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

A close friend and I were talking the other day and asked each other if the United States’ historic system of “checks and balances” was still in effect in Trump 2.

We suspected the answer was “no.”  Congress kneels before Donald Trump.  Courts wonder what to do as Trump tells them “to go to ____.”  And, the Supreme Court waits for who knows what.

But, what about public opinion?

It appears Trump doesn’t know or care about it because, of course, he is always the smartest person in the room, unless Elon Musk is there, too, and they share the glory.

Then, today, I read a column in the Washington Post by a solid political reporter, Aaron Blake, who wondered, based on public opinion polls, whether the “Trump honeymoon was over.”

For my part, I didn’t know Trump had one, but Blake’s report in worth reading and pondering.

Here is how he started his column:

“New polling shows Trump’s approval ratings declining and major warning signs are appearing.

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“…Trump came into office claiming a sweeping and historic mandate, but that was always oversold.

“Trump’s win was relatively modest, historically speaking.  And while his approval rating upon taking office reached a new all-time high for him — around 50 per cent — his ‘honeymoon’ phase still paled in comparison with every modern president not named Trump.

“And now, after one month in office, whatever honeymoon (or mandate) Trump enjoyed appears to be slipping away.”

Here is a summary of how Blake made his point:

• Multiple polls this week show Trump’s approval rating dropping into more normal territory for him, in the mid-40s.  A new Washington Post-Ipsos poll crystallizes a number of warning signs for Trump’s agenda of drastic and legally dubious change.

Indeed, Americans seem to be quite concerned by how far Trump is going, and most of his signature policies and initiatives appear to be quite unpopular — especially those spearheaded by billionaire Elon Musk.

• Trump’s approval ratings this week in polls — including the Post-Ipsos poll and others from Reuters, Quinnipiac University, CNN and Gallup — have ranged from 44 per cent to 47 percent.  In all of them, more disapprove than approve of him.
• A big question has been whether Trump’s drastic attempts to overhaul the federal government might hurt him.  And it appears that’s happening.
• Many Americans don’t like his government cuts and tariffs.  But this, of course, depend on what issues pollsters test.  Some loom large as strikes against Trump.

One is Trump tariffs.  The CNN poll shows Americans oppose his tariffs on aluminum and steel by 15 points (49-34), while the Post-Ipsos poll shows nearly 2-to-1 opposition to his 25 per cent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada.  About 7 in 10 Americans think tariffs generally increase the price of products in the United States.

• Many Americans also don’t like firing large numbers of government workers, which is opposed by 19 points (58-39) in the Post-Ipsos poll.
• Americans strongly oppose deporting undocumented immigrants who aren’t criminals (57-39), who arrived as children (70-26) and who have U.S. citizen children (66-30).  That accounts for a huge number of would-be deportees, and it suggests that a true mass-deportation operation could be politically problematic.
• The finding about the firings of government workers gets at one of the biggest emerging strikes against Trump:  Musk.  The writing has been on the wall that Americans are skeptical of the influence suddenly wielded by the world’s richest man, who has spearheaded those firings through the U.S. DOGE Service, which he leads, and the situation appears to have gotten worse.
• Perhaps no Trump action is as unpopular as one of his first ones:  Pardoning virtually all January 6 defendants.  Previous polling has focused only broadly on the pardons, without drilling down on the most controversial among them:  The pardons of violent offenders — those convicted of assaulting police.

Blake acknowledges a big caveat with unpopular policies and efforts — how much people actually view them as affecting their lives.

More from Blake:

“But the new polling does highlight perhaps the most significant emerging problem for Trump:  The economy.  While this has long been his strength, that no longer appears to be the case.

“The Post-Ipsos poll shows Americans disapprove of his handling of the economy 53 to 45.  Those are his worst economic numbers since 2017.  The Reuters poll shows his economic approval at 39 per cent, which is lower than it ever was in his first term.

“It’s possible to read too much into these numbers.  They could be in large part a reflection of continued economic unrest and persistent inflation, rather than anything specific to Trump.

“But the data also suggest that Americans see Trump as misplacing his priorities.”

So, with these polling realities, does Trump care?

I suspect the answer is “no.”  He only cares about himself, so he assumes that he has a God-given right to do what he is doing – and perhaps he views himself as a God in the first place.  Or, at least as a “king” as he described himself yesterday.

This check on Trump – public opinion – may not amount to much, especially as he has nearly four years left in his term.  And, of course, he now says, despite a Constitutional bar, he wants and deserves a third term.

Perish the thought!

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

For several weeks, I have toyed with opening this department, one of five I run with a free hand to manage as I see fit.  But there was always something else to do.

Now, I have time to open this department and, to add a point, I won’t list here the other departments I run because they are able to stand on their own.

This time, I report on words used by Donald Trump that have different meanings than what the dictionary says is the case.

I write about this with due credit to Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post writer who produces the acclaimed “Fact Checker” column.

Here is how he started his most recent column, the one about Trump words:

“Trump is sweeping through the U.S. government, terminating dozens of programs, laying off tens of thousands of workers, even dismantling entire agencies.  At the same time, the White House has adopted a unique lexicon to describe its agenda — in some cases, using words that in ordinary contexts mean the opposite.”

He then provided a guide to the verbiage, drawn from remarks made by Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Transparency:  Traditionally, transparency in the federal government has meant access to data, federal contracts and government reports, even if they shed light on problems.

But Trump has fired nearly a score of inspectors general (IG), who root out fraud and malfeasance in federal agencies.  Eight have filed suit, saying they were fired illegally.  One IG, for the U.S. Agency for International Development, was booted as soon as he issued a critical report on the aid stoppage ordered by the president.

When reports emerged that a State Department website revealed that Tesla, a company owned by billionaire Elon Musk, Trump’s biggest financial backer, received a $400 million contract, the contract document was scrubbed to remove any reference to Tesla.

Meanwhile, the Musk-led U.S. DOGE Service — which is targeting agencies for contract terminations and personnel cuts — operates in secret and the people on his team have not been revealed, though reporters have figured out the identity of some key players.

But the White House says the administration is transparent because Trump often answers questions from reporters, even if, as usual, honesty is not involved.

Free speech:  The First Amendment enshrines a right to free speech — the right to articulate opinions and ideas without interference, retaliation or punishment from the government.  There’s always been some tension in this notion — does this give someone the right to yell “fire” in a crowded theater when there is no fire?

Conservatives objected to social media platforms such as Twitter (before Musk bought it and turned it into X) and Facebook downgrading or removing posts that contained inaccurate or false information, especially during the covid pandemic.  Trump himself was removed from many platforms after he instigated a riot at the U.S. Capitol to prevent the certification of Biden’s victory in 2020.  But he’s been re-instated and many social media companies have scaled back efforts to police false information circulating on their platforms.

:I stopped government censorship once and for all and we brought back free speech to America,” Trump told House GOP members after taking office.

But the White House in recent days has barred Associated Press reporters from news events because the agency still refers to the Gulf of Mexico, the internationally recognized name for the body of water that has been in use since the mid-17th century.

Fraud and abuse:  Fraud generally means deception, often criminal, in pursuit of financial and personal gain.  But Trump has upended that definition — broadening it to include programs and policies he disagrees with — while at the same time making it harder to detect fraud.

“We’re finding tremendous fraud and tremendous abuse,” Trump said as Musk stood by his side in Oval Office.  But a Fact Checker accounting of the announcements from DOGE, or Department of Government Efficiency, of terminated programs found that most concern diversity, transgender, and climate change programs.

Deficit:  In Washington, deficit usually means the federal budget deficit.  But for Trump, the deficit that matters:  The trade deficit.  He imposed 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum, threatened tariffs against Canada and Mexico, and proposed to upend the current trading system by imposing reciprocal tariffs.

“We have a tremendous deficit with Mexico,” Trump said last week.  “We have a tremendous deficit with Canada.  We have a tremendous deficit with Europe, the E.U., with China, I don’t even want to tell you what Biden allowed to happen with China.”

Actually, under Biden, the trade deficit with China fell to its lowest level in 10 years, according to the Census Bureau.

So, there you have it.  A new lexicon from Trump who apparently doesn’t refer to the dictionary to understand the meaning of words.

He just talks.

When he speaks, it is as if whatever happens to cross his mind ends up coming out of his mouth.

Both sides of his mouth, with no care for accuracy or context.

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

Nicholas Kristof. 

Remember him?

He is a New York Times reporter who has deep roots in Oregon.  He wanted to run for governor in Oregon last time around, but, despite the fact that he owned a home and property in Yamhill County, courts ruled he did not meet residency standards.

Too bad.

Win or lose, he would have run a solid campaign.

After the legal decision, he returned to the NY Times and still writes cogent commentary, one of which is referenced below.

His latest contribution appeared under this headline:  Not quite a unified theory of Trumpism, but still an alarming pattern

Here is how the column started:

“Trump’s second term dizzies many Americans, but I find it oddly familiar — an echo of the time I lived in China as a reporter.

“Americans sometimes misperceive Trump’s actions as a fire hose of bizarre and disparate moves, a kaleidoscope of craziness.  Yet, there is a method to it, and I’ve seen parallels in authoritarian countries I’ve covered around the world over the past four decades.

“It’s not that I offer a unified theory of Trumpism, but there is a coherence there that requires a coherent response.  Strongmen seek power — political power but also other currencies, including wealth and a glittering place in history — through a pattern of behavior that is increasingly being replicated in Washington.”

Kristof contends that what he calls “parallels to Adolph Hitler and 1930s Germany are overdrawn and diminish the horror of the Third Reich.”

He may be right, but I have thought for a few years that Trump reminds me of Hitler, though, of course, I only know Hitler through history books. 

Still, Trump appears to admire Hitler, if only with the Mein Kampf book near his bed.  After all, Trump believes he is nearly a God, or perhaps in his judgment, fully a God.  He thinks he deserves to be worshipped.

And, he doesn’t care who he dislocates, kills or maims as he covets more and more power.  Just think of immigrants if you want an example.

More from Kristof:

“Democracy is not an on-off switch but a dial.  We won’t become North Korea, but we could look more like Viktor Orban’s Hungary.  This is a question not of ideology but of power grabs:  Leftists eroded democracy in Venezuela and Nicaragua, and rightists did so in Hungary, India and (for a time) the Philippines and Poland.  The U.S. is the next test case.

“When authoritarians covet power, they pursue several common strategies.”

• First, they go after checks and balances within the government.

“Trump ignores laws he finds inconvenient.  He cannot legally fire inspectors general without 30 days’ notice, but he did so anyway.  He moved to eliminate independent congressionally established agencies, which he has no authority to do.  Probably unlawfully, he is sidelining Congress’s constitutional role by impounding funds.  Even when faced with court orders, he appears not to be fully obeying in some cases.”

• Second, authoritarians try to crush independent referees and civil society institutions, including news organizations, universities, statistical agencies and central banks.

“After I covered the Tiananmen Square massacre as an eyewitness in 1989, The People’s Daily declared that I ‘spread new lies,’ and the prime minister’s office ordered an audit of my taxes and tried to bar my infant son from getting a residence permit.

“For similar reasons, Trump is doing his best to intimidate news organizations and discredit them as ‘enemies of the people.’  

• Third, authoritarians sometimes recruit shadowy private enforcersto employ violence to intimidate or punish critics.

“China has used triad gangsters to suppress dissent, and India and Iran appear to have hired thugs to silence critics in Canada and the United States.

“Trump has not gone that far, and I hope he never will.  But his mass clemency of January 6 rioters, including those who clubbed police officers, was a signal of impunity for violent political offenders acting in his name.  His removal of security from former officials facing death threats, such as Anthony Fauci and Mark Milley, indicates a lack of concern for the fate of critics.

“There are other characteristics of authoritarians that are evident in Washington today.  The sycophantic praise directed at Trump by his aides is familiar to anyone who has seen personality cults from Turkmenistan to Bangladesh.  Assertions that God has anointed a ruler or ‘spared my life for a reason,’ as Trump put it, have been a dime a dozen.”

So, Kristof concludes:  “Let’s pay attention to the larger mosaic, not just the individual tiles of outrage.  The upheaval in Washington is 1,000 things, yes, but what’s emerging is a pattern of undercutting restraints on executive power in ways that weaken the democracy that we inherited and that we must fight to preserve.”

Good words from Kristof worth pondering. 

And, I say, even if not a 100 per cent, parallel, keep the Trump-as-Hitler parallel top of mind.  For, if it continues to ring true, real citizens should have no choice but to raise their voices in protest.

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

There is a lot to like about new pro golf star, Ludwig Aberg, who won the Genesis Invitational last Sunday.

My favorite:  He plays fast.  He gets over his next shot, whatever it is, waggles a couple times and then hits.

It often goes where he is aiming.

Far better than slow players such as Tom Kim who stands over his shot for a long time, then finally hits it.

So, for me, Aberg is a good example of fixing one of the main things wrong with golf – slow play.

His play – and, of course, his excellence – underlines one of the simple solutions, play faster.

The win Sunday was his second in a career that is on an upward trajectory.

Here’s way Global Golf Post (by the way, if you don’t subscribe, do so…it’s worth it) describes Aberg’s win:

“So, it’s the biggest moment of your life thus far.  Thousands of people surround you as you go for the biggest win of your career.  Two years ago, you were in college courses, studying between tournaments.  Now, you’re tied for the lead on the 18th hole with a chance, 224 yards from the pin, with water sitting in front of the hole, ready to ruin your day.  Everybody in the golf world is watching to see if you can live up to what you’re supposed to be.

“How long do you take?

“Do you think about it?  Do you take an extra few breaths?  Do you make sure you have this before committing full tilt?

“Or are you Åberg, the tall, handsome and comically nonchalant Swede who steps up to the ball and doesn’t even let a beat pass before launching into the smoothest swing the game has seen in some time?

“There are no pauses for Åberg.  There are no hesitations.  He just goes.  So, he arrived on tour and finished T4 immediately.  He won two tournaments in his first four professional months.  He played on a winning European Ryder Cup team before he set foot in a major.  He became a week-in, week-out top-10 golfer before many fans even knew his name.

“’You’re not gonna slow down on purpose, right?’ his caddie, Joe Skovron, said, grinning.  ‘Just stay in the rhythm, as long as we go through our stuff, and he’s ready to go. …

“’Just let him go.’”

Åberg didn’t slow down.  He went up to the birdie putt to win the Genesis Invitational, didn’t take so much as a moment and hit it in for $4 million and official validation as the best young player in the world.  He overcame a three-shot deficit over six holes to steal a signature win.

To me, Aberg is a solid example of what should happen in pro golf.  Players should play faster on their own.

Scottie Scheffler is another example of a player who goes about his business with speed and finesse.

Not Tom Kim.

Not Patrick Cantley.

Not J.B. Holmes.

Not Keegan Bradley.

All examples of slow players I have mentioned before – slow players who are no fun to watch.

For them – as well as some others – it will take a decision by those who run pro golf to penalize players who take too much time over each shot.  That will be the only way to get their attention.  Affect their pocketbook.

And this conclusion from Global Golf Post:

“For all of Åberg’s burgeoning superpowers, maybe the most relevant to follow is the development of a leaderboard anchor.  Nobody causes fear like Scheffler, but Åberg has become the type of player who’s always hanging near the top, ready to go on a run at any moment.  He doesn’t fall far.  He goes with the flow.  And he can outlast most of the field over 72 holes with his lengthy drives and dialed iron play.

And he plays fast.  Good for him!

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

There is a lot to like about new pro golf star, Ludwig Aberg, who won the Genesis Invitational last Sunday.

My favorite:  He plays fast.  He gets over his next shot, whatever it is, waggles a couple times and then hits.

It often goes where he is aiming.

Far better than slow players such as Tom Kim who stands over his shot for a long time, then finally hits it.

So, for me, Aberg is a good example of fixing one of the main things wrong with golf – slow play.

His play – and, of course, his excellence – underlines one of the simple solutions, play faster.

The win Sunday was his second in a career that is on an upward trajectory.

Here’s way Global Golf Post (by the way, if you don’t subscribe, do so…it’s worth it) describes Aberg’s win:

“So, it’s the biggest moment of your life thus far.  Thousands of people surround you as you go for the biggest win of your career.  Two years ago, you were in college courses, studying between tournaments.  Now, you’re tied for the lead on the 18th hole with a chance, 224 yards from the pin, with water sitting in front of the hole, ready to ruin your day.  Everybody in the golf world is watching to see if you can live up to what you’re supposed to be.

“How long do you take?

“Do you think about it?  Do you take an extra few breaths?  Do you make sure you have this before committing full tilt?

“Or are you Åberg, the tall, handsome and comically nonchalant Swede who steps up to the ball and doesn’t even let a beat pass before launching into the smoothest swing the game has seen in some time?

“There are no pauses for Åberg.  There are no hesitations.  He just goes.  So, he arrived on tour and finished T4 immediately.  He won two tournaments in his first four professional months.  He played on a winning European Ryder Cup team before he set foot in a major.  He became a week-in, week-out top-10 golfer before many fans even knew his name.

“’You’re not gonna slow down on purpose, right?’ his caddie, Joe Skovron, said, grinning.  ‘Just stay in the rhythm, as long as we go through our stuff, and he’s ready to go. …

“’Just let him go.’”

Åberg didn’t slow down.  He went up to the birdie putt to win the Genesis Invitational, didn’t take so much as a moment and hit it in for $4 million and official validation as the best young player in the world.  He overcame a three-shot deficit over six holes to steal a signature win.

To me, Aberg is a solid example of what should happen in pro golf.  Players should play faster on their own.

Scottie Scheffler is another example of a player who goes about his business with speed and finesse.

Not Tom Kim.

Not Patrick Cantley.

Not J.B. Holmes.

Not Keegan Bradley.

All examples of slow players I have mentioned before – slow players who are no fun to watch.

For them – as well as some others – it will take a decision by those who run pro golf to penalize players who take too much time over each shot.  That will be the only way to get their attention.  Affect their pocketbook.

And this conclusion from Global Golf Post:

“For all of Åberg’s burgeoning superpowers, maybe the most relevant to follow is the development of a leaderboard anchor.  Nobody causes fear like Scheffler, but Åberg has become the type of player who’s always hanging near the top, ready to go on a run at any moment.  He doesn’t fall far.  He goes with the flow.  And he can outlast most of the field over 72 holes with his lengthy drives and dialed iron play. And h

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

Ever thought about two words – sympathy and empathy – and what they mean.

In a way, they sound alike, but their meaning is different.

• Sympathy:  The act or state of feeling sorrow or compassion for another.
• Empathy:  The psychological identification with or vicarious experiencing of the emotions, thoughts, or attitudes of another.

The definition of this empathy clearly goes deeper than just sympathy.  With empathy, you go beyond to come close to experiencing the pain of others.

So, my question this morning is whether Donald Trump has either – sympathy or empathy.

The answer, I submit, is “no.” 

He thinks only of himself and how what he does will benefit him and his family, which is the definition of a narcissist.

Consider these facts:

• U.S. aid workers have been left to fend entirely for themselves in foreign countries where they were sent to convey good news from America.  Not even money for them to get home.

• Immigrants came to America, not as criminals, but as real people looking for a new way of life.  And now, many relatives of these immigrants wonder why they voted for Trump in the first place if it means deportation for their loved ones.

• Farmworkers and owners apparently have no choice but to accept Trump’s decision to gore the federal Department of Agriculture, which provides funds for farming.

• And, in Oregon, the Oregon Health & Science University stands to lose tens of millions of dollars in federal funding under the Trump’s directive to cap National Institutes of Health payments to research institutions.  Plus, who knows what gains will be lost if research ends.

In the New York Times, columnist David French wrote about this by describing what he called “the new right,” which Trump has welcomed into his array of MAGA supporters.

“The new religious right,” French wrote, “has turned against the old religious right.

“Or, to put it another way, the focus of the movement is changing.  I spent more than 20 years defending religious liberty in federal courts.  Our objective was to defend liberty so that religious organizations enjoyed the liberty to do good, free from state discrimination.

“Yet, now the focus of Christian right isn’t on the defense of liberty; it’s on the accumulation of power.  And it is using that power to impose its will, including by imposing its will on Christian organizations it has decided are woke or opposed to Trump’s agenda.”

Few things, French says, illustrate this reality more clearly than Trump’s decision unilaterally — and often unlawfully — to defund Christian organizations, including evangelical organizations, that serve poor and marginalized people at home and abroad.

“Trump cuts are immaterial to the deficit,” French adds.  “U.S.A.I.D.’s foreign assistance constituted less than 1 per cent of the federal budget, for example.  All direct foreign aid (including the surge in aid to Ukraine) adds up to a mere 1.17 per cent of total government spending in the 2023 fiscal year.

“Yet, cuts to foreign aid endanger people’s lives, including those of Afghan refugees who risked everything helping Americans during our longest war.”

French wasn’t necessarily writing about the words “sympathy” and “empathy,” though, for the latter, he bemoaned the loss of “Christian empathy.”

I share his perspective.

Trump goes on with something new and divisive every day. 

No sympathy.

No empathy.

Neither is in his DNA.

And, worse, some persons who say they are Christians salivate in support of his non-Christian invective.

In conclusion, I say adhere to these verses in the Bible, March 12:30-31:

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  The second is this:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no other commandment greater than these.”

This is both sympathy and empathy. 

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

Here in La Quinta, California – which is part of the Palm Springs environs – we have been several times to a great theater-music venue, the McCallum Theater.

As some of my friends would say, “there is a not bad seat in the house.”

My wife and I would attest to the virtue of that exclamation.

The events we have attended include:

• Traveling through the Beatles best hits, played by a combination of the Desert Symphony and six guys who are making a living mimicking the Beatles.  And I use the word “mimic” in a positive sense.

• A theatrical presentation of the movie, “You Are Here: A Come From Away Story,” which told the story when 9/11 forced 38 planes to land in Gander, Newfoundland.  There, locals welcomed 6,500 stranded passengers for five days, showing extraordinary kindness that inspired a Broadway musical and the movie.

• Two guys “mimicking” Simon and Garfunkel, singing all the songs we knew growing up.  And the two even looked the part.

• A presentation by original members of the Fifth Dimension, Billy Davis, Jr. and Marilyn McCoo – and singing many of the songs we also knew growing up.  Even in their 80s, Davis and McCoo belted out the memorable songs, talking on stage between the numbers.  

So, without much knowledge of the McCallum’s Theater’s background, I relied on Mr. Google.  Here is what he said:

“The McCallum Theatre’s mission is to entertain, educate and enrich the Coachella Valley community through world-class performances, critically acclaimed education experiences, and serving as the desert’s premier performing arts center.

“In May 1973, a group of Coachella Valley business, education and cultural leaders organized as Friends of the Cultural Center, Inc. committed themselves to the creation of a state-of-the-art performing arts center. 

“Their vision was to enhance and enrich the lives of Palm Springs and Palm Desert residents by making the performing arts available to as many people as possible.  Fundraising began in earnest with 13 sold-out performances by Fred Waring.

“By 1984, local developer Terry Hahn contributed $1 million to the project and Gerald Ford became part of the board of directors.  Ford, in turn, convinced Bob Hope to contribute to the project.

“Vision became reality in January 1988, with the opening of McCallum Theatre.  Opening night was an all-star tribute to Hope.  According to the magazine, Palm Springs Life, Van Cliburn inaugurated the Steinway piano.

“In the audience that night were Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Gerald and Betty Ford, Walter and Leonore Annenberg, and many other notable VIPs.

“Named for a pioneering desert family, the McCallum has gained acclaim as one of the country’s finest presenting theaters by audiences and entertainers alike.  Ticket sales consistently place the McCallum in the top 50 theaters in the world.  Education programs have served more than one million local schoolchildren, educators and community members, while top entertainers praise the venue and its audiences.”

Now, as for such performers as those who mimicked Simon and Garfunkel, here’s more.

Simply, it has always been said that imitation is the highest form of flattery, so to those who mimic Simon and Garfunkel, I say “thank you.”

But, after all this “good” news, let me add one piece of bad.

A few weeks ago, we attended a theatrical presentation of the “Book of Mormon.”  We were sorry we were there and nearly walked out early.  It was crass, gross and disrespectful, not just of Mormons (and I am not one, I hastily add), but of African people general and anyone else who believes there is God.

So, while the Book of Mormon has opened to rave reviews in some places, if is playing near you, don’t go!

And, back to the McCallum.  A great venue and we’ll love to go again.

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

The system of checks and balances has been a hallmark of how the federal government operates in the United States.

But the usual system is being cast aside.

How?

• First, President Donald Trump views himself either as a king or an emperor so he doesn’t recognize any other authority.
• Second, Congress, which is supposed to check the president, is generally following in line behind Trump, giving him everything he wants, including a generally unqualified Cabinet.
• Third, the courts often check both the president and the Congress, but, while many suits have been filed against Trump and his sycophants, two results could occur:  Trump could ignore the courts, which he already doing, or it could just take too long for a court ruling to take effect.

There you have it.

The checks and balances system appears not to be working.

New York Times editorial writers put it this way:

“The U.S. Constitution established three branches of government, designed to balance power — and serve as checks on one another.  That constitutional order suddenly appears more vulnerable than it has in generations.  Trump is trying to expand his authority beyond the bounds of the law while reducing the ability of the other branches to check his excesses.  It’s worth remembering why undoing this system of governance would be so dangerous to American democracy and why it’s vital that Congress, the courts and the public resist such an outcome.”

And, this from the Washington Post:

“The court decisions are coming quickly against President Trump and his administration:  He can’t just wipe out the U.S. Agency for International Development.  He can’t just freeze federal grants and slash money for health research.  He has to put back up public health information websites that were abruptly taken down.

“But, the ultimate test for the nation’s grip on law and order will come if Trump decides not to listen to the courts and to forge ahead anyway with policies now deemed illegal.

“’If you start defying court orders, then the checks and balances are pretty much gone,’ said Meredith McGehee, a governmental-ethics expert who used to head Issue One, a non-profit that focuses on fixing what’s broken in the government.”

Already, there are legitimate reasons to be concerned.

First, Trump already is ignoring court rulings.  A judge has said Trump hasn’t yet abided by a court order to restart federal grants.  The president’s executive order trying to end the constitutional right of birthright citizenship ignores Supreme Court precedent.  And, Trump told his administration not to enforce a TikTok ban that was passed by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court.

More from the Post:

“’What we’re seeing is the beginning of what we’re really worried about, which is the defiance of court orders,’ said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School, a CBS News legal analyst and host of the ‘Passing Judgment’ podcast.

“’We now need to keep a very close eye on whether this is an aberration or a pattern.  We’re in a highly high-stakes game of legal chess here.’”

So far, Trump has lost nearly every court battle so far, The Washington Post finds.

The Post notes that some judges who rule against him are ‘using biting and incredulous language to push back on administration plans they have deemed unconstitutional, ill-planned or cruel.’

“’The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore,’ one Reagan-appointed judge wrote as he blocked Trump’s efforts to end birthright citizenship.”

Or, this from Ruth Marcus in the Post in a well-worded analysis of Trump’s bid to tell the court system to go to you-know-where:

“Trump administration is playing a clever game on the explosive question of whether it is preparing to defy federal court rulings.  Even as Trump asserts he will ‘abide’ by adverse decisions as he appeals them through the courts, other senior officials are explicitly insinuating he might not.

“How should we make sense of what is going on here? I think Trump’s strategy is a two-step effort.  Step 1 is a brushback pitch, to intimidate the courts — especially the Supreme Court — into backing away from a confrontation with the executive branch.

“Step 2, whether Step 1 fails or not, is a classically Trumpian play:  Gaslighting the public into believing that defying the courts is defending, not subverting, the constitutional order.

Checks and balances in the U.S. is one mark of a solid democracy.  But, now, brick by brick, Trump is dismantling the U.S. in his own, fractured image.

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

Guess what?

Two things:

1.  I am writing again about something that bugs me no end – slow play on the PGA Tour, with no one doing anything about it.
2. A writer for Global Golf Post (GGP) agrees with me that there is a solution just waiting around the corner.

To the question in this blog headline, the GGP writer and I say the answer is “yes.”

Just impose a shot clock and use to impose penalties on pros who take too much time over a shot.  That is the only way players who play for money will pay attention.

The GGP writer, Scott Michaux, put it this way:

“To anyone who thinks it can’t be done (using a shot clock in golf), professional golf has dipped its toe into the murky shot-clock waters once.  The European Tour first tinkered with the idea in 2017 during team-match events called GolfSixes, in which a 30-second shot clock was applied starting on the fourth hole of the six-hole matches.

“But the Euro circuit went all in with a full-fledged 72-hole experiment in 2018, staging the annual Austrian Open as an event called the Shot Clock Masters at Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg, Austria.

“The rules were pretty simple:

• Players had 40 seconds to hit their shot (the first player to hit approach, chip or putt in each group was allotted an extra 10 seconds);
• Failure to hit a shot within the time limit incurred a one-stroke penalty;
• Players were allowed two extensions of time (40-second timeouts) per round.

“The time limits were enforced by rules officials riding with each group in carts with large digital clocks displaying the player’s name and remaining time.

“The results seemed transformational.  The stated goal of then-European Tour CEO Keith Pelley was to try to reduce the average time of rounds by 45 minutes.  It came close.  The first round’s average time fell 34 minutes from the previous year’s Austrian Open – from 4 hours, 47 minutes to 4:13.

“First-round scoring averages dropped as well by more than half a stroke and no players were penalized for a shot-clock violation.

“What’s more, players who participated generally raved about it.  Sweden’s Peter Hanson, who played in one of three threesomes in the first round that got around in less than four hours, said:  “I think this is the way we should play golf, and this is the way I was born and raised to play the game.”

“The PGA Tour’s Billy Horschel even chimed in from afar while watching the Shot Clock Masters on television.

“’Loving this shot clock deal on the European tour,’ Horschel wrote on Twitter.  ‘Amazing how fast rounds go when players play within the rules.  And guys are still playing great golf.  Shocking!  Wish we had something like this on the PGA Tour.’”

If pro golf were to go in this direction, it could use baseball as an example.

Michaux wrote this:

“But with dwindling television ratings and fan frustration with the way golf presents itself in the modern era in which discretionary time is offered plenty of distractions, has golf reached the point where it must seriously enforce pace-of-play protocols with a shot clock?

“If so, baseball is a prime example for making a major change to a sport steeped in tradition that improved the quality of the entertainment product.

“Baseball and golf have more in common beyond being stick-and-ball games.  Neither measure how long it takes to complete their competitions in units of time, but instead with innings and holes.  Both endured issues with the expanding duration of how long it takes to reasonably finish, which deteriorated the experience of the players, as well as fans.

“And both similarly dragged their feet at doing anything about it, with successive PGA Tour commissioners content with play simply finishing by the end of the designated broadcast window, no matter how early the leaders needed to start to get that done.

“But golf – from the fans to players to tour administration – now seems ready to finally tackle the pace-of-play challenge.

“How baseball went about implementing a pitch clock to wide acclaim is a lesson for golf’s leadership.  And, even though golf would require monitoring dozens of players simultaneously over hundreds of acres on a course instead of two players in a fixed spot separated by the 60 feet, 6 inches between the pitching mound and home plate, it is not an impossible challenge to consider.”

So, with Michaux, I say to pro golf leaders:  Get about the business of speeding up the game before it’s too late.

Amateurs can do it, but, of course, they don’t play golf as a livelihood. 

But, soon, I bet, pro golfers will have to accept playing with a shot clock or their sport will continue losing support, including in terms of TV viewer audiences.

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

To illustrate the headline on this blog, I cite refugee families in the United States who supposedly had no idea Donald Trump would deport members of their own families.

They should have known or suspected.  For, that’s what he said he would do.

Stories like this abound, given what Trump and his ilk are doing, which is deporting immigrants, no matter their legal or illegal status.

That’s so America will be what they want it to be, which is free from immigrants, even though Trump himself is a child of immigrants.

Writing in The Atlantic Magazine, David Frum put it this way:

“Ask Trump supporters why they like the president, and chances are good you’ll hear something like:  He tells it like it is and says what he means.

“The question, then, is why so many of them refused to take him at his word.  Over the first weeks of the second Trump presidency, a recurrent motif is that Trump does exactly what he said he would, and then people who backed him react with shock and dismay.”

As examples, Frum cites the following – in his words:

• When Trump announced his plan (I’m using the word generously) to occupy the Gaza Strip and convert it into an international real-estate development, the chairman of Arab Americans for Trump, which formed to back him during the election, expressed shock and betrayal, and announced that the group would rename itself Arab Americans for Peace.
• Some Venezuelan Americans in Florida are feeling similar outrage.  Trump continued to make gains with Hispanic voters in 2024, but this month he ended Temporary Protected Status, a designation that allows non-citizens to stay in the country, for about 300,000 Venezuelans, with more designees likely to lose their status later.
• Some Kentucky educators who voted for Trump are aghast that his administration is trying to cut off federal funding that they need to keep their schools functioning, despite his campaign-trail promises to abolish the Department of Education.
•  CEOs and bankers who decided they liked Trump better because he favors low taxes and less regulation are suddenly chagrined to learn that he was serious about tariffs.
• A Missouri farmer who voted for Trump is horrified that the administration is freezing federal funding for conservation programs, even though Trump promised to eliminate environmental programs and slash government spending.

More from Frum:

“Other Trump promises were pretty dubious if you listened to the rest of his plans.  ‘Starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again,’ he said. But Trump’s signature campaign ideas were large tariffs and mass deportation. Both of these are inflationary:  Tariffs raise the price of goods, and mass deportation makes labor scarcer, raising salaries, which in turn drives prices higher.’”

So, I hope Trump voters at least will consider what they done. 

They have put a man who wants to be king in the White House where he can do what he wants, no matter what Congress or the courts think because he rules there, too.

How about public opinion?  It doesn’t matter.

But as Trump, aided by Elon Musk (who wasn’t elected to anything) work their will, consider this:  Trump did not get a majority of the public to vote for him.  He didn’t even get a majority of voters to vote for him.

So, regarding a wholesale mandate for Trump to do as he wants?  No.  He doesn’t have one and I hope the lack of it, along with a rejuvenated Congress (too much to home for, I suspect) and the courts, will catch up with him.