Where are the Candlelight Vigils?

I haven't heard of a single one. No organized mourning or prayer of any sort.

WHERE ARE THEY?

The second that Bush announces that flags will fly at half-staff for Rehnquist, though, my American flag will come down for the first time in years.

There aren't any vigils. Bush doesn't deem them worthy. It's a GOP thing. They don't like the poor, at all.

all is left is silence. Then they will come. We will fill the Mall of DC full of flickering candles to scare the darkness of W out of our capital!

Save the survivors first, then mourn the dead.

For the poor Katrina victims, all of us who care are in shock. The rest could give a crap, including the President.

We may have to fight for it, but we must do it.

I've seen several of these threads, which usually demand action from some celebrity. In many cases, the celebrity has already spoken and/or written a hefty check.

The candlelight vigil demand is a new one. If you don't want to start a vigil of your own, all you need to do is wait a few days. There will be plenty of public mourning for the Gulf Coast victims and there bereaved loved ones. A lot of people are still in shock, especially the relatives of the lost. We may be dealing with ten times as many victims as the 9-11-01 attacks.

Plus, I'm sure that there will be plenty of organized prayer starting in about three hours. It's Sunday morning.

It's still early -- for Sunday, and for healing from this catastrophe.

--p!

At this point, there were world wide vigils after 9/11.

My apologies for coming off as abrasive.

The vigils for 9-11 happened as early as they did because everybody who was going to die had died by the time the second tower came down. The tragedy in the Gulf Coast will be prolonged because there are so many people who are still trapped and stranded in the flooding. It may take another week to get to those who remain -- if they can survive without food and not get too sick on the water. Already, several rescuers have been reported as being killed, too, usually by people taking wild shots at them.

After the towers fell, the chaos in NYC was over. Once the fire in the Pentagon was out, it was all over except for the clean-up. But in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, the chaos hasn't even really let up; and it's ten times the size in deaths, and one thousand times the size in people affected. When the vigils start, you'll know that things are starting to come together, and that the chaos is leaving.

This one isn't going to be as clearly defined as the 9-11 attacks. And it is sure to get ugly when people get called to account for what happened.

--p!

info. etc. At least I have, been non stop all week.

I just happened to think about not seeing anything like that, and coupled with the fact that there has been no call for flags at half-mast it just made me think. But you are right - once we can get the rescue over, the mourning period will start and these things will happen.

Basically, these things are going to have to start on a grass roots level. The government is not going to encourage it, as they did after 9/11, because this disaster has made them look bad. After 9/11, such things were just more fodder for grandstanding by Bush and Co.

Citizens will have to do it. Organize a candlelight memorial or vigil through a church or social group. Call your local radio station about it, or your local TV station. Post up handbills about it. Get the word around.

Once a couple of communities do it, the ball will start rolling. Look at how the celebrities are starting to speak - it started with one. One who wasn't afraid to say what he thought. Now - more and more. Ripples.

I have had to write a letter to the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald where I live in Australia, about flippant remarks about the hurricane and its aftermath published in the Letters To The Editor column. Don't know if they'll publish it, but that's the beginning of my trying to make people aware on this side of the world. I will be doing much more to make people aware of the human tragedy that has occurred, and to remind them but there for the grace of whatever, go they.

I don't think that Bush is going to call for vigils and flags at half mast, so it will be for those who truly mourn to start the ball rolling on vigils and public displays of grief and mourning.

Get some folks together and have a vigil or prayer meeting or organized mourning today - and make sure your local media hears about it.