Meetings of local government bodies--city councils, school boards, commission/police jury-commence with an invocation and the pledge of allegiance. All audience members are asked to stand, if able, for both the invocation and pledge.

If one attends these meetings on a regular basis you will note that in practically all of these meetings everyone stands--if physically possible. Members of the media in attendance conform to this practice--well almost all of the media.

The Shreveport City Council held a special meeting yesterday--with a large attendance including many media members. This meeting was opened with the invocation and prayer, with a request that all stand.

Unfortunately, one member of a publicly subsidized online publication refused to stand. This reporter is not physically handicapped. Whether he ever stands at these meetings is an open question--it was very noticeable yesterday because of his seat close to the front of the chambers.

Seemingly, the reporter should put his position of the local media a head of any person anti-prayer or anti-pledge sentiments. In the alternative, this reporter could watch the meeting online or in the foyer of Government Plaza on the TV screen.

So much for patriotism--or even surface symbolism of the same. Hopefully these actions are not representative of the entire paper's local staff. But then the promise of in depth investigative reporting by this entity has diminished substantially--three of the four lead articles online today deal