaments, among others.

Here’s what the website says about the Coore-Crenshaw firm:

“Timeless By Design/Admiration and respect for the classic golf courses of the “Golden Age of Architecture” inspired Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore to establish the firm of Coore and Crenshaw Inc. in 1985.  

“Theirs is an architectural firm based upon the shared philosophy that traditional, strategic golf is the most rewarding, and the creation of courses that present this concept with the greatest artistry is the ultimate goal.  They have blended their personal experience and admiration for the classical courses of Ross, MacKenzie, Macdonald, Maxwell, and Tillinghast to create a style uniquely their own.”

Coore and Crenshaw designed two courses at Bandon Dunes, the area on the South Oregon Coast that, due to the inspiration of businessman Michael Keyser, has become a mecca for golfers worldwide.

In 2005, the duo had tough acts to follow in designing the third course at Bandon, Bandon Trails, one of the public courses mentioned in the Links article.

Trails differs significantly from its two oceanside predecessors, Bandon Dunes and Pacific Dunes, starting, as it does, atop a massive sand dune, working its way into a sprawling meadow, and then climbing into a coastal forest before returning to finish in the dunes.

Some guests who yearn for waterfront holes say Trails is their least favorite, while others consider it the finest routing of an exceedingly strong bunch.

Coore and Crenshaw later built another gem at Bandon, the 13-hole par-3 Preserve Course, in 2012.

And, then, they collaborated on the latest edition to the Bandon courses, the Sheep Ranch built in 2020.

The new course occupies a phenomenal piece of property just north of the main resort that was long shrouded in an air of mystery.

Coore and Crenshaw returned again to the Oregon coast to continue the “golf as it was meant to be” legacy of the Sheep Ranch, building nine green sites along the cliffs and eschewing traditional bunkering on the rough, windswept site marked by old, dead trees (or snags) overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

I had the privilege of playing the Sheep Ranch before it became an actual golf course.

That was due to the course superintendent at Illahe Hills at the time, Bill Swancutt.  He knew staff at Bandon and got four of us an opportunity to play the Sheep Ranch before it became an official course.

We arrived at the site, essentially a promontory overlooking the land out to the ocean.  The staff there talked briefly to the four of us, using a small piece of paper to suggest a routing for us to play 15 of the 18 green flags we could see.

The staff said just to make up the final holes. 

I also asked where to tee off after playing a green – and was told, well, just find a place of flat ground, put your tee in the ground, and go ahead.

So, we did.

It was a great experience.  And, to put a point on it, I have not yet had a chance to play the official course, so am looking forward to it.

To talk about Coore and Crenshaw at Bandon without mentioning two other major architects there would be inappropriate, so I go ahead.

In 1999 when Bandon Dunes opened, the first course there – it’s called, simply, “Bandon Dunes” — was designed by Scotsman David McLay Kidd, who has designed many other courses around the world from his home in Bend, Oregon.

Bandon Dunes, the course, is perched on a bluff high above the Pacific Ocean where Mother Mature’s ever presence had already laid the blueprint for what would become one of golf’s most iconic courses.

The next course, Pacific Dunes, was designed by Michigan architect Tom Doak, and sculpted by his design firm, Renaissance Design, Inc.  Like Kidd, he has gone on to design many other courses around the world.

Why do I choose to write about this?

Well, just because I love golf and this is another way express my enchantment.  Including with “links-style” golf and, if you want to experience, go to Bandon where the courses are an accurate impression of “links-style” golf in Scotland.

So, soon, I’ll head back to Bandon to play the Sheep Ranch in its renowned new role as the sixth official course there.