SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
June 16, 2022
Sullivan’s Salvos 6/21/22
In this edition:
*Congratulations Brian!
*Calling People What They Want to be Called
*Voters as Pundits
*A Point Worth Repeating
*Did You Know?
*Congratulations Brian!
A tip of the cap to Brian Loring, who is retiring after a long career as the Executive Director of Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County (NCJC).
Brian has led NCJC through lots of growth, innovation, and some turbulent times. Bottom line? His work has improved the lives of thousands of Johnson County residents – including my own children.
Brian is truly one of the good people in Johnson County. I am proud to call him a friend. Congratulations, Brian – you deserve it!
*Calling People What They Want to be Called
I have a very strong commitment to calling people what they want to be called. If the person is named Joseph but wants to go by Joey, fine by me. If they want to go by Joe? No problem. Joe wants to be called Sally? Up to them. I believe they have a right to be called what they wish. It is a simple matter of respect.
This has not really been a topic of conversation until recent years, as issues related to gender have risen to a prominent place in public discourse. Transgender issues, gender roles, gender definitions, gender fluidity, and so much more is now on the radar. This has led to a large group of people who lack the appropriate vocabulary. Some say things wrong to be cruel; others say things wrong out of ignorance. And many folks, like me, are still making mistakes as we try to do the right thing.
I want to get it right, but I still have some struggles. In trying to get at the root of my struggles, I have come up with two reasons why I think this is difficult for me:
First, I use “Yes, ma’am” and “Yes, sir” more than most Northerners. I always have. And until recently, it usually got me props. People generally viewed it as me making an effort at being respectful – which is exactly what I had been trying to do. Unfortunately, I know of a few instances where I said, “Yes ma’am” or “Yes, sir” to someone who does not use those pronouns.
Secondly, I spent time as a kid and as a young adult learning proper English. I was pretty adept at code-switching. I could talk shit with the old boys at Sutliff, which is the way I was raised. I could also hold my own with my English professor. It was a useful skill.
In that proper English realm, it was strictly verboten to say, “Hand me their coat,” or “Their eyes are so blue.” Their would have referred to multiple people. And using it in those two instances would have amounted to improper English. So using “their” to describe a single person still sounds wrong to me. Heck, my computer underlined me using it here!
Please understand – I am not making excuses. Just explaining why this has been a bigger challenge than I had expected. I know I need to do better. And I am trying. I have been very lucky to receive so much grace from so many people as I try to get it right.
Meanwhile, I hope you will join me in calling people what they want to be called. Any minor inconvenience it causes you is small potatoes when compared to making another person feel valued. It is absolutely the right thing to do.
*Voters as Pundits
I wrote about this last week, but I really think it is becoming a problem. We need to discuss it in even greater detail.
Last week, I wrote: Statewide, Iowans chose Mike Franken to be our US Senate candidate. I have to be honest; I am *REALLY* sick of the argument, “Franken is the only one who can win.” Based upon what? Abby had won an election for Federal office; Franken lost his first attempt. All that “only one who can win” stuff has sounded like to my ear is we need an old man rather than a young woman.
In fairness, when I confronted people about it, many had other, more acceptable (to me) reasons for supporting Franken. I hope they recognize that the way in which we frame these races can be very misogynistic if we are not careful.
The bottom line is that voters are trying to be too clever. What type of Democrat might appeal to Republicans out in Sioux County? The answer? None of them. Democrats are not going to win there. What we need to do is find a darn good candidate for Treasurer, Recorder, or Auditor, and work to get them elected. Then they can change the conversation a bit to local issues. Meanwhile, a couple good local candidates – in concert with a good candidate at the top of the ticket – might cut the margin in the US Senate race in Sioux County from 80-20 to 65-35. That would be huge!
Also remember – 60% of Iowans live in ten counties. Just ten. If we could get 60% in those ten counties, Democrats would be almost unbeatable. But we only won 6 of those ten counties. Johnson, Linn, Black Hawk, and Story Counties did pretty well. We won Polk and Scott, but must do better there. We lost Dubuque for the first time in 60+ years! And while Woodbury, Pottawattamie, and Dallas Counties were all close, they still voted Republican. These are all urban areas. You don’t need to be a farmer to win those counties. You need to show that you care about improving the lives of the people in those counties.
There is another group of counties – ISU economist Dave Swenson refers to them as “micropolitan” – that also matter a lot. These counties are home to cities in the 30,000 population range. They have a hospital, a community college, and people from the area commute in for employment opportunities. And these cities – Mason City, Fort Dodge, Clinton, Ottumwa, Marshalltown, Burlington – have gone from Democratic strongholds to solid GOP in only about ten years. Democrats must regain some ground in these areas.
But we will not get there by playing pundit and refusing to support any candidate who is not a straight, old, white male. That’s what “pundit voters” think Sioux County swing voters want. But there *AREN’T* many Sioux County swing voters! But there are sure as hell a lot of Polk County swing voters! And Scott County! And Dubuque County! And our micropolitan areas!
Cook Political Report wrote back in 2019: the fixation on electability is turning many Democratic voters into pundits, deciding who they will support based not on who is most experienced or qualified, or who shares their positions and values, but who might have the best chance of winning. Certainly not all Democrats are focusing exclusively on electability, but more are doing so than we have ever seen.
Winning is obviously the most critical thing for Democrats. But we will not get there by trying to guess what people want. We need to listen, work, and deliver!
*A Point Worth Repeating
I heard a great point on the Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell show. He’s not exactly my favorite, but this bears repeating.
O’Donnell noted that some of the children who died in the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas were actually decapitated by the automatic weapon that took their lives.
Imagine, for a moment, that Al Qaida or some foreign government decapitated 2-3 American soldiers. We would be engaged in a full-fledged war. But decapitate 2-3 schoolchildren here at home? That’s just a cost of doing business.
*DID YOU KNOW? The Johnson County Emergency Communication Center (JECC) is the agency that responds to all 911 calls. JECC takes approximately 150,000 calls per year.
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 @ 10:46 AM
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