Pardon the extended analogy ahead, but as President Donald Trump is easily the best golfer among all presidents, it plays well.
asserted
it → pardon → presidents
Having been a caddy since 1966, I’ve carried lots of clubs, raked plenty of traps and held many pins.
asserted
I → carry → pins
"Pipeline Joe Day" was the best senior I’ve ever caddied for, and he earned his nickname among the golf gophers because he drove 16 or 17 out of 18 fairways or greens well into his 80s, but as he lost distance when he crossed over the octogenarian mark, the birdies mostly went away.
asserted
birdies → caddy → mark
Even the best short games among seniors can save par but won’t make many birdies.
asserted
games → save → birdies
President Trump can routinely shave a stroke off of par on any given hole, and it wouldn’t surprise if there is an eagle or two every month of rounds.
asserted
it → shave → rounds
But, as no golfer is perfect, the president is bound to have had some awful rounds and some very bad holes.
asserted
president → bind → rounds
He must go "OB" on his drive at least occasionally, and a three putt on top of hitting three off the tee… well, that’s usually triple bogey land for even very good amateurs and most pros.
Like even the greatest golfers, every president yanks a decision or three almost every round.
asserted
president → go → decision
If a president has ever had a perfect month of perfect days, I’m unaware of it.
asserted
I → have → it
So mistakes will be made, and President Trump made a big one this past weekend.
asserted
Trump → make → one
Reliable reports from a variety of sources confirm that President Trump had ordered a major escalation of combat with Iran for this past weekend only to call it off late Saturday night.
asserted
Trump → confirm → it
Some of our allies were primed to participate, but others urged a delay."
asserted
others → prim → delay
President Trump has called off a return to major combat operations that would continue uninterrupted for the weeks it would take to try and break the rump regime in Iran run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
asserted
it → call → Corps
"We just want to win," President Trump declared at the Cabinet meeting in Camp David last week.
asserted
Trump → want → David
That was a clear and candid declaration of the end game: A return to the genuinely open Strait of Hormuz coupled with a verifiable abandonment of the Iranian regime’s decades-long drive for nuclear weapons.
asserted
That → couple → weapons
President Trump knows that the IRGC lies and that the IRGC cheats.
asserted
IRGC → know → ?
He has said many times that the regime’s negotiators will spend hours talking about the nuclear program in closed meetings, and then immediately walk to the microphones and declare the nuclear program was not discussed at all in the same meetings.
asserted
program → say → meetings
"They are scum," he has said.
asserted
he → say → ?
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has declared, "These people are crazy."
asserted
people → declare → State
I always thought it signaled halftime in the battle and that after the midterm elections in the U.S., President Trump would demand the immediate implementation of a rigorous inspections regime at every site known or suspected of harboring part of Iran’s nuclear weapons program — including "Pickaxe Mountain" — as the necessary conditions without which major combat operations would resume and continue indefinitely to batter the shaky regime until it crumbled in real time.
asserted
it → think → time
But the IRGC came out of the locker room first and broke the MOU.
asserted
IRGC → come → MOU
Since then, they have again broken an agreement to trade a ceasefire for an open Strait and layered on a surprise attack on our military in Jordan.
asserted
they → break → Jordan
There is no reason to believe that the IRGC will not lie and cheat again.
asserted
IRGC → be → ?
It is who they are and who they have always been since Ayatollah Khomeini led the revolution to topple the Shah in 1979.
asserted
Khomeini → lead → 1979
Since then, the Iranian regime’s negotiators have fooled both President Carter and President Obama in a comprehensive fashion and other presidents to some degree, but they have never fooled Donald Trump.
asserted
they → fool → Trump
The president launched a huge slice past the out-of-bounds markers.
asserted
president → launch → markers
Everyone saw it.
asserted
Everyone → see → it
Everyone knows the president is hitting three on the tee now.
asserted
president → know → tee
Can he scramble and save par?
asserted
he → scramble → par
Yes, because it’s a long par 5.
asserted
it → ’ → ?
Can he win the match in a decisive way?
asserted
he → win → way
Yes, but not if he keeps playing this way.
asserted
he → keep → ?
Not if he gets the yips again.
asserted
he → get → yips
Everyone who has ever caddied for a very good golfer in match play should know the truth of the scorecard mid-round, as well as the potential to turn that match around, sometimes quickly.
asserted
who → caddy → match
But only the president can do that.
asserted
president → do → that
Donald Trump has been surprising and indeed startling his critics for his nearly dozen years in politics.
asserted
Trump → surprise → politics
Hope he has at least one more huge surprise in store.
asserted
he → hope → store
Hugh Hewitt is a Fox News contributor and host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show" heard weekday afternoons from 3 PM to 6 PM ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel.
asserted
Hewitt → hear → Channel
Hugh drives Americans home on the East Coast and to lunch on the West Coast on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen.
asserted
SNC → drive → platforms
He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel’s news roundtable, hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET.
asserted
He → host → ET
A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law.
asserted
he → teach → Law
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
