Perspective from the 19th 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.
The headline on this blog heralds a piece of good news for those of us who live in and around Salem, Oregon.
Salem Health and Oregon Center have reached agreement to settle a suit filed by the Center contending that “the health care giant (Salem Health) was monopolizing heart care in the city.”
For this good news, I am not the first to report it. Credit goes to Salem Reporter and its reporter, Hailey Cook. It’s another example of this on-line journalism outfit reporting facts that matter to readers.
Here is how Cook started her story:
“Salem Health has privately settled a lawsuit with a local cardiology clinic that claimed the health care giant was monopolizing heart care in the city.
“The Oregon Heart Center, the largest independent cardiac care center in the mid-Willamette Valley, filed its $15 million lawsuit against Salem Health in September 2024. It claimed Salem Health violated anti-trust law by pressuring patients to switch providers, limiting referrals to the clinic, and restricting patients’ access to information about independent providers.”
So, why does this matter to me?
Well, I have been a patient of both Salem Health and the Heart Center. Both have performed very well for me whenever I, as an old person, have needed service. In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that both contributed to a process that saved my life.
So, I am glad that the suit has gone away and that both providers can continue getting about the business of providing solid health care in the mid-Willamette Valley.
Perspective from the 19th 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.
Many of us who live part of our lives in the California desert were concerned that the American Express Golf Tournament would be shelved by the powers-that-be on PGA Golf Tour management.
But, no.
The good news is the AMEX – as it is called – will be coming back next year.
Good news rests here for several reasons:
The AMEX represents solid economic development for the region.
The number 1 golfer in the world, Scottie Scheffler, will be able to return to the desert to defend the title he won earlier this year.
And, for me? I will be able to attend the tournament again, which is held on one of the courses in three-course rotation only a couple blocks from our home in La Quinta, California.
Credit should go to Larry Bohannan, from the Palm Springs Desert Sun, for reporting that the AMEX is alive and well.
Here are excerpts from what he wrote:
After months of uncertainty over the PGA Tour’s slimmed-down 2027 schedule and which tournaments will and won’t survive, there is now one certainty: The American Express will be played for the 68th consecutive year in the Coachella Valley.
The American Express is the first tour event to have its dates officially announced for 2027. As one of the early season events, the American Express needs to start working with golf courses, sponsors, hotels, and other tournament vendors to put the tournament together just 10 months from now.
The American Express started in 1960 and was hosted for decades by entertainer and desert icon Bob Hope. But the event’s future had been in doubt after PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp began talking in 2025 about a smaller tour, shrinking to perhaps 25 events from the more than 40 played in 2025. The AMEX could have been shelved.
In 2026, American Express sponsored a $9.2 million event with a field of 156 pros and 156 amateurs playing on three courses in La Quinta — the Pete Dye Stadium Course and the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West, and La Quinta Country Club.
Now, as for the notion of economic development, what is the measure of success?
Official reports suggest that the golf tournament generates somewhere between $20 million to $24 million in positive annual economic impact for the California desert. The event attracts 65,000 to 70,000 spectators annually, driving tourism, boosting hotel occupancy, and benefiting local restaurants and businesses.
And, of course, while not part of the above summary, I, too, spend money at the AMEX, which is money well-spent as I often walk over to La Quinta Country Club.
Perspective from the 19th 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.
I guess I could have said that the blog is designed to open the Department of Pet Peeves, one offive departments I run with a free hand to manage as I see fit.
Because, of course, I am a management guru.
That said, I retained the alternative blog headline above rather than just opening the Department of Pet Peeves.
In retirement, one of my favorite pursuits is to continue writing, so it is important to point out my idiosyncrasies. Writing is something I did in all my professional jobs, so it is relatively easy to continue.
Usually, I write just for myself because I get a lot of satisfaction in the process of putting words on paper, albeit on my laptop, which is always close by.
If few others read what I write, no matter. I am not trying to influence them, though with friends, I do enjoy talking about subjects like golf, politics, and religion as I write about those subjects.
As I have noted before, I like words better than numbers, charts, graphs, or even photos.
So it was that a story in the New York Times captured my attention as it appeared under this headline: “The art of the verb.”
Here is one key paragraph:
“…I’m fascinated by the tremendous power of verbs — language’s little fireballs — to shape how we understand the world. Verbs rule communication. Many linguists go so far as to see sentences as extensions of verbs with other accouterments.”
I agree.
Without perfect achievement, I always have thought about trying to use “active verbs.” Sometimes it doesn’t work, but, if you try, you’ll find they often make writing better – “language’s little fireballs.”
So this is one of my pet peeves — when writers don’t take time to use active verbs.
On to other of my idiosyncrasies – or pet peeves:
Don’t use the phrase “centering around.” It is not possible. You can “center on,” not “center around.”
Don’t mispronounce etc. – it is not “ec-cetera.” It is “et-cetera.”
Try to avoid using too many abbreviations. Why? Just my choice. For example, this means that I spell out the titles Senator and Representative, not Sen. and Rep. It also means I spell out the title Governor, not Gov. Same with months of the year.
Special capital letter rule: It’s easy for many people to use too many capital letters in what they write. But let me cite an example where I think a capital letter is appropriate and inappropriate: The word “Administration” when it applies to the federal government as in, for example, the Bush Administration. That was and is appropriate. However, when it comes to Donald Trump, I decline to apply a capital letter to the Trump administration because there is no way Trump administers anything as he flies by the seat of his pants.
Spell out %: I always spell out the symbol %, as in 10 per cent, not 10%. Why? Just a personal preference, much like abbreviations.
Try to avoid words that end in the letters “ize.” Such as the word prioritize. Say this instead – “decide what is most important.” Or, another example. One of my former business partners often used the word “catalyze.” I have no idea what it meant.
Don’t use nouns as verbs. A couple examples. The word “helm” often is used these as in “he helmed the ship.” No. The ship has a helm. It is a noun. Or, the word, “golf.” As in “he golfed his ball.” No, he hit his ball. Golf is a noun.
In sentences you write, make sure the noun agrees with the pronoun. When a sentence like “the committee” did “their” work appears, it is called a pronoun agreement error. That’s because a singular word – “committee” – is used with a plural pronoun – “their.” Don’t do it. It may sound okay, but it is wrong. The pronoun should be “its,” as in the “committee did its work.”
The words “between” and “among.” They need to be used correctly. Yesterday, a Wall Street Journal headline writer said this: “Why U.S. Allies Are Caught Between War, Trade and Trump.” Impossible. You cannot be caught between three things. The word should have been “among.”
Now, if anyone reads this, aren’t you glad you know that all this matters to me.
Perspective from the 19th 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.
An article in the Wall Street Journal prompted me to write about this subject and to share my wisdom on “gimmes.”
If you want to stop reading now, I fully understand.
But I’ll continue writing.
Here is how Mr. Google defines the word “gimme” in golf.
“A ‘gimme’ putt in golf is an informal agreement to concede a very short putt (usually within 1–2 feet or “inside the leather”) during casual play, allowing the player to pick up his or her ball and count it as holed without taking the stroke.
“It is meant to speed up pace of play but is not allowed in official stroke play tournaments.”
More detail:
Distance: Generally considered “inside the leather,” referring to the distance from the putter head to the bottom of the grip (roughly 18–36 inches), although 1–2 feet is safer.
When to take: Typically used for bogies or worse in friendly matches to keep pace.
When to avoid: Never take gimmes in competitive stroke play, tournaments, or for eagle/birdie putts.
Match Play: In match play, a gimme is officially called a “conceded putt” and can be given by an opponent at any time.
Etiquette: If you have to ask if it’s a gimme, you should probably putt it.
Beyond this detail, gimme putts can be controversial.
Back a few years ago, where I play golf in my home, Salem, Oregon, gimme putts were sometimes “taken” from about six feet from the hole in the “senior game” on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Those are not gimmes and note the word “taken” – they are a “takee.”
It got so bad that, at one point, those in charge of the senior game suggested putting marks on all putters to designate the term “within the leather.” It didn’t come to that, but came close.
Further, in so-called casual or gentlemen’s games, gimmes should not be taken when money rides on the outcome.
When money is not at stake because you are playing “for the love of the game” with friends, no one should care about gimmes. I don’t. Plus, if a player already is three or four strokes over par on a hole, gimmes speed up play.
Again, back home at the course I play in Salem, I have heard that women who play never give gimmes. They require all balls to be played into the hole.
Which, of course, is within official golf rules. Kudos to these ladies.
Enough for now on gimmes which, of course, in world affairs, is a hugely important issue.
Perspective from the 19th 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.
To repeat one of my pet phrases, I like words better than numbers, charts, graphs or, even, photos.
That’s just the way I am built and, as the introduction to my blog notes, I dealt with words in all my professional positions. Now, I do so, as well, in retirement.
So it was that I came across two great paragraphs by two acknowledged excellent writers whose work appears in the New York Times, as well as elsewhere – Maureen Dowd and Thomas Friedman.
Without further ado, here is what they wrote:
Maureen Dowd: “Sucking up to Donald Trump, self-crowned sun king, is a Sisyphean task. Trying to keep up with his whims, his revenge plots, his insatiable need for slobbering praise, his disdain for the law, will always be a losing battle.”
She wrote these words as she commented on the firing of two officials seeking accolades from Trump – Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem.
Thomas Friedman: “In short, we are watching what happens when you put into the Oval Office an impulsive, unstable man who ran for president largely to get revenge on his political foes. Then he surrounded himself with a cabinet chosen for its handsome looks and its willingness to put loyalty to Trump over loyalty to the Constitution. Add to that Republican majorities in the House and Senate willing to write him blank checks, and it all eventually leads to sloppy, undisciplined decision-making, including starting a huge war in the Middle East with no plan for the morning after.”
Friedman wrote these words as he worried that Trump has no way out of a war he created on a whim.
Perspective from the 19th 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.
……….I wrote this blog in 2025, but post it again this year, 2026, because it heralds a great fact for Christians, Christ’s resurrection……….
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My wife and got back an hour or so ago after having the privilege of attending a 6 a.m. “Sunrise Service” at the church we attend in La Quinta, California, Southwest Church, now called Well-Spring.
To use a play on words:
We were able to watch the “sun rise” to the East on a cloudless morning.
We were able to commemorate the “son rise,” the monumentally critical fact of Easter because we can have a relationship with a risen Savior, the son of God!
In some ways, I hesitate to use the word play above because it carries the risk of de-emphasizing this reality.
But, at the same time, if the word play helps to tell a monumentally important story, good.
Last year, I read with interest a column that appeared in the Wall Street Journal under this headline: “Easter Merits More Handel’s Messiah: A Christmas favorite, the oratorio has more to contribute to Holy Week celebrations.”
Here is how the column started:
“We wouldn’t celebrate Christmas without Easter — Christ’s birth has no meaning if he didn’t rise from the dead — but Easter gets short shrift. Not even a federal holiday, Easter season is marked more by tacky testaments to spring than any meaningful traditions. It is also deprived of one of the most beloved works of sacred music: George Frideric Handel’s Messiah.”
The writer went on:
“To many Westerners, Handel’s ‘Messiah’ is as embedded in Christmas pageantry as ‘The Nutcracker’ ballet. The 18th-century oratorio is performed in churches and symphony halls around the world in December. And justifiably so: Its jubilant account of the Nativity is Christmas music non-pariel.
“But the oratorio wasn’t written for Christmas. Charles Jennens, the English librettist, wrote to a friend in 1741 that he hoped Handel would put his text to music and ‘perform it for his own benefit in Passion Week.’
“As it turned out, ‘Messiah’ debuted in Dublin a few weeks after Easter in 1742, but for years in Handel’s lifetime and after his death it was performed around the holiday.”
The fact that Wall Street Journal editors gave space to a column such as this is a credit to the Journal.
“Somewhere in the unbroken decades of performances since,” the writer added, “the Messiah became a yuletide industry while showing up much less at Easter time. London, where Handel lived and is buried, has some performances for the holiday.
“But searching the internet for a Holy Week performance in New York, Chicago or Washington, only one: A sing-along at the Latter-Day Saints’ D.C. Temple. This is a pity, because ‘Messiah’ captures the pathos of the battle with sin and death that represents Easter more than any springtime flower or garden rabbit.
“The latter two sections of the three-part work — with Jennens’s lyrics drawn entirely from Scripture — give an account of Christ’s sacrifice, victory and second coming. Handel’s text-painting, guiding listeners’ emotions, is an excellent aid for experiencing the weight of the biblical narrative.
The writer ends her column the way I hoped:
“But besides testifying to facts that require faith, ‘Messiah’ also bears witness to a hope that results from that faith. The feeling is personal: ‘I know that my Redeemer liveth,’ sings the soprano in one of the work’s sweetest solos, ‘yet in my flesh shall I see God.’
“It is also unassailable. Easter seals the promise of eternal life, revealed at Christmas but unfulfilled except through death and resurrection. Thus, quoting the apostle Paul, ‘Messiah’ can say what is ours to proclaim as well: ‘O death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory?’”
For my part, I love the Messiah and always stand when it is sung at our home church in Salem, Oregon – and that occurs at the end of an annual Christmas Eve service.
But I hope the Messiah can become part of Easter, too. Very appropriate to celebrate the “Son Rise.”
As we are doing this Easter in La Quinta, California.
Perspective from the 19th 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.
No one knows the answer to the question in this blog headline.
Not Donald Trump, who proved he doesn’t know what he is doing or what the future holds when he said almost nothing coherent in a nationally-televised speech to Americans this week.
I didn’t expect anything credible and Trump met my expectations.
Thomas Friedman, a national writer who’s work appears in the New York Times and elsewhere, wrote about Trump’s folly this week.
Here is how he started his most recent column:
“If it wasn’t clear before, it is undeniable now. President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel started a war with Iran assuming that they would trigger quick and easy regime change. They vastly underestimated the staying power of Iran’s surviving leadership and its military capacity, not only to inflict damage on Israel and America’s Arab allies, but also to close off the most important oil and gas shipping lane in the world.
“This is imposing serious harm on the global economy, including the U.S. stock market, and Trump has no clue how to get out of the mess that he has created by starting a war without thinking through the implications.”
It is tempting for me just to reprint Friedman’s entire column, but, instead, I’ll post excerpts, starting with…
It is actually embarrassing to watch the American president flip-flopping around, from telling us that the surviving Iranian leaders have pretty much agreed to his every demand, that the war is close to being over and Trump won, admitting that he has no idea how to get the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane out of Iran’s grip.
If America’s Western allies, whom Trump never consulted before the war, won’t send their armies and navies to do the job for Trump, then it’s too bad for them, he says: We have all the oil we need. That is, unless Trump decides to “obliterate” — his favorite word — Iran’s industrial base and desalination plants until Iran says uncle.
In short, we are watching what happens when you put into the Oval Office an impulsive, unstable man who ran for president largely to get revenge on his political foes. Then he surrounded himself with a cabinet chosen for its handsome looks and its willingness to put loyalty to Trump over loyalty to the Constitution.
Add to that Republican majorities in the House and Senate willing to write him blank checks, and it all eventually leads to sloppy, undisciplined decision-making, including starting a huge war in the Middle East with no plan for the morning after.
Friedman says Trump is a “man-child playing with matches — the world’s most powerful military — in a gas-filled room.”
Beyond that, Friedman says “we have a secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, who holds extreme Christian nationalist beliefs and, last week, reportedly held a prayer session at the Pentagon in which he prayed for U.S. troops to deliver “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”
So, while Friedman is not in charge of anything, what would he do to end the war?
This:
“Trump should set aside his 15-point peace plan — which would be ridiculously complicated to implement — and reduce it to two points: Iran gives up its more than 950 pounds of nearly bomb-grade highly enriched uranium, and in return the United States gives up on regime change. Both sides would then agree to end all hostilities.”
Unless something like this happens, Friedman put it this way: “We are all going to get what Trump deserves, which is more fighting in the Middle East with no reliable end in sight.”
And, to repeat this excellent paragraph from Friedman: “In short, we are watching what happens when you put into the Oval Office an impulsive, unstable man who ran for president largely to get revenge on his political foes.”
Perspective from the 19th 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.
As my wife were reading the Bible the other morning, we came across a verse that, beyond its application to life in general, could apply to my favorite sport, golf.
11 Timothy 2:5 says this:
“…anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.”
See.
Life.
And golf.
Golf is the only sport where competitors call rules violations on themselves, in contrast to many other sports where those playing the game try to get away with violations.
Some examples:
In 2024 Tour Championship, during the third round, Sahith Theegala believed his club touched the sand in a bunker on his backswing, a violation of Rule 12.2b. Even though TV cameras could not confirm it and he had no video evidence, he reported the violation to officials, resulting in a two-stroke penalty, which likely cost him a massive payday.
In the 2025 Travelers Championship, during the third round, Russell Henley called a one-stroke penalty on himself when he noticed his ball move “a dimple to the right” as he took his club back. Despite being in contention for a $3.6 million check, he stated, “I just felt it was the right thing to do,” and used it as a teaching moment for his son.
In the 2010 Verizon Heritage, in a playoff against Jim Furyk, Brian Davis called a two-stroke penalty on himself after his club touched a loose reed (an illegal, moving, man-made object at the time) in a hazard on his backswing. He and the rules official, didn’t see the infraction at first, but Davis took the initiative to admit it, giving up his best chance for his first PGA Tour win.
In the 2011 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, during the first round, a high-definition, slow-motion video replay showed that Padraig Harrington’s ball had moved slightly, a fraction of an inch, when he removed a loose impediment. While the infraction was technically found by TV, Harrington’s acceptance of the penalty, despite it being imperceptible to the naked eye, is a frequently cited example of adhering to the rules, even when it feels unfair.
Back to the Bible reference.
So, the Bible says “play” life according to the rules, though also recognize that you are a child of God based on what God offers you – free grace – not because of abiding by rules.
And, play golf by the rules. It’s how the game should be played. Call a penalty on yourself if you know you committed a violation.
Perspective from the 19th 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.
I was going to write a new blog with a one-word headline – “Astounding” – to describe Donald Trump.
Then, I was going to make a list of words describing Trump and none would have been positive, given his mess of making of the U.S. presidency in his image as he serves himself and no one else.
But, I read a new column by Frank Bruni, who writes for the New York Times. His words were so on-target that I decided to re-print his column because it is so credible. Better than writing my own words. So, all credit to Bruni whose latest work appeared under the headline I borrowed for this blog.
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By Frank Bruni
There are many signs of President Trump’s deterioration, but on one front he has indisputably grown sharper and faster.
He’s at his peak when it comes to maligning the dead.
He used to be more shambolic about it. After John McCain’s death in August 2018, the aspersions that Trump cast on the Arizona senator were feeble and fitful, with Trump’s summary judgment — “I never was a fan” — coming more than six months later. That statement was as needless as it was tactless. Trump had made his disdain for McCain clear all the way back in 2015, when he mocked McCain’s five and a half years as a prisoner of war, suggesting that winners don’t get captured and tortured.
Trump was quicker to kick Colin Powell’s corpse. The highly decorated general and former secretary of state died in October 2021; Trump’s public condemnation of him came within about 24 hours. He memorialized Powell’s “big mistakes on Iraq,” and he accused Powell of disloyalty to fellow Republicans, which really meant a refusal to genuflect before Trump. Trump measures people not by what they’ve done for others but by what they’ve denied him. He uses the narcissist’s yardstick.
And he whacked Robert Mueller with it, rejoicing over the former F.B.I. director’s death almost simultaneously with the news of it a week ago Saturday. “Good,” Trump exulted in a social media post. “I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!”
On McCain’s and Powell’s graves, Trump did a lazy waltz. On Mueller’s, a jitterbug.
And we’ve already moved on. We always do. That’s the thing about Trump’s moral grotesqueness — there’s so much of it that no one instance, no single episode, can hold our attention for long. He maxes out our memories, the new depravity quickly overwriting the old depravity on our hard drives.
But let’s not let purge his denigration of Mueller just yet. For several reasons, it warrants more than a fleeting wince.
A common thread runs through the lives of McCain, Powell and Mueller. All three were military veterans. All three saw combat. And all three received Bronze Stars and Purple Hearts for their service and injuries in Vietnam — the place that Trump avoided with a physician’s note attesting to his ostensibly debilitating bone spurs.
Is Trump shamed by their examples? He’s surely baffled by their choices. Trump wouldn’t risk a paper cut unless there was multi-million-dollar payoff on the far side of the nick. And he has privately referred to Americans killed in wars as “suckers” for having put their lives on the line, according to reports — which he has called “fake news” — by several news organizations.
It’s as if he needs desperately to feel superior to those soldiers, to cast their strength as weakness, their courage as folly, lest his own cowardice be exposed. And so he disparaged McCain, Powell and Mueller, talking smack about them even (especially?) when they could no longer talk back.
His pronounced venom for Mueller no doubt reflects his particular interest in discrediting his work as a special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Mueller’s inquiry bedeviled Trump for much of his first term in the White House, and when, in 2019, Mueller released a report saying that he could not determine definitively that the Trump campaign had — or had not — conspired with Russia, Trump falsely claimed complete exoneration, putting the phrases “witch hunt” and “Russia hoax” in heavy rotation.
Trump’s spinning of Mueller’s report was his dress rehearsal for his rewriting of what happened on Jan. 6, 2021. It required the transformation of Mueller from earnest public servant to vengeful monster, and Trump was hardly going to abandon or halt that project upon Mueller’s death.
It’s always about Trump, it’s all about Trump and his rants about the recently departed are hardly confined to those in government. In December, after the beloved movie director Rob Reiner and his wife were fatally stabbed in their Los Angeles home, Trump attributed their deaths to their political opposition to him. He wrote in a social media post that Reiner perished “due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.” It was appalling. And it was quickly forgotten.
That’s why I’m revisiting it. That’s why I’m mentioning Mueller. Trump wants us to become inured to his offenses because inoculates him from any consequences. He wants to degrade us — he wants to degrade everything — because he’s a more fitting ruler with freer rein if his kingdom has been leeched of all decency.
He’s a hypocrite, of course, as are the lickspittles around him. After Charlie Kirk’s death, they freaked out about any stray whisper of the uglier parts of Kirk’s legacy — it was untimely, unseemly, cruel — but they shrug at Trump’s sadism. They ignore his souring of Kirk’s memorial itself, where Trump said flippantly that he hates his enemies. All of that they recast as boldness. Or they claim that it’s harmless: It’s just Trump being Trump. It’s a presidential perk, like winged swag from Qatar, a tacky ballroom and incompetent underlings.
No. It’s more than that, and it’s worse than that. It’s a retreat from empathy, generosity, kindness. And it’s telling. The way we respond to death says everything about who we are. If we can’t extend the dead a bit of grace, it’s because we’re graceless.
Perspective from the 19th 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.
If you watched professional golf late last week and over the weekend, you saw a heart-warming story.
Long-time pro Gary Woodland won the Houston Open, his first win in about seven years, dating back to when he won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in 2019
Heart-warming?
Yes.
Woodland recovered from brain surgery a couple years ago, then three weeks ago opened his mouth and his heart about his struggles with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) after the surgery.
Here is the way GolfWeek wrote about Woodland’s win under this headline: Gary Woodland wins 2026 Houston Open following emotional PTSD revelation.
“It was only 20 days ago Gary Woodland revealed to the world he deals with PTSD, a side effect from brain surgery to remove a lesion in September 2023. He did so in an emotional Golf Channel interview before the Players Championship, saying he needed to get it off his chest, hoping to help not only himself but others dealing with similar circumstances.
“Earlier this week, the 41-year-old said it felt like he had a 1,000-pound weight lifted off his shoulders after telling the world of his diagnosis. He’s going to feel a little bit heavier Sunday, but it’s because he’s hoisting a trophy for the first time in almost seven years.
“Woodland won the 2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park, his first victory since the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in 2019. The span between wins was one of the most difficult challenges any professional golfer has faced off the course during that time.
“But Sunday belonged to Woodland, who showed the fans, his peers and the world you can overcome anything you set your mind to.
“The way Woodland won was dominant. He led by only one shot after 54 holes, and by the time he made the turn, he was six ahead. Coming down the stretch, he led by as many as seven shots. He finished at 21 under par, beating Nicolai Hojgaard by five shots.
“Hojgaard and Min Woo Lee, the defending champion in Houston, walked about 50 yards behind Woodland cheering him on as he marched to victory down the 18th hole Sunday afternoon.
“Earlier this week, Woodland switched to his old iron shafts, a stiffer version that could handle an aggressive swing. The change came after his coach, Randy Smith, told Woodland he needed to start swinging harder at the ball like he did when he won the U.S. Open.
“That was the plan this week. And Woodland swung away at Memorial Park. On the par-5 third hole, he hit 196 mph ball speed with his tee shot and constantly was in the 190s off the tee. For the season, Woodland is first in ball speed on the PGA Tour, and those numbers likely will only go up after this week.
“And now, he’s back in the winner’s circle. The win also gets him into the Masters in two weeks.”
A couple more points:
Kudos to Hojgaard and Lee for giving the stage to Woodland as all three walked up the 18th hole. Woodland deserved the adulation.
Just after Woodland confirmed his win with a putt to save par on 18, his wife came out quickly and gave him a well-deserved hug. He couldn’t restrain his tears at the solid result. And, now in a couple weeks, he moves on to the Masters.
Perspective from the 19th Hole 