WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT WAS NOT A “DEBATE”

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 (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.

Why do I feel compelled this morning to add my voice to those commenting on last night’s “presidential debate?”

Who knows?  But, at least by emoting for a moment, I may feel better.

One commentator, after the 90-minute brawl, actually used this phrase on live TV:  “What a s___show!”

Agreed.

It was not a debate.  And, if nothing changes, the next two ought to be cancelled by the Commission on Presidential Debates.  There is nothing to be gained by giving Trump another stage on which to emote.

From the New York Times:

“ From the opening moments, President Trump repeatedly interrupted Joe Biden and told lies — about Trump’s own tax payments, Biden’s health care plan, the environment and voting by mail.  As a result, last night’s debate was almost impossible to watch and did little to shed light on the biggest issues facing the country or the substantive differences between the candidates.”

In past debates, it is possible to remember certain phrases that have stood the test of time – and illustrated points worth considering in those previous elections.

For me, one of the best was when vice presidential candidate Lloyd Bentsen said, of his opponent, Dan Quayle, “Sir, you are no Jack Kennedy,” which illustrated Quayle’s lack of experience.

Or, in 1980, the only debate between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan produced a memorable line from Reagan: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”

That line was so good that it was used in many later debates.

This time, if there was a memorable phrase, it might have been when Donald Trump declined to decry white supremacy.  Here is the way Washington Post analyst Dana Milbank described the point:

“When he did produce more than a taunt or an insult, Trump’s sentiments were either odd (“the forest floors are loaded up with trees”) or dark.  He refused to condemn violence by white supremacists and hinted that he might rely upon their violence if he loses the election.  He offered an ominous message to the white-nationalist group Proud Boys:  ‘Stand back and stand by.’”

As one voter, I have had more than enough of Trump’s diatribes.  Time to vote for Biden – and hope there are no more “debates” before being able to do so.

BIDEN FOR PRESIDENT

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 (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 no better blog for me today than to post, intact, the Washington Post editorial this morning endorsing Joe Biden for president.

Those who wrote did solid research, as well as used good words, to verify that Biden would be far better as president and the leader of the free world than the person who now occupies the Oval Office.

So, as soon as it is possible, I intend to vote for Biden and his running mate, vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

*********

Joe Biden for president

Opinion by the Washington Post Editorial Board

September 28, 2020

In order to expel the worst president of modern times, many voters might be willing to vote for almost anybody.

Fortunately, to oust President Trump in 2020, voters do not have to lower their standards. The Democratic nominee, former vice president Joe Biden, is exceptionally well-qualified, by character and experience, to meet the daunting challenges that the nation will face over the coming four years.

Those challenges have been, to varying degrees, created, exacerbated or neglected by the incumbent: the covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed more lives in this country than anywhere else in the world; rising inequality and racial disparities; a 21st-century, high-tech authoritarianism ascendant in the world, with democracy in retreat; a planet at risk due to human-caused climate change.

Underlying them all is the question of whether U.S. democracy is any longer capable of meeting even one such challenge, let alone a host of them. Here is where Mr. Trump has done the most damage — and where Mr. Biden is almost uniquely positioned for the moment. He would restore decency, honor and competence to America’s government.

In contrast to Mr. Trump’s narcissism, Mr. Biden is deeply empathetic; you can’t imagine him dismissing wounded or fallen soldiers as “losers.” To Mr. Trump’s cynicism, Mr. Biden brings faith — religious faith, yes, but also faith in American values and potential.

In place of Mr. Trump’s belittling and demonizing of opponents and allies alike, Mr. Biden offers a deep commitment to finding common ground in service to making government work for the greatest number. He has demonstrated that commitment in reaching across the aisle to Republicans, and also — most recently — in bringing unity to the Democratic Party without compromising his own fundamental convictions.

It is telling that when Sen. John McCain, a Republican, was awarded the Liberty Medal at the National Constitution Center in 2017, the year before his death, he asked Mr. Biden to make the presentation. On that occasion, McCain recalled their service together in the Senate, where Mr. Biden built a record of accomplishment as chair of the Judiciary and Foreign Relations Committees.

“We didn’t always agree on the issues,” McCain said. “We often argued — sometimes passionately. But we believed in each other’s patriotism and the sincerity of each other’s convictions.…

“We believed in our mutual responsibility to help make the place work and to cooperate in finding solutions to our country’s problems,” McCain continued. “We believed in our country and in our country’s indispensability to international peace and stability, and to the progress of humanity.”

Mr. Trump’s negative example has demonstrated how essential in a president are decency, empathy and respect for other human beings. Mr. Biden brings deep reservoirs of each.

But those qualities are not sufficient. A president also needs toughness, governing experience and good judgment.

Does Mr. Biden have what it takes? This year’s campaign offers telling evidence.

Mr. Biden took on some 20 aspirants, many of them considered to be rising stars. To considerable chatter about his past failed campaigns, he finished fourth in Iowa and fifth in New Hampshire. He had almost no campaign money, little staff and, if you believed many of the pundits, no chance.

Mr. Biden didn’t believe the pundits. He stuck to his game plan, took his fight to South Carolina and won — there, and then almost everywhere on Super Tuesday. In defeating Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), he showed that the party hadn’t moved as far left as some were saying — and as Mr. Trump continues, baselessly, to allege.

Mr. Biden then oversaw a vice-presidential selection process that was free of leaks and unnecessary drama. He chose as partner the woman who, after the fact, almost everyone agreed was the most qualified, Sen. Kamala D. Harris of California. In setting aside her stinging attacks on him during the primary contest, Mr. Biden showed that he will govern based on merit, not grudge.

All of that bodes well for a Biden presidency, but obviously voters do not have to judge by this year’s performance alone. Mr. Biden’s well of experience is far deeper.

If he takes the oath in the midst of the pandemic’s second wave, as is quite possible, with the economy in a tailspin, we can be confident Mr. Biden will rise to the occasion. Why? Because when President Barack Obama and he took office in 2009, the nation was in a similarly frightening tailspin. Mr. Obama trusted his vice president to work with Congress to deliver a bipartisan recovery package and then to help administer it, helping save America’s auto industry and the economy more broadly.

Mr. Biden’s competence and honor are more important in this cycle than any particular stand on any particular issue.

But on the issues, too, Mr. Biden offers the nation a welcome, positive vision. It is a vision that refutes both Mr. Trump’s preposterous slander of Mr. Biden as a “socialist” and the fears of some on the left that Mr. Biden is aiming only at a restoration of the pre-Trump status quo.

The slander is not surprising. Mr. Trump — with few accomplishments in his first term and no agenda for his second — was bound to run a negative, dishonest campaign. But in fact Mr. Biden has not succumbed to the wishes of the far left of his party.

At the same time, the world is very different today than it was in 2008 — the challenge from China sharper, the menace of climate change more imminent — and Mr. Biden has shaped his agenda accordingly.

On climate change, where Mr. Trump denigrates scientists and dismisses warnings about a grave threat to humanity, just as he did with covid-19, Mr. Biden understands that no issue is more fundamental to the long-term prosperity of the nation or the world.

He would make it a priority of his administration. Yet, resisting more strident voices on the left, he has declined to use the climate emergency to justify massive, unrelated programs, such as universal federal job guarantees or single-payer health care. Instead, he offers a credible plan for the right goal — making the country carbon-neutral by mid-century.

Mr. Biden similarly has shaped an ambitious and reform-minded criminal justice agenda for today’s world. He would set minimum standards for use of force and condition federal funding on meaningful police reforms. His proposed $20 billion competitive grant program would incentivize states and localities to shift dollars from incarceration to crime prevention.

Far from embracing socialism, Mr. Biden would better position the United States as a capitalist competitor to China. He would do so by rolling back the least defensible of Mr. Trump’s upwardly skewed tax cuts and investing more in education and research; cooperating on trade with allies, rather than spraying tariffs at South Korea, Europe and Canada; and once again making the United States a welcoming destination for the brightest scientists and potential entrepreneurs around the world.

On foreign policy, Mr. Biden offers an enormously positive change from the Trump administration, simply by promising to rebuild long-standing U.S. alliances and the global leadership that Mr. Trump has willfully disrupted.

Mr. Biden rightly observes that the struggle “of democracy and liberalism” to defeat “fascism and autocracy” is not over, but “will define our future.” “Democracy” he has written, “is under more pressure than at any time since the 1930s” — and Mr. Trump “seems to be on the other team, taking the word of autocrats while showing disdain for democrats.” Mr. Biden would convene a “Summit for Democracy” to unite democracies in “fighting corruption, defending against authoritarianism and advancing human rights.” He would rebuild relations with NATO countries and help them stiffen defenses against Russia. He would end Mr. Trump’s appeasement of Russian President Vladimir Putin and coddling of Arab dictatorships such as Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Biden has a sober view of American power and its limitations; like Mr. Trump he speaks of stopping “endless wars” and bringing U.S. military forces home from the Middle East. But Mr. Biden rejects Mr. Trump’s self-defeating “America first” principle and would return to tackling global challenges in partnership with other nations. He would rejoin the Paris accord on climate change and seek to revive the nuclear deal with Iran. He would reverse Mr. Trump’s senseless withdrawal from the World Health Organization, and commit the United States to multilateral efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

That fundamental difference of approach may be most important when it comes to China, which is likely to pose the biggest foreign policy challenge of the coming years. Both Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump promise to “get tough” with Beijing and to combat its mercantilism, thefts of technology and expansive claims in the South China Sea. However, Mr. Biden’s approach would be values-based, not erratic and transactional. He would work with allies to confront China’s abusive behaviors while seeking cooperation where interests converge, such as on climate change and health security.

Mr. Biden’s foreign policy offers insight into his technology policy as well: He would stand up for this country’s belief in freedom and openness against the Chinese brand of surveillance authoritarianism, and he would fight to purge foreign interference by Russia and others in elections rather than deny such interference exists. Mr. Biden promises to take a tougher line on so-called Big Tech in antitrust enforcement than his predecessor — but he would do so based on law and evidence, not whim and favoritism.

Democracy is at risk, at home and around the world. The nation desperately needs a president who will respect its public servants; stand up for the rule of law; acknowledge Congress’s constitutional role; and work for the public good, not his private benefit.

Just as desperately, it needs a president with the know-how and experience to show that values and results can go together.

It is fortunate to have, in Joe Biden, a candidate who can lead an administration that is both honorable and successful.

GOOD NEWS ABOUT GOLF DURING THE PANDEMIC

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 (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

The headline in this blog may represent a search for good news amidst all of the bad owing to the virus and forest fires.

But, the news below also is true.

A story in the Wall Street Journal this week appeared under this headline:

GOLF, THE OFFICIAL SPORT OF SOCIAL DISTANCE, HAD ITS BEST SUMMER IN DECADES

Here is how the reporter, Rick Maese, started his story:

“Back in those foggy early days of the pandemic, as nearly every part of American life stopped on a dime, golf course superintendents pulled out their flagsticks, parked their carts and closed their pro shops.

“Golf is a discretionary expense for most, and as the novel coronavirus threatened both lives and livelihoods, no one in the industry knew when it would be safe for golfers to come back to the course or who would be returning when it was safe.

Suzy Whaley, president of the Professional Golfers Association of America, said the virus had the potential “to shut down an $85 billion industry.”

She adds:  “We immediately knew we had to come up with some solutions for our members.”

Banding together, the industry lobbied lawmakers, worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop revised rules and guidelines, and then worked to bring the nation’s sprawling network of 14,500 golf courses back into play.

After surviving the spring, the golf industry is thriving, coming off a stretch of bustling activity with little precedent.

Golfers played 10 million more rounds in July than they did a year ago, a 20 per cent increase.  It’s the largest bump recorded since Golf Datatech, the sport’s leading market research company, started tracking the monthly numbers 20 years ago.  Play was up 14 per cent year over year in June and 6 per cent in May.

Though analysts say some 20 million rounds were lost during March, April and May, the booming summer has more than made up for that deficit and rounds are up 3 per cent from last year.

Meanwhile, equipment sales are booming, too.  They reached $388.6 million in July, the highest single month that Golf Datatech has recorded since it began tracking retail sales in 1997.

The Wall Street Journal reporter adds this:  “It’s quite a turnaround for the entire industry — the game’s busiest stretch following some of the slowest months that golf has seen.  And, weather-depending, the stubborn pandemic may only help golf’s boom last deeper into fall.  Those around the game say golf is particularly well-suited for pandemic life, offering players space, exercise and a much-needed distraction.

In mid-March, golf’s most influential organizations — including the World Golf Foundation, the Professional Golfers Association Tour, the Professional Golf Association of America, the United States Golf Association, and the Ladies Professional Golf Association — teamed up to form Back2Golf.

Pooling their resources, they reached out to governors in all 50 states to keep courses open, pleading the sport’s case as a pandemic-perfect outlet.

The sport started stirring to life.  Many courses started booking tee times in May, and, in June, the PGA Tour was the first major U.S. sport to return to play.  The industry almost immediately noticed there was a pent-up need.

Perhaps most encouraging for industry analysts are all the new players who have either discovered the game or returned after a long layoff.  The National Golf Foundation estimates the number of junior golfers (ages 6-17) could increase by 20 per cent, or 500,000 golfers, by year’s end. The number of new or returning players was up 20 per cent in the first half of 2020.

The course where I play most of the time, Illahe Hills Golf and Country Club in Salem, Oregon, also has noted a substantial increase in play, as have many golf courses in the Northwest.

On many days of decent weather, there have been more than 150 players on Illahe, many of them new to the game or returning after a long absence. 

It used to be that tee times were only available until 2:30 in the afternoon, after which it would be first-come, first-served.  Now tee times are taken until about 6 p.m. to acknowledge all of the new players.

Further, the Oregon Golf Association has done an excellent job of running tournaments for junior and regular amateur players – excellence in the form of restrictions related to the Covid virus that have protected the health and safety of players…as well as providing a sense of normalcy during what clearly has been an abnormal period.

For me, golf has provided a bit of solace amidst the virus, political tension, Black lives protests and the worst forest fire season on record.  Play well, I say to myself.

THREE TOUGH CHALLENGES FACE TODAY’S JOURNALISTS — AND US

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 (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.

Notable journalist James Fallows does a great job in a recent Atlantic Magazine article of outlining three problems for journalists these days – problems, to a large degree, of their own creation in the bid for the eyes and ears of the public.

But the problems also are abetted by the actions of various political figures as they appear to value ratings more than the public good.

I identify with the problems because, as the preamble to this blog notes, I started my professional career as a journalist, though clearly not at the level of Fallows and others with national and international bases.    

I was a local city reporter, but, still, the problems resonate with me.

They are:

• The embrace of false equivalence, or both-sides-ism;

• The campaign-manager mentality, or horse-race-ism;

• The love of spectacle, or going after the ratings and the clicks.

All of this is especially troubling in age of Donald Trump, an “age” I hope ends this fall with his defeat.

BOTH SIDES-ISM:  This, Fallows writes, is a shorthand term for most journalists’ discomfort with seeming to “take a side” in political disputes, and the contortions that result.

Of course, he adds, taking a side is fundamental to the act of journalism.

“Everything we write or broadcast is something we’re saying deserves more attention than what we’re not discussing.  The layout of a front page, in print or online; the airtime given to TV or radio reports; the tone and emphasis of headlines; and everything else down the list of communication tools reflect choices.

“When we investigate and present exposés, we are taking a side in favor of the importance of these subjects, and the fidelity of our account.

“But on the narrow, specific question of Republican-versus-Democratic disagreements, newspaper and broadcast reporters are profoundly uncomfortable with appearing to take a side.

“…One is a habitual, even reflexive presentation of claims or statements that a reporter knows are not of equivalent truthfulness, as if they were.”

Thus, the term “false equivalence” has been created as a shorthand way to indicate that competing perspectives, depicted by some journalists as being of equal weight, are actually not equally weighty.  The best example is by giving Trump’s lying justifications equal status with proven critiques of his actions.

Now, critics of Fallows – I am not one – could add this point about his “both-sideism” label:  Failing to report both sides could make the media into a dictator of sorts – dictating how people think about current events. 

If so, I say the risk is worth it because, otherwise, all we have is “false equivalence.”

HORSE-RACE-ISM:  Fallows writes about what he calls “the near-irresistible impulse (for reporters) to convert the substance of anything into how it would seem from a political operative’s point of view.”

So, we contend with continuing stories about elections as horse races – who’s supposedly ahead rather than details about their policy positions.

Fallows points to this example.  “Matt Viser of The Washington Post noted, in a tweet, that Joe Biden gave a speech about climate policy, and then got three questions from the press: What would be his message in Florida the next day? Why are his numbers among Hispanics so low? and, Are the gloves off?

“… questions like these are of enormous, in-the-minute fascination to political reporters.  But they have virtually nothing to do with most voters’ concerns at the election, and even less to do with what historians will say was at stake in our times.”

So, what does Fallows suggest as the solution?  Journalists should focus more on policy than on the horse race – which, I add, requires readers to be more thoughtful by being interested in policy, not who purports to be ahead.

THE SPECTACLE:  Entertainment, Fallows continues, will always draw a bigger audience than news.

During 2015 and 2016, he adds, the audiences drawn by Trump’s spectacles proved irresistible for TV programmers.   Now the novelty has worn off, and the audience has been distilled to the believers.  But still you can see the temptation to cover whatever he does, live, and — most of all — to be diverted by his latest stunt or outrage.

“Trump’s greatest strategic advantage is his ability to distract:  Forcing, or tempting, the public mind to forget what happened yesterday because of the new fireworks he has launched today.

“But if we have learned anything about Trump and his colleagues, it is to question their facts, as well as to be deadly earnest about their intent.”

Where does all this lead?

Who knows, but Washington Post media critic Margaret Sullivan put it well a few days ago.

“History will not judge us kindly about this weakness of the media. But there is time to adjust.  Every American institution is now being tested.  From the police to the postal service, the judiciary to voting systems, public health to education, and city councils to the U.S. Senate — all of them, all of us, are undergoing stresses we hadn’t anticipated, enduring blows that are falling from all directions, all at once.”

We, as citizens, should not escape Sullivan’s commentary.

As we prepare to vote in a few weeks, we should be ever more vigilant about how we interpret information from the media. 

I say the best approaches are, (a) to be skeptical (not cynical) about what we read and see, (b) to rely on multiple sources, not just one with inherent biases, and (c) to form our own judgments rather than to accept false equivalence, the horse race, and entertainment over genuine news.

TERRIBLE TIMING FOR POLITICAL COMMENTS

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 (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 have been many opportunities these days to ask this question:

How soon during or after a tragedy is it acceptable for political leaders to make political comments?

For me, politicians have moved far too quickly to make political comments immediately.

Consider two recent examples:

FOREST FIRES:  Even as fires raged around Oregon, various political figures assigned the cause of the fires to “climate change,” shorthand for legislation about which there is little if any consensus in Oregon, as well as nationally.

Others jumped up quickly to blame bad forest management for the fires, which, if true, is the fault mainly of the federal government which owns a majority of forest lands in the West.

I say better for all of those who comment to express concern for those who have lost lives, for those who had to evacuate, and for the now-scarred landscape in the state.

Time later to talk politics.

JUDGE GINSBURG’S DEATH:  Just moments after the jurist had breathed her last, political comments centered on what to do next.

Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank put it this way in a column this morning under this headline:

“They couldn’t even wait until Ruth Bader Ginsburg was in her grave”

He wrote this:  “I have never been as disgusted with our politics, and with my profession, as I was this weekend.

“Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday just before the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. She was not only one of the greatest jurists in our history, a pioneering defender of women and the oppressed, and one whose life story of love and perseverance inspired millions.  She was also a Jew.  You don’t have to be a Jew, or a believer, to see the symbolism — the loss of this great woman at the very moment that, in the Jewish tradition, God begins the renewal of the world — to know that there is powerful, spiritual meaning here that should call us all to reflection on the meaning of Ginsburg’s life.

“Instead, some 80 minutes after her death was reported, Senator Mitch McConnell, a man without a shred of decency and seemingly without a soul, announced his intent to replace her as fast as possible, before the next president is sworn in.

“Senator Lindsey O. Graham soon joined the Senate majority leader, announcing a 180-degree reversal from his position toward Obama Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland in 2016, and somehow blaming the Democrats for his rank hypocrisy and dishonorable conduct.

“Democrats and progressives, thus provoked, responded with threats of revenge:  Eliminating the filibuster, packing the court if Joe Biden wins, even adding states to the union.

“And some of my colleagues in the media, regrettably, furthered the immediate politicization of Ginsburg’s death or demanded to know senators’ positions on the new nominee — before Ginsburg, whose dying wish was that the next president name her replacement, was even in her grave.”

Milbank is right.

Politics has become so crass in this country that early words in a tragedy are devoid of emotion or sympathy.  All anyone wants to do is seize the initiative to capitalize for supposed political gain.

I think we deserve better from those who claim to lead our government.

GOLF AS IT WAS MEANT TO BE AT ROYAL DORNOCH AND THE OLD COURSE IN ST. ANDREWS

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 (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.

With so much time on my hands in the pandemic, plus the worst forest fire season in Oregon’s history, I have forced my thoughts to go to this:

THE APPEAL OF TWO GOLF COURSES IN SCOTLAND — ROYAL DORNOCH AND THE OLD COURSE IN ST. ANDREWS

I have had the privilege of playing both courses on trips to Scotland, the homeland of my wife’s parents.

What gives added focus to these memories for me is that, on two occasions, golf writers stayed in the cities hosting the two courses and filed great stories of their time in each location.

Here is more information on the two courses and my visits.

ROYAL DORNOCH:  Golf writer, Lorne Rubenstein, who lives in Toronto, Canada, and owns a winter home in Jupiter, Florida, made arrangements to stay in the town of Dornoch, with his wife, for four months several years ago.

They found a flat above a bookstore in the little town, which meant they both had a place to stay as “residents”, as well as access to a trove of great books.  Plus, Lorne was only about a block from Royal Dornoch, which remains one of my favorite places to play in the world.  It was Rubenstein’s, as well.  He wrote brilliant chapters about his forays on the course, including the sound of his footfalls on the hard ground.  Essentially, he could venture on the course whenever he wanted to do so.

The club has two 18-hole courses:  The Championship Course and the Struie Course.  The older Championship Course is a links-style venue located on the Dornoch Firth, which can be seen from about half the holes on the course.

Royal Dornoch has never hosted any of the modern professional tournaments, but it was ranked #3 on the 2007 Golf Digest list of Top 100 International (outside U.S.) courses. David Brice, of Golf International, called it the “king of Scottish links courses.” 

Tom Watson is an honorary member, and has been quoted as saying of Royal Dornoch:  “It’s the most fun I’ve ever had on a golf course.”

Back to the golf writer, Rubenstein.  He did all of us a favor when he wrote, “A Season in Dornoch,” a book that captured the four months he spent there playing golf and getting to know the friendly Scottish townsfolk.

A great read!

THE OLD COURSE IN ST. ANDREWS:  The course is considered the oldest in the world and is commonly known as “The Home of Golf.”

It is a public course designed over common land in St. Andrews that is held in trust by The St Andrews Links Trust under an act of Parliament.

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews sits adjacent to the first tee.  The Old Course is one of seven courses in an around St. Andrews that are part of the Trust.  Go there and you can play them all…if you can get a tee time.

The Old Course is considered the “home of golf” because the sport was first played on the Links at St Andrews in the early 15th century.  Golf was becoming increasingly popular in Scotland until James II of Scotland banned the game in 1457 because he felt that young men were playing too much golf instead of practicing archery.

The ban was upheld by James III and remained in force until 1502, when James IV became a golfer himself and, therefore, removed the ban.

Much of this became clearer to me through the work of another golf writer, George Peper, who made his living for many years as the editor of Golf Magazine.  During that time, he and his wife bought a flat near the 18^th hole on the Old Course and rented it out over the years to college students.

Then, when it came time to retire, Peper and his wife decided to move full-time to the flat in St. Andrews.

He chronicled all of this in another great book, “Two Years in St. Andrews:  At Home on the 18^th Hole,” which competes with “A Season in Dornoch” for a sought-after spot as my favorite golf book.

Peper tells a very funny story about what it was like to stand on the 1^st tee at the Old Course, which sits hard by the Royal & Ancient Clubhouse where members stand barely 20 feet away to watch everyone hit their tee ball.

Here is what he wrote:

“No matter who you are, to stand for the first time on the 1^st tee of the Old Course is to experience the greatest natural laxative in golf. So intimidating is the opening that Dwight Eisenhower, a five-star general who once held the fate of the free world in his hands, couldn’t handle the pressure. He slinked to the second hole.

“There you are, barely a dozen steps from the front porch of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, the full weight of its four-storied grayness upon you. Thirty-two clubhouse windows face that tee, and you can feel eyes piercing from everyone one of them, especially from the Big Room – front and center on the ground floor – where the blue-blazered members sip their gin and tonics and peer imperiously through graduated bi-focals.

“You feel their eyes, lasered into your temples. You feel the eyes of every golfer in your group, every golfer waiting to play, every lurking caddy, raking greenkeeper, and passing motorist, every shopkeeper, dog walker, street cleaner, beachcomber, and windsurfer, every gull, snipe, and pigeon, every fisherman on every trawler in the North Sea. Most of all you feel the eyes of Old Tom Morris and Harry Vardon, of Henry Cotton and Bobby Jones – of every great player, live or dead, who has ever walked these fabled links. And you don’t want to disappoint them.”

A couple years ago, Peper and his wife returned to the U.S. where he now edits Links Magazine.

All in all, fond thoughts about golf suffice for me these days when a combination of the Covid-19 virus and the worst forest fires in Oregon’s history make it difficult to enjoy the sport I love. 

The thoughts take second place to actually playing, but there is nothing wrong with being second.

TRUMP DENIGRATES MILITARY HEROES: THIS ALONE SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO TOSS HIM OUT OF OFFICE

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 (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.

What in the world would prompt Donald Trump to rail against military heroes?

Who knows?   A question that could be asked of many, if not most, of Trump’s actions and comments, even as he appeals to Americans to give him an unthinkable four more years in office.

As my headline indicates, this alone is enough to send him down the road from the White House.

But, rather that write about this myself, I choose to reprint a piece by national columnist Eugene Robinson.  He chooses words eloqently to write about Trump’s character – or, more precisely, his lack of character. 

So, here is Robinson.

**********

What was in it for our American soldiers? 

The American Cemetery at Normandy sits on a bluff overlooking the beach where, on June 6, 1944, American soldiers waded ashore to begin the invasion of France. The old battlefield is marked with shell craters and gun pits offering mute testimony to the fury of that day. In the cemetery itself stand endless rows of white crosses and the occasional Star of David — mute testimony to the sacrifice it required.

If you’ve ever been there, ever knelt to read names on marble markers or stood in contemplation of the gray waters of the English Channel, you understand why my thoughts flew back there last week. That, of course, is when The Atlantic posted a story alleging that Donald Trump described American military personnel captured or wounded in war as “losers” and “suckers.”

Reporter Jeffrey Goldberg, citing four anonymous sources, writes of how Trump canceled a planned visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in 2018 to commemorate the centennial of the World War I Battle of Belleau Wood. The public explanation was that it was raining too hard for the presidential helicopter to fly, and the Secret Service nixed the idea of a motorcade.

“Neither claim,” writes Goldberg, “was true.”

He quotes Trump asking, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” Separately, according to Goldberg, he described the 1,811 marines who died in the battle ? which stopped the Germans from reaching Paris ? as “suckers” for getting killed. Plus, says Goldberg, he was concerned the rain might muss his hair.

Then there’s this: On a 2017 Memorial Day visit to Arlington National Cemetery accompanied by then-Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, Trump reportedly joined Kelly at the grave of Kelly’s son, a 29-year-old marine killed in Afghanistan.

“I don’t get it,” said Trump. “What was in it for them?”

And here, I am obligated to note that Trump has forcefully denied these reports. I also note that Kelly, who could easily clear his ex-boss with a simple denial, has maintained an eloquent silence. Meantime, a number of other news organizations, including the Associated Press, the Washington Post and, incredibly, Fox, have confirmed the story, in whole or in part.

More to the point, given his very public denigration of Sen. John McCain’s wartime service, his attack on Gold Star father Khizr Khan, his oafish condolence call to the widow of Army Sgt. La David Johnson (“He knew what he signed up for”) and his willingness to use the military as a political prop, is it so hard to believe Trump said those words?

No, it is not. So in response, I’ll simply say this: He’s right. American military personnel are losers.

They’ve lost limbs and eyesight, blood and guts, minds and lives in the jungles of Guadalcanal, the mountains of Afghanistan, the streets of Gettysburg.

And yes, they’re suckers, too. Sucker enough to venerate corny ideals like duty and valor and the responsibility to answer when country calls.

What was in it for them? Nothing much. Just mud, snow, terror, hunger, horror, jungle rot and a good chance of death.

It is no surprise Donald Trump understands none of this. He is the favored son of a rich man who never taught him to look beyond the horizon of his own self-interest. But on a bluff in France, in graveyards, fields, forests, deserts and jungles around the world, dead Americans lie in silent rebuke of his selfishness. These “losers” and “suckers” never thought to ask what was in it for them. They already knew, yet they did not shirk. Their country asked them to go forward into danger.

And they did.

THE WAY PAST A TOUGH THREE-ISSUE REALITY

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 (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 in golf is the fairway.  The middle ground in public policy is often where the best decisions lie. 

The headline in this blog could pertain to golf when you play two others in a tough match.  Call it a “threesome.”

This time, though, the headline pertains to three issues we are facing now:

• The Covid-19 virus that continues to perplex the world

• The Black Lives Matter protests in this country that continue to affect various American cities, including Portland, Oregon

• The forest fire season in the Northwest that, as it continues, is being described as the worst in Oregon’s history

Why would I write about this?

Well, the answer was provided by something my wife, Nancy, and I read in the Washington Post yesterday.  On the occasion of the 19^th anniversary of the 9/11 attack on Washington, D.C., the author, Hamil Harris, wrote about a sermon given at the 19^th Street Baptist Church in D.C. 10 years after the tragedy. 

Looking for the phrase, “God is our refuge and strength,” Nancy found the citation in the Bible – Psalm 46.  But she found more.

What came up appears below.

First, for the Post to print this is noteworthy, it being, by design, one of America’s great secular newspapers.

Second, the words have direct application today as we face Covid-19, racism protests and forest fires, which, taken together, can be very foreboding.

Here is Harris’ story in the Post, under the headline:

Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength”

The Reverend Derrick Harkins sermon at the 19th Street Baptist Church on Sunday, September 11, 10 years after the tragedy, came from Psalm 46. The Northwest Washington, D.C. congregation was filled with more than 400 people as he spoke from the title, “On the Far Side of Trouble.”

Harkins said his message was partly inspired by the presence of family members of Army Major Malcolm Patterson, who perished at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.  Below are some excerpts from the sermon and his reflections on them.

“Psalm 46 is a strong biblical passage that reminds us that even in the face of trouble, God is our refuge and strength.”

“Harkins talked about the fact that the bible doesn’t portray the absence of calamity, but God promises his presence in trying times.  September 11 was not the first, and sadly it will not be the last time we will see inhuman acts, but we always can depend on God’s presence when tragedy strikes.”

In his text, Harkins quoted from writing on the walls inside the Auschwitz Concentration Camp:  ”I believe in the sun even when it is not shining.  I believe in love, even when I alone.  I believe in God, even when he is silent.  In the midst of tragic circumstances, God is still present, even when it is hard to see or perceive him.”

“Psalm 46 says God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  The reality is that there will be difficult times, but God promises to be our refuge.  When buildings crumble and our world is shaken, God has not failed us.  He has promised to be with us in the middle of tragedy.  We sometimes think that, when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances, God has abandoned us, but this is not the case.”

The senior choir, at Harkins’s request, sang “God Leads His Dear Children Along.”  It was written by George Young after his home was burned to the ground:  “Some through the water, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood. Some through great sorrow, but God gives us a song in the night season and all the day long.”

Now, after the piece by Harris, here is my conclusion.

I believe it makes sense to rely on God despite difficult circumstances, not just when circumstances are comfortable. 

Tough?  Yes.

But, this recognition is what is sustaining me at the moment in the face of the tough issues of Covid-19, race, and fires.

God is my refuge and strength.

WORDS TO DESCRIBE DONALD 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 (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.

Even as the Republican National Convention (RNC) ended a few days ago – mercifully — I cannot help but think of various words to describe Donald Trump as, incredibly, he seeks a second term after as disastrous four years in office.

I did not watch or listen to the RNC, but I read just enough to know that it was just another reality TV show venture for Trump and his sycophants.

So, here are the first words that come to my mind when I think of Trump.

• Lacks honesty.  Why else do lies come to him so easily as second nature?

• Lacks conscience.  Why else, for example, could he tolerate his own action to separate immigrant children from their families?

• Lacks empathy.  Why else would he criticize U.S. military war hero John McCain, both in life and in death?

• Lacks decency.  Why else would he act toward women as if they are just objects.

Finally, with help from my wife, I thought of this old saying – “The emperor has no clothes” – when it comes to Trump.

According to my on-line dictionary, “this expression is used to describe a situation in which people are afraid to criticize something or someone because the perceived wisdom of the masses is that the thing or person is good or important.”

Right.  That’s true at least of Trump’s sycophants – but, I hope, not of “the masses.”

We need a leader in the Office of President who will be honest, empathetic, decent, and act with a conscience.

This fall, that’s Joe Biden.  And I hope “the masses” will agree.

**********

And, here’s a footnote for you.  Catherine Rampell, a Washington Post writer, posted an excellent column which said that “what’s needed are different units for measuring the Trump administration’s failures and scandals, since the standard metrics aren’t registering.

“His record should be quantified in scales that a Fox News viewer might be more familiar with:  Not body counts or dollars, but Benghazis and Solyndras.”

Rampell reports:

• The number of lives lost to Covic-19 is roughly equal to the death toll of 60 9/11 attacks.

• Or, that number equals about 46,000 Benghazis.
  
  
• Trump once took credit for saving approximately 700 jobs at an Indiana plant run by Carrier, but last week alone 1.6 million people applied for unemployment benefits, the equivalent of 2,300 Carrier plants.

Enough!

IS OVERCOMING STUTTERING ANOTHER REASON TO VOTE FOR JOE BIDEN? I SAY YES — AND HERE’S WHY

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 (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 it what I long for in both politics and golf. The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions like. And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

Is the fact that Joe Biden suffers from stuttering enough reason to vote for him for president?

Probably not in and of itself, but the fact that he has readily admitted his speech problem, as well as developed a way to surmount it, does indicate something of his real character.

And, for me, this reality provides another reason to vote for Biden.

Stuttering is a speech malady that affects millions of Americans. It is difficult to conquer. Plus, especially in today’s ridicule-dominated society, those who stutter can be subjected to taunts and derision.

Biden’s stutter still sometimes affects his speech and, in some quarters, has given rise to the notion that he lacks the mental chops to be president.

The fact is that his stutter can, at times, obscure what he intends to say – or at least how he says it. But it cannot be left to obscure the quality of his life, the contributions he has made to public service, and his example of empathy in life.

Why does all of this matter to me?

Well, in the spirit of full disclosure, I have been one of those who has suffered from stuttering. It developed in my childhood and, while I have not had professional help to conquer it, I have managed to do so on my own, which is not to suggest that I deserve any huge dose of personal credit for the achievement.

I just managed to find a way around it, so much so that, in a series of strange twists, I spent much of my professional career speaking in public or before television cameras.

So, with that context, I appreciate the commitment of Biden to surmount a problem and serve a long political career that involved a lot of public speaking, despite his speech malady.

To me, his achievement – also his willingness to assume a public position (admitting his stutter) that he could have avoided – is another sign of his decency.

And, what about that young man, Brayden Harrington, who spoke for Biden at the Democrat Convention…with his stutter?

“Twenty seconds into his speech, Brayden Harrington started to stutter.

“He knew he would — it was the reason the 13-year-old was addressing millions of viewers from his bedroom. As he had explained to kick off his speech, his life had changed after meeting former vice president Joe Biden in February.

“He told me that we were members of the same club. We … ” Brayden said, shutting his eyes as he drew out an “s” sound, willing the word to emerge: “… stutter.

“And then, he kept going — smiling, poised, and delivering a powerful message about how Biden had inspired him to reach higher.”

In the Washington Post, commentator Michael Gerson, though he was not writing about stuttering, put it this way about Biden:

“The former vice president delivered a sober, direct, large-hearted and aspirational speech (in the Democrat National Convention) in which nearly every word was an implied rebuke to President Trump’s paranoid style of politics.  In 25 well-crafted minutes, Biden managed to capture the romance of decency.”

Back to stuttering. Atlantic Magazine writer, John Hendrickson, wrote a long piece about what he labeled “The Biden Talk.” And, to add reality to his piece, Hendrickson said that he, too, stutters.

As Hendrickson put it in the lead for his story:

“His (Biden’s) verbal stumbles have voters worried about his mental fitness. Maybe they’d be more understanding if they knew he’s still fighting a stutter

“His eyes fall to the floor when I ask him to describe it. We’ve been tiptoeing toward it for 45 minutes, and so far, every time he seems close, he backs away, or leads us in a new direction. There are competing theories in the press, but Joe Biden has kept mum on the subject. I want to hear him explain it. I ask him to walk me through the night he appeared to lose control of his words onstage.

“’I—um—I don’t remember,’ Biden says. His voice has that familiar shake, the creak and the croak. ‘I’d have to see it. I-I-I don’t remember.’”

So, all of this is another reason for my vote for Biden this fall.