February 27, 2023 by davefiskum

SHOULD WE BRING BACK “OBJECTIVE JOURNALISM?” OR IS IT REALLY GONE?

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 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 question in the headline is one that interests me because of my background in journalism, as well as my interest in how the industry performs these days.

For one thing, the question presumes journalism has lost objectivity, but that notion is not abundantly clear. Sometimes true. Sometimes not.

A few days ago, I wrote a blog contending that:

Journalists should retain objectivity as they report, not opine.
Journalists should work to report the truth, not let lies stand such as those promulgated, as a matter of routine, by one Donald Trump and his minions. Or at least label lies as lies and put them in context.
Editors should make sure opinion is labeled as such to distinguish it from general reporting.

The Wall Street Journal recently carried a piece by Walter Hussman, Jr., chairman of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the newspaper’s publisher from 1974-2022. It appeared under this headline:

“Too many editors are responding to a crisis of public trust by abandoning traditional news values.”

Here is how Hussman started his opinion piece:

“Beyond objectivity or back to objectivity? That seems to be an essential question for American journalism.

“Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication recently released a survey of some 75 journalists titled ‘Beyond Objectivity.’ Many of them argued that objectivity should no longer be the standard in news reporting.”

For his part, Leonard Downie, Jr., former executive editor of the Washington Post, says he “never understood what ‘objectivity’ meant.”

“My goals for our journalism,” he adds, “were, instead, accuracy, fairness, non-partisanship, accountability, and the pursuit of truth.”

More from Hussman: “While journalists argue over semantics, and Washington Post Executive Editor Sally Buzbee calls the word objectivity ‘a political football,’ the public understands objectivity, which a dictionary defines as ‘not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased.’ You will never get politics out of opinion commentary, nor should you. But politics shouldn’t influence news reporting.”

THE DEPARTMENT OF GOOD QUOTES WORTH REMEMBERING IS OPEN AGAIN

This is one of four departments I run with a free hand to manage as I see fit.

The others are the Department of Pet Peeves, the Department of “Just Saying,” and the Department of Inquiring Minds Want to Know.

FORESIGHT VS. HINDSIGHT: This dichotomy came up for me in a piece written by John Bolton that appeared in the Wall Street Journal. Bolton is the author of “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” served as the president’s national security adviser from 2018-19, and was ambassador to the United Nations in 2005-06.

Here is a summary of what he wrote dealing with the foresight that prompted Bush to seek out weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the hindsight that criticizes his decision.

“While George Bush 43’s father would undoubtedly endorse calls for more ‘prudence,’ is that really more than merely a talisman for national-security decision-makers? Academics should recall Dwight Eisenhower’s hand-written draft statement, hastily written for use if the D-Day invasion had failed.

“Eisenhower stood ready to take full responsibility for defeat. ‘My decision to attack at this time and place,’ he wrote, ‘was based upon the best information available.’ The same was true for Bush and his Administration. What else could they, or anyone else, base their decisions on?

“Which of the two camps was the more prudent? What would be history’s judgment have been if America hesitated, and suffered another devastating terrorist attack? That no such attack occurred says more about the merits of overthrowing Saddam than anything else.”

COMMENT: The Bolton quotes relate to the Bush Administration decision to go to war in Iraq given the possibility, if not the probability, that there were “weapons of mass destruction” there that could be used against the United States and other countries.

Thus, my notion about “foresight vs. hindsight.”

Without much information other than what I read in national newspapers, I always have thought that Bush made the right decision. The insider intelligence he had at the time said weapons of mass destruction were ready to be used. Based on foresight, I thought he had no real choice but to proceed as president.

Of course, hindsight has found him to be wrong and critics say – I emphasize using hindsight, which is easy – his wrong decision cost lives and the reputation of the U.S.

FROM DANA MILBANK IN THE WASHINGTON POST: Milbank skewers George Santos in this Post column. Frankly, that’s easy, given Santos’ make-believe status.

Milbank writes:

“But the interview (one with British interviewer Piers Morgan) offered some insight into the fabulist’s strategy for political survival — and why it may resonate with some in the MAGA crowd. True story: Santos claims he is the victim. His lies are everybody else’s fault — honest!

“This politics of victimhood, of course, is the essence of Donald Trump (who could, and did, claim it was sunny when it was raining). Trump loved to complain about how unfairly he was treated by the fake news, about the witch hunts and the hoaxes — and many Republicans believed it.

“Naturally, the technique has filtered down to the rank and file. Where once there was shame, there is now only grievance, directed at imagined conspiracies of dark forces.

“Like Trump, Santos claimed to be the victim of a ‘witch hunt’ by ‘desperate journalists’ who are ‘not interested in covering the facts.’ He complained of victimization by politicians and party leaders — including Republican officials who he suggested doctored his résumé without his knowledge to include fake test scores and a fake MBA from New York University.”

COMMENT: Santos claims to be a victim. No. Anyone who voted for Santos, or cares about what he says or does, is the victim. And, on that point, I pledge that this the last I will write about this scofflaw to avoid giving him any additional publicity.

FROM PEGGY NOONAN IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, writing about former president Jimmy Carter as he has decided to remain in hospice at his home in Georgia as he waits for death: “I’ve been meaning for the longest time to write about Jimmy Carter’s ‘malaise’ speech, long derided by history and cited to explain his landslide drubbing by Ronald Reagan 16 months later.

“It was, in fact, a good speech — brave, original and pertinent to the moment. It failed because he was exactly the man who couldn’t give it, and he gave it at exactly the moment it couldn’t be heard.

“The backdrop was an air of crisis. Summer 1979: The oil crisis, inflation entering double digits, interest rates rising, unemployment too. There was widespread fear America had lost its economic mojo, perhaps forever.”

COMMENT: Noonan goes on to make a very salient point. In hindsight, Jimmy Carter may not have been a great president but, at least according to consensus history, it is clear he has been an excellent “ex president.”

Noonan put it this way: “He had felt called to the presidency. His true calling was to be an ex-president, one of the most constructive and inspiring in our history.

“What a good man who tried so hard to understand America and help the world.”

February 23, 2023 by davefiskum

POLITICS IS THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE, NOT THE ART OF THE PERFECT

On occasion, the best way to make a point is to use an example, not a lot of verbiage.

Such was the case this morning as I read a piece by Phil Gramm, former chairman of the Senate Banking Committee during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, and now a non-resident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Gramm’s article in the Wall Street Journal appeared under this headline: “Some GOP lawmakers have forgotten that politics is about what’s possible, not what’s perfect.”

Great point. The article attests to the virtue of the real definition of politics, one lost in today’s yelling and screaming to get attention: Politics is – or should be – the art of compromise.

Gramm started his article this way:

“Nowhere have Republicans done themselves more harm than in debasing the GOP’s brand as the party of fiscal responsibility, less government, and more freedom.

“The road to adopting the Reagan program and changing America was paved with bitter compromises. If perfection is what you’re after, then running for Congress was the wrong decision. I never wrote or voted for any major legislation that didn’t contain something I opposed. If you can’t compromise, you can’t legislate or govern.”

Gramm added that every part of the Reagan budget, defense build-up, and tax cuts contained “gut-wrenching defeats and painful compromises.”

He pointed to what he called “one bitter example.”

“Nobody who ever took the oath of office was more committed to free trade than I was. My conviction was based on evidence, not just faith. I understood trade and its importance to America’s prosperity and success in the Cold War.

“During my first year in the Senate that core conviction was tested when I put my political future in jeopardy by killing an amendment to impose an oil import fee and had to spend nine long months defending that vote all over Texas.

“Earlier, during debate on the 1981 Reagan budget reconciliation bill, Democratic then-Representative John Breaux came to me with an offer: He and his Louisiana colleagues would vote with us on all amendments and on final passage in exchange for our commitment not to try to kill the sugar program — one of the most rotten in a government festooned with rotten programs. Its protective quota doubled the price of sugar to benefit a very small special interest.”

Gramm recalled that he trudged down to the White House to relay Breaux’s offer and told the president that it was the best that could be done to save the reconciliation bill, with its spending cuts, defense increases, and tax cuts.”

Reagan was reported to have called this “kissing the pig.”

All of this recalled for me a couple cases in my time as a state lobbyist that involved, so to speak, “kissing the pig.”

In one case, as a lobbyist for the Port of Portland, I was trying to gain approval for the first installment of state dollars to fund deepening the Columbia River channel to allow deeper-draft ships to ply the river between Astoria on the coast and Portland 100 miles inland.

To get something I wanted, I had to settle for something I didn’t want.

To get the funding bill through the House in Salem, Oregon, I had to settle for three “pork-barrel” allocations from leaders of the Joint Ways and Means Committee.

Was it worth it? Yes.

Did it turn my stomach, at least a bit? Yes.

Would the bill have passed without the pork? No.

Would I do this again? Yes.

In the second case, I was at the Capitol to try to approve an “immunities clause” in legislation to implement the new assisted suicide law worked in Oregon. It was a tall task to gain approval for ethical ways to avoid having to be involved in suicide.

An Oregon Senate leader, Neil Bryant (now a close friend) created what he called “a work group” to design a compromise bill behind the scenes, which, if successful, would have involved public votes in the full Senate and the House.

A willingness to compromise was required, so, for that reason, Bryant would not allow the Oregon Catholic Conference into the room. Why? As a lobbyist for a religion, the conference could not compromise.

The bill that eventually passed included protections that that my client, Providence Health System, wanted. But it also had to settle for something it hated. In return for avoiding assisted suicide in our system, we had to agree to “refer” patients out to a reputable provider if they wanted the service. But, to a Catholic, referral constituted “agentry,” which was against doctrine.

But, as a hospital system affiliated with, but not specifically part, of the Catholic church, we chose to settle for the compromise? Was it worth it? Yes.

For me, these tales are prime examples of what Gramm said in his article: Politics is about what’s possible, not what’s perfect.

My fond hope is that political leaders in Washington, D.C. and Salem, Oregon – as well as other places around the country – would learn this important lesson, plus practice it. If they did, government would be better.

February 22, 2023 by davefiskum

VIETNAM? FOR ME, NO

Memories can last a lifetime.

That is true for me with respect to the major word in the headline – Vietnam.

Not because I went to Vietnam in that war, which reached a crescendo just as I was graduating from college in 1970.

But because I lived through that terrible war and saw, sometimes almost firsthand, the damage it did to others who served. Not to mention the plight for our nation as opposition to a pointless escapade – perhaps even an illegal one — overseas grew into demonstrations and violence at home.

So it was other day that I was surprised to learn one of my brothers and his wife were heading off to Vietnam on vacation. They were scheduled to head first to Ho Chi Minh City where they would meet up with friends for a walking and biking tour of the countryside.

I don’t oppose this trip for them, for I have heard from others that the vacation experience there has been worthwhile despite the region’s history for persons of my age.

Further, I cannot stomach heading to that far off land, which took the lives of many friends and left the U.S. far worse off than before the war.

Vietnam lives on in various films depicting the war such as Full Metal Jacket, We Were Soldiers, The Green Berets, and Apocalypse Now. I know about them, but I never watched them through to the end. Too graphic.

The statistics are mind-boggling for the U.S. which started a troop build-up in 1964 that mostly ended with the Fall of Saigon:

More than 185,000 U.S. troops were sent off to war.

More than 58,000 did not return; they were killed in action.

Many more were maimed.

Most who returned were treated as villains for participating in what was viewed by many as an unjust war, though the fact that some young men soldiered on stood for me as an example of sacrifice and honor.

Plus, thousands of South and North Vietnamese died in the conflict.

On-line, war analysts put it this way:

“The Vietnam War was a disaster from its bad beginning until its tragic end. It killed four million Vietnamese and more than 58,000 Americans. Millions more Vietnamese and Americans were wounded by shell or shock and the war came close to ripping the U.S. asunder.”

The worst of Vietnam happened while I was in college from 1966-70. In that last year, I was subject to the draft, which, for the first time, was conducted by a lottery.

I remember sitting in my apartment listening to the radio intently as birth dates were drawn and announced.

At the time, the prediction was that men with birthdays in the first 150 days of the year would be subject to being called up. Those beyond that date might be lucky enough to avoid being drafted.

For me? My birthday was called as number 32, so I knew immediately that I was subject to being drafted.

So, the next day, I went down to the U.S. Army Recruiting Office in Seattle, Washington (that’s where I attended college) and signed up for a six-year hitch in the Reserves, which, back in those days, operated much like the National Guard.

I thought I would be a long line of guys around the block waiting to do the same.

But no. I was the only one there.

As for my motivation, it was not a high-calling. It was to avoid having to go to war in Vietnam.

Therefore, my perceptions about Vietnam are colored greatly by this experience, now so many years ago.

They also are colored, frankly, by the cases of my friends who died in the war, one of whom came home from service as a medic, only to come down with cancer from Agent Orange and succumb later to that dread disease.

So I cannot imagine touring places where so many persons – both Americans and Vietnamese – died such horrible deaths without knowing why.

Glad it’s my brother and wife making this trek, not me.

But I do wish them well, even as my intent is to leave Vietnam behind – never going there and trying to forget its tragedy.

February 21, 2023 by davefiskum

FOUR NEW GOLF DRIVER MODELS LEFT OUT

When I wrote about new golf driver models the other day, I should have noted that the post from Links Magazine left out several. Including these four:

PXG, which no doubt irks the makers of the club who spend so much money on TV advertising.

Tour Edge, which gains a lot of notice from being played by several solid Champions Tour players, including the venerable Bernhard Langer, who keeps winning, including last weekend.

Srixon, which is making a name for itself in, at least, golf balls.

Honma, which got a lot of publicity a couple years ago when pro golfer Justin Rose chose the made by the Japanese manufacturer, but its profile declined when Rose soon went away from the brand.

I have no idea why these club models were omitted from the Links coverage. And it also is true that I don’t much care because my loyalty will remain with Callaway.

Plus, in retirement, I don’t have much else to do than to think about stuff like this.

By the way, the top six drivers in the Links coverage were TaylorMade, Callaway, Ping, Cobra, Mizuno, and Titleist.

February 20, 2023 by davefiskum

HOW DO GOLF COURSES GET THEIR NAMES? PERHAPS FEROCITY IS ONE TEST

I have had the privilege to play a lot of golf courses in the United States, as well as in Scotland.

Along the way, I often have wondered how golf courses got their names.

Sometimes it’s just logical. At The Palms in La Quinta, California, where I play in the winter, it’s easy – there are more than 200 palm trees on the course. Thus, the name arrives quickly.

In Salem, Oregon, my normal home, I have played Illahe Hills Golf and Country Club for more than 30 years. There, the names doesn’t arrive so quickly.

Nothing else is called “Illahe” in the region.

The derivation is not clear. All I have heard is that “Illahe” is a Native American name. My only idea is that one of the persons who formed Illahe as a golf course more than 60 years ago, faced the obvious challenge of a name. They came up with Illahe.

So it was that I read with interest an article in my most recent edition of Links Magazine. It joined the naming fray when it ran a story under the label, “The Fiercest Golf Course Names.”

Here is how the article started:

“The very best golf course names accurately depict their settings and entice you to play. Think Pebble Beach, or the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort. Some course names entice you with prospects of comfort, such as California’s Friendly Hills or Nebraska’s Happy Hollow.

“Other course names are more forbidding. Either they repel by their very nature, or they tempt with the promise of stern challenges and obstacles to overcome. A few of our favorite chilling course names that have gone away are Bloody Point, The Witch (both in South Carolina), and Murder Rock in Missouri, a 2007 John Daly design.

“Nonetheless, countless examples remain of course names that signify fear and foreboding in the round ahead.”

Here is the Links rendition of the 10 fiercest golf course names in the U.S.:

Bayonet at Puppy Creek (Raeford, North Carolina)
The Fortress (Frankenmuth, Michigan)
Purgatory (Noblesville, Indiana)
Tallgrass (Wichita, Kansas)
Dubsdread (Orlando, Florida)
Prison View (Angola, Louisiana)
Devils Knob at Wintergreen Resort (Wintergreen, Virginia)
The Creek Course at Hard Labor Creek State Park (Social Circle, Georgia)
The Bog (Saukville, Wisconsin)
Hell’s Point Golf Club (Virginia Beach, Virginia)

Not sure I would want to play any of those, unless I ignored the name.

Back to Illahe and The Palms. Neither is fierce by name.

But, by playing charactistics? Yes.

At Illahe, it’s important to avoid all the trees on the course and, given the character of the greens – most run downhill from back to front – the best advice is to stay below the hole.

At The Palms, yes, there are many trees, but also the greens carry a certain kind of ferocity. They always run at least 11 on the stimpmeter and feature various slopes that, if you are not careful, take your ball off the green and down into a swale, even if your shot lands on the green first.

Plus, veterans at the place told me when I arrived that it was not possible “to read the greens; you had to memorize what a putt would do.”

So, fierce? “No” by name. But “yes” by style of play.

February 19, 2023 by davefiskum

WHAT DO YOU WANT IN A NEW GOLF DRIVER? OR DO YOU WANT ONE?

The headline in this blog presumes everyone wants a new golf driver.

For my part, I don’t, preferring the Callaway Epic I have had for more than five years. Actually, I have two such drivers because I have one at my regular home in Salem, Oregon, and one at my winter home in La Quinta, California.

If only for that reason – two drivers, not just one – it is difficult for me to become excited about new drivers. Price, of course. Double prices.

The most recent on-line edition of Links Magazine showed up with a story on the best new drivers of 2023. The writer, David DeSmith, focused on various technical abilities in the drivers.

And, of course, one reason is that driver manufacturers emphasize all of this – and do every year on the apparent theory that technology, plus new names for drivers, matters to buyers.

Speaking of names, consider Callaway. It started its so-called “jailbreak technology” series a few years with the name, Epic. That became Epic Flash, then Rogue, than Mavrik, and now Paradygm. New technology? For all I know, yes. Marketing? Yes.

DeSmith started his Links Magazine story this way:

“Whether you’re a straight-hitting bomber or a higher-handicapper on the hunt for more distance, the club manufacturers have some attractive new options for you. But unless you have a full day to test-drive some of these new clubs, sorting them out and finding the best choice for you may not be so easy.

“As has been the case for the past decade, the tech jargon is thick in every manufacturer’s descriptions of their new models. That tech is there is do some simple (but important) things: Increase clubhead speed and ball speed, yield more forgiveness on off-center hits, allow for more consistency, and build confidence. But deciphering all that engineering and marketing lingo isn’t so simple.

“In all cases, because high-handicappers have different needs than tour pros, the clubmakers have created different versions for different kinds of players. Some key things to look out for in these 2023 drivers: Clubface design advancements, expanded use of lightweight carbon fiber, and new perimeter weighting options.”

I think I could have predicted the list, but here it is:

TaylorMade Stealth 2 Series: “When TaylorMade launched its Stealth drivers and ushered in the Carbonwood era in 2022, they didn’t just look different with their bright red faces, they were different. They featured clubfaces constructed with carbon fiber rather than titanium or steel, and the tech behind that ‘Carbon Twist face, which TaylorMade refers to as Inverted Cone Technology, was designed to boost performance across the entire clubface and provide improved distance and forgiveness.

“The 2023 Stealth clubheads feature almost twice as much carbon. The face of the new standard Stealth 2 is even lighter than last year’s and has a larger sweet spot for even more forgiveness on off-center hits.

Callaway Paradym Series: Callaway is another manufacturer that has gone all-in on the use of carbon. For 2023, its new Paradym drivers feature a carbon crown and forged carbon sole that make the clubhead’s chassis 44 percent lighter than a traditional titanium chassis. That’s a lot of weight savings, and it allows Callaway to redistribute weight to places where it can be used to improve performance.

Titleist TSR Series: Titleist drivers have always been known for their classic good looks and consistent performance. Where other companies may strut their tech on the outside, Titleist prefers to present a more traditional appearance, and their 2023 TSR line is no exception. This year’s Titleist drivers—the TSR1, TSR2, TSR3, and TSR4—each present an appealing pear-shaped look at address, unblemished by overt signs of engineering wizardry.

“But beneath the surface, there’s a lot going on. They all feature Titleist’s Variable Face Thickness—faces optimized in different ways to generate maximum ball speed across a broader cross-section of the face. Enhanced aerodynamics help generate more speed, too—without interfering with the club’s classic appearance.”

PING G430 Series: Ping drivers have long been revered for their performance and forgiveness. PING’s new G430MAX, G430LST, and G430SFT drivers continue that tradition. Unlike other companies, PING tends to release new club designs not every year but every two years. From all accounts, the G430 series was worth the wait..

Mizuno ST 230 Series: The driver news at Mizuno revolves around what it calls its Cortech Chamber—a dense, stainless steel weight encased in an elastomeric material. It sits in the sole behind the clubface, adding weight there for spin reduction and allowing for increased sole flexure and face stress reduction (translation: more power).

Cobra Aerojet Series: Cobra’s new Aerojet drivers have a serious, traditional appearance on the outside—with a classic shape and glossy crown—but their tech has been dialed up to produce even more clubhead speed than prior Cobras. It starts with aerodynamics (hence the Aerojet name). Each model features a raised skirt (the rear part of the clubhead) and streamlined edges designed to reduce drag and increase clubhead speed.

So, there you have it, no doubt more than you wanted to know about new drivers.

For me, for reasons cited above, I intend to keep playing my Callaway Epic drivers. Two reasons: They work for me, and they’re paid for.

February 16, 2023 by davefiskum

SOLVING THE HOMELESS PROBLEM WILL REQUIRE VIM, VIGOR AND VITALITY, NOT TO MENTION A NEW OUTLOOK

Oregon’s new governor, Tina Kotek, has set out an early marker for her time in the state’s top political office.

She wants to make dealing with homelessness a major plank in her platform.

So, as the first two steps:

She is advocating that the Oregon Legislature, now in session for about four weeks, make $130 million immediately available to begin dealing with the problem.

She is advocating that, on a longer-term basis, the state build or acquire 36,000 new housing units that could accommodate the homeless.

Both are big asks, especially since lawmakers are anticipating a hint of an economic recession that will reduce tax revenue available for anything, including homelessness.

Whether Kotek succeeds will be an early test of her Administration, including whether she, as a Democrat, will have any ability to reach out to Republicans to find middle ground.

Success also will require a new outlook on the part of many involved in the legislative session – “new” in the sense of a commitment to solving a controversial problem that plagues both urban and rural Oregon and is often beset by huge biases, one of which is homeless persons often are viewed as less than citizens.

One place Kotek and legislators could look for clues on dealing with homeless issue is Church at the Park in Salem.

To be sure, that might not happen because Church at the Park has a “religious bent.” Which strikes me as a good thing, but might not build a bridge to policymakers.

The Church at the Park vision has been summarized this way, based on scripture found in Luke 14:12-14

Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Beyond that vision, this list of services:

To restore dignity and relieve hunger through shared meals.
To listen intentionally to the stories of those who are experiencing homelessness, while looking for opportunities to affirm assets and motivation.
To ask those who are homeless about current goals.
To meet critical needs of shelter and clothing through relational partnerships.
To increase advocacy, awareness, understanding, and love for the homeless in Salem.
To invite all who join us to servanthood and leadership.
To say no to violence, and yes to making peace as a community.

Does this list solve all the problems? Of course not. But it is a start. And the Church at the Park commitment also involves providing a type of “small houses” for those who are homeless, so they can begin the reality of living in a place with four walls.

Kotek, for her part, proposed the 36,000 housing expansion, which would help to make the Church at the Park goals a reality.

Many solutions to the homeless will be driven by the government and financed by the government, which means such programs must compete against other major government programs – education, transportation, health care, and many others.

Challenges:

Many of the homeless do not know how to live in a house, much less afford to do it, given basic living expenses.

Often, homelessness is aggravated by drug and alcohol addictions, or mental health problems, which make dealing with the issue even more expensive.

One risk is that some citizens will say that everyone is responsible for themselves, so why should we help them?

Back to Governor Kotek’s first pledge upon taking office: Building the 36,000 new Oregon homes. This is an ambitious target, perhaps overly so. One tough target: Prompting local governments to remove permitting barriers to building homes.

According to the Oregonian newspaper, it’s been nearly five decades since the state produced 36,000 houses and apartments in a single year, and to get there would require the state to increase its production rate by 80 per cent.

But, housing advocates say the target represents an important acknowledgment from the state’s top executive of the state’s dire housing crisis, which has left renters reeling from ever-increasing costs, put homeownership out of reach for many, and contributed to a rise in homelessness that extends to all corners of the state.

So, from me, as I sit in the seats watching the debate, I wish Kotek and legislators success as they deal with what often has been an intractable problem. And I hope they find time to look to Church at the Park in Salem as one place where at least partial solutions exist.

February 15, 2023 by davefiskum

KINDER, GENTLER GOLF

“Thirty-five years ago when George Bush famously called for a “kinder, gentler nation” at the 1988 Republican Convention, he was referring to the overall state of American society, but he could just as well have been talking about golf courses.

“Back then, several factors had converged to spawn a parade of decidedly unkind and ungentle places to play.”

So began a column by one of my favorite golf writers, George Pepper, who serves as editor-at-large of Links Magazine.

He has a wealth of experience writing about, as well as playing, golf. A couple years ago, he reported that he had played his 750^th course, an incredible feat…which, by the way, prompted me and a couple friends to compile our own lists. I got to about 225, a few less than my friends. But, it was fun to review my life in golf.

For a couple years, after retiring as editor of Golf Magazine, Pepper, his wife, and his dog moved to St. Andrews in Scotland in a home adjacent to the 18^th hole at the Old Course. He played there often, writing about it very well in a book called “Two Years at St. Andrews: At Home on the 18^th Hole.”

I loved reading the book and imagining being there, rain or shine, hard by the North Sea.

Now, in the most recent issue of Links Magazine, Pepper wrote about a current trend in golf architecture to design courses that are fun to play, not difficult to play.

The most difficult ones often were designed by the late architect, Pete Dye, who was known to say, “Golf isn’t fair, so why should a golf course be.”

When I hear about tough courses, my mind often goes to Tetherow in Bend, a course designed by acclaimed architect, David McClay Kidd, who emigrated to Bend from his home in Scotland. Soon, after designing Tetherow, he realized he had made it too difficult for the average golfer. Many played it once, but declined to return. It was very tough. So, on a couple occasions, Kidd softened it up a bit.

Borrowing ideas from another golf writer, Ran Morrissett, Pepper provided this list of architectural principals for better, more fun golf:

A course that provides engaging puzzles to solve beats one that does not.

A course where the ball is encouraged to run beats one where it is not.

A course where you may carry your bag at any time beats one where you may not.

A course where you can play quickly while walking beats one where you cannot.

A course you can enjoy at any age beats one you cannot.

A course with understated maintenance practices beats one with conspicuous greenkeeping.

A club that emphasizes the simple game of golf beats one which pursues the trappings of status.

A course you want to play again and again beats one you only wish to play annually.

So, as Pepper wrote: “Elation beats frustration, inviting beats intimidation, natural beats manicured, modesty beats pretension, wide beats long, walking beats riding, a ground attack beats artillery practice, and a resourceful recovery shot beats ball hunting.”

I couldn’t agree more.

However, perhaps, at my advanced age, I would give a nod to riding, not always walking. The moral here is to have fun playing golf and, as Pepper does, salute architects who follow the script.

February 14, 2023 by davefiskum

WHAT DO GOVERNORS TINA KOTEK AND VIC ATIYEH HAVE COMMON? WHO KNOWS? TIME WILL TELL

When Tina Kotek took over as Oregon governor recently, I noted with interest one of her early comments.

She said she wanted her Administration to function a lot like that of the late Governor Vic Atiyeh, the last Republican governor in Oregon who left office in 1985.

Kotek didn’t know Atiyeh, but, obviously, she had heard about the qualities of his Administration.

I knew Atiyeh well. I worked for him for several years, finding him to be a very credible governor, one interested in doing a good job for ALL Oregonians without worrying about who got credit for solid results. He became a friend.

Frankly, we need more governors like Atiyeh, so, if Kotek lives up the brand she said she cherishes, good.

My friend Dick Hughes, former editorial page editor for the Salem Statesman-Journal and now a columnist in his own right, wrote a few days ago under this headline: “Kotek governorship could be in the spirit of Atiyeh.”

Here is how Hughes started his column which is called “Capital Chatter:”

“In her inaugural address a month ago, Kotek quoted Atiyeh’s 1979 inaugural speech and said she took inspiration from him: ‘He too was a former legislator with deep knowledge of our state budget. And we are both ‘firsts’ – he, the first elected governor of Arab descent in the United States – and me, the first openly lesbian governor in the United States, along with the new governor of Massachusetts.

“’I will endeavor to listen and lead with the same authenticity, compassion, and skill that Governor Atiyeh brought to this job.’”

In that spirit, Kotek started what she called her “One Oregon Listening Tour” in Yamhill County a few of weeks ago. On that visit, and ones to follow, she said she wants “to hear directly from people who are doing the hard work every day to serve their community — especially on issues of shared concern across our state.”

Kotek has promised to visit all 36 counties during her first year in office. However, she might be hard-pressed eventually to match Atiyeh’s travels around Oregon – 250,000 miles during his eight years as governor.

Back to columnist Hughes:

“This month also is an appropriate time to talk about Atiyeh, who died in 2014, because February 20 would be his 100th birthday. I turned to Pacific University professor Jim Moore, who is writing a biography about Atiyeh, to augment my own recollections and stories as a young reporter covering the statehouse.

Moore noted that Kotek and Atiyeh had been longtime legislative leaders and, thus, understood the triangular relationship among the House, the Senate, and Governor’s Office.

From Moore:

“When Atiyeh became governor, I would argue, it took him about two years to figure out how to be governor rather than a super-legislator. Some people who worked with him think that he never was able to be a true governor, that he was always a super-legislator.

“I think he overcame it, but Kotek is in the same situation.”

“Second,” Moore added, “any governor has to recognize that a governor’s voice comes across as a bullhorn compared with a legislators. So, you’ve got to be careful how you phrase things.”

And, from my standpoint, this about Atiyeh, with some of the recollections coming from time as his press secretary:

He held “media availabilities” almost every week that he was in town. Some observers called them “press conferences,” but the point was that Atiyeh met with reporters and editors, believing they had a solid role to play in good governance.
Beyond that, he liked to walk downstairs to the press room at the Capitol (it no longer exists in these days of social media) just to talk informally – but on the record – with reporters.
He often ate lunch with the public in the Capitol café, enjoying the process of meeting others who happened to be there.
His door was open to almost anyone. [And, to this day, I recall a comment from one my business partners, Pat McCormick. Coming from his Democrat roots, he was quick to laud Atiyeh as the most open of governors he had met at the Capitol over many years.]
He knew the heads of state agencies and held weekly Cabinet Meetings with those heads. [Along with the Department of Human Resources director for whom I worked, I went to Cabinet Meetings and was able to watch Atiyeh in action. Once, when he was briefed on a suit against state prisons for enabling what was labeled “cruel and unusual punishment,” he responded with one word – “preposterous.” The acting attorney general was there and almost jumped out of his seat, fearful that Atiyeh would use the word in front of a judge at some point down the road.]
He appointed people to his staff, agency leadership, and the courts based on competence, not party affiliation. [Turns out I was one of those. I came to his Administration from a position in Washington, D.C. where I worked for a Democrat. Atiyeh didn’t care. He and his staff only asked if I could do the job in Oregon.]

And, this in conclusion repeating a point I made above: Atiyeh was big on saying that it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you don’t care who gets the credit.

At many points, he didn’t get credit he deserved, but he would say, “so what.”

I hope Governor Kotek is able to capitalize on her stated goal, which is to “listen and lead with the same authenticity, compassion, and skill that Governor Atiyeh brought to this job.”

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Perspective from the 19th Hole

Thoughts from a lobbyist who has represented clients in Oregon and Washington, D.C. for more than 40 years.

Month: February 2023