This day got derailed early and never got back on track, so this post is as scattered as I am.
1. I just voted. Though only two contests were on the ballot here in Alexandria, and I know nothing about any of the candidates, I voted for an Independent and a Republican solely because I am convinced that the Democratic Party is now completely untrustworthy, and that anyone running under its banner does so despite undeniable evidence that he or she is consorting with villains. That said, the spectacle of democracy in action always chokes me up a little. Does that make me a sap?
2. Reader Sarah was kind enough to inform me that I used the word “censorious” incorrectly in the previous post. Indeed I had: inspired by First Amendment blogger Ken White, who coined the phrase “censorious asshat” when discussing those who sued or otherwise bullied those who posted unpopular opinions on the web, I always assumed that the word described “someone with a fondness for censorship.” It doesn’t.
3. Life competence lesson: keep engaging, you may learn something. Charmed by a CNN headline that I’m certain will make this coming weekend’s compendium by Power Line, I posted “An Arizona golf course is under attack from a squadron of pig-like creatures” on Facebook. I found the use of “squadron” especially alarming, and even listed the collective nouns for pigs, swine, hogs, boars and feral pigs to show that “squadron” wasn’t among them. But Facebook Friend, old theater collaborator and occasional Ethics Alarms participant Greg Wiggins did his due diligence research, and informed me that the collective noun for this particular pig-like creature, the Javelina, is indeed “squadron.”
4. Driving home Spuds from the vet, I was astonished to pass a car with a large (4′ X 3′) Palestinian flag flying from its roof. Now that’s audacious! I include this in my list of personal biases: I would have a difficult time accepting that the driver isn’t a despicable and even dangerous human being. Cheering for Palestine at this time seems to me to be indefensible. Is that unfair?
5. Here is another bias I don’t want to overcome: I think less of people who use “like” in virtually every sentence while relating a story. I was watching a “48 Hours” episode recently, and every individual interviewed and the reporter used some version of “and I was like” to describe what they said or did. It’s lazy, it’s ugly English, and I regard the habit as a crime against communication. The slang is so pervasive that educated people who should know better are allowing it to seep into their speech.
6. Finally, I see that a lot of college presidents and chancellors of mostly non-prestige colleges signed the document above. Universities United Against Terrorism, a coalition of leaders of a lot of small colleges and state schools, issued the statement.
“We stand together with Israel against Hamas,” the statement reads. “We are horrified and sickened by the brutality and inhumanity of Hamas. Murdering innocent civilians including babies and children, raping women and taking the elderly as hostages are not the actions of political disagreement but the actions of hate and terrorism. The basis of all universities is a pursuit of truth, and it is times like these that require moral clarity,” it continues. “Like the fight against ISIS, the fight against Hamas is a fight against evil. We, the presidents and chancellors of universities and colleges across the United States of America and the world, stand with Israel, with the Palestinians who suffer under Hamas’ cruel rule in Gaza and with all people of moral conscience.”
Not a leader from a top 20 ranked college in sight. What does that tell us?
Ethics Alarms 
Re 4. The concept of flying a flag of another nation for any reason other than to commemorate cultural heritage by an immigrant a slap in the face. Carrying other country’s flags during protests would suggest to me they have no standing to demand anything.
I have to wonder why those refugees and asylum seekers who later took the oath of citizenship can demand the US government adjust its long term alliances with true democratic governments whose values mirror ours without being in violation of the part about forsaking allegiances to the country or potentate from which they had been a citizen or subject.
I don’t know how we reconcile first amendment rights to protest with that oath. It should not require the taking up of arms against the government to rescind the naturalization status of these people.
3. Around my area, a group of swine is simply called a herd, although my grandpa used the term “sounder.” “Squadron” is new to me, and as with all the other cutesy names for animal groupings, I ask, “Sez who?”
5. I share your dislike of “like.” My daughter and her friends, two decades ago, often heard my disparagement of this ubiquitous throwaway word. Now she cringes at how air-headed they sounded, hearing people who should know better using the word with every other phrase.
1. I love the process. Our ballot was basically school-board only and it appears everyone I voted for lost (I haven’t see a final tally), but I don’t regret driving there, filling in the dots, and thanking every volunteer there personally for taking the time to make that process work. I’ll do it again next year, still appreciate the process, and pray for a better result.
4. I’m of two minds on this one. The driver has every right to put that flag on his/her roof, the same way a driver should be able to have a Confederate flag on the roof of an orange Dodge Charger if he/she wants. On the other hand, while it takes some cheek to fly a Palestinian flag, it doesn’t take any courage. The driver is seeking a response, which he/she will film with his phone and post to social media. That protestor will likely lose his/her job, come home to a ransacked (or burned down) home with “from the river to the sea” spray-painted across the lawn, and be forced to leave town.
5. Right with you there. May I never lose my disdain for it and may I never cease calling it out (which I often do).
I was surprised, albeit delightfully, that the City University of New York and various campuses’ of the State University of New York were signatories. Noted the predominance of faith-based universities. Does anyone know which of these are Historical Black Colleges?