PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19TH 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 a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.
Author Joseph Epstein caught my attention with a piece he wrote for the Wall Street that focused on this word – dissensus.
By the sound of the word, it would be possible to imagine its definition, even if it is not a word in my regular vocabulary: Difference of opinion, which, obviously, lacks consensus.
Epstein wrote this under the headline, “Dissensus, the Spirit of Our Age” and this tagline, “Donald Trump could arise only in an atmosphere that is itself soaked in political derision:”
“We are living in a time of great dissensus, when political arguments are not merely rife, but emotionally and verbally, if not actually, violent. People who are certain of the urgency of climate change often treat doubters as if they were hopelessly stupid flat-worlders. People who oppose abortion tend to consider those who feel otherwise as little less than murderers. Run down the list of issues – and an issue, recall, is a subject still in the flux of controversy – and one discovers similarly tempestuous reactions, pro and con, everywhere.”
Epstein, thoughtfully, goes on to say that his own position is to have “moderate views, extremely held.” Whenever the subject of politics come up in one of his social circles, he says he always jumps in with this warning: “I have never lost a political argument, which would be more impressive if I didn’t have to admit that neither I have ever won one.”
So, how does all this relate to Trump?
As the tagline says, Epstein contends that “a figure as deliberately divisive as Donald Trump could arise only in an atmosphere that is itself soaked in political derision.”
“At a time of international crisis and domestic turmoil, where cool heads are called for, Mr. Trump brings a hot head and a loose lip and a level of coarseness hitherto unseen in a presidential campaign. That so many people appear to be not merely amused but enthralled by his crude views is no cause for celebration.”
I agree.
Trump’s recent comment that the U.S. should bar all Muslims from entering this country is only one more indication of the depths to which he’ll go. He’ll say anything – impugning the integrity of all those running against him for the Republican nomination, insulting women, mocking those with disabilities and assuming that anyone other than him is stupid.
Cause for celebration would occur when, as Americans, we have better choices for the individuals who want to be leader of the free world. If our choice comes down to an alleged crook, Hillary Clinton, or a lumbering buffoon, Donald Trump, I’ll vote for someone else – almost anyone else.
Here’s hoping that we will have a choice between ethical leader who will lead this country with a solid recognition of history and values, plus the idea of finding the smart middle ground in the national and international issues that face us.
Perspective from the 19th Hole 