SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
May 20, 2021
Sullivan’s Salvos 5/25/21
In this edition:
*Masks
*Memorial Day
*Casualties of War
*Calling All Democrats!
*Endorsing in a Local Race
*Correction
*Did You Know?
*Masks
As you may know, the CDC shared new guidance on May 13 that no longer requires fully vaccinated people to wear a mask or physically distance in most situations. Johnson County’s current mask regulation is in place until Monday, May 31, 2021.
The mask regulation was originally approved by the Board of Health and adopted by the Board of Supervisors. Any action to rescind the mandate would require discussion and a vote first by the Board of Health, followed by the same action by the Board of Supervisors.
The Board of Health voted to rescind the mask mandate on Wednesday, May 19. The Board of Supervisors will discuss the mask regulation at the work session beginning at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, May 26, with any vote taking place at the formal meeting beginning at 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 27.
Obviously, Republicans in the Legislature and Governor Reynolds just made mask mandates illegal. So be it. I believe the Supervisors are still going to follow good public process before making any official changes. That means advertised meetings with agendas, minutes, and public participation. Reynolds and the GOP see no need to follow these laws, but we do.
*Memorial Day
Monday, May 31 is Memorial Day. I hope you have a wonderful holiday, and I hope you spend at least a part of it remembering those who have died while serving our Country. Happy Memorial Day to all!
*Casualties of War
I am going to share a little story. I was at a good friend’s business the other day, standing in the parking lot talking, when a guy runs up and says, “Call 911! The guy in the bus stop is barely breathing!” So my buddy and I run over to the bus stop. I get about 3 feet away from the guy and I am shouting, “Hey! Can you hear me? Can you respond?” He didn’t say anything, although his eyes opened momentarily. I agreed with the first man; this guy’s breathing was shallow. So my buddy called 911.
An ambulance arrived so quickly it was amazing; probably one minute, tops. A fire truck followed literally only another minute later, and police arrived within 5 minutes. When this guy (we will call him Peter) heard the ambulance sirens, he got very agitated. He stood up, although he was pretty wobbly. I could tell that he had soiled the shorts he was wearing.
Peter ran up to the Ambulance (it was only a few steps) and started screaming “F You!” at the top of his lungs and slapped the window. The Ambulance crew kept their windows rolled up, and a police officer approached Peter. Peter started screaming, “I am a F_ing veteran! I am a F_ing veteran!” The officer did a great job of deescalating Peter (CIT at work!) and got him to sit in the bus shelter.
I approached the ambulance, and since I didn’t recognize either person, I introduced myself. They told me they see Peter all the time – that is how they know his name. They said he gets hospitalized frequently. Meanwhile, the officer offered to ride in the back of the ambulance with Peter. Peter just sat there, muttering, “I am a f_ing veteran!”
By now, I had spent 15 minutes watching this, and I needed to get to an appointment. So I said goodbye to my friend and left. I don’t know what happened to Peter.
So, the next day, I spoke to Gary Boseneiler, Veteran’s Affairs Director for Johnson County. I mentioned Peter, and asked if Gary knew of him. Gary not only knew of him, but has met with Peter many times. According to Gary, Peter is calm and respectful when he visits Gary’s office. And yes, Peter is a veteran of the US Armed Services.
We talk a lot about how few of our soldiers die in war nowadays. The US has lost 7036 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan over the 20 years of those wars. While 7000 people strikes me as an unthinkable loss of life, that compares quite favorably to the 60,000 lost in 11 years of Viet Nam. But counting deaths does not give us the true cost of war. Unfortunately, all wars seem to lead to many additional casualties.
That is correct. Casualties are NOT just deaths. Casualties include any person who is killed, wounded, imprisoned, or missing as a result of war. And the human costs of our never-ending wars include many broken men and women. People like Peter. People who signed up to serve. He didn’t do this to himself. WE did this to him. WE made him do this. This is OUR fault as a Country. We own this.
As I said, 7035 soldiers have died in our long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the number of veterans who died by suicide in 2018 was 6,435. Our veterans are bringing the wars home.
Let’s get our veterans the help they need. And let’s quit sending American soldiers abroad to come back as casualties of war.
*Calling All Democrats!
We have a nominee for County Supervisor – Jon Green. Now it is time to get to work and get him elected! Election day is June 8, so the election is basically happening now!
Please spread the word, and encourage your friends to vote early! We need your help, and we need it now!
*Endorsing in a Local Race
Many people were commenting on the decision by Senator Bernie Sanders to endorse Jon Green in the Johnson County Supervisor race. This was not the first time a national figure has gotten involved; just over two years ago, Senator Cory Booker endorsed Royceann Porter for the same position.
Whether or not you think this is good or bad, my guess is that it is here to stay. Voters are not very tuned in to local politics, and they seek virtue signaling. These endorsements give voters info they lack otherwise. I understand why some are put off by this practice, but I don’t expect it to stop.
It seems to serve the purposes of both local and national candidates pretty well, so why wouldn’t they keep it going? As with any endorsements, they are only worth so much.
Probably a more interesting thing to watch will be to see if this trend continues if:
A) Iowa loses the coveted “first in the nation” status;
B) Iowa turns “red” enough that national Democrats ignore it;
C) Endorsed local officials end up embarrassing national candidates.
I think each of these “what-ifs” will be interesting to follow. I certainly hope I don’t need to worry about B or C. But we have work to do!
*Correction
Last week I was writing about Special Elections for County Supervisor, and noted that Sally Stutsman had defeated Don Sehr in the 1996 Democratic Primary. In fact, it was Joe Bolkcom, Charlie Duffy, and Jonathon Jordahl who defeated Sehr in that primary. Stutsman and Steve Lacina won the 1994 Democratic Primary.
I regret the error!
*DID YOU KNOW? Memorial Day was first celebrated on May 30, 1868. It was observed by placing flowers on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers during the first national celebration. Gen. James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which around 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who were buried there.
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 @ 1:53 PM
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