SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
January 14, 2016
Sullivan’s
Salvos 1/19/16
In this edition:
*Election Day!
*Press Citizen Person of the Year
*What A Great Quote!
*My Caucus History
*Politics And Marriage
*Did You Know?
*Election Day!
Tuesday,
January 19 is the date of our Special Election for the Office of County
Supervisor. PLEASE get out and vote!
As
I have noted previously, I wholeheartedly endorse Lisa Green Douglass for the
office of Johnson County Supervisor! I hope she will have your support, too!
*Press Citizen Person of the Year
I
was a bit shocked to see myself listed among the finalists for the Press
Citizen Person of the Year. It is quite humbling, and I am honored that a few
people saw fit to submit my name.
But I must say, the paper has said multiple times that I am the
person “most responsible” for the increase in the minimum wage. Frankly, I am
not sure that is fair. Nothing gets done on the Board of Supervisors without
three votes.
More importantly, this was a case of the people standing up and
taking control. The minimum wage was increased because low-income workers and
their allies demanded it. I sincerely hope this is the lesson of our minimum
wage fight; the people can accomplish anything they want if they organize!
*What A Great Quote!
A
friend of mine recently posted the following quote on a Facebook page, and it
really struck me!
"Let me never fall into the vulgar
mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted."
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
This
is good advice. Darn good advice. Our whole country could benefit from
following this lead. Personally, I am going to try to take it to heart in 2016!
*My Caucus History
I
was thinking about the upcoming Iowa Caucuses, and began to reminisce about
Caucuses past. Below is my personal Caucus history:
1968: No one
can recall if I attended or not. I have no memory.
1972: Went
with my Dad; he supported McGovern.
1976: Went
with my Dad; he supported Ted Kennedy.
1980: Skipped
Caucus to chase a girl. Should have caucused.
1984: Jesse
Jackson
1988: Jesse
Jackson
1992: Tom
Harkin
1996:
Undecided
2000: Bill
Bradley
2004: Howard
Dean
2008: Barack
Obama
2012: Barack
Obama
2016: Bernie
Sanders
It
is interesting, looking back over the years. 1984 marked the first time I was
actually eligible to caucus myself. Since that time, I have only supported two
winners – that being Barack Obama both times.
One
of the more interesting marks on my record is the “undecided” vote in 1996. As
you may recall, President Bill Clinton was running for reelection that year. I
was thoroughly disappointed by President Clinton’s first term.
He
passed NAFTA, which led to millions of American jobs flooding into Mexico and
China. He deregulated the banking industry, which created our current “Too Big
To Fail” behemoths. He cut welfare benefits, and made it more difficult for
poor women to maintain custody of their children. He greatly increased the
taxes poor people paid on Social Security benefits. He passed “Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell”, which codified discrimination against gays in the military. He took LGBT
money in the campaign, then refused to support those issues. He increased the
use of the death penalty. He ushered in a series of “tough on crime” policies
that were racist at their core, and led to the imprisonment of millions of
African Americans. His drug policies only exacerbated things. It was not
exactly the type of record of which liberals would be proud.
So
I joined scores of my fellow caucus goers in choosing “undecided”. The Iowa
Democratic Party did not like that; they instead reported that Clinton had
received 100% of the delegates. But that was blatantly untrue. Many undecided
delegates (including most of our black and LGBT delegates) showed up at the
County Convention that year, contrary to what had been reported.
Obviously,
2008 stands out as my favorite. I mean, it was my first ever win! But in all
seriousness, being a VERY early part of the movement that elected our first
black President was indescribably cool!
My
friend Dave Redlawsk studies the caucuses as an academic. I was sharing my list
with him, and he was a bit perplexed. While I have never backed a Democratic Leadership
Council (DLC) candidate, neither have I always supported the most liberal
candidate. What gives?
I
thought about Dave’s question, and I believe I have the answer. I have always
supported the “movement” candidate. I recognize that we have serious problems,
and a “movement” is necessary to really fix the things that ail us. I have
always wanted to be a part of that movement. I still do!
*Politics And Marriage
I
just read a very interesting piece on Vox.com about marriage and political
parties. For several years, Gallup has asked the question, “Would you be upset
if your son or daughter married someone of the opposing political party?”
In
1960, 4% of Democrats and 5% of Republicans agreed with this statement. By
2008, those numbers had grown to 20 and 27. Just two years later, in 2010, 33%
of Democrats and 49% of Republicans would be upset about their son or daughter
marrying someone from the opposing party.
Frankly,
I find this trend disturbing on a couple of fronts. First, politics should not
be the most important factor in terms of evaluating character. The more extreme
our politics get, the more likely that is true, but we should recognize that
typically personal politics are not that important.
Secondly,
the poll results would lead one to believe that the people with whom we
disagree are not good people. Nothing could be further from the truth. There
are good and bad people in every political party. We need to spend more time
discussing the areas in which we agree.
Finally,
we are more polarized than ever. It seems that we are being urged to divide and
separate rather than to unite and combine. There is a whole industry that
exists solely to keep us divided. Consultants, pollsters, pundits, lobbyists,
etc. – they do not profit if we are civil to each other and work together. They
NEED us to hate each other; I think we should resist that impulse.
*DID YOU KNOW?
The significance of the Iowa Caucuses stems directly from the turmoil at
the 1968 Democratic National Convention. In order to address criticism of the
process, the DNC asked states to put in new safeguards. Because the Iowa
process was a long one, it needed to start quite early. That, coupled with the
availability of the space for the State Convention, led Iowa to hold the first
in the nation contest in 1972. Iowa liked the attention this created, and has
stayed first ever since.
Anyone
interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the
County website-
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---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 9:36 PM
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