Editorial

Here are two interesting political straws in the wind: According to a recent poll in the Military Times, active duty service members favor Joe Biden over Boss Trump in the upcoming election, 41-37. Given that a poll on the same date in 2016 showed Trump favored by 20 points over Hillary Clinton, this looks like a significant shift.

I used to be one of those people who argued with the talking heads on television. I was a political junkie from my earliest days, so there I would be on a Saturday morning, thanking Bill Buckley on the other side of the screen for correcting his “Firing Line” guest’s wayward thinking or telling Eleanor Clift on “The McLaughlin Group” that there is another way to think about things (as if she didn’t know that on her own, or, well, could hear me). Over the years, I’ve gotten a lot more peaceful about things and watch a lot less television. These days, with people seeming to treat politics like a sport -- or a never-ending reality TV show -- it’s good to remind yourself there still is a lot more to life. (Also, there is the fact that I have a few platforms now where I can communicate an opinion or insight to actual people reading. Thank you.)

Louisiana continues to share information about residents who have tested positive for the coronavirus with local officials in dozens of parishes, even though the initial reasons for providing the personal and sensitive health information appear to have disappeared.

I am no longer surprised at the depths to which some people will sink in these fraught and tortured moments.

I would like to take a minute to thank the utility and city crews for their massive response in the parish.

Some familiar rituals are not comforting. Tabulations of deaths. Searches for the missing. Picking up the pieces of homes, businesses and lives.