SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
September 15, 2025
Sullivan’s Salvos 9/18/25
In this edition:
*RIP Paul Pomrehn
*Happy Rosh Hashanah!
*Shootings
*Flag Drama
*While We Were Distracted…
*Shelter House BBQ
*Follow Up on Caucus Article
*The Collective Good
*Did You Know?
*RIP Paul Pomrehn
Iowa City lost a good one with the recent passing of Dr. Paul Pomrehn. Dr. Pomrehn served as a clinician and Medical Director of Psychiatric Services for the Community Mental Health Center of Eastern Iowa, (now Abbe Center) and as a visiting professor in the Adult Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic at UI Health Care. I knew many people over the years who were in his care, and he seemed to be universally beloved. RIP, Paul.
*Happy Rosh Hashanah!
Happy New Year to all my Jewish friends! Sunset on Monday, September 22 marks Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of year 5786 in the Jewish calendar.
Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of the world and marks the beginning of the Days of Awe, a 10-day period of introspection and repentance that culminates in the Yom Kippur holiday, also known as the Day of Atonement. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the two “High Holy Days” in the Jewish religion. Shanah Tovah!
*Shootings
No matter how wonderful or heinous the victims might be, no one deserves to die as a result of gun violence. Taking another human’s life is wrong, and you do not have the right to appoint yourself judge, jury, and executioner. The gun violence in the US needs to stop!
Recent gun violence victim Charlie Kirk was once quoted as saying, “It’s worth the cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment.”
Kirk was wrong then, and he is wrong now. He should still be alive as should the school children who were shot the same day. Let’s fix this mess!
*Flag Drama
As you probably know, Johnson County was home to a lot of drama recently, as President Trump and Governor Reynolds ordered the flags to half-staff to honor Charlie Kirk, and Chairperson Green defied that order.
As Chairperson Green was careful to point out, he made that decision without consulting any other Supervisors. So you may have learned about it as soon as I did.
Not that anyone cares what I think, but here are my thoughts:
First, I have a long and tortured relationship with the Flag Code. I used to fly the American flag at my old house. My neighbor was a 95-year-old man, a Korean War Veteran, and a staunch conservative. (By the way, he passed away a couple of years ago. Despite our differences, I loved him dearly.) He used to lecture me any time I violated the flag code. For example, I didn’t want to put a light on it because I didn’t want light pollution, and I didn’t want to waste electricity. But, sometimes I got home after dark, and the flag was not illuminated. He would always say something. So after a while, I just said screw it. I respected him, and I respected the code, so I just quit flying the US flag.
I thought it was sad, because it seemed to me that a person like my neighbor would want his liberal neighbor to join him in flying the flag. And I wanted to do so. But it became a bigger hassle than it was worth.
During this time, I studied the flag code. And I pointed out to my neighbor that the flags he wore on his clothing on occasion were also violations of the code. That conversation did not go well. So it was all very unfortunate. But it did not cause me to hate him. I loved him! And I learned quite a bit about flag code!
Secondly, the flag code is not law for civilians. And the Supreme Court has ruled many times that First Amendment freedom of expression laws outweigh any orders pertaining to the flag.
Thirdly, because I respect the flag code, I wish President Trump, Governor Reynolds, and Chairperson Green would all abide by it. But Trump and Reynolds both willfully violate both laws and norms all the time. They both think they are above the law. And both violated flag code in choosing to honor Kirk in this way.
Fourthly, I am neither thrilled by Jon’s move, nor am I angry about it. On one hand, he threw gas on the fire. I think we could have anticipated that this would cause some problems for some County employees. And it has. On the other hand, it is important to stand up to bullies, and Jon did that. I respect that.
Fifthly, I find it ironic how many people have emailed and called noting that, “Charlie was all about free speech.” OK. Is that not what Supervisor Green was exercising?
Finally, I will say, though I was not expecting to have twenty conversations on this topic this past weekend, I had some very pleasant conversations with some conservative folks with whom I generally disagree. We can do this. We are going to have to do this!
*While We Were Distracted…
From Senator Chris Murphy, D-CT:
Popular and necessary programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP, are all being targeted. In order to pass their tax cut, Republicans have to go through a series of procedural steps. Last night, they took the first step which requires them to pass an outline of their plan, but with it, any senator can offer as many amendments as we want. So my Democratic colleagues and I did just that.
So what did we propose? We proposed no tax cuts for anyone who makes a billion dollars a year. We made them vote on whether or not Elon Musk and DOGE should have limitless access to Americans’ personal data. We made them vote on whether to protect IVF and require insurers to cover it. Every single amendment Democrats proposed was shot down. On almost every single amendment, Republicans universally opposed it. Every Republican voted against our proposal to prevent more tax cuts for billionaires. The corruption and theft is happening in the open here.
*Shelter House BBQ
The annual Shelter House BBQ Bash is Friday, September 26 from 4-7 pm at the Johnson County Fairgrounds. Cost is $50 for adults, and $17.50 for children. All proceeds go toward supporting the wonderful work of Shelter House!
*Follow Up on Caucus Article
I got a fair amount of feedback on last week’s article about the Iowa Caucuses. While the vast majority who responded agreed with me, there were a few who did not.
The thing that really gets me, however, is some of the language caucus supporters used:
“We do it best,” “Return us to our rightful place,” and “restore our God-Given right.” Really? Can you hear yourselves? Do you really believe Iowans are superior to people in other states? Do we really have a “God-Given” right to go first?
Hate to say it, but some of these arguments sounded as though they were arguing for the Divine Right of Kings! No wonder voters in other states see Iowans as spoiled!
*The Collective Good
A lot has been made over the years of the “Greatest Generation.” I was always a bit skeptical. First, can you really lump a whole generation together? Second, there was so much racism and misogyny that came along with that “Greatest Generation” status.
But as time goes by, I think perhaps Tom Brokaw was on to something. The Greatest Generation can certainly teach every subsequent generation a thing or two about sacrificing one’s individual benefit for the collective good.
Melissa and I were just discussing this the other day. A young woman we know very well who has three children was posting on Facebook, and said something along the lines of, “I need to start putting myself first.” Melissa and I had the exact same reaction – “You forfeited that right when you had your first kid.”
Sure, this young woman can put herself first temporarily – get a sitter, go to dinner, and get a mani/pedi. But she needs to realize that in a successful society, one rarely gets to put themselves first.
The “Me First” ethic is killing our country politically. Just look at RFK Junior and the state of Public Health in the US. Anti-vaxxers feel their right to “express their religion” trumps the overall collective good. I say bullshit! If the Greatest Generation had taken that approach, we would all be speaking German today.
I see this “Me First” attitude all the time in tax policy. The Greatest Generation was proud to have their tax dollars fund our public schools. It was them doing their part for the collective good. But the current “Me First” attitude leads to people taking their $7500 vouchers and leaving the public schools.
Look at the number of people who fight DEI policies. As our former US Senator Tom Harkin liked to say, they used the ladder to help themselves up, then pulled it up behind them.
Look at the attacks on a clean environment, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, museums, libraries, public parks, NPR, and so much more. These are all public goods, intended to lift all of us, regardless of income. And the “Me First” folks want them all gone.
Yes, the current “Me First” crowd could learn a lot from the Greatest Generation. That generation struggled through the Depression; won World War II; rebuilt Germany and Japan; imposed a 90% top income tax rate; created Medicaid, Medicare, Community Action Programs, PBS and NPR; and basically left the collective good *far* greater than they found it.
Will we be able to say the same? I doubt it, but I hope so!
*DID YOU KNOW? There is no exact count of Johnson County residents who died during the Civil War. It is known that about 13,000 of the 76,000 Iowans who served died during the war.
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 @ 5:41 PM
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