Iraq vigil doesn't draw a crowd

Source: Canton Rep

CANTON For each Stark County resident who died in Iraq, only one person appeared at a vigil Wednesday evening in the snow and rain to honor their sacrifice.

On the fifth anniversary of the start of American forces' entry into Iraq, only nine people besides the media attended a memorial service at Westbrook Veterans' Memorial Park on 13th Street NW. The event, within sight of Mercy Medical Center, was organized mainly by residents opposed to the war.

Taking shelter in a gazebo from the rain, which later turned to snow, organizer Casey Fay placed nine candles on a table — one for each of the Stark County soldiers who has been killed in the Iraq war. To prevent the heavy, cold winds from blowing out the candles, the 50-year-old Canton woman tied tarps to the sides of the gazebo.

"I'm infuriated that the public who I invited on both sides to come ... didn't even care to show up. It's five years, and no (one) cares anymore," said Fay, who added that she sent 176 e-mail invitations. "I'm angry because people are coming home broken (and) dead. We're going to forget them. ... if they cared, this little rain wouldn't have stopped them."

Read more: http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=404232&Category=9&subCategoryID=0

People don't care because it doesn't effect them directly. If there was a draft, it would be a different story. More people would be impacted directly. And the MSM, at least on a local level, would find it harder to ignore the situation overseas.

Support the Troops, but not by standing in the rain, unless it's a sign on the back of a pickup. That's easier. One doesn't even have to think about it.

mikey_the_rat

'good citizens' thought it would turn into an anti-war rally.
Either way, they should have come out to honor their dead.

The vigil is getting more press for being a flop.

No wonder people are so discouraged.

supported this illegal and immoral invasion and occupation that killed these 9 service people.

Learned helplessness
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Learned helplessness is a psychological condition in which a human being or an animal has learned to believe that it is helpless in a particular situation. It has come to believe that it has no control over its situation and that whatever it does is futile. As a result, the human being or the animal will stay passive in the face of an unpleasant, harmful or damaging situation, even when it does actually have the power to change its circumstances. Learned helplessness theory is the view that depression results from a perceived absence of control over the outcome of a situation, or situations. Examples can be found in schools, mental institutions, orphanages, or long-term care facilities where the patients have failed or been stripped of agency for long enough to cause their feelings of inadequacy to persist.

Not all people become depressed as a result of being in a situation where they appear not to have control. In what learned-helplessness pioneer Martin Seligman called "explanatory style," people in a state of learned helplessness view problems as personal, pervasive, or permanent. That is,

* Personal - They may see themselves as the problem; that is, they have internalized the problem.
* Pervasive - They may see the problem as affecting all aspects of life.
* Permanent - They may see the problem as unchangeable.

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness