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

This is one of three departments I run with complete authority to manage as I see fit.  The others are the Department of Pet Peeves and the Department of Good Quotes Worth Remembering.

So, the Department of “Just Saying” is open again.

ALL DOGS MATTER:  Have you ever wondered how and why the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals films its TV commercials?  I have.

The “why” is to raise money and I have no problems with that.  But the “how” raises questions.

I hate to watch because the commercials often feature dogs suffering in the cold while chained up.

So “JUST SAYING:”  Why don’t those filming the commercials rescue the dogs?  Better than continuing to film their plight!

ALL WIVES MATTER:  That is the title of a group of guys with whom I play golf several times a week at The Palms, a great course in La Quinta in the California desert.

We arrived at the name because all of us know “All Wives Matter.”  And so, several times during the winter, we gather for a great dinner at The Palms and, with our wives, recount our golf exploits, which, as you might imagine, doesn’t take very long.

All of this came to mind this morning as I thought of two cases on the professional golf tour where wives were reported to have given their golfer husbands great advice.

Case #1 occurred on the morning of the final round of The Masters’ golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia. 

Leading by several strokes, Scottie Scheffler had trouble in the morning (he had a late tee time) imagining himself playing the final round successfully.  He told his wife he felt he wasn’t up to the task.  However, his wife intervened and told him that he was a good player and to focus on his work. 

If it was his time to win, she said he would win.  If not, she said his win might come later.  Just play golf, she said.

Scheffler and his wife are Christians and, so, they believe God is in charge of their lives.  If it’s God’s timing, great.  If not, also great.

Buoyed by his wife’s advice, Scheffler went out and played a great round to win.

Case #2 involved Jordan Spieth as he sought to win the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, South Carolina, the tournament that always follows The Masters. 

At the end of his third round, Spieth had a 20-foot putt on the last green for a birdie.  He missed it, but only by about 18 inches.  Then, apparently without thinking too much, he tried to rake the ball into the hall from 18 inches away.  He missed, thus settling for a bogey.

As he tried to forget his blunder, his wife reportedly had great advice for him.  Not necessarily a golfer herself, she told her husband, “before hitting any short putt, always take about five seconds” to get your mind around the quick task ahead.

In the fourth round, Spieth practiced the “five-second rule,” didn’t miss any short putts, and went on to win the tournament.

So, “JUST SAYING,” All Wives Matter!

And this footnote:  James Achenbach – a wily, funny and clever golf writer who worked full-time for Golfweek for 24 years – passed away Friday, April 15.  He was 78.  I knew Jim for two reasons:  First, I read his golf articles, and, second, he was a member at The Palms where I play in La Quinta, California. 

I would see him on the range and we would talk about golf, including one of his aspirations, which was to play a round at one of the oldest golf courses in the country, Gearhart Links on the Oregon Coast.

Legend has it that the course in Gearhart began life in about 1888, starting out as three holes of true links-style golf amongst the seaside meadows that characterize the North Oregon coast.

No wonder Jim wanted to play the course.  So do I.  We never got together for the round.

But, JUSY SAYING, happy trails to Jim!

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

The answer to the question in this blog headline tends to be in the eye of the beholder.

But, while inflation is on the rise, if due, at least in part, to the Russian-Ukraine war, unemployment is at an historic low.

The way the U.S. Department of Labor puts it:  “Total non-farm payroll employment rose by 431,000 in March, and the unemployment rate declined to 3.6 per cent.  Notable job gains continued in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, retail trade, and manufacturing.”

At the same time, the fact that prices are on the rise carries implications for all of those in power, including President Joe Biden, as well as Democrats and Republicans in Congress.

If it is true that election campaigns often are won or lost on the basis of this phrase – “it’s the economy, stupid” – then no one knows how things will play out in the coming mid-term elections.

Still, I have always thought – and continue to think – that “the jobs” issue is a solid plank on which to develop a platform and a campaign.  Too often, I think the “jobs issue” is relegated to the back-burner.

Washington Post media critic Margaret Sullivan showed up a few days with a column that appeared under this headline:  “The media is failing the public on the good news about jobs.”

She added:

“The job market is great right now. If people think it’s the opposite, some part of the blame falls on us.

“The unemployment rate is at an encouragingly low point.  Less than 4 per cent of the labor force is actively seeking work.  And the latest monthly Labor Department report showed another healthy spike in the number of new jobs — they’ve been steadily on the rise for many months in a row.

“But if you ask regular Americans about the jobs climate, a surprising number of them seem to think the opposite is true.  One recent poll found that more respondents have it completely backward:  37 per cent of the public assumes that jobs were actually lost over the past year; only 28 per cent realized, correctly, there had been a gain.  Among Republicans, the false belief is worse; nearly half believe jobs were lost.

“This lack of knowledge matters.  Political fortunes rise and fall in part on the health of the job market.  As the Clinton 1992 campaign staff kept reminding themselves when gauging how to communicate with voters, ‘it’s the economy, stupid.’”

So, whose fault is it, Sullivan wonders. 

Three possibilities:

• Is it people who can’t be bothered to pay attention to the news, let alone the world around them?
• Or, is it that a robust job market paradoxically can feel like something negative to ‘secure Americans,’ including bosses and managers.
• Or, have some persons fallen for the spiel of partisan Republicans who want to deny any good news emerging from the Biden era.

Or, Sullivan asks, does part of the blame fall squarely on the news media for not delivering the news in a way that everyone can easily absorb?

Though all of the above could be true, Sullivan believes the public’s lack of knowledge on jobs ought to sound an alarm bell for journalists.

“It should be a wake-up call,” Tom Rosenstiel, a professor at the University of Maryland’s journalism school and formerly the executive director of the American Press Institute, told Sullivan.  “The lack of understanding is not entirely the media’s fault, but it should be their concern.”

Sullivan offers three suggestions for the media:

• First, find some balance in the current economic coverage, which has pounded away relentlessly at soaring inflation, but mentioned job growth or wage increases only in passing.  

To be sure, inflation is a major and legitimate concern, particularly because of the high cost of putting food on the table and gas in the car or truck.  But high costs also are a particularly easy story for TV news to do.  The visuals — gas station price signs, for example — are there for the taking.  The jobs story may be less immediate and compelling, but it is also important.

• Second, examine the knee-jerk media narrative, which goes like this: Biden’s approval numbers are down, and that’s because the economy is bad.  That framing has been relentless, and it is self-fulfilling.  It’s all part of the horse-race coverage that journalists are addicted to but that doesn’t serve the public.
• And third, cover all aspects of the new world of work more rigorously and more creatively.  At many news organizations, the traditional labor beat was dismantled years ago.  It should be brought back in re-invented form with attention paid to the gig economy, working from home, the burgeoning unionization movement and more.

Sullivan concludes with an admonition for the media – a solid admonition, I add, as a former newspaper reporter:  Do a better job of reporting economic issues and trends, including low unemployment, and do so in a way that has the potential to resonate with readers, hearers and viewers.

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

Whatever else it was – and it was a lot of things – the U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson illustrated this key point:

What you don’t say in confirmation processes – or media interviews – is just as important as what you do say.

A former partner in my lobbying and public relations firm made that point very well in a blog he wrote for my old firm’s website.

Rather than try to replicate what he wrote, I choose to publish it here, for it underscores why Judge Jackson deserves elevation to the Supreme Court, as well as illustrates how important it is to be well-prepared for Senate confirmation inquisitions – or media interviews.

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The four-day ordeal of confirmation hearings included two long days of questions and responses sandwiched between opening statements and public testimony.  Supreme Court nominees face a mix of praise wrapped around softball questions and treacherous questions intended to trip up the nominee and score political points.  

Jackson has shown herself adept at both answering some questions and avoiding others.  She has followed what has become the tradition of Supreme Court nominees of all ideological stripes to refuse to answer questions about matters that could come before the high court.

Jackson even declined to share her political opinions, which she admits having, noting the job of a judge is to approach cases impartially, or as she put it, “to apply law to the facts without fear or favor.”

If you were to give Jackson a grade for her mastery of media training, it would be an A.  Her performance is worth examining for its excellent technique.

Have a Message and Stick With It

In preparation for a Supreme Court confirmation hearing, hundreds of people pore over the backgrounds, cases, and personal life of nominees. All that research converts into a wide range of questions, some asked to provoke gotcha’ responses.  It’s imperative, as a result, for candidates to have what amounts to a brand message that sums up who they are and how they would perform as a Supreme Court justice.

She also flashed a winning smile, and at moving moments during the hearings she responded with natural emotion.  Jackson left an impression as a genuine person.  That’s something media training cannot teach.

Jackson’s core message at the hearings is that she has a methodology for considering cases that includes understanding the arguments of both sides, closely reading the relevant statutes and court precedents, and rendering a ruling with a thorough and transparent explanation of her reasoning.  In answering friendly and unfriendly questions over two grueling days, Jackson repeated her core message multiple times – exactly what you are taught in stress-test media training sessions.

Her senatorial interrogators tried all kinds of tricks to get her off track. They mostly failed as she stuck with her core message.  Only occasionally did she enhance her core message, and that was on purpose, too.  She referred to studying the text of the U.S. Constitution with an eye toward understanding the meaning of the words in the minds of the constitutional framers – a bone to those who subscribe to the judicial concept of originalism.

Even that slight diversion by Jackson was disarming.  She described how the Supreme Court dealt with the question of unreasonable search and seizure involving cell phones and computers, which didn’t exist in colonial days.  As if telling a story, Jackson said justices looked to what the authors of the Fourth Amendment would have considered “unreasonable” in their day and applied it to the role of technology in modern life.

Just Answer the Question

Knowledgeable people smother an answer to a question in a mound of unnecessary detail.  Jackson demonstrated discipline to keep her answers mostly on track during 23 hours of grilling.  When she could, Jackson gave short answers.  For questions requiring a more substantive response, she stuck close to the topic – and her core message.

An important element of media training is developing the skill – and discipline – to respond to questions directly, even if the response is you don’t have the answer.  Direct responses tend to establish trust with the interviewer and the ultimate audience.

While there are moments they demand some level of emotional response, most interview questions should be addressed calmly and dispassionately. Jackson exhibited those traits in the face of adversarial questioning, especially in answer to a hostile question asking whether she regrets a particular sentence she handed down.  Her response was to express regret that a hearing for a Supreme Court Justice nominee focused on a small subset of her entire 10-year work as a federal judge.  It was a tough response wrapped in cool.

Understand and Prepare for Lines of Attack

Republican senators intensely questioned Jackson about her role as a federal public defender representing clients incarcerated at Guantanamo and her rulings on cases involving child pornography.  Jackson had clearly anticipated and prepared to answer both.

Jackson made a constitutional case for public defenders.  She said the U.S. criminal system uniquely relies on a presumption of innocence as well as competent prosecutors and defense counsel to ensure fair trials and prevent government overreach.  Public defenders represent indigent people who cannot afford to retain an attorney.  In the case of Guantanamo detainees, public defenders represent people captured and imprisoned, often without being publicly charged.

In response to hostile questioning about her lenient sentencing of persons convicted of possessing child pornography, Jackson said she deplores the crime, but used the flexibility permitted by a Supreme Court ruling to mete out sentences appropriate to individual people.  GOP Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley pushed hard on this line of inquiry, but Jackson stood her ground without lashing out or losing her cool.

She did what media trainers advise in response to ambush questions – stay focused and on message.

Be Mindful of Body Language

Most interviews last less than 30 minutes.  Jackson’s senatorial interrogation wore on for two full days.  Regardless of how long the questioning continues, effective speakers must look composed and in control, which requires practice and concentration. Jackson exhibited both characteristics.

Sitting at a table with a single microphone, Jackson maintained eye contact with the senator she was addressing, a calm demeanor and a steady presence.  She briefly showed emotion in describing her feelings as a mother about the crime of child pornography and the after-effects of victimized children.  She avoided excessive hand gestures and didn’t squirm in her seat.  She spoke without “umms” or slang.

These are traits of trial judges, but also the desired result of media training that helps speakers identify and overcome distracting vocal tics and gestures that can undermine what a person says.

Don’t Forget Stagecraft

Media trainers tell speakers they can decide where they speak or at least create the setting framing where they speak.  The stagecraft for Jackson was her husband, two daughters, parents and brother sitting behind her at the hearing, sending a clear message about the importance of family.  A key part of that message was the historic significance of Jackson’s nomination as the first Black woman to the Supreme Court.

Judge Jackson’s persona was reinforced by the presence of her husband, two daughters, parents and brother seated behind her.

“When I was born here in Washington, my parents were public school teachers, and to express both pride in their heritage and hope for the future, they gave me an African name; ‘Ketanji Onyika,’ which they were told means ‘lovely one,’” Jackson recalled in her opening statement.  “My parents taught me that, unlike the many barriers that they had had to face growing up, my path was clearer, such that if I worked hard and believed in myself, in America I could do anything or be anything I wanted to be.”

During the second day of questioning, Jackson made the point about the progress of civil rights in America even clearer.  She noted her parents grew up in Florida and attended segregated schools.  By the time she was born in 1970 and went to school in Florida, schools were integrated.  It was a deft way of expressing pride in America through a verbal family portrait.

Talk Like Speaking to a Jury

Lawyers talking to other lawyers can produce a jumble of words and references that the average person wouldn’t understand or bother to listen to for very long.  A nominee for the Supreme Court must unavoidably talk about legal issues.  Jackson, despite being an appellate judge, managed to minimize her legalese and talked most of the time as if speaking to a jury.

Talking to a jury is a good metaphor for how someone should make points and answer questions convincingly.  Juries are a mix of people with different backgrounds and educational levels, but who collectively know little about the subject matter of a case at trial.  The secret is to speak to the entire jury with clear expression, active language and commonly understood words.  Get to the point and avoid tangents.  Make your words count.

Stay True to Your Persona

Jackson is a Harvard graduate, so it would seem strange and contrived if she didn’t speak like a Harvard graduate.  But sounding like a Harvard graduate doesn’t mean speaking pretentiously or condescendingly, which can put off audiences of almost any kind.

Media training encourages spokespersons to view their job like an actor performs a role.  You must understand the character you play, know your lines and follow the script.  Interviews are not improv theater. Spokesperson/actors should strive to be believable in the court of public opinion through their demeanor, clarity, and composure.

At her hearing, Jackson spoke comfortably like a lawyer and judge who has dealt with people of all stations in life.  Without overdoing it, Jackson referred to herself as a mom.  She also flashed a winning smile, and at moving moments during the hearings she responded with natural emotion.  

Jackson left an impression as a genuine person.  That’s something media training cannot teach.

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

This blog headline heralds a new, bad idea in California, a state which has had a lot of contenders for the label “bad.”

This time, the issue is that a proposed bill in the California Legislature would provide financial incentives to turn municipal golf courses into “affordable housing.”

It was a decent objective – more affordable housing – chasing a bad idea, trashing golf courses.

It appears that, at least for now, the bill (AG 1910) is dead.  It was pulled from a committee vote by the author, the latest step in what has been an unsuccessful struggle to gain momentum toward a full vote in the full legislature.

Good.

But, speaking as a retired lobbyist in Oregon, I note that a bill is never dead until a legislature shuts down.  It only is dormant.

The Southern California Golf Association (SCGA) and other allied golf associations in the state, along with the United States Golf Association, have banded together to oppose AB 1910.

It would have allowed golf courses owned by municipalities to be redeveloped into affordable housing.  But not just “allowed” — it would have provided $50 million in state grants for developers of such proposals, a costly incentive, one that might have worked.

Craig Kessler, director of public affairs for the Southern California Golf Association, says approximately 22 per cent of the 1,100 golf courses in the state are municipally owned and, thus, would be threatened by the bill.

Now, why am I writing about this today?  A couple reasons.

First, it has been true for years that bad bills from three states – Oregon, Washington, and California – move up and down the coast.  A bad idea in one state often ends up in another state as legislators in all states, buoyed by their associations, share ideas and strategies.

I wish good public policy ideas also would move north and south, but it does not seem usually to work that way.

Second, affordable housing is a genuine public policy issue.  So, I say work on it without trashing one industry, golf, to boost another, housing.

Think of this in terms of Portland, Oregon if such a bad bill were to arrive here.  Four municipal courses – Glendoveer, Eastmoreland, Rose City, and Heron Lakes – all could become housing tracts, thus depriving golfers of places to play, and increasing density and congestion in those areas.

I say leave such golf resources alone, be they in Oregon, Washington, or California.  Find other smart ways to provide more affordable housing.

For now, the California bill appears to be dead – read, dormant.  But golf advocates in California are remaining alert for a resurrection and I hope those in Oregon and Washington will do so, as well.

[Footnote:  I am a member of both the Southern California Golf Association and the Oregon Golf Association, so I have a stake in making sure a bad idea does not rise again.  As a committed golfer, sometimes on municipal courses, I root for the success of those courses.]

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

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This is the third re-print of blogs I have written to commemorate the true meaning of Easter.

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As I write this, it is Monday after Easter weekend.  But the reality of what Easter means to those of us who are Christians does not recede even as the “holiday” does.

Easter means that Christ has risen from the dead to give us a chance for a relationship with God the Father.

Think of it this way using THE CROSS as a guide.  The fact that Christ died for us on that cross, as the song lyrics go, “creates a bridge to cross the great divide,” and, in a fascinating turn of phrase, “creates a cross to bridge the great divide.” 

In effect, we are taken across the horizontal beam of that cross to a new life with Christ.

One of my favorite columnists, Michael Gerson, captured these real themes well in what he wrote to commemorate Good Friday.  I give him full credit for excellent words and thoughts.

“The story of Good Friday — the garden, the bloody sweat, the sleeping friends, the torch-carrying crowd, the kiss, the slash of a sword, the questioning, the scourging, the mocking, the beam, the nails, the despair of a good man — is an invitation to cynicism. Nearly every human institution is revealed at its worst.

“Government certainly comes off poorly, giving Jesus the bureaucratic shuffle, with no one wanting to take responsibility, until a weak leader gives in to the crowd in the name of keeping the peace. “What is truth?” asks Pilate, with a sneer typical of politics to this day.

“Professional men of religion do not appear in their best light. They are violently sectarian, judgmental and turn to the state to enforce their beliefs.

“The crowd does not acquit itself well, turning hostile and cruel as quickly as an internet mob, first putting palms beneath his feet, then thorns upon his brow.

“Even friendship comes in for a beating. The men closest to Jesus slept while his enemies are fully awake. There is betrayal by a close, disgruntled associate. And then Peter’s spastic violence and cowardly denials. The women — all the assorted Marys — come off far better in the narrative. But Jesus is essentially abandoned to face his long, suffocating death alone.

“And, for a moment, even God seems to fail, vanishing into a shocking silence. ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ says Jesus, in words that many of his followers would want to erase from the Bible. How could the Son of God be subject to despair?

“Consider how the world appeared at the finish of Good Friday. It would have seemed that every source of order, justice and comfort — politics, institutional religion, the community, friendship — had been discredited. It was the cynic’s finest hour. And God Himself seemed absent or unmoved, turning cynicism toward nihilism. Every ember of human hope was cold. And there was nothing to be done about it.

“Then something happened. There was disagreement at the time, as now, on what that something was. According to the story, Pilate posted a guard at the tomb with the instruction: ‘Make it as secure as you can.’ Then the cynics somehow lost control of the narrative. There was an empty tomb and wild reports of angels and ghosts. And the claim of resurrection.

“Even those who believe the body was moved must confront certain facts. Faith in the figure Rome executed has far outlasted the Roman Empire. The cowardly friends became bold missionaries, most dying torturous deaths (according to tradition) for the sake of a figure they had once betrayed in their sleep. The faith thus founded has given the mob — all of us, even the ones who mock, especially the ones who mock — the hope of pardon and peace.

“For believers, the complete story of Good Friday and Easter legitimizes both despair and faith. Nearly every life features less-than-good Fridays. We grow tired of our own company and travel a descending path of depression. We experience lonely pain, unearned suffering or stinging injustice. We are rejected or betrayed by a friend. And then there are the unspeakable things — the death of a child, the diagnosis of an aggressive cancer, the steady advance of a disease that will take our minds and dignity. We look into the abyss of self-murder. And given the example of Christ, we are permitted to feel God-forsaken.

“And yet … eventually … or so we trust … or so we try to trust: God is forever on the side of those who suffer. God is forever on the side of life. God is forever on the side of hope.

“If the resurrection is real, death’s hold is broken. There is a truth and human existence that cannot be contained in a tomb. It is possible to live lightly, even in the face of death — not by becoming hard and strong, but through a confident perseverance. Because cynicism is the failure of patience. Because Good Friday does not have the final word.”

Well written, Mr. Gerson, my friend.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime  – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

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I noted a day or so ago that I was going to reprint past blogs I wrote to commemorate the huge importance of Easter.  This is the second of the reprints.

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As I awoke this morning, the sun was shining here in Southern California.

It was – and is – a fitting way to celebrate Easter morning!

The sun was out!  

The son is risen!

Easter is more than a holiday when there is a scramble, at least among children, to find Easter eggs.  It is more than traditional Easter candy in the store.  It is more than Easter brunches across the land.

Easter is a time to reflect on what God has done to give us a way to have a relationship with Him.  It is time to reflect on the fact that, at a specific time in history, Jesus, God’s son, went to the cross to die an excruciating death, the purpose for which was to pay the penalty for our sins and to give us a way to have a relationship with God and Jesus.

I found these words on-line this morning:

“Today, Christians look back on these events (the death and resurrection of Jesus), not to relive the grief, sadness and morbidity, but to renew our commitment to living on a higher plane, the one Jesus challenged us to live on.

“We recognize the cross as a symbol of God’s love, but historically it was an instrument of torture devised by the Greeks and Romans to prolong the death of those deemed guilty of crimes against the state. Since Jesus was guilty of no such thing, the cross had to have a higher meaning — one that could hold the hope of humanity.

“Jesus shared its meaning when he said:  ‘This is how much God loved the world:  He gave his Son, his one and only Son.  And this is why:  So that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.  God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was.  He came to help, to put the world right again.’ (John 3:16-17—The Message Bible).

“Today, the cross is still a symbol of God’s forgiveness. The penalty of our countless sins against God — all kinds of sins — is death … eternal death.  As Jesus hung on the cross, our debt to God was being satisfied.  The cross was God’s way of picking up our tab.  It was His way of saying:  ‘I forgive you.’ The cross was a bridge to God’s forgiveness, and we have been invited to freely walk across it.”

Reflecting on this reality morning, the words of one of my favorite hymns come back to me – and I cite them this morning, just as I did yesterday in a previous blog.

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

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

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

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

Good words, well-used – including the words “bridge,” and “cross,” used interchangeably. 

“God provides a bridge across the great divide.  God provides a cross to bridge the great divide.”

On this Easter morning, I hope all of us can go beyond the trappings of another holiday on the calendar and reflect on the true meaning of the day.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime  – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

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In preparation for Easter, I have reviewed some of my past blogs and have chosen to reprint three as we look forward to this great day in the spring – as well as to elevate Easter in our minds so we reflect the true meaning of the day and time.  Here’s blog #1.

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

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

This next paragraph is.

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

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

Easter would not be complete for me unless this first song was performed in a powerful, upbeat way. 

UP FROM THE GRAVE HE AROSE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scientists have come under loads of scrutiny, if not criticism, for their recommendations on vaccines to combat the Covid pandemic.

Some of it is deserved.  Some of it is not.

Just ask Anthony Fauci.

The Washington Post showed up this week with a column on the subject and it contained this helpful paragraph:

“How can two esteemed scientists look at the same evidence and come to such different conclusions?  Public health officials today are saddled with the unenviable task of providing clear, simple directives in response to a complex and constantly evolving pandemic.  No matter where they draw lines, the terrain under their feet is likely to shift.  The continuing booster debate is perhaps the clearest example of these challenges.”

Note the line – “no matter where they draw lines, the terrain under their feet is likely to shift.”

That’s the harsh reality.

If scientists twist data or lie, shame on them.

But, it they try to do the best they can with shifting sands, good for them.  They should not be subjected to media criticism when they try to negotiate the shifting sands.

I choose to rely on what looks to me to be reputable science, then make my own decisions.

Which is why my wife and I got the second booster shot last week – our fourth vaccine….two basic shots and two boosters.

Let solid science prevail.  

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

In case no one knows, The Masters’ Golf Tournament is over for the year, though the memories will linger with me for months.

This means it’s time to stop writing Masters’ blogs, so I go today to a continuing peril for all of us – disinformation.

It’s the attempt by various individuals – read the main one being Donald Trump – to befoul the air with bombast and lies.

The Atlantic Magazine wrote about this peril this week:

“We are living in a modern Babel, Jonathan Haidt argues:  ‘America is polarized, factionalized, and angry.’  He blames social media—specifically, how it evolved after 2009.

“Social scientists have identified at least three major forces that collectively bind together successful democracies:  Social capital (extensive social networks with high levels of trust), strong institutions, and shared stories, Haidt writes.  ‘Social media has weakened all three.’”

Trump was merely the first politician to exploit this new political and cultural environment.  There will be more.  There already are.

But, how do we put the country back together again?  Haidt, the author, proposes three reforms, each of which will take time, if they have the potenjtial to be successful at all.

1. Harden democratic institutions. 

“Reforms should reduce the outsize influence of angry extremists and make legislators more responsive to the average voter in their district.  One example of such a reform is to end closed party primaries, replacing them with a single, non-partisan, open primary from which the top several candidates advance to a general election that also uses ranked-choice voting.”

2. Reform social media. 

“The main problem with social media is not that some people post fake or toxic stuff; it’s that fake and outrage-inducing content can now attain a level of reach and influence that was not possible before 2009.  Perhaps the biggest single change that would reduce the toxicity of existing platforms would be user verification as a pre-condition for gaining the algorithmic amplification that social media offers.”

3. Prepare the next generation. 

“The most important change we can make to reduce the damaging effects of social media on children is to delay entry until they have passed through puberty.  More generally, to prepare the members of the next generation for post-Babel democracy, perhaps the most important thing we can do is let them out to play.”

As I write this, I remember a major Atlantic article that ran before the last presidential election.  It posited that Trump’s major campaign strategy would be to impart disinformation.

He did.

I even remember the name of Trump’s campaign manager, Brad Parscale, who made his professional reputation by lying, cheating, and stealing, no matter the consequences.

The good news is that, in the end, neither Parscale nor Trump was successful despite the vitriol they espoused then and continue to espouse today about a stolen election.

It’s just another of Trump’s actions as a narcissist – he lies all the time as a matter of course.  Truth doesn’t matter.  Nor does context.  Nor does the future of this country.

In another article this week, Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg wrote this:

“Last week, a Michigan congresswoman whose existence had not yet entered the rest of the country’s consciousness credited, Donald Trump with having ‘caught Osama bin Laden,’ among other terrorists.

“It is difficult to forget that night in 2011 when Barack Obama told the world that, on his orders, a team of Navy commandos had killed the al-Qaeda leader.  But Representative Lisa McClain, a first-term member of Congress, showed that, with effort, and with a desire to feed Trump’s delusions and maintain her standing among his supporters, anything is possible.

“In ordinary times, McClain’s claim would have been mocked and then forgotten.  But because these are not ordinary times — these are times in which citizens of the same country live in entirely different information realities — I put her assertion about bin Laden on a kind of watch list.

“In six months, I worry, we may learn that a provably false claim made by a single unserious congressional backbencher has spread into MAGA America, a place where Barack Obama is believed to be a Kenyan-born Muslim and Donald Trump is thought to be the victim of a coup.

“Disinformation is the story of our age.  We see it at work in Russia, whose citizens have been led to believe the lies that Ukraine is an aggressor nation and that the Russian army is winning a war against modern-day Nazis.

“We see it at work in Europe and the Middle East, where conspiracies about hidden hands and occult forces are adopted by those who, in the words of the historian Walter Russell Mead, lack the ability to ‘see the world clearly and discern cause and effect relations in complex social settings.’

“We see it weaponized by authoritarians around the globe, for whom democracy, accountability, and transparency pose mortal threats.  And we see it, of course, in our own country, in which tens of millions of voters believe that Joe Biden is an illegitimate president because the man he beat in 2020 specializes in sabotaging reality for personal and political gain.”

So, what happens in what could be called the “disinformation age,” not the “information age?”

Mass delusion has enormous consequences for the future of democracy, especially in the U.S.

As one expert noted, “Democracy depends on the consent of the losers.”

But, the Atlantic continues, “Sophisticated, richly funded, technology-enabled disinformation campaigns are providing losers with other options.” 

They don’t have to accept losing in the sense of losing a political argument or contest.  They want to fight.  They want to oppose.  They even want to kill. 

For all of us, we need to focus, as much as we can, on the difference between disinformation posted by those who want to influence with lies and innuendo, and information you simply don’t like or find narratively inconvenient.

Decide first, with energy and intellect, what you think, by relying on credible sources of information.  Then be willing, in a spirit of compromise and openness, to consider what others think, and, even, be willing to change your mind.

Also, avoid drowning in social media, with its inherent excesses.  

That’s the way to limit disinformation.

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

Before Sunday’s final round of The Masters’ golf tournament, I said I hoped Scottie Scheffler, one of my new favorite golfers, would find a way to win.

He did.

On TV, it looked like he did not have his best stuff on the course, missing fairways, and greens, but chipping and putting to save himself.

His rise to The Masters’ pinnacle was one of the fastest on record.  He won in only his third start at Augusta National and, beyond The Masters’ win, has prevailed in four of the last six professional golf events.  That’s four victories over about six weeks!

I also have been struck by Scheffler’s seemingly even temperament under pressure.

On Saturday, in the third round, he showed that when he hit a terrible drive to the left on hole #18.  He found his golf ball in the brush, took a penalty, then hit a remarkable 3-iron more than 240 yards just over the green.  From there, he got up and down for an unlikely bogey.  It could have been far worse.

Various stories in advance of Sunday’s final round indicated that Scheffler woke up Sunday morning not feeling confident about the task ahead.  With several hours before teeing off, he spent time with his wife, Meredith, who reportedly told him he was up to the task and should go out and have fun as he tried to win.

It worked.  He came to the course in a solid frame of mind and the rest is history.

Scheffler also says he owes a lot to his still relatively new caddie Ted Scott, who, with Scheffler’s win yesterday, now has carried the bag for three Masters’ wins, two for Bubba Watson and one for Scheffler.

Here is how GolfWeek’s on-line magazine described how Scheffler and Scott got together.

“When Scottie Scheffler heard that Bubba Watson and caddie Ted Scott had parted ways in the fall, Scheffler figured it was worth a call to see what Scott, who had been on the bag for Watson’s two Masters’ victories and double-digit wins, planned to do next.  After all, it’s not every day that a veteran caddie with Scott’s resume becomes available.

“Scheffler, 25, and Scott, 48, had met in bible study a year earlier and Scheffler got to know him best during the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in late April when Scheffler partnered with Watson in the two-man team event.

“’I already thought the world of him as a person,’ Scheffler said.

“Scott said he thought he was done with caddying, but that changed when his phone rang.

“’He called me up and said, ‘I really want to work with a Christian.’  ‘That’s how I try to live my life,’ Scott said on Sunday. The other thing he said was, ‘I really like competing.’  I said, ‘I like competing.’  Thought it could be a fun thing. We hashed out the details.”

“That actually is an over-simplification of a difficult decision that he and his family prayed about.  Scott has been teaching golf since he was 27 years old, and counts Division I golfers and those he teaches on-line in Scotland and Ireland among his students.  Four years ago, he had a simulator installed at home and he considered coaching full time after 21 years on the bag for the likes of Paul Azinger, Grant Waite and Watson.

“’If I was going to go back to caddying, I didn’t want it to be where the only thing in this world is winning golf tournaments.  It would have to be a pretty special opportunity.  I want to get better at life as well.  I kept asking myself, ‘What is it that’s going to make me want to do it?’  

“’There wasn’t a lot of possibilities in my head until Scottie called and he touched all the things that I like,’ Scott said.  Even though he’s only 25, Scottie’s very mature and I knew he would sharpen me up in a lot of ways and I could sharpen him in a lot of ways. It was a lot more than I could go caddie for a great player and win a bunch of tournaments.

“After Scheffler’s offer, Scott left the decision in his family’s hands.

“I asked my family to pray upon it for a week.  They came back and said to go caddie for Scottie. I said, ‘Let’s pray upon it for another week.’  It wasn’t even my decision,’ he said.”

There.  That’s why I like how Scheffler – and Scott – approach life.  They say golf is what they do, together, not who they are.

I hope the tandem keeps going in golf and in life.

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And, for me, another great day of texting back and forth with my daughter as we watched our favorite tournament from disparate locations, Woodinville, Washington for her and La Quinta, California for me.  A great father-daughter experience no matter the distance.