"Why did Bush go into Iraq," asked a 62-year-old man who often joins the vigil. "It was over the oil. It was not over democracy there. Don't lie to me, tell me the truth," he added with irritation in his voice, aimed at the politicians who had deceived him.
"In Afghanistan, the Russians were defeated," he continued. "Why are we there? What do we hope to accomplish? They don't tell us. Now more people are going to be killed. The people there are telling us they don't want us there. But we won't listen.
"Now Iran is testing nuclear power and then they'll build a bomb. They've already told Israel they don't want them to exist. You don't tell people like the Israelis that. You know what they're going to do if they feel threatened. They're going to bomb Iran.
"My mother is in Miami. She used to live in a nice area. But now that area has a lot of people standing around all day. They don't have jobs, they don't have money, they can't buy food. It's scary. She wants to come here.
"In my country Haiti, they're very poor. People over here were sending them money. Now there is no money to send. This is a very dangerous time and we may not survive it. I will pray. We need a lot of prayers."
With that comment, we shook hands and he said, "I'll see you next week," as he slowly walked off, the weight of the world's problems on his shoulders.
Speaking of prayers, it had been a brutal week in Iraq. On Monday, 3 U.S. soldiers and their interpreter were shot and killed, while 11 Iraqis were also killed and 23 were wounded. The next day, another U.S. soldier was killed and 5 Iraqis were killed and 15 were wounded.
To the U.S. military and the U.S. media, the news in Iraq is good because this is a sharp reduction in violence. But to the families who received the horrific news about the loss of their loved ones it was crushing. It would be similar to what you might feel if your child was killed. You'd cry out and your heart would race, blood would rush to your head, you'd feel faint and sickenly nauseated and your tears would fall like a torrent of rain drops, all in a tumultuous outpouring of grief.
But returning to the vigil, a 50-year-old woman who frequently joins the vigil arrived with a smile and a warm greeting. "Obama is trying to do what he can with the economy," she remarked. "But some of the Republicans oppose him every chance they get, some of them out of spite.
"How Bobby Jindal, the Governor of Louisiana can say he doesn't want the money is beyond me."
After she left, a 64-year-old woman who joins most of the vigils walked up. "Obama can't seem to please anybody," she said. "He's only been in office a little over a month and people are saying, 'Rescue me, No rescue me.' He's working hard but the situation is so bad, that they want to issue us IOU's. If they do, we'll pay our taxes in IOU's."
Just then a 25 ish homeless woman with blond curly locks walked up with a sleeping bag under her left arm and with her right hand pulling a cart holding the rest of her belongings. She bumped into the sign, and stumbled forward to read it.
"There's a war over there," she asked, her eyes glazed over and her brain high as the stars. "There is," I replied. She then staggered forward, weaving from side to side as she walked away.
The 64-year-old lady watched this homeless woman leave and shook her head in sadness. "There are so many homeless now," she said in a soft voice. "And there are going to be a lot more."
At that moment, a 25-year-old man who on occasion joins the vigil arrived in the middle of his jog, yet he stopped to talk for a few minutes, as he at first gasped for breath and bent forward to rest his hands on the upper part of his knees. Beads of sweat ran down his face dripping on to the side walk. "They're all attacking Obama," he said as he inhaled deeply. "They don't give him a chance."
It's interesting that some people feel Obama is not being given a chance. Today on page A4, The Wall Street Journal headlined, "Lobbyists Line Up to Torpedo Speech Proposals: Health Care, Agribusiness, Mining and Defense Groups Raise War Chests to Sway Legislators and the Public."
Less than 24 hours after President Obama presented his goals to Congress and to the American people, lobbyists were already taking action to kill his proposals or alter them to their liking.
But at the vigil, right after this 25-year-old man finished speaking, two 80 ish women walked up. "Do you have anyone over there," one of the women asked. "I have all of them over there," I replied. "They are all my family." "Oh," she responded. "That is beautiful." And her friend added, "I pray every night for them."
A few minutes later the vigil came to an end, and it seemed everyone who had been involved felt very much like the Haitian man early in the vigil. We do need a lot of prayers.
Dick
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