THE DEPARTMENT OF WORDS MATTER IS OPEN AGAIN

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.

First, this is a respite from focusing on Donald Trump and all he means – all bad – for our country, as he sits as the defendant in a News York criminal trial.

Enough about Trump, at leasts for one day.

The Department of Words Matter is one of five I run with a free hand to manage as I see fit.

• No one needs to be around to help me because I am a brilliant manager.

• No oversight board needs to be appointed because I don’t need that distraction.

• Nothing…just me.

The other departments are the Department of Pet Peeves, the Department of Good Quotes Worth Remember, the Department of Inquiring Minds Want to know, and the Department of “Just Saying.”

So, here goes with words matter and, this time, it will just be a list words that roll easily off the tongue and contain useful meaning.

LURKS:  This word can apply to many subjects.  A golfer lurks just around the corner as he or she tries to overtake a leader.  A political figure – think Donald Trump – lurks in the foreground or background as he or she tries to win election.

The definition:  “To remain hidden so as to wait in ambush for someone or something.”

ROILS:   I use this word mostly these days as a way to describe what is happening in politics in this country.  No longer is there a quest for the smart middle ground.  The penchant these days is to roil, as illustrated by this dictionary definition. 

The definition:  “To disturb or disquiet; irritate; vex.”

TO’ING AND FRO’ING:  This is a word series – actually it is my own made-up word series – that I often use to describe what is happening in politics.  Everyone is going this way and that way, either to try to find a solution or block someone else’s solution. 

The definition:   The dictionary contains no definition.

DISCOMFIT:   I have come across this word – one I had not used before – in several stories about Trump.  If you read the definition below, it fits Trump – simple and direct.

The definition:  To confuse.

EGO:  This word has come to my mind again with respect to Trump, though it fits many others, including, in a way, for all of us who have some amount of ego.  Trump has far too much, which relates, also, to the word below, narcissist.

The definition:  “A person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance.”

NARCISSIST:  That’s what Trump is — someone who focuses on himself to the exclusion of others.  It’s always about him.

The definition:  “A person who has an excessive interest in or admiration of themselves.”