ISAAC WATTS’ POETIC HYMN TO CHRIST’S SACRIFICE

‘When I Survey the Wondrous Cross’ communicates the profound personal meaning of atonement

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.

When I came across a story in the Wall Street Journal under the headline above, it struck a chord – pardon the play on words – with me.

“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” is one of my favorite hymns and always has been since I was a young child and heard the words sung in the church I attended in Portland, Oregon with my parents and siblings.

The writer for the Wall Street Journal, Daniel Ritchie, made the lyrics come alive.

Here is how he started his column:

“Before Captain Ahab sets sail in quest of the white whale, a ‘small choice copy of Watts hymn [is placed] in each seaman’s berth’ by the sister of one of the Pequod’s owners.  In 1851, nearly every reader of ‘Moby-Dick’ would have known the name of Isaac Watts (1674-1748), and the hymns that had made him famous.

“At Easter, many Christian congregations sang one of his most popular works, ‘When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.’  It appears in nearly 2,000 hymnals that span theological, ethnic and social lines.

“Above all, Watts was a pastor who aspired to be a poet.  He could not abide the lame translations of the Psalms that were generally the sole texts allowed in congregational singing.  But his ’Hymns and Spiritual Songs’ (1707), in which ‘When I Survey’ appeared, didn’t just offer better translations.  It challenged the prevailing bias by offering altogether new works — hymns rather than psalms.

“In doing so, Watts helped lay the groundwork for revivals in America and England under latter-day Puritans like Jonathan Edwards and the founders of Methodism, John and Charles Wesley.  Charles Wesley’s hymns, along with those of John Newton (“Amazing Grace”) and others, contributed powerfully to revival movements too.  But few have weathered the years as well as ‘When I Survey.’”

Ritchie also comments on the poetic nature of the words which carry the potential to draw us to Christ.

“The language of ‘When I Survey,’ he says, “is easily understood, yet fully capable of communicating the profound personal meaning of Christ’s atonement.  It obeys strict rhythms as the hymn genre demands, but its pauses and stresses guide one’s emotions throughout.  Its structure moves dramatically, from ‘surveying’ the crucifixion scene to incorporating its cosmic meaning into one’s life.

“Watts gives Galatians 6:14 as his biblical text:  ‘Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.’  The opening stanza announces this theme, earnestly but quietly:

When I survey the wondrous cross,

On which the prince of glory dy’d,

My richest gain I count but loss,

And pour contempt on all my pride.

“The hymn then moves from reflection on the event to dialogue with God — a prayer:

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast

Save in the death of Christ my God;

All the vain things that charm me most,

I sacrifice them to his blood.

“This is a bold declaration.  But where is the emotional strength that will empower the singer to perform this ‘sacrifice’?  For that, Watts moves away from the first-person perspective.  The third stanza begins with an imperative verb addressed to one’s fellow singers, ending with two questions:

See from his head, his hands, his feet,

Sorrow and love flow mingled down;

Did e’er such love and sorrow meet?

Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

“In this stanza, his use of chiasmus — the repetition and reversal of ‘sorrow and love’ — draws us emotionally into the scene.  Surprisingly, the blood of Christ, so central to his sacrifice, is not even mentioned.  But its presence is palpable.  Every reflective singer will recognize that the Savior’s blood has been transformed into his sorrow for our sins and his forgiving love for us.  The poetry fuses them all at the cross.

“In the fourth stanza, Watts returns to his chiastic technique.  But now he moves forward, taking the singers with him to identify with Christ’s death and ponder its significance for their place on earth.

His dying crimson like a robe

Spreads o’er his body on the tree,

Then am I dead to all the globe,

And all the globe is dead to me.

“The structure of the entire hymn has worked theologically and emotionally to guide the singers to this overwhelming moment.  Now, in the final stanza, they are ready to present their entire being to Christ:

Were the whole realm of nature mine

That were a present far too small;

Love so amazing, so divine

Demands my soul, my life, my all.”

Many churches have swept aside old hymns to make room for newer devotional music – and, while it is possible to bemoan the loss of some great hymns like ‘When I Survey, I also like the new songs, especially when, as in Southwest Church in La Quinta, California, where my wife and I attend, they are done in a pulsating, upbeat style that allows you to exclaim about the goodness of God.

Ritchie concludes:

“…some churches will pause to survey Watts’ wondrous cross, whether to the familiar 1824 tune by Lowell Mason or in the popular 2000 setting by Chris Tomlin.  The personal significance of the hymn’s atonement is central to every branch, twig, and leaf of the Christian tree.  And the power of ‘When I Survey’ to take us to Calvary’s tree guarantees that this small, choice selection from Watts will echo for generations to come.”

And, for me, the echo continues unabated.

A COUPLE MORE PERSPECTIVES ON FOX-DOMINION SETTLEMENT

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.

I wrote about this yesterday, but couldn’t help myself from doing so again.

So, here are excerpts from some media coverage, plus my ending thought.

FROM JORDAN KLEPPER, GUEST HOST OF THE DAILY SHOW:  “Look, I’m happy for Dominion, but Dominion was not the only injured party here.  What about, you know, our faith in democracy?

“There are people who will not trust elections for the rest of their lives, and I have to talk to those people!  I’m going to be arguing with them at Trump rallies every four years for the rest of my life.  

“And you know what? I’m not naïve.  I didn’t expect this lawsuit to restore this country’s faith in elections or even for me to get a little cashola, no.  But I was at least hoping to get a couple of weeks of joy out of seeing Sean Hannity up there on the stand, sweating through his shirt like a beached manatee.

“Would that have saved democracy? I don’t know.  But it would have been nice to see.”

FROM THE WASHINGTON POST:  “It was a far cry from the apology Dominion sought.  But a Dominion spokeswoman said that the sheer size of the settlement was enough.

“An apology is about accountability, and today Dominion held Fox accountable.  Fox paid a historic settlement and issued a statement acknowledging that the statements about Dominion were false.

“There was relief, too, inside Fox, as it was spared more of what one employee called ‘a traumatic’ episode that had preoccupied Fox’s rank and file.

“Fox executives had also been convinced that Dominion’s lawyers would work to embarrass their stars — and especially Murdoch — on the witness stand, and they were pleased the solution meant those people would be kept out of court, a person familiar with the matter said.

“The settlement will not be the end of the 2020 story for either company: Fox faces the other defamation lawsuit from Smartmatic, which has asked for $2.7 billion.  And Dominion is pursuing lawsuits against individuals and groups that pushed falsehoods about its products after the election, including One America News and Trump allies Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Mike Lindell.

“Democrat Kathy Boockvar, who assecretary of the commonwealthin Pennsylvania helped certify President Biden’s victory there in 2020 and has faced threats ever since, said the settlement would be particularly persuasive to large corporations, including Fox itself.

“’Deterrence matters,’ Boockvar said.  ‘This sends a clear message to other networks and particularly to Fox as we enter the 2024 campaign season: They better think twice about purveying lies.

“’Accountability takes many forms, but dollars speak loudly to large corporations.’”

AND THIS COMMENT FROM ME:  Like others, I would have, (a) enjoyed watching Hannity, Carlson, Bartiromo, Murdoch and others suffer under the glare of a suit and cross-examination as both made clear the lack of journalistic ethics of quality, and (b) a requirement for Fox to publish an on-air apology.

[Interesting, though not surprising, also to note that Fox didn’t cover the settlement on its airwaves.]

But, I will let this lie with the reality that the huge dollar settlement “will speak loudly to large corporations, including Fox.”

FOX-DOMINION: A DISAPPOINTING RESULT

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.

I have just enough information to be dangerous, but the Fox-Dominion settlement – just announced yesterday — is disappointing for me.

In this main respect:  Fox should have been required to apologize on air for its intentional effort to publicize falsehoods about the 2020 election.

Instead, based on reporting this morning, we’ll just have to settle for Fox being required to pay nearly $800 million.  While it’s reported to the largest such settlement in such cases, it’s still not enough given the egregious actions –intentional, no less – by Fox.

Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple wrote about the settlement in the Post today under this headline:  “The big hole in the Dominion-Fox News settlement.”

Here is how he started his column:

“When news of a possible settlement between Dominion Voting Systems and Fox News surfaced on Sunday night, pleas from concerned citizens popped up on social media:  Don’t settle this lawsuit, Dominion.  Put all the evidence before a jury.  Drag Fox News hosts and executives to the witness stand.  Grill them on their deceptive programming.

“So, the news Tuesday afternoon that the two parties had settled Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation suit over election disinformation for $787.5 million will disappoint those who longed for a more visceral comeuppance for Fox News.  That’s understandable, considering that Fox News has littered the public square with lies and half-baked stories — essentially mini-Dominions — for 26-plus years.”

Still, Wemple wrote, “the size of the payout, however, speaks to both the journalistic atrocities and the reams of internal correspondence that Dominion pried from Fox News during the pretrial maneuvering.  And yet: It all feels a bit empty.”

Wemple opined that he would have enjoyed the likes of Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, and Rupert Murdoch having to go under the bright lights of the court, including cross examination by Dominion attorneys.

Further, Wemple wrote, “Fox News demonstrated that not even a court record bulging with evidence of perfidy is enough to shame the organization into genuine contrition.”

Fox attorneys said this:  “We are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems.  We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.  This settlement reflects FOX’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.’”

“A commitment to the highest news standards?” 

Laughable.  Fox has none.

And, again, regarding an apology?  No, there will not be one, which Wemple says is “where the emptiness comes in.”

Besides the cost of the settlement for Fox, there is another piece of good news for those of us who value solid journalism and, thus, detest Fox.  It is that Fox faces several more suits charging it with journalistic atrocities that value ratings over facts.

One hopes those, too, will land with a financial thud on Fox’s doorstep.

OREGON BLUE BOOK:  WHAT IS IT?   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.   My friend and former business partner, Kerry Tymchuk, answered the question in this blog headline as he wrote in his monthly director’s column for the Oregon Historical Society.   Here is how Tymchuk started his on-line column:   “I confess that every two years, I am one of those Oregonians — and there are many more like me out there — who can’t wait for the day when the new Oregon Blue Book is available for purchase.   “Published every two years since 1911 by the Oregon State Archives, a division of the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office, the Oregon Blue Book is our state’s official almanac and fact book.    “From a list of Oregonians who have the won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize, to addresses and phone numbers of every agency of state government, to facts about all of Oregon’s 36 counties and 241 incorporated cities, to background on Oregon’s nine federally recognized Tribal Nations, to the text of the Oregon Constitution, and to so much more, this year’s 400+ page book, like those that came before it, is chock full of information about Oregon’s history, government, economy, and culture.”   Tymchuk reported that the Oregon Blue Book is so highly regarded that state law actually requires it to be published.   “ORS 177.120,” he said, “reads, in part, The Secretary of State shall compile and issue on or about February 15 of each odd-numbered year an official directory of all state officers, state institutions, boards and commissions, and district and county officers of the state, to be known as the Oregon Blue Book, and include therein the information regarding their functions that the secretary considers most valuable to the people of the state, together with such other data and information as usually is included in similar publications.’”  Several years ago, one of Tymchuk’s friends gave him a collection of Oregon Blue Books, which date back to the original publication in 1911.  No surprise, he treasures those past editions and has given them to the Society he leads. The reason Tymchuk supports the Blue Book so strongly revolves around this phrase:  If history repeats itself, we should learn from that history.   Finally, I report that I am purchasing the new Blue Book, so it will join others on my home bookshelf.   And, I add that Tynchuk is a good friend of mine.  He holds the “Boyle Family Director” position at the Oregon Historical Society.  The name derives from the Boyle Family in Oregon which has done much for the Historical Society, including funding Tymchuk’s position as director.   So, Kerry, if you learn more in the new Blue Book, give me a heads up.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (A-I): GOOD OR BAD? BOTH

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.

If you follow the news these days, the letters “A” and “I” will make sense to you.

They stand for “artificial intelligence” and, as I write this, far be it from me, who relies on my grandson for tech advice, to come across as some kind of expert.

For me, the answer to the question in the headline is “yes” and “no.”  Good and bad?  Yes.

But, that said, I have run two competing perspectives on A-I.

• One is that, insofar as I understand A-I, it could have a number of threatening uses as it could even be used in criminal activities or international relations.
• A second is that, if organized properly, it could have many positive uses, 35 of which were outlined in a major New York Times article over the weekend.

I have come across A-I in two real-world cases recently.

In one case, a friend of mine told me he used A-I to come up with a written summary of his efforts to become a better golfer.  He gave ChatGPT a few facts and, within seconds, it came up with a blog-like story of his golf ventures – and he said it was very accurate.

In another case, my wife used ChatGPT to provide a few facts about a “dancing poodle” (our family dog is a poodle) and it came up with a story and photos of a dancing poodle, which, it must be said, looked a lot like our poodle, but, I suppose, poodles all look similar.

Regarding the New York Times article, it is worth reading it in its entirely because it contains a thoughtful list of solid uses.

Meanwhile, the Biden Administration is weighing possible rules for A-I tools like ChatGPT.  It is doing so, at least in part, as fears grow over the potential use of artificial intelligence to commit crimes and spread falsehoods.

In a first step toward potential regulation, the Commerce Department published a formal public request for comment on what it called “accountability measures,”including whether potentially risky new A-I models should go through a certification process before they are released.  

The Administration’s action comes amid a boom in the use of artificial-intelligence tools that can quickly generate humanlike writing, images, videos and more, such as the ones I described above.

ChatGPT, the chatbot from Microsoft Corporation start-up, OpenA-I, has been estimated by some analysts to have reached 100 million users faster than any consumer app in history. 

“It is amazing to see what these tools can do even in their relative infancy,” said Alan Davidson, who leads the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Commerce Departmentagencythat put out the request for comment. “We know that we need to put some guardrails in place to make sure that they are being used responsibly.” 

So, at base, governing A-I sounds a little to me like early efforts to govern the Internet, when it was in its infancy.

But, whatever your view – pro or con government regulation – the issue with A-I will come down to what the issue is with the Internet:  Developing positive uses, versus negative ones, will be up to individual initiative.

Which, I suppose, is a scary thought, unless, I add, you read the NY Times list and gain some security from positive uses of A-I these days.

OUT OF LEFT FIELD, COMES AN ANTI-GOLF SUGGESTION IN SALEM

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.

Over the years, as a retired state lobbyist, I have been known to say something like this:  You never know what stupid ideas will emerge at the State Capitol in Salem when 90 citizens gather in one place for a legislative session.

Another bad idea emerged over the weekend.  The Oregonian reported the idea under this headline:  Oregon lawmakers suggest replacing golf courses Pumpkin Ridge and The Reserve with semiconductor factories.

The newspaper added:

“It’s a symbolic proposal — neither golf course appears to be a candidate for redevelopment.”

Still?  Why?

Apparently, what happened was that 20 lawmakers, unhappy with new legislation that gave Governor Tina Kotek temporary authority to designate farmland for industrial development, suggested that she look to high-profile golf courses instead.

Their suggestion probably isn’t realistic – the golf courses are in private hands and the owners have given no indication they would consider selling, regardless of whether or not the land is available to industry.

And both courses, Pumpkin Ridge near North Plains and the Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club in Aloha, are outside the dense cluster of semiconductor manufacturers and suppliers in Hillsboro.

If there was a reason for the proposal, it might have revolved around farmland, where supporters view various risks.

“Farmland has inadequate protections in the bill,” they wrote. “Large, open fields in the Willamette Valley are not purposeless.  These fields are feeding our families, Oregonians, and the world.  A member-only golf course does not.”

Kotek signed Senate Bill 4 on Thursday after it passed the House and Senate by wide, bi-partisan margins. The legislation provides $190 million in grants and loans for chipmakers and their suppliers, $10 million for academic research, and $10 million for industrial site development.

More controversially, the bill gives Kotek the authority to designate hundreds of acres of rural land for industrial development through the end of 2024.

The nationally known Pumpkin Ridge course is 350 acres, according to the lawmakers, and The Reserve is 319 acres.  Each would be big enough for a modest-sized chip factory or a large industry supplier, but there’s no evidence that any developer has ever considered building on them.

Pumpkin Ridge is outside the North Plains urban growth boundary.  It’s among the most prestigious golf courses on the West Coast and doesn’t appear to be a candidate for redevelopment.  Neither does the 36-hole Reserve.

But, again, what this illustrates is that there is no end of silly ideas emerging from the Capitol in Salem.

Do I label this idea from standpoint of my bias?  Yes.  Absolutely.

I support golf and golf courses as a solid way for the public to engage in a game in the great outdoors.  Golf proved to be a salvation of sorts for many people during the pandemic.

So, I say, save golf courses today for the masses, even as land is found for semiconductors (if any more can be attracted to Oregon) and land is preserved for farming.  There is enough land to go around.

AFTER FAST START, OREGON LEGISLATORS PREPARE FOR FRICTION OVER GUNS, RENT CONTROL, AND GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE

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.

If you want to know what’s going on in the Oregon Legislature, just go to Oregon Public Broadcasting’s (OPB) website.

There, you will find all the information from one of Oregon’s best journalism sites.

OPB was a former client of mine and it still is represented by my old firm, now called CFM Advocates. 

So, am I biased?  Yes.  And with good reason.

Such was the case yesterday as I read a story by two OPB reporters, Lauren Dake and Dirk VanderHart.  It was a great story on the status of the Oregon Legislature, which is meeting at the Capitol for its “long session,” one scheduled every other yearsl

Under this subhead, here are excerpts of what the two reporters wrote, Housing and semiconductors have largely united lawmakers so far this year. More fraught discussions are coming:

• Urged by Governor Tina Kotek, the Democrat-controlled Legislature wasted no time building a $200 million package aimed at easing the state’s dire housing crisis, especially for the homeless, a major plank in the new governor’s term as she took office last January.
• Spurred by federal deadlines, lawmakers also rushed to roll out the red carpet for new semi-conductor facilities.
• Taken together, the housing and semi-conductor bills may wind up becoming the shorthand by which the 2023 session is known years from now.  Halfway through the five-month session, they are, by far, the most consequential items to find their way to Kotek’s desk.

While lawmakers have so far avoided major fights, several issues remain on the table which could prompt political tension — gun regulations, abortion, transgender health care, and rent control.

Further, the elephant in the room, as is true in every legislative session, is the need to balance the two-year State of Oregon budget.  Note the word “balance.”

In contrast to the federal government, Oregon’s budget every cycle must contain equal amounts of revenue and expenses.  Lawmakers have yet to grapple seriously with this reality that could be far starker than the state has seen in years.  The final budget numbers won’t be known until May, when economists deliver a revenue forecast that will be used to build the final two-year spending plan.

Here are a few other nuggets from OPB’s story:

• Every week, Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, and Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend, meet to discuss the week’s agenda. The regular conversations have done little to ease the tension between the two legislators in the upper chamber.
• In the session’s first 11 weeks, minority Republicans have refused to waive the constitutional requirement that bills be read in their entirety before a final vote on the Senate floor.  The move is one of the only options GOP lawmakers still have to leverage power given their minority status in both chambers, but so far it’s made seemingly little impact on what proposals live or die.  Democrats have said they will simply hold marathon floor sessions to pass their priorities – meetings dominated by a computer voice droning out bills line-by-line while senators mill around.
• On the top of Knopp’s list of legislation he’d like to kill:  A Democrat proposal to go farther on rent control. In 2019, Oregon became the first in the nation with statewide rent control.  The current law prohibits raising rent by more than 7 per cent per year, plus inflation.  With the recent spike in inflation, Democrats are pushing to further lower the cap.
• Perhaps the most emotionally-charged bill so far this session is a sweeping measure to guarantee access to abortion and gender-affirming care, the latter of which raises the political tender issue of transgender care.
• Over on the House side of the state Capitol, the relationships between legislative leaders feel easier.  “I think we have formed a friendship,” House Republican Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson said of her political dynamic with House Speaker Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis.
• Along with abortion access, gun regulations are a perennial point of friction in Salem — and this year is no exception.  Democrats are moving along several fronts to expand the state’s requirements for gun ownership, and they often cite ongoing mass shootings occurring with regularity around the country as evidence tighter controls are needed.

So, legislators are a little more than halfway toward adjournment, which, by law, must occur in late June or early July.  The requirement to end the session is useful because it means disagreements just cannot go on and on.

When I was a state lobbyist, adjournment – it is called “adjournment sine die” – was day I looked forward to expectantly.  Actually, I pined for it.  Because it meant that my 14-16 hours days at the Capitol were done for another year.

That was good then.  And the end of the legislative session this year will allow those who care to get about the business of rating its performance.

DO YOU REMEMBER “PAPERBOYS OR GIRLS?”

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 headline on this blog arose in my mind when I read a story by Bob Greene in the Wall Street Journal as he chronicled his tenure as a paperboy many years ago.

So, my answer to the question in the headline, is “yes, I do.”

I was one – a paperboy, that is.

A question like this is sort of life, do you know what a phone booth is?  Many youngsters don’t these days, just like they have no idea what a paperboy was.

As a young boy, I remember delivering newspapers around my neighborhood in the early morning hours, before school.  I did so on my bicycle, trying to balance the papers in bags on handlebars as I rode around the streets in the pitch dark.

Tough stuff.

It was almost as tough to walk around in the evening trying to collect money for the papers.  Many people weren’t home on the first visit.

Of course, this was before the Internet.  So, there were only two ways for folks to get their newspapers – either to head to a store to buy them, or have them delivered.

For the latter, I was their guy.

Here are a few excerpts from Greene’s story, just to make sure you understand what it means to be “paperboy.”  It appeared under this headline:

When Boys, Not Phones, Delivered the News; Many homes took two papers, a morning and an evening one.

“I’m no stamp collector, but there is a 3-cent first class stamp, issued in 1952, that I keep in a frame on a bookshelf.  The Post Office Department authorized the stamp to honor what the nation considered an essential job.

“The rectangular stamp, light purple in color, depicts houses in a typical small town.  Against that backdrop is an illustration of a boy with a canvas bag slung over one shoulder.  The stamp’s inscription reads:  “In recognition of the important service rendered their communities and their nation by America’s newspaperboys.”

“I look at that stamp every time there is another news story about the declining circulation of print papers, even as digital circulation grows.  Newspaperboys (and girls) were a vital part of the American landscape in the decades before the Internet and cable news delivered up-to-the-second bulletins onto people’s screens.

“Today, print papers mostly are delivered by adults in cars.  But that purple stamp celebrated the era when the speediest way of getting news to front doors was a boy on a bike.”

Back in the day, in Portland, where I lived, there was an employee for the Oregonian newspaper whose job was to bring papers out to a small office in our neighborhood where we – the paperboys – would pick them up and deliver them.

On weekdays, I was able to carry all the papers on my route on my bike, often rolled up.  So, I was able to toss the paper on the front porch and, if I hit a screen, well, I just rode away fast.

Sundays were especially tough.  The Oregonian newspaper was so big I couldn’t carry all my papers on my bike, so the guy I worked for dropped off some papers at the halfway point, so I could continue.

How ingrained in the nation’s life was a paperboy or girl?

The writer, Greene, said one proud former newspaperboy — Dwight D. Eisenhower — issued a statement from the White House in 1954 honoring the carriers “not only because they serve our daily family needs, but because they symbolize so many cherished American ideals.”

When Eisenhower mentioned “daily family needs,” he wasn’t being hyperbolic.  In 1950, the penetration of American households by newspapers — a statistic measuring in how many homes a newspaper was read each day — was just above 120 per cent.

How could the number exceed 100 per cent?  Well, many homes subscribed to two papers — a morning and an evening one.

Greene ends his column this way:

“For some of us who love this business, there is still no sweeter sound than the solid thump of a rolled-up paper hitting the front stoop.  The future may be digital, but to that hardworking newspaperboy on the 3-cent stamp, with gratitude and respect across all the years:  Here’s to you.”

And, that means me!

MORE ON JOURNALISTIC OBJECTIVITY

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.

As a former journalist, I have written about journalistic objectivity on several occasions recently, including imparting my notion that journalists should strive for objectivity while, at the same time, not be hesitant to out call lies for what they are – lies.

This time, rather than imparting more about my great thoughts, I choose to cite a couple examples of solid journalism, which, I contend, will help make my point that good journalists can still practice their art in tough times.

FIRST IN THE WASHIINGTON POST, FROM DAN BALZ, ONE OF THE BEST REPORTERS DOING IN THIS COUNTRY/

“From the moment he walked down the golden escalator at Trump Tower on June 16, 2015, Donald Trump has been the man the world could not stop watching.  So he was again Tuesday, a day that epitomized the perverse fascination with the former president and the degree to which he has debased the high office he once held.

“When the former president departed Trump Tower, and before he entered his SUV for the drive to the courthouse, he offered a clenched fist and raised arm to the bank of cameras trained on him.  But there was no broad smile or thumbs-up that he has offered so many other times.  By the time he arrived for his arraignment, he looked very much like the defendant that he now is — perhaps humiliated but plainly defiantand no doubt angry.

“Trump was impeached for much, much more — once for trying to extort the president of Ukraine to dig up dirt on Joe Biden ahead of the 2016 campaign, and then again for his role in inciting the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.  Impeached but acquitted.  Those were political arenas, with elected officials as prosecutors in a Democratic-controlled House and jurors in a Republican-controlled Senate.

“This is where Trump has brought the country.  His first campaign broke so many norms of politics, and he survived controversies that would have brought down most politicians.  His presidency brought chaos and turmoil, not to mention lies and hate,again a norm-breaking tenure unlike any other in the history of the country.  His post-presidency has been an extension of his presidency.”

COMMENT:  In these excerpts from Balz ‘ piece in the Post, you get the picture.  He strikes a delicate balance between reporting on the Trump indictment from a factual perspective, while, at the same time, describing in detail Trump’s failures. 

That’s good journalism.

SECOND, FROM OTHER WASHINGTON POST WRITERS/

“The split-screen highlighted the two worlds Trump is spanning as he makes a third straight bid for the presidency:  One in which he is a defiant political hero and early polling leader for the 2024 Republican nomination, and another in which he is in increasing legal peril.

“Trump lit into the other ongoing investigations hounding him, especially the probe by the district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, over Trump’s pressure on officials to overturn the 2020 election results there, and the federal investigation into his handling of classified documents overseen by special counsel Jack Smith.

“The crowd booed at the mention of Bragg and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has a civil case against Trump’s business.  Many of Trump’s statements about the case were not factually supported. Many of his advisers continue to view the New York case as the weakest one.”

COMMENT:  Again, good journalism.

In particular, I was struck by the inclusion of this phrase – “Many of Trump’s statements about the case were not factually supported.”

Also, the reporting identities the fact that the New York case against Trump may not be the strongest one he faces.

That’s a great way to separate fact from fiction when it comes to Trump.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE WEEKS OF THE YEAR!

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.

Many of my friends will know what’s behind the headline on this blog.

IT’S MASTERS WEEK!

That means my favorite golf tournament of the year is under way at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.

I will be glued to the TV or the Masters’ App Thursday through Sunday.

Usually, so will my daughter, Lissy, who lives in Woodinville, Washington, about four hours north of me in Salem, Oregon.  This year, however, she also is heading to Nashville, so she may end up using the Masters App most of the time.

Otherwise, she would be in her Masters’ chair with her Masters mug and exchange texts with me throughout the tournament.  Some texts still may come through.

Here are a few thoughts about this “best of all” golf tournaments as I anticipate it starting today:

MASTERS HISTORY/  What appears below was provided by Mr. Google

“Since 1934, the Masters Tournament has been home to some of golf’s greatest moments.  Amidst blooming azaleas, towering pines, and flowering dogwoods, the first full week of April ushers in a stage unique to golf and to sport.

“Over four days and 72 holes, the smallest field in major championship golf competes for a chance to capture the Green Jacket and a place in Masters history.  Take a journey down Magnolia Lane or stroll through Amen Corner, and explore the iconic traditions, moments and history of Masters Tournament like never before — past and present.

“Augusta National Golf Club was founded by Bobby Jones, the legendary amateur champion, and Clifford Roberts, an astute investment banker in New York.  Upon his retirement from championship golf in 1930, Bobby Jones had hoped to realize his dream of building a golf course.  

“Following a brief conversation with Clifford Roberts, with whom Jones had met several times during the mid-1920s, it was decided the Club would be built near Augusta, Georgia, provided a suitable piece of ground was available. Thomas Barrett, Jr., a mutual friend of Jones and Roberts, was consulted and recommended a 365-acre property called Fruitland Nurseries. An option was taken on the property for $70,000.  

“It was decided to establish a national membership for the Club, and Jones proposed Augusta National would be an appropriate name.  Construction on the new course began in the first half of 1931 and the course opened in December 1932 with a limited amount of member play. Formal opening took place in January 1933.

“Looking to provide a service to golf by hosting a tournament, Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts decided to hold an annual event beginning in 1934. The final decision was made at a meeting in New York at the office of Club member W. Alton Jones.  Roberts proposed the event be called the Masters Tournament, but Bobby Jones objected thinking it too presumptuous.

“The name Augusta National Invitation Tournament was adopted and the title was used for five years until 1939, when Jones relented and the name was officially changed.  The first Tournament was held March 22, 1934, and beginning in 1940, the Masters was scheduled each year during the first full week in April.”

FROM GLOBAL GOLF POST/  Masters Champions Dinner 

In the hours before the annual Masters Champions Dinner, many reporters tried to get winners to unload on a major issue – LIV Tour vs. the PGA Tour.

To the credit of all the players, there appeared to be no takers.

Surely, there is tension around the LIV vs. PGA tussle.  But it’s best to leave that to another day and another place and allow the Masters to be what it is, which is one of the best – if not THE best – golf tournament every year.

JIM NANTZ:  A Masters musician

Jim Nantz is clearly one of the best broadcasters going these days.

I always look forward to two comments he makes when it is Masters week – “welcome friends,” and “a tradition unlike any other.”

Nantz just finished his last call during the recent the March Madness basketball tournament, something he has done for more than 30 years.  Then, with that over, he headed immediately to Augusta.

Rarely a day goes by, Nantz says, that someone doesn’t want to talk about the Masters with him.  It could be November in Green Bay, Wisconsin or July in Pebble Beach, California where he lives hard by Pebble Beach.  He says the Masters is like his “eternal flame.”

Get ready for another great Nantz call over the next four days.

FROM GOLFWEEK/  The 10 Toughest Greens at Augusta National

A better title for this article might be, ‘The 18 Toughest Greens at Augusta National,’ because the reality is that every putting surface on this storied course can give players fits.

GoldWeek:  “It all depends on where the hole is located and where a player is putting from.  Long putts, short putts — it doesn’t matter.  Twenty-footers can break 20 feet.  Three-footers can break 16 inches.  Just about every stroke that players in the Masters Tournament attempt with a flat stick can be fraught with peril.  You have to get both the speed and the direction right on every putt.

“Four-time major champion Ernie Els once six-putted a green at Augusta — from two feet.   In fairness to the course, Els was having an off-day.   But even the game’s best putters know that you need to be 100 per cent on your game if you want to avoid three-putting (or worse) at Augusta, which annually ranks at or near the top of the list of courses where the game’s best players three-putt most.

“It starts, of course, with the approach shot.  Augusta National is not a course where you can just shoot for the middle of every green in an attempt to ensure yourself easier two-putts.

“Again, depending on where the hole is located, the middle of the green may be the worst place to wind up.  You might even be wise to miss some greens entirely rather than face a near-impossible first putt.”

I am not going to take the time and space to list all the tough greens at Augusta.  Just what Golf Week calls the toughest — the par-three 12th would win the toughest contest hands-down.

As I reflect on the Masters, I remember fondly the trip my daughter and I took to the Masters in 2015. 

It was great to be there and to watch players we knew and, in some cases, loved.  It was a great father-daughter experience.

So will be the next four days!