Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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 my wife were reading the Bible the other morning, we came across a verse that, beyond its application to life in general, could apply to my favorite sport, golf.

11 Timothy 2:5 says this:

“…anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.”

See. 

Life. 

And golf.

Golf is the only sport where competitors call rules violations on themselves, in contrast to many other sports where those playing the game try to get away with violations.

Some examples:

• In 2024 Tour Championship, during the third round, Sahith Theegala believed his club touched the sand in a bunker on his backswing, a violation of Rule 12.2b.  Even though TV cameras could not confirm it and he had no video evidence, he reported the violation to officials, resulting in a two-stroke penalty, which likely cost him a massive payday.
• In the 2025 Travelers Championship, during the third round, Russell Henley called a one-stroke penalty on himself when he noticed his ball move “a dimple to the right” as he took his club back.  Despite being in contention for a $3.6 million check, he stated, “I just felt it was the right thing to do,” and used it as a teaching moment for his son.
• In the 2010 Verizon Heritage, in a playoff against Jim Furyk, Brian Davis called a two-stroke penalty on himself after his club touched a loose reed (an illegal, moving, man-made object at the time) in a hazard on his backswing.  He and the rules official, didn’t see the infraction at first, but Davis took the initiative to admit it, giving up his best chance for his first PGA Tour win.
• In the 2011 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, during the first round, a high-definition, slow-motion video replay showed that Padraig Harrington’s ball had moved slightly, a fraction of an inch, when he removed a loose impediment.  While the infraction was technically found by TV, Harrington’s acceptance of the penalty, despite it being imperceptible to the naked eye, is a frequently cited example of adhering to the rules, even when it feels unfair. 

Back to the Bible reference.

So, the Bible says “play” life according to the rules, though also recognize that you are a child of God based on what God offers you – free grace – not because of abiding by rules.

And, play golf by the rules.  It’s how the game should be played.  Call a penalty on yourself if you know you committed a violation.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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 was going to write a new blog with a one-word headline – “Astounding” – to describe Donald Trump.

Then, I was going to make a list of words describing Trump and none would have been positive, given his mess of making of the U.S. presidency in his image as he serves himself and no one else.

But, I read a new column by Frank Bruni, who writes for the New York Times.  His words were so on-target that I decided to re-print his column because it is so credible.  Better than writing my own words.  So, all credit to Bruni whose latest work appeared under the headline I borrowed for this blog. 

*********

By Frank Bruni

There are many signs of President Trump’s deterioration, but on one front he has indisputably grown sharper and faster.

He’s at his peak when it comes to maligning the dead.

He used to be more shambolic about it. After John McCain’s death in August 2018, the aspersions that Trump cast on the Arizona senator were feeble and fitful, with Trump’s summary judgment — “I never was a fan” — coming more than six months later. That statement was as needless as it was tactless. Trump had made his disdain for McCain clear all the way back in 2015, when he mocked McCain’s five and a half years as a prisoner of war, suggesting that winners don’t get captured and tortured.

Trump was quicker to kick Colin Powell’s corpse. The highly decorated general and former secretary of state died in October 2021; Trump’s public condemnation of him came within about 24 hours. He memorialized Powell’s “big mistakes on Iraq,” and he accused Powell of disloyalty to fellow Republicans, which really meant a refusal to genuflect before Trump. Trump measures people not by what they’ve done for others but by what they’ve denied him. He uses the narcissist’s yardstick.

And he whacked Robert Mueller with it, rejoicing over the former F.B.I. director’s death almost simultaneously with the news of it a week ago Saturday. “Good,” Trump exulted in a social media post. “I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!”

On McCain’s and Powell’s graves, Trump did a lazy waltz. On Mueller’s, a jitterbug.

And we’ve already moved on. We always do. That’s the thing about Trump’s moral grotesqueness — there’s so much of it that no one instance, no single episode, can hold our attention for long. He maxes out our memories, the new depravity quickly overwriting the old depravity on our hard drives.

But let’s not let purge his denigration of Mueller just yet. For several reasons, it warrants more than a fleeting wince.

A common thread runs through the lives of McCain, Powell and Mueller. All three were military veterans. All three saw combat. And all three received Bronze Stars and Purple Hearts for their service and injuries in Vietnam — the place that Trump avoided with a physician’s note attesting to his ostensibly debilitating bone spurs.

Is Trump shamed by their examples? He’s surely baffled by their choices. Trump wouldn’t risk a paper cut unless there was multi-million-dollar payoff on the far side of the nick. And he has privately referred to Americans killed in wars as “suckers” for having put their lives on the line, according to reports — which he has called “fake news” — by several news organizations.

It’s as if he needs desperately to feel superior to those soldiers, to cast their strength as weakness, their courage as folly, lest his own cowardice be exposed. And so he disparaged McCain, Powell and Mueller, talking smack about them even (especially?) when they could no longer talk back.

His pronounced venom for Mueller no doubt reflects his particular interest in discrediting his work as a special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Mueller’s inquiry bedeviled Trump for much of his first term in the White House, and when, in 2019, Mueller released a report saying that he could not determine definitively that the Trump campaign had — or had not — conspired with Russia, Trump falsely claimed complete exoneration, putting the phrases “witch hunt” and “Russia hoax” in heavy rotation.

Trump’s spinning of Mueller’s report was his dress rehearsal for his rewriting of what happened on Jan. 6, 2021. It required the transformation of Mueller from earnest public servant to vengeful monster, and Trump was hardly going to abandon or halt that project upon Mueller’s death.

It’s always about Trump, it’s all about Trump and his rants about the recently departed are hardly confined to those in government. In December, after the beloved movie director Rob Reiner and his wife were fatally stabbed in their Los Angeles home, Trump attributed their deaths to their political opposition to him. He wrote in a social media post that Reiner perished “due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.” It was appalling. And it was quickly forgotten.

That’s why I’m revisiting it. That’s why I’m mentioning Mueller. Trump wants us to become inured to his offenses because inoculates him from any consequences. He wants to degrade us — he wants to degrade everything — because he’s a more fitting ruler with freer rein if his kingdom has been leeched of all decency.

He’s a hypocrite, of course, as are the lickspittles around him. After Charlie Kirk’s death, they freaked out about any stray whisper of the uglier parts of Kirk’s legacy — it was untimely, unseemly, cruel — but they shrug at Trump’s sadism. They ignore his souring of Kirk’s memorial itself, where Trump said flippantly that he hates his enemies. All of that they recast as boldness. Or they claim that it’s harmless: It’s just Trump being Trump. It’s a presidential perk, like winged swag from Qatar, a tacky ballroom and incompetent underlings.

No. It’s more than that, and it’s worse than that. It’s a retreat from empathy, generosity, kindness. And it’s telling. The way we respond to death says everything about who we are. If we can’t extend the dead a bit of grace, it’s because we’re graceless.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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 watched professional golf late last week and over the weekend, you saw a heart-warming story.

Long-time pro Gary Woodland won the Houston Open, his first win in about seven years, dating back to when he won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in 2019

Heart-warming?

Yes.

Woodland recovered from brain surgery a couple years ago, then three weeks ago opened his mouth and his heart about his struggles with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) after the surgery.

Here is the way GolfWeek wrote about Woodland’s win under this headline:  Gary Woodland wins 2026 Houston Open following emotional PTSD revelation.

“It was only 20 days ago Gary Woodland revealed to the world he deals with PTSD, a side effect from brain surgery to remove a lesion in September 2023.  He did so in an emotional Golf Channel interview before the Players Championship, saying he needed to get it off his chest, hoping to help not only himself but others dealing with similar circumstances.

“Earlier this week, the 41-year-old said it felt like he had a 1,000-pound weight lifted off his shoulders after telling the world of his diagnosis.  He’s going to feel a little bit heavier Sunday, but it’s because he’s hoisting a trophy for the first time in almost seven years.

“Woodland won the 2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park, his first victory since the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in 2019.  The span between wins was one of the most difficult challenges any professional golfer has faced off the course during that time.

“But Sunday belonged to Woodland, who showed the fans, his peers and the world you can overcome anything you set your mind to.

“The way Woodland won was dominant.  He led by only one shot after 54 holes, and by the time he made the turn, he was six ahead.  Coming down the stretch, he led by as many as seven shots. He finished at 21 under par, beating Nicolai Hojgaard by five shots.

“Hojgaard and Min Woo Lee, the defending champion in Houston, walked about 50 yards behind Woodland cheering him on as he marched to victory down the 18th hole Sunday afternoon.

“Earlier this week, Woodland switched to his old iron shafts, a stiffer version that could handle an aggressive swing.  The change came after his coach, Randy Smith, told Woodland he needed to start swinging harder at the ball like he did when he won the U.S. Open.

“That was the plan this week.  And Woodland swung away at Memorial Park. On the par-5 third hole, he hit 196 mph ball speed with his tee shot and constantly was in the 190s off the tee.  For the season, Woodland is first in ball speed on the PGA Tour, and those numbers likely will only go up after this week.

“And now, he’s back in the winner’s circle. The win also gets him into the Masters in two weeks.”

A couple more points:

• Kudos to Hojgaard and Lee for giving the stage to Woodland as all three walked up the 18^th hole.  Woodland deserved the adulation.

• Just after Woodland confirmed his win with a putt to save par on 18, his wife came out quickly and gave him a well-deserved hug.  He couldn’t restrain his tears at the solid result.  And, now in a couple weeks, he moves on to the Masters.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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 the introduction to this blog notes, I was a lobbyist in the State of Oregon for 25 years and dealt with the Oregon Legislature as a state government manager for 15 years before that.

So, there were many opportunities to experience strange stories in the confines of the State Capitol in Salem, Oregon. 

Some of them funny.  Others not so.

Here is a summary, which I like to re-live because they enable me to reflect back on 40 years of public policy involvement in Oregon.

• DEEPENING THE COLUMBIA RIVER CHANNEL:  When a bill came up
• for a vote on the House floor to appropriate the first installment of funding
• to deepen the Columbia River channel, it also included pork-barrel projects
• for Medford, Grants Pass and Klamath Falls, all cities represented by
• members of the Joint Ways and Means Committee which approves state
• funding. 
•  
• When the bill came to the 60-member House floor, I knew it had about 32 votes, enough to pass.  Of course, like any good lobbyist, I had “counted the votes.”
•  
• But it would not be possible to lose three votes pursuant to the House floor debate and thus not reach the required 31. 
• Then, an ultra-liberal representative from Eugene began railing against the bill.  That was good news for me in the sense that, the longer she talked, the more the tally of votes for the bill grew higher.  
•  
• As soon as he could from the rostrum, the late Representative Bill
• Markham, Republican from Riddle, Oregon, called for the vote. 
•  
• And, to the delight of those on the floor and in the gallery – including me –he did so with these words:  “All in favor of this bill say oink-oink” – owing of course, to the pork-barrel allocations in the bill.
•  
• Deepening the Columbia River channel stands as a huge achievement for all of us who were involved in the effort.  To this day, deeper draft ships ply their way inland from the coast to ports around Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington, and then back out to the ocean.
•  
• Which means solid economic development for the region.

1. ANSWERING A STRANGE QUESTION IN A LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE HEARING:  In a Joint Ways and Means Committee meeting, a Senate member of the committee had a state agency head just where she wanted him in his testimony on his agency’s budget. 
2.  
3. In a firm voice, she asked with emphasis:  “Okay, which is it — $500,000
4. or half a million?” 
5.  
6. The witness was not quite sure how to answer.  No one in the hearing room was sure either, including me in the back of the room as I tried to avoid laughing out loud.
7.  
8. GUTTING AND STUFFING:  A lobbyist for Eastmoreland Hospital – it
9. no longer exists in Portland, Oregon — tried to prod legislators to pass a bill requiring health insurance companies to contract with the hospital.  This included the health insurance companies I represented.
10.  
11. The original bill failed, but the opposing lobbyist did not give up.  He set a record that stands to this day:  He tried to “gut” 17 bills and “stuff” the
12. Eastmoreland mandate into those bills, all out of site of the opponents.
13.  
14. In each case, I and other health insurance lobbyists found out about the attempts and killed them all.
15. But the 17 “gut and stuff” tactics remains a record to this day.
16.  
17. PUTTING A TUGBOAT OPERATOR OUT OF BUSINESS IN COOS BAY, OREGON:  Several years ago, the Legislature decided to put a Coos Bay tugboat operator out of business simply because he also served as a pilot to bring big ships in over the bar into the Coos Bay harbor.
18.  
19. The proposal came from a lobbyist for another tug operator who demonstrated her lack of class and integrity by yelling at me in a public hallway just outside hearing rooms for the Joint Ways and Means Committee.
20.  
21. She was incensed because we had produced a letter for the record supporting our side of the issue, which was that a bar pilot should be able to continue to operate his tugboat business because, for one thing, he had persevered during bad economic times in the Coos Bay area while his competitors had fled a down economy. 
22.  
23. The letter we inserted into the public record came, incredibly, from
24. the mother of one of the individuals trying to put our client out of business.
25. She felt our operator should be allowed to continue being both a bar pilot
26. and a tug operator, and, of course, not at the same time.
27.  
28. The lobbyist who came unglued in the hallway also filed a Capitol
29. Club (the name of the professional association of lobbyists) complaint
30. alleging that I had produced a false letter for the record.  Of course,
31. I had not and attested to that fact in a communication prepared by the
32. mother’s private legal counsel.  The Capitol Club complaint failed. 
33.  
34. Alas, the bill I opposed passed, thus putting our client out of business as a tug operator, which stands as one of the clearest over-the-top actions by a legislature in my memory.
35.  
36. Enough for today.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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 this blog headline after reading another blog, one posted by my former business partner and still friend, Gary Conkling.

His post appeared under this subhead, good general advice for Oregonians interested in developing Oregon’s economy.

We Need to Own Our Weaknesses, But Pursue Our Strengths

Conkling’s post summarized proposals from John Tapogna, an economist in Oregon who now chairs the Oregon Business Council, a roundtable of top business executives interested in growing Oregon’s economy at a time when there is uncertainty about its future..

So, without further ado, I re-post Conkling’s column because it contains ideas worth considering.

*********

Oregon’s current economic and education policies were “built to solve yesterday’s problems” and, if unchanged, could result in “stagnation, scarcity and decline,” according to John Tapogna, new president of the Oregon Business Council.

“The question shouldn’t be whether we can afford to change,” Tapogna says, “but whether we can afford not to.”

His analysis of what’s wrong with Oregon is hard to deny. However, some of his cures may be as controversial as the causes he cites and could produce political stalemate and even deeper divisions.

It’s not a pie-in-the-sky idea. Oregon ranked 1^st nationally in university licenses, 4^th nationally in patents per capita, 5^th in university-driven startups and 7^th in the 2024 Innovation Index. We have the ability to define our own future in high tech, advanced manufacturing and medical innovation, creating new jobs, more exports and renewed confidence in Oregon as the place to live, work and play.

A good example reported by the Oregon Journalism Project is the $2.5 billion robotics start-up that began in an Oregon State University laboratory and now has its flagship robot Digit working in Amazon warehouses and Toyota manufacturing plants.

Tapogna’s Case

Tapogna cites out-of-date economic, educational and land-use policies as harbingers of a “doom-cycle” in Oregon with businesses leaving, new investment lagging and student achievement remaining low. The state’s natural beauty, he says, won’t be enough to bail out Oregon’s economy.

The five challenges Tapogna singled out are a chronic housing shortage, “lousy” K-12 schools, wildfires, overreliance on income taxes, and ambivalence about growth.

Because of his credibility stemming from his long-time leadership at ECO Northwest, Tapogna’s stinging criticism is receiving lots of attention. So far, that attention hasn’t materialized into a strategy, but will surely be grist for the gubernatorial election this year.

Tapogna’s Recommended Cures

His core recommendation is for Oregon leaders to shift from a “no-growth” mentality to a “pro-growth mentality.” His cures focus on modernization and accountability.

To address the housing shortage, Tapogna calls for accelerated housing construction, land-use planning that allows more density and an increased supply of affordable housing. None of that is overly controversial, except in urban neighborhoods where a triplex may replace a single-family house. But boosting housing supply has proven to be a stubborn target.

Governor Kotek has set aggressive housing construction goals, persuaded lawmakers to authorize large expenditures and convinced local jurisdictions to make it easier and cheaper to build more housing units.

Despite a strong effort, data shows new housing permits in Oregon dropped by 33 per cent in 2024 compared to 2021. Oregon in 2025 again fell far short of Kotek’s 36,000-unit annual target, thwarted by labor and material cost increases and exacerbated by import tariffs and immigrant construction worker deportations. 

Economic uncertainty fueled by the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran threatens to stoke inflation and discourage further interest rate reductions by the Federal Reserve Board.

K-12 Education

Tapogna hasn’t spared words for Oregon’s K-12 educational performance with low reading and math proficiency scores, high absenteeism rates, and still lagging graduation rates. His cure is “more coherent” state oversight, increased reporting and stricter accountability.

K-12 schools face declining enrollment which affects state funding, higher salary and operating costs and the need for expensive repair or replacement of aging school facilities. It will take more than state oversight to alter how schools educate digital age students who learn differently and face complex psychological challenges.

Wildfires and Environmental Risk

Tapogna says increasing wildfire frequency and the smoke it generates is undermining Oregon’s reputation for a quality lifestyle and contributing to outmigration.

Addressing this challenge is complicated because 60 per cent of Oregon’s 30 million acres of forestland is managed by federal agencies. Under the Trump administration, the priority for federal forests is more logging, not wildfire prevention. Critics have complained that funding cuts have hindered the ability to use preventive fires or be ready to fight wildfires.

Over-reliance on Income Taxes

Relying on income taxes is driving away some employers and high-wealth individuals, according to Tapogna, resulting in volatile swings in available tax revenue.

Oregon ranks sixth highest in marginal income tax rates at 9.9 per cent for top earners. Portland has the nation’s highest combined state and local income tax rate, which can push high-income taxpayers up to 14-15 per cent marginal rates. Oregon’s corporate taxation also ranks among the nation’s highest.

Tapogna calls for “rebalancing” Oregon’s tax system. It’s unclear exactly what that would involve. Introducing a broad-based sales tax to offset income tax rates is one option, but it would face opposition for making Oregon’s tax system more regressive.

Critics such as the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy argue Oregon’s current tax system is already regressive for low-income families who pay a higher percentage of tax on their income compared to other states.

Ambivalence About Growth

Tapogna asserts Oregon suffers from “cultural ambivalence” or even resistance to population growth. His suggested cure is a strategy of “modest growth” that supports small business creation and expansion and aims to convince existing businesses to remain here.

In addition to abandoning a “no-growth” mindset, he urges modernizing regulatory systems and adjusting land-use policies to focus on a “vibrant” business environment that supports a growing population.

That may be easier said than done given Oregon’s aging population with locked-in views on growth. Senior citizens already outnumber children in Oregon and account for nearly one-third of the state’s total population. Another factor is the high rate of Oregonians with second homes, especially on the Oregon Coast and in Central Oregon, who have a stake in maintaining the status quo.

Impetus for Change

Tapogna’s call for policy resets and regulatory modernization are hard to dispute. However, they don’t lend themselves to easy or quick actions. Altering tax systems or modernizing school systems aren’t overnight tasks.

Encouraging serious consideration for Tapogna’s suggested changes is a no-brainer. Expecting instant results is unreasonable.

The most immediate step for Oregon to put itself back on the map is investing in promising research based on existing strength, research capabilities, and potential manpower. Oregon leaders need to think like investors. Investments could be public, private or a combination.

Oregon leaders need to think like investors.

Trying to race to the bottom to compete with southern states is more likely to fail than shooting for the stars by promoting new concepts such as mass timber production, advanced medical research, semiconductors, behavioral health, robotics, and wave energy.

Oregon universities are national leaders in materials science, forestry, oceanography, bioengineering and preventive medicine. Oregon has a reputation for sustainability and could make itself hospitable for researchers and startups aiming to address climate change, ocean acidification and preventable diseases.

Kudos to Tapogna for identifying Oregon’s weaknesses and offering suggested cures. It may be even more important to inventory Oregon’s strengths and pursue a plan to capitalize on them. A good starting place is investing in our universities as seedbeds for technology, inventors and a better future.

Tapogna is absolutely right in warning that the loss we should fear isn’t the one in the past but the next one in the future. The future comes around quickly and we need to focus on our best winning strategy.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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 my wife and I near the finish line in our quest to read the entire Bible in a year, we have been focusing lately on Paul’s letters, a key part of the New Testament.

I wrote earlier about Paul’s missionary journeys, which made him the first of many missionaries.

This time, I summarize the content and direction of what have been called “Paul’s Epistles.”

Overall, they were written to early Christian communities and individuals to address specific needs in those communities or in those lives.  They provided theological instruction, corrected heresy, and offered pastoral encouragement.  They were designed to define foundational Christian beliefs, offer practical ethical guidance, and strengthen local congregations or individuals as they faced internal or external challenges. 

So, in addition to folks to whom they were written in 50-60 A.D., they contain important principles for us today.

Here is a brief summary of the letters, as informed by what I remember from my youth, as well as information on Google:

Ephesians:  To Christians in Ephesus, Paul says God’s eternal purpose to unite all things in heaven and on earth under the lordship of Jesus Christ, creating a new, holy, and multiethnic humanity through His grace.  The letter emphasizes the believer’s new identity “in Christ” and instructs the church to live out this unity, love, and holiness in practical daily life.

Galatians:  To Christians in Galatia, Paul defends the gospel of justification by grace through faith alone, rather than by works of the Mosaic Law.

Philippians:  To Christians in Phillipi, Paul encourages finding joy, unity, and strength in Jesus Christ, regardless of circumstances. Written from prison, Paul emphasizes a lifestyle of humility, selflessness, and service, encouraging believers to imitate Christ’s humble sacrifice and to live with a perspective shaped by the gospel.

Colossians:  To Christians in Colosse, Paul affirms the supreme authority and sufficiency of Jesus Christ, warning believers against false teachings.  From prison, Paul encourages Colossians, challenging them toward maturity in Christ and emphasizing that believers possess full spiritual life through Him alone, requiring no additional spiritual supplements.

Thessalonians:  To Christians in Thessalonica, Paul encouraged a young church facing persecution to affirm their faith and clarify misunderstood teachings regarding the second coming of Christ.  He wrote to strengthen their commitment to holy living, address concerns about believers who had already died, and solidify their hope in Jesus’ return. 

Paul also wrote letters to individuals with whom he had worked.

1 and 2 Timothy:  Paul mentored Timothy as he, Timothy, led the church at Ephesus, focusing on combating false doctrine, ensuring sound teaching, and establishing orderly church administration. 1 Timothy focuses on church order, qualifications for leaders, and managing church ministry, while 2 Timothy is a final, passionate charge to endure persecution, guard the gospel, and continue preaching.

Titus:  Paul instructed his trusted co-worker, Titus, to organize and encourage stability in the young, vulnerable churches on the island of Crete.  The primary purposes were to establish qualified church leadership, combat false teaching, and promote godly, disciplined living that reflected the grace of God in a notoriously immoral culture.

Philemon:  Paul asks his friend Philemon to appeal for reconciliation, forgiveness, and the restoration of a runaway slave named Onesimus, who became a Christian under Paul’s guidance.  Paul urges Philemon to accept Onesimus, not as a slave, but as a beloved brother in Christ, thus showcasing the gospel’s power to transform relationships.

So, in conclusion, early Christians benefitted from Paul’s guidance, which he provided both in person as a missionary and in writing.

The same is true for us today.  All Paul’s letters are worth reading.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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.

How’s this for a long title?

“The federal Emergency Medical Treatment Act, or EMTALA.”

That’s the federal law that requires almost all hospital emergency rooms in the United States to remain open to anyone who shows up 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Anyone.  Regardless of ability to pay.

More specifically, the law says this:  “Any hospital emergency department that receives Medicare funds — covering nearly all U.S. hospitals — is mandated to remain open to the public 24/7.  They must provide a medical screening exam and stabilize any patient with an emergency condition, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.”

I dealt with issue for my 25 years as a lobbyist in Oregon when my firm represented Providence Health and Services, including its eight hospitals in the state.

The law was a reality not well understood by Oregon legislators and state government management executives.  Or, perhaps, they didn’t want to understand it as they made decisions about the State of Oregon budget, including money for hospitals under the Medicaid program.

In simple terms, EMTALA means hospitals, not wanting to go broke, shift the costs of free care in ERs to those who pay for services.  Which means charges go up for everyone – you and me.

If you add another issue to the equation – the fact that hospitals have to do work in the community to earn their non-profit status – it makes budgeting even more difficult.

Is this good policy?  Well, you could find several answers to this question, but, in my view, it is good policy as a means to provide critical health care services to the poor and downtrodden who cannot get care on their own, so they often end up in emergency rooms as “their primary care provider of choice.”

And, to require hospitals to do good work in their communities, is also good policy.

It’s just that hospitals, including those I represented, should have been given credit for HAVING to stay open regardless of the ability of those who showed up to pay for care, as well as for investing in their communities.

All of this came to light again this week when Salem Reporter ran a story that appeared under this headline:  Salem Health spent $162 million in 2024 on subsidized care, other community programs

Here is how the story started:

“Salem Health spent $162 million in 2024 to provide free health screenings, forgive patient bills and cover the cost of care for hospital patients on Medicaid, according to recently-released state data. 

“That spending is a part of what the state requires from non-profit hospitals to maintain their tax-exempt status.  Each year, the Oregon Health Authority sets a minimum amount hospitals must spend on programs and services that support the communities they serve.  Often, that includes care provided for free or below cost. 

“In 2024, Salem Health was required to spend $130.5 million but exceeded that amount by nearly 25 per cent.  Most of that spending went toward covering the cost of caring for patients insured through the Oregon Health Plan, the state’s Medicaid program.”

So, the point of this blog is to point out that hospital budgets are complicated affairs, involving EMTALA, earning non-profit status, and absorbing lost money in general under low-income health care.

Which, I submit, should make us proud of the good work done by Salem Health in our community.  It is one of the best-run hospitals in all of Oregon, which doesn’t make it perfect; it just makes it credible.

I know because I have used many Salem Health services and always found the provider to be very good at what it does.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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.

With too much time on my hands here in the California desert where the high temperatures are over 100 many days, there are only so many hours I can spend on the golf course.

These days, I always tee off with friends in the range of 7:30 a.m., so we are done no later than 11 a.m.

The high temps often occur in the afternoon.

So, without much else to do, I began to think of all the sayings I use on the golf course.

Here they are in no particular order of priority:

• If you swing harder, the ball will go farther.  Perhaps not.

• My dog is named Callaway.  I named my golf clubs after him.

• You should call your shot after you hit it, not before.

• What’s the most important shot in golf?  The next one.  [This is a quote from someone, not me.]

• Jack Nicklaus says “play it forward,” as to which tee you should play.  So do it.

• We used to call the green tees at our club the “women’s tees.”  Then, we changed the name to “forward tees,” and then suddenly a lot of men played those tees.

• It’s often fun to play golf without keeping score.  Not always.  Often.

• As I leave the house for golf, my wife usually says, “Have fun no matter how you play.”  I try.  But, frankly, I often have more fun if I play well. 

• My three-fold advice to my young daughter who was just learning to play golf years ago:  First, watch the ball; second, go slow on your backswing; and, third, swing through the ball.  Because you need to make an athletic swing at the ball.  If I do say myself, this was good advice back in the day and it still works for all recreational golfers today, including me.

• There is always room for improvement – in golf or in any other phase of life.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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 journalistic outfit in Salem – Salem Reporter — did all of us another favor this week with a report on a theater production at Capitol Manor, the facility in Salem that houses, pardon this phrase, “old folks.”

My wife I have signed up to go there when the time is right, but even now, as “future residents,” we have a lot of friends at Capital Manor.

Now, though, the subject of this post draws on work by Salem Reporter, which provides interesting stories on-line about the Salem area community.  Good for the reporters who work there and the editor, Les Zaitz, a long-time friend, and, in his past, a recognized investigative reporter for the Oregonian newspaper.

This time, reporter Abbey McDonald spent a lot of time at Capitol Manor and came up with a long story, with photos, of the theater production of Fiddler on the Roof.

First, here is how McDonald started her story:

“Rows of wooden dining chairs lined the small stage inside Capital Manor, loaned from various homes and apartments in the West Salem retirement community.  Behind them, a hand-painted backdrop featured a village, a setting sun and the silhouette of a fiddler on the roof.

“That’s who Carolyn Van Otten is playing in the community’s first-ever theater production.  Her prop fiddle, broken and missing a few strings, came from a downtown Salem music store’s junk pile.  Her costume, like others in the play, was tailored by residents and staff.

“She opened ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’ leading the cast of 36 in through the back doors to take their place on stage for the first song, ‘Tradition.’”

For attribution, I note that much of what follows is due to the good work of McDonald and Salem Reporter, not me alone.

The cast, all over age 70, has been in rehearsals for over two months to ready four performances over a two-week period in March. 

The 1964 musical takes place in the early 1900s in a Jewish community in Russia. The main character, Tevye, is a father of five daughters who want to marry for love amid a time of political persecution.

Capital Manor is performing a specially-made version of the play for seniors, which condenses the 2.5-hour run-time into an hour by shortening songs and cutting scenes.  Actors can carry their scripts with them on stage.

“We can sing, we can remember lines and we can move around on the stage.  But not all three together,” said Jane Murch-Billings, who plays Bielke, the youngest daughter.

The production has been dubbed “recreational theater” by Music Theatre International, the company that revised the scripts.

It’s a term that Dave Votaw, who plays the lead Tevye, appreciates. The performances aren’t open to the public, and the audience will be filled by residents and their families.

Votaw, who directs the choir at Capital Manor, said it’s the largest project happening in the community.  The 40-acre property is home to about 460 people who live in a mix of homes, apartments and assisted living.

Votaw said the musical endeavor began last year, when Robert Salberg, who directs Salem’s Children’s Educational Theatre, reached out with the news that productions of Broadway shows for seniors were available.

Salberg knew the director for the job:  Deborah Johansen, who has been a theater director for 45 years.  She’s worked as a middle and high school drama teacher, at Salem’s Pentacle Theatre, and at local churches.

Due to the community’s enthusiasm, the production added costumes, more choreography and more complexity to what began as a largely stationary script-reading, she said.

“This has challenged me more than anything I’ve ever done in 45 years,” Johansen said.  “As it got more and more involved, I’m like, ‘Oh, what have I created?’”

But there’s been visible progress.  Johansen said every performance has gotten better, and everyone has gotten more confident. 

“The biggest highlight is just how enthusiastic and excited this group is,” Johansen said. “They have been a delight to work with.  Positive, so supportive of me, wanting to do their best, just really trying hard.  And I think it shows.”

Because I am not in Salem until early April, I won’t be able to see the show, though, as a future resident, I might be able to wedge my in.  There, I could see one of my wife’s and my best friends, Rosemary Wood, who has role as one of the sisters in play.

A great singer in her day, Rosemary says she is enjoying the show and credits all her friends at Capital Manor for carrying an exciting load…a first for the Manor, a piece of well-known theater, Fiddler on the Roof.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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 other day, one of the persons who writes the daily Links Players lesson, came up with an interesting point.

This:

“In the Bible, the number three symbolizes divine perfection, completeness, and wholeness, most notably representing the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and appearing in significant patterns like Jesus’s resurrection on the third day, emphasizing divine power and new life.  It highlights important people, events, or concepts, signifying their fullness or importance, such as Noah’s three sons or the three temptations Jesus overcame.”

I had not recognized this until it was pointed out by the writer, Chris Herman, who leads a Links Bible Study at the golf course where I play in the winters, The Palms.  He also has as role in what’s called “Links Players International,” which seeks to plant bible study groups in golf clubs across the country.  Not only seeks, but has been successful.

It’s good work – and Herman’s analysis of the number three also is good work, prompting me to go farther to learn more about the general issue of number symbolism in the Bible.

Informed by Mr. Google, a generalization is this:

“Biblical numbers often carry symbolic, theological meaning rather than just literal value, with key numbers representing spiritual concepts such as

divine perfection (7), unity (1), and testing (40).  These patterns, often found in prophetic books like Revelation and Daniel, represent themes like completion (12), humanity (6), and creation (4). 

“Here are the most common symbolic numbers in the Bible:

• 1:  Unity, primacy, and the oneness of God (e.g., “The Lord our God is one”).
• 2:  Divine perfection, completeness, or the Trinity (e.g., resurrection on the third day).
• 4:  Creation of the earth (e.g., four corners of the earth, four seasons, four winds).
• 6:  Humanity, imperfection, or sin (man was created on the 6th day; one short of 7).
• 7:  Spiritual perfection, completion, or totality (e.g., days of creation).
• 40:  Testing, trials, or probation (e.g., 40 days of rain, 40 years in the wilderness).
• 666: The number of the beast, representing ultimate human imperfection/sinful imperfection.
• 1,000:  Implies a very large, complete, or indefinite number. 

Wow!  I didn’t know all that.

Plus, to go beyond, here is more on the number three as summarized by Herman because, as always with Links Players, there is a relationship between the Bible and golf.  Sometimes it can come across as a bit contrived, but, for me, there is good news here because the Bible is “God’s word and can be trusted”…AND golf is my favorite sport.

From Herman:

“Playing golf as a threesome is a great way to compete, have fun, and play fast.  I like playing as a foursome, but I prefer a faster pace to ‘stay in the zone.’  My patience is always tested when waiting to hit every shot on the golf course and enduring a five-hour round.

“I used to put a cross on my golf ball, but the dimples always made it look like a plus sign, so I changed it to three dots to remind me of our Triune God.

“I did an AI search about the number three and found the following:

“In the Bible, the number three symbolizes divine perfection, completeness, and wholeness, most notably representing the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and appearing in significant patterns like Jesus’s resurrection on the third day, emphasizing divine power and new life.  It highlights important people, events, or concepts, signifying their fullness or importance, such as Noah’s three sons or the three temptations Jesus overcame.

“Jesus was raised on the third day, Jonah was in the belly of a fish for three days, an event Jesus identified as a prophetic sign of His own time in the grave.  There are three patriarchs in the Old Testament (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), and Jesus’ inner circle included three men, Peter, James, and John.”

Why do I focus on this?  Well, for at least two reasons:

• First, Herman’s lesson sparked my curiosity about number symbolism in the Bible.

• Second, learning more resulted in another way to trust the Scriptures as the inspired word of God, which works for us every day in our Christian life – my Christian life.

And, finally focusing on this reminds of my what the lead pastor at our church here in the desert, Ricky Jenkins, always says as he reads passages from the Bible – “I have just read from the greatest book ever written and I attest today that every word in it is true.”

Right!