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

The headline in this blog appeared couple days ago in Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in a story contained very useful information about to separate the wheat from the chaff in what we read about coronavirus pandemic.

I say “useful” because, if left to our devices as we engage in social distancing, we could drown in coronavirus information – and not all of it is either accurate or worth reading.

To be sure, quality journalists provide useful information such as the story from the WSJ, which appeared under this headline:

In the Coronavirus “Infodemic,” Here’s How to Avoid Bad Information

Misleading information about Covid-19 spreads through texts and emails—but you can protect yourself from dubious claims and reports

The writer, Nicole Nguyen, started her story this way:

“The same coronavirus post kept popping up on my Facebook feed last week. People in my network—a friend’s mom, a college classmate and another ‘friend,’ who I’m not sure I’ve even met in person—had somehow obtained identical symptom and treatment guidance from Stanford University.

“There were details about an at-home testing technique involving breath holding, as well as something truly dubious about sipping water every 15 minutes. On March 12, the university said the text was ‘not from Stanford.’”

Overnight, Nguyen reported, the viral post disappeared from the social network.

For my part, I had received the Stanford information from one of my golfing buddies in the California desert – I am not there now; instead I am “staying at home in Oregon.” My wife was smart enough to know immediately the information was not accurate, more like a hoax.

My friend passed on the information innocently, believing that the supposed source – Stanford University – was credible, so he wanted to make sure his friends had the information. I relayed to him that the information was wrong and he apologized for sending it.

No problem. In these times, all of us can be taken in by bad information if, for no other reason, than that we are looking for good news amidst the unprecedented bad news of coronavirus.

Nguyen agrees: “Many people spreading these fraudulent posts have good intentions. Everyone’s trying to keep up with an ever-shifting situation. And they want to help each other. But the current regularity of forwarded falsehoods is revealing: Any absence of good information leaves room for a lot of terrible information.”

The World Health Organization recently described this moment as an “infodemic,” which, Nguyen writes, “means we are getting virus news through a fire hose—push notifications, TV, social media, hearsay through our networks. There’s misleading or inaccurate information at every turn, despite companies’ efforts to remove it. And as social networks crack down on misinformation, it’s growing in grass-roots channels, like text and email.”

Many people, confused by all the noise, are still searching for answers. Here are some ways to help, which I list based on Nguyen’s reporting:

• PolitiFact, the Poynter Institute’s non-profit fact-checking organization, has a website dedicated to confirming and debunking coronavirus information spread by government officials, text messages and social media.
• Focus on factual information from official channels. “I would strongly urge people to get their information from sources like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or highly respected news organizations. Everything else should be regarded as suspect,” says Angie Drobnic Holan, editor in chief of the PolitiFact.
• Focus more on facts from official sources, and less on chasing down every shred that might be true, says Claire Wardle, a research fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center and co-founder of First Draft, a non-profit dedicated to studying misinformation. Further, right-wing wackos trying to act like “the media” don’t dispense facts; they dispense only their own biases.
• The more people are exposed to a falsehood, the more likely they are to accept it as true—what Dr. Wardle refers to as the “familiarity backfire effect.” Once in play, falsehoods take on their life of their own. Correcting them is tough.
• Focus on facts directly from official channels. The World Health Organization recently launched a WhatsApp messaging service bringing updates on the outbreak and information about myths right to your phone.
• The primary sources that reporters rely on include the World Health Organization and U.S.-based CDC. Both agencies provide virus outbreak updates and guidance on how to stay healthy from public officials. The CDC mobile app serves this information right to your phone. Pro tip: Turn on the app’s filter for “Coronavirus Disease 2019.”
• Many state and local authorities are also excellent resources as they try imperfectly to provide solid information. The CDC website includes links to every accredited state and health department across the U.S.

Plus, in this infodemic, the information shared most often can seem plausible, if only because of the repetition.

The most recent wave of misinformation reads more like rumors that could be true or are close to being true rather than outright falsehoods. Fraudulent messages are often attributed to “a friend of my friend who works in the government” or other authoritative entities.

Even though misinformation is moving from public to private channels, the Internet’s largest social networks are working to moderate coronavirus content. In mid-March, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Reddit, Twitter and YouTube sent out this joint statement: “We are … jointly combating fraud and misinformation about the virus and elevating authoritative content on our platforms.”

And this final point.

Who is the largest disseminator of misinformation and exaggeration? It’s President Donald Trump. He usually doesn’t know what he is talking about and talks anyway. His press conferences are hugely destructive, but, after he shares what’s on top of mind for him, whatever that is, it often it is too late for credentialed figures to make corrections.

So, in addition to the advisories above, I say turn off Trump. Don’t listen to him. Don’t watch his press conferences, which only are campaign rallies. Ignore what he says and we’ll all be better off.

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

There is no right answer.

If you are a public official, do you:

• Support coronavirus restrictions to save lives?
• Support the economy to save lives?

As I said, no right answer.

It would be nice – to use a word, “nice,” that Trump uses all the time when his limited vocabulary fails him – if it were possible to achieve both aims at the same time.

It is not. At least not so far.

Meanwhile, by various news or social media posts, we are pulled this way and that way as we try to deal with the pandemic. Imagine what it must be like for reasonable public officials (exclude Trump) as they try to decipher ways to go and to bring those they govern along with them.

Examples:

• Trump says he wants the economy to begin operating by Easter — while various governors and mayors say that would be disastrous for the regions they govern. [See below.]
• Trump and even New York Governor Andrew Cuomo are touting hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as treatments for coronavirus — while many scientists and epidemiologists say the drugs are untested and even could cause death or blindness.
• A ray of hope arose when the U.S. Senate surmounted political considerations to pass a coronavirus relief bill by a unanimous vote — while the U.S. House dithered as if it was political dissension as usual…including when one opponent of the bill said he would object, thus requiring members of the House to return to Washington, D.C. to vote in person instead of doing so remotely.
• Under substantial pressure, not to mention threats to their own health, reasonable journalists continue to try to get solid information to the public — while right wing media wackos continue to propound the notion that the epidemic is only another chapter in the Democrat goal to get Trump out of office.
• Those same wackos are coalescing around the phrase, “the cure is worse than the disease” — while hospitals prepare for what could be a run on their facilities, supplies and staff by coronavirus victims.

Back to the Trump goal to free the economy by Easter.

In the Washington Post, columnist Michael Gerson described his concern:

“…Easter is the holiest date on the Christian calendar, when the resurrection of Christ is celebrated. And it would be blasphemous to use a day dedicated to the renewal of life in a manner that leads to further death. The packing of churches in a little over two weeks would almost certainly be an epidemiological disaster in much of the country. It is impossible to imagine most priests and pastors treating the lives of their congregants with such disdain.”

For my wife and me, Easter will be a day of celebration, but I suspect it will occur by remote means – still meaningful, but different than our normal “up from grave he arose” collective anthem.

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

If you think about it for only a minute, there are huge differences between the person who occupies the Oval Office, Donald Trump, and the person who wants to get there, Joe Biden.

I would be possible to cite many differences, too many to count, but two key differences are:

• Biden has some credibility. Trump has none.
• Biden has some empathy. Trump has none.

If this indicates that I intend to vote for Biden if the presidential race comes down to these two – Trump the reality TV clown and Biden the experienced public servant — so be it. It’s true.

Nowhere have the differences been more evident that in the current and unprecedented coronavirus pandemic.

Washington Post writer Jennifer Rubin pointed this out cogently in her current column:

“Former vice president Joe Biden made the TV rounds on Tuesday, reminding us why so many Democrat voters have rallied to his side. On MSNBC, he showed off his technical knowledge of government (recounting that he long ago recommended use of the Defense Production Act), as well as his empathy for people who have lost loved ones.

“On CNN, Biden scoffed at Trump’s suggestion that we should re-open businesses (presumably schools and everything else, right?) around Easter. The Democrat presidential front-runner essentially pleaded with Trump to put a sock in it and let the experts talk.”

To Rubin, Biden displays nearly every quality and ability Trump lacks: Appreciation for expertise, candor, respect for fellow Americans, empathy, understanding of government, foresight, thoughtfulness, coherence and a reverence for American values and spirit.

“With Trump, who is obsessed with his economic and political fortunes,” Rubin says, “the question is always, what do I gain from this?”

Rubin adds: “It is not that the challenger in a presidential election has more experience, granular knowledge of policy and gravitas than the sitting president. Here, it is not even close. Having spotted the threat of the pandemic and urged the Defense Production Act be activated, Biden already is demonstrating he is more competent than the incumbent. If Americans cannot figure out under these circumstances which candidate has the character and capacity to look after them, then the future of self-governance truly is in doubt.”

Trump had a perfect chance to express empathy and enlightened leadership the other day when a reporter, in a televised press conference, asked what he, Trump, could do to provide reassurance America, something solid leaders do during a crisis. Instead of seizing the opportunity, Trump went after the reporter.

Stupid.

Now, to be fair, Biden has come under criticism lately for agreeing with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as they negotiated various additions to the coronavirus relief bill that eventually sailed through the Senate on a unanimous vote yesterday.

He should have spoken out against the goodies and said it was time – past time – for Congress to act in statesmanlike way given the unprecedented crisis.

So, in all of this, is Biden perfect?

Of course not. No one is.

While sometimes he talks too much, his authenticity is obvious. Given the trials and tribulations he has faced in his life over the years, with huge losses by death of loved ones, he has an unusual ability to demonstrate empathy.

At this time in America’s history, with our future as a nation in doubt, we need leadership marked by empathy. With Biden, we have a chance to get it. With Trump, we have none.

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

Even as daily White House briefings on the coronavirus pandemic have had a circus-like atmosphere and President Donald Trump’s claims have been picked apart, he has seen an uptick in his piolitcak approval rating over the past two weeks.

Incredible.

How is that possible?

According to the Gallup polling organization, Trump may be enjoying a small rally in public support just because Americans often rally to their leader in a time of national emergency. Perhaps because that notion makes more sense than the rise being due to Trump’s performance.

Forty-nine percent of U.S. adults, up from 44 per cent earlier this month, approve of the job Trump is doing as president. Trump also had 49 per cent job approval ratings — the best of his presidency — in late January and early February around the time of the Senate impeachment trial that resulted in his acquittal.

Also, Independents’ and Democrats’ approval of Trump’s performance has increased slightly since earlier this month, tying as the best he has registered to date among each group. The president’s approval rating among Republicans was already above 90 per cent, and remains so — but is not currently his highest on record (which was 94 per cent in late January).

The Trump Administration (again, the word “administration” suggests that there is more organization than there is) has received some criticism for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including that the president downplayed the threat, at least up until his nationally televised address on March 11.

On March 16, Trump acknowledged the seriousness of the situation by urging people to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people and to have workers and students stay home if possible. The Administration has had daily press conferences since then to update the nation on what the federal government is doing to address the situation.

In the latest briefing, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a credentialed expert in epidemics, was conspicuously absent, probably because he has spent much of his time having to correct Trump lies, misstatements and exaggerations. And Trump hates being corrected.

I hope Fauci will stay in his current position and that he can be relied upon to speak from credentialed science.

Trump, of course, believes he knows all about science and epidemics because, as he incredibly claimed a few days ago “his uncle knew about medicine, so he did, too.”

For my part, I go back to a piece written a couple days ago by Washington Post media reporter, Margaret Sullivan. Here is what she wrote:

“More and more each day, President Trump is using his daily briefings as a substitute for the campaign rallies that have been forced into extinction by the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“These White House sessions — ostensibly meant to give the public critical and truthful information about this frightening crisis — are in fact working against that end.

“Rather, they have become a daily stage for Trump to play his greatest hits to captive audience members. They come in search of life-or-death information, but here’s what they get from him instead:

“ ● Self-aggrandizement. When asked how he would grade his response to the crisis, the president said, “I’d rate it a 10.” Absurd on its face, of course, but effective enough as blatant propaganda

“● Media-bashing. When NBC News’s Peter Alexander lobbed him a softball question in Friday’s briefing — “What do you say to Americans who are scared?” — Trump went on a bizarre attack. “I say, you’re a terrible reporter,” the president said, launching into one of his trademark “fake news” rants bashing Alexander’s employer. (Meanwhile, he has also found time during these news briefings to lavish praise on sycophantic pro-Trump media like One America News Network, whose staffer — I can’t call her a reporter — invited him to justify his xenophobic talk of a “Chinese virus” by asking rhetorically if he considers the phrase “Chinese food” racist.)

“● Exaggeration and outright lies. Trump has claimed that there are plenty of tests available (there aren’t); that Google is “very quickly” rolling out a nationwide website to help manage coronavirus treatment (the tech giant was blindsided by the premature claim); that the drug chloroquine, approved to treat malaria, is a promising cure for the virus and “we’re going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately.” (It hasn’t been approved for this use, and there is no evidence to demonstrate its effectiveness in fighting the virus.)

So, with Sullivan, I say we need far less of Trump and more of credible figures, like Fauci, who can lead us in dealing with an incredible pandemic. With her, I also advocate that media outlets decline to televise Trump’s supposed press conferences live.

By the time he conveys lies, there is no time to correct the record.

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

I now have even more time on my hands than I did in retirement. With everyone else, I am now faced with how to comply with a “Stay at Home” order in the coronavirus pandemic.

One option, I suppose, is literally to stay at home at ALL times, but, despite the emergency, that strikes me as a bit over the top.

Plus, even the government officials who imposed the “Stay at Home” order here in Oregon say it’s okay “to go for a walk.”

One question is whether I’ll be able to take that walk on a golf course.

So, amidst all this, I have been continuing to look for good quotes, which, as this blog headline says, may now not be “good,” but still worth reading.

Even as I write, so-called “political leaders” in Washington, D.C. are struggling to come up with a coronavirus response of legislation. So far, incredibly, they have failed.

Here’s the way Wall Street Journal editorial writers put it this morning:

“What a spectacle. Much of America is quarantined at home, the public is so panicked there’s a run on toilet paper, the country desperately wants reassurance, and Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer decide to take a bi-partisan rescue bill as a political hostage.”

Do I mean that Republicans are all right and Democrats like Pelosi and Schumer are all wrong? No. Middle ground is the place to be in the face of national catastrophe that ought to put the country on a “war footing” above the worst kind of politics.

Now, for the quotes.

FROM MARGARET SULLIVAN, THE WASHINGTON POST MEDIA CRITIC: “Trump press conferences have become a daily stage for Trump to play his greatest hits to captive audience members. They come in search of life-or-death information, but here’s what they get from him instead:

• Self-aggrandizement. When asked how he would grade his response to the crisis, the president said, “I’d rate it a 10.” Absurd on its face, of course, but effective enough as blatant propaganda
• Media-bashing. When NBC News’s Peter Alexander lobbed him a softball question in Friday’s briefing — “What do you say to Americans who are scared?” — Trump went on a bizarre attack. “I say, you’re a terrible reporter,” the president said, launching into one of his trademark “fake news” rants bashing Alexander’s employer.
• Exaggeration and outright lies. Trump has claimed that there are plenty of tests available (there aren’t); that Google is “very quickly” rolling out a nationwide website to help manage coronavirus treatment (the tech giant was blindsided by the premature claim); that the drug chloroquine, approved to treat malaria, is a promising cure for the virus and “we’re going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately.”

Trump is doing harm and spreading misinformation while working for his own partisan political benefit — a naked attempt to portray himself as a wartime president bravely leading the nation through a tumultuous time, the FDR of the 21st century.

The press — if it defines its purpose as getting truthful, useful, non-harmful information to the public, as opposed to merely juicing its own ratings and profits — must recognize what is happening and adjust accordingly.

Business as usual simply doesn’t cut it. Minor accommodations, like fact-checking the president’s statements afterward, don’t go nearly far enough to counter the serious damage this man is doing to the public’s well-being.

Radical change is necessary: The cable networks and other news organizations that are taking the president’s briefings as live feeds should stop doing so.

Comment: It never will be possible to take a microphone away from Trump. But, the media, if it does its job in the right way, should heed Sullivan’s advice. Don’t televise live all of his lies and personal aggrandizement.

FROM JENNIFER RUBIN IN THE WASHINGTON POST: If a captain on a ship froze in the middle of a crisis, he would be relieved of command. If a CEO routinely dispensed false information and was incapable of getting into the weeds to rescue his company from a disaster, he would be fired.

By any definition, Trump is failing, caring more about creating a Chinese boogeyman to blame than in competently addressing the problem before him.

This is not simply a matter of assigning blame for having left us unprepared and allowing precious time to slip by. This goes to Trump’s ongoing inability to competently manage the federal government. The Post reports that “the growing gulf between the White House and officials on the front lines of the pandemic underscored concerns in cities, states and Congress that Trump does not have a coherent or ready plan to mobilize private and public entities to confront a crisis that could soon push the nation’s health-care system to the brink of collapse.” In short, lives will be lost because no one can tell Trump he is wrong and making things worse.

Comment: Right, again. Trump is ill-prepared to lead the country in what should literally be “war-time footing” that the problem will be much worse than it already is.

FROM THE WASHINGTON POST: “I can’t jump in front of the microphone and push him down.” So says Dr. Anthony Fauci, the public health expert trying to lead us through the coronavirus crisis.

Amid the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic, Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been charged with a herculean task: Trying to keep Trump’s public statements about the novel virus rooted in fact.

Now it appears that Fauci’s frustration is showing.

When asked Sunday by Science magazine’s Jon Cohen about having to stand in front of the nation as “the representative of truth and facts” when “things are being said that aren’t true and aren’t factual,” the 79-year-old said there is only so much he can do.

“I can’t jump in front of the microphone and push him down,” Fauci said, referencing Trump. “Okay, he said it. Let’s try and get it corrected for the next time.”

Comment: It could be contended that Fauci has THE most difficult job in the federal government – trying to provide facts and perspective about coronavirus when Trump does the reverse.

FROM WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL WRITERS: Elizabeth Warren’s Ranting Resumes. We won’t go so far as to say bi-partisan comity has descended with the coronavirus crisis, but given the low standards of our time, it could be worse. Americans everywhere have stepped away from politics the past week to help each other. Even the Senate seems to be working toward a decent legislative response, though it is not done yet. Then there’s Elizabeth Warren.

In a series of tweets Sunday, Warren ranted (there’s no other word): “Millions may now lose their jobs. And Trump wants our response to be a half-trillion dollar slush fund to boost favored companies and corporate executives.” She calls the Senate bill a “bailout” and gripes “it makes no long-term changes to make future bailouts less likely.” What planet is she living on?

Comment: With Warren’s withdrawal from the Democrat presidential contest, I hoped we had heard the last of her rants. No. She’s back. I simply pledge not to listen to her any longer.

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

I hadn’t thought about this approach before reading a Wall Street Journal editorial last week.

Here is what it said:

“As the coronavirus threatens to stall the U.S. economy, a relatively easy countermeasure is to hit the emergency 401(k) button: Congress should allow people to take a certain sum, say $10,000, from their retirement accounts without facing penalties or taxes.

“This is a way to tap liquidity that already exists. Among non-retired adults, 54 per cent have some kind of defined-contribution plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b), according to a Federal Reserve report last year. Also, 33 per cent hold an individual retirement account. For Americans overall, it represents a huge pool of money, estimated by one survey at roughly $17 trillion.

“Early withdrawals generally face automatic tax withholding. Plus there’s a 10 per cent penalty, with narrow exceptions. Congress created a new exception in December when it passed the Secure Act: Up to $5,000 can be taken out, penalty free, ‘in case of birth of child or adoption.’ In hindsight, lawmakers should have added a provision “in case of global coronavirus pandemic.

“In the past, Washington has given increased withdrawal flexibility to victims of hurricanes and California’s wildfires. What’s needed this time is bigger, since the coronavirus pandemic is nationwide and economic idling will affect millions. But the mechanics appear relatively straightforward. Lawmakers could pass legislation saying that early distributions during a defined period won’t incur the 10 per cent penalty. Maybe they could waive the usual income tax and withholding, too.

“This idea has many advantages, compared with the talk of giving every American a federal check for $1,000—or is it up to $2,000? It provides an option for people who need the cash, without blanketing everyone. Under Washington’s current plan for a Coronavirus Basic Income, the government would take out debt to pay everyone. Further, each dollar pulled from a retirement account would cost the Treasury only a fraction of that in forgone revenue, for a multiplier effect.

“Not everybody has a retirement plan, but a limited period of allowing free-and-clear withdrawals would encourage parents, brothers, uncles and so forth to act as a financial backstop to younger and less-fortunate family. That’s a much healthier dynamic than simply telling Americans to sit tight, crank up “Ride of the Valkyries,” and wait for the government helicopters dropping $100 bills.”

As I write this, Congress is battling over what to do in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Agreement has been hard to reach despite the incredible urgency of doing something.

The proposal above would be worth including in anything that has a chance to pass. It represents a solid combination of federal action combined with private resources.

And this from the current stalemate:

“Impasse turned on Democratic concerns that the legislation would help businesses more than the public.”

I suppose that concern could be considered to be valid in the age of Trump, when he perverts everything to support himself and, thus, could use resources for business to help his cronies as he done time and time again.

But, given the extremity of our circumstance, it is time for political figures to rise above petty politics and take action to protect America – despite Trump.

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

In the midst of the current pandemic, it may seem strange to write about lessons we can learn from it.

Normally, such an aspiration is more likely to be uttered after the emergency, not during it. Plus, at the moment, survival – either from coronavirus or economic dislocation – is the priority.

But, I persist.

ONE DOCTOR’S STRAIGHT TALK: Emily Landon, the chief infectious disease epidemiologist at University of Chicago Medicine, took the lectern after the Illinois governor announced the state would undergo a “shelter in place” order.

“The healthy and optimistic among us will doom the vulnerable,” Landon said. She acknowledged that restrictions like a shelter-in-place may end up feeling “extreme” and “anticlimactic” — and that’s the point.

“It’s really hard to feel like you’re saving the world when you’re watching Netflix from your couch. But if we do this right, nothing happens. A successful shelter-in-place means you’re going to feel like it was all for nothing, and you’d be right: Because nothing means that nothing happened to your family. And that’s what we’re going for here.”

Landon’s comments were less than 10 minutes of the hour-long news conference, but they quickly made an impression on listeners and drew praise for their clarity and sense of empowerment while still conveying the urgency of the moment.

RELY ON GOVERNMENT SCIENTISTS: It is clear that Donald Trump has given short shrift to government scientists who have been trying, against long and tough odds, to prepare America for an epidemic. He won’t listen to them and, even if he did, he always knows best, given what he labels as his high medical acumen – though, frankly, he wouldn’t know the meaning of the word acumen.

The current situation proves beyond a shadow of doubt that we need smart people to do good work for us in government.

TELL DONALD TRUMP TO STOP TALKING: Speaking of smart people, Trump continues to prove every day that he is not one of them.

I would say to him – stop talking. Let experts guide us. Or, let smart political figures – yes, there are a few of them left – talk to us about proper preparations for the virus.

Trump proved his narcissism again yesterday when, in response to a question from an NBC reporter – essentially a softball designed to give Trump a chance to express enlightened leadership to Americans – Trump chose instead to go after the reporter.

Thus, he missed a major opportunity to reassure Americans. No surprise there. He doesn’t see opportunities and, if he did, he would have no idea about what to say to provide solace and a bit of comfort.

Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan showed up this weekend with an excellent suggestion.

To stop what she labels Trump’s self-aggrandizement, media bashing, exaggeration and outright lies: “Radical change is necessary: The cable networks and other news organizations that are taking the president’s briefings as live feeds should stop doing so.”

LOOK FOR POSITIVE STORIES AMIDST THE PROBLEMS: Even as we engage in “social distancing,” there are ways to look for good deeds.

One example. At the doctor’s office the other day, I saw that an elderly woman had come in for an appointment, but arrived on the wrong day, not to mention by taxi. She would have had to leave and return another day.

Except another woman in the waiting room stepped up and said, “I am willing to give you my appointment and I can come another time.” She had arrived in her own car, so she had options.

The appointment was changed due to the selfless actions of one person.

One other example. A business friend of mine builds and places modular structures around the region. As we talked yesterday – six feet apart – he told us he had provided several structures to hospitals in the area to use as expansions for their capacity in the face of the virus.

He also did so for free.

If you look for such good news – assuming you can leave home to do so – you are liable to find it.

KEEP RECORDS ALL ALONG TO HELP NEXT TIME, IF THERE IS A NEXT TIME: One of the lessons I learned during my career as a lobbyist was to keep better records as I handled public policy issues for clients.

I didn’t do well in that regard, so, when I wanted to reflect on the high and low points of various actions, I had to try to remember, not refer to timely notes.

So, as we try to survive with the virus, I say, keep good notes so we can learn for the future.

AND THIS FINAL QUESTION: How do we, as Oregonians comply with all the instructions provided by government officials?

Hard. Because, for one thing, the instructions lack clarity.

So, I say, work to comply with the spirit, not the letter, of the instructions. And try to do so as a good citizen concerned, not just about your and your family’s future, but also the well-being of your neighbors.

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

This, like some of my other posts, will indicate that I have too much time on hands in retirement.

The coronavirus deal, with its social distancing, not to mention the risk of a “shelter in place” order, only adds to my down time.

Almost as I write the word risk, we now have close to a “shelter in place” order in Oregon, though Governor Kate Brown and Portland mayor Ted Wheeler won’t use the term, which, they say, is very confusing. But, so is the term they use — “Stay Home, Stay Healthy.”  However well-intentioned Brown and Wheeler are in the current unpredictable environment, their phrase doesn’t serve clarity.

We may know more by next Monday when Brown, Wheeler and others roll out more details.

So, that said, I have been thinking about strange stuff in the “era” of coronavirus. Here are examples:

WHAT DOES SHELTER IN PLACE MEAN? For me, the question came to a head with decisions in California to impose “shelter in place.”

In the old days, “shelter in place” tended to mean that there some kind of disturbance outside, sometimes with guns, and, for safety, you should stay in place.

Today, the term has been expanded to apply to coronavirus restrictions, but the term strikes me as a bit of a euphemism. Plus, we still don’t have a good idea of what is allowed during a “shelter in place” and what is not allowed.

And, who enforces the order? The governor in California asked citizens to abide by it, but who knows if they will.

WHAT DOES “EQUITY” MEAN FOR CLOSED SCHOOLS/Early on, when schools closures were announced, many of us thought students would still “be in school at home with laptops,” especially as teachers were trained to teach on-line.

No.

Here’s why according to a story from the Oregonian newspaper:

“Oregon schools will not replace the weeks of traditional classroom instruction students are missing with online classes or another substitute while schools are shuttered until April 28.

The reasons why boil down to two words: Access and equity.

“’Protecting student rights has to be front and center during the conversation about distance learning,” Marc Siegel, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Education, told The Oregonian/OregonLive. ‘You cannot open a brick-and-mortar school in Oregon unless it is accessible to every student in their school district. The same rules apply to an online school.’

“The state’s public schools are not equipped to do that for special education students, those who speak English as a second language, students who lack computers or Internet access and others with special circumstances during the shutdown, he noted.

“’Our students with disabilities and specialized needs, by law, require specially designed instruction,’ Siegel said. ‘If a school opens to serve its community’s students, it must be able to provide those specialized instruction services.’”

There you have it – access and equity.

Upon reflection, the notion becomes a bit more understandable, but when I first heard about this from my daughter who works in a school in Woodinville, Washington, I couldn’t believe it.

I can now.

WHICH TAKES PRECEDENCE: RESPONDING TO THE HEALTH EMERGENCY OR SAVING THE SAGGING ECONOMY? That question is beginning to be asked by some who are wondering if the U.S. economy will survive.

Perhaps it’s not the best source – not perhaps, it is not – but here is what one of my golfing buddies from the California desert said when he heard about the California “shelter in place” directive:

“We are at the point where the cure is worse than the disease.”

The Wall Street Journal is a better source and here is the way editorial writers put it yesterday:

“Yet (a word which meant editors were not opposing general social distancing moves), the costs of this national shutdown are growing by the hour, and we don’t mean federal spending. We mean a tsunami of economic destruction that will cause tens of millions to lose their jobs as commerce and production simply cease. Many large companies can withstand a few weeks without revenue but that isn’t true of millions of small and mid-sized firms.”

With all of this at stake – health and the economy — I’m just glad I am no longer in a state agency position in Oregon where I would have to contribute to what clearly are life and death decisions every day, if not every hour.

I also just read a column by one of my favorites, Peggy Noonan, who writes for the Wall Street Journal. She echoed a sentence that has been my solace, at least partially, through all of this:

“A general attitude for difficult times? Trust in God first and always. Talk to him.”

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

The current coronavirus pandemic is proving one thing when it comes to political leadership in this country.

We need experienced, seasoned leaders who will know how to strike a very tough balance, which is to marshal the twin necessities of truth and candor.

Frankly, the narcissist in the Oval Office possesses neither.

He looks out for himself and only himself and not the country.

Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson put it very well when he wrote this:

“The point here is not simply to condemn Trump, which has limited usefulness in the midst of a national crisis. At this point, it is perhaps better to ignore him, which is precisely what governors and mayors across the country are doing to good effect. But Americans do need to recall this moment the next time they enter a voting booth. In nominating and electing Trump, Republicans were making the claim that presidential character matters for nothing. That only his policy views and judicial appointments really count in the end.

“It was impossible to elect Trump without mentally shrinking the presidency to fit him. A president, we were told, didn’t really need to have governing experience. He didn’t need to care about the truth. He didn’t need to be civil or unifying. He didn’t need to be a diplomat. He didn’t need to be a pastor.

“But suddenly, governing skill is the antidote to panic. Trust in the truthfulness of public officials is essential to public health. Unified action is central to the safety of the vulnerable. Global cooperation is necessary for any national strategy to work. And leadership will increasingly require the ability to express empathy and to comfort those dealing with inexplicable loss.

“It has recently been common in our politics to assert that the establishment has failed, that our institutions and systems are corrupt, and that we need political disrupters to shake things up or burn things down. This is now revealed as the political philosophy of spoiled children. We no longer have the luxury of apocalyptic petulance or the language of faux revolution. We need trusted experts to carry hard truths. We need our systems and institutions to bear enormous weight. We need public officials to encourage an orderly urgency, to repair what is broken and to calm irrational fears.”

Well said, Mr. Gerson.

Trump can be faulted for his actions and his words in response to the pandemic. Clearly, actions are more important than words. But, in terms of words, it does not boost confidence when there is a president who cannot string words together in a sentence that makes sense. Plus, he has a very limited vocabulary.

As all of this unfolds, who knows what the future holds? No one.

We have never been through something like the coronavirus before and we have no idea when the outbreak will end or what price it will take to get to the end. Nor do we know whether so-called “shelter in place” orders will expand past California and New York and what “shelter in place” means is, itself, confusing.

What we do know is that it will take enlightened leadership to deal with the current and coming realities. It also will take what I call “enlightened followership” because, without followers, there are no leaders.

I am looking for enlightened leadership so I can follow it.

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

There’s that word again – roils.

It’s one of my favorites because just allowing it to roll off the tongue tends to convey more than the just the word itself.

In this case, the coronavirus epidemic – no, it’s a pandemic – is having a huge effect on politics, as well on everyday life, which, of course, affects politics.  No longer is the presidential race top-of-mind for many Americans.  Surviving the pandemic is.

For one thing, commentary from politicians running for president have had to take a back-seat to the basic survival instincts of all Americans who are now facing huge threats unknown before, with all due respect to Ebola and SARS.

So, that said, here are a few of my perceptions, which I provide because I have little to do other than to sit at home and, to a degree, self-quarantine:

• It took President Donald Trump a long time – too long – to recognize the seriousness of the threat and, while his administration has been taking some new actions, the risk always is that he will react as a narcissist. It’s always all about him, not the good of the American public.
• FOX News and other right-wing outlets continue to spout invective. Things have changed a bit lately when the reality of the virus struck home even to some of the so-called “reporters” at FOX, but the outlet continues to circulate innuendo and falsehoods as a matter of course, contending that it has the best and final information, often from one Donald Trump.
• On the Democrat presidential campaign trail, things appear to be getting down to a central reality – Joe Biden will win and Bernie Sanders will have to settle for hoping that his platform will somehow wend its way into Biden’s campaign.
• The most recent debate between Biden and Sanders – mercifully, there was no on-site audience, which allowed the contenders to focus on each other – revealed commentary about health policy. For his part, Sanders continued to contend that the answer to every question was his single payer proposal despite the current failures of Italy’s system.  Biden demurred, urging an aggressive response to the pandemic while retaining basic health care structures, including a re-emphasis on pharmaceutical company investments in vaccines and therapies – which, it could be added, should have been the case all along so we would not be stuck with inadequate provisions at the moment.
• Amazingly, the Wall Street Journal reports, even as Americans across the U.S. biomedical research enterprise are working around the clock to try to develop vaccines and therapies to save the lives of coronavirus patients, Sanders has had little to offer but scorn, slandering pharmaceutical executives as crooks eager to exploit human tragedy. That’s just another reason why he doesn’t have the instinct to be president and, thankfully, it does not appear we will fade a dubious choice between Sanders and Trump.

The risk every day is that many of us can be susceptible to drowning in information about coronavirus information in stark contrast to past epidemics when we mostly read the morning newspaper to learn about what was happening.  Now, on-line editions of quality newspapers (the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and others) provide moment-by-moment accounts on-line.  Information from businesses trying to cope with coronavirus add to the mix.  So do comments from regional, state and local governments trying to control the outbreak by getting information to us.

Often, too much.

So, my intent is to read stuff about once a day rather than to be engulfed by information which is not good for anyone’s mental health, including mine.

Finally, as a Christian, I set out to take some solace every in the words of scripture, which advise us that “our times are in God’s hands.”  The way I like to put is that “I don’t know my future, but I know who holds my future – God.”

Consider that for yourself.