Walking Small and Hosea Williams

The two don’t have much to do with each other other than that I thought about both when thinking about doing a post.

First, I’m going to miss the outgoing Sheriff of Clayton County, Georgia. For those of you that don’t know the background, Google "Victor Hill." “Walking Small” (Buford Pusser coupled with the fact that Victor is vertically challenged) has spent a colorful four years in office.

His first day he fired a bunch of deputies, marching them out of the building with snipers on the roof. That cost the County a couple of million dollars.

He refused to allow Clayton Police detectives to interview jail inmates for a period of time because he was fighting with the Chief of Police.

He was sued for false imprisonment by the brother of the former sheriff and lost to the tune of a few hundred thousand dollars.

He ran a roadblock in front of a strip club to harass it; unfortunately it was in the City of Forest Park, where he had no jurisdiction to enforce the law. He got sued.

Speaking of being sued, I ran his name through the federal court database for lawsuits. He was a party in 29.

As of a couple of weeks ago, after being defeated, he hadn’t appeared at work according to the media.

I’d predicted to friends that he’d do at least one more stupid thing before January. It’s looking like I’m wrong.

As I said, I’m going to miss him.

The second topic, you might want to think about some of the outfall from the economy that is just starting to make the news.

We used have a guy in Atlanta named Hosea Williams. He was a second tier civil rights icon. He was on the Atlanta City Council and in the Georgia Legislature. He was what many would call a colorful character. You can read about him here. For years, he did a Thanksgiving meal for the poor here in Atlanta. His daughter has carried on the tradition.

A news story this morning said that the event was very short on donations and was cutting back on what it would be able to do.

I’m not a big fan of one-day charity; I don’t think it really does much other than provide a media event. That said, I’ve heard other stories of charities and non-profits not doing well this year given the woes we all face.

So, if you’ve got a buck or two that’s not committed to anything essential; and, you want to do something good for someone, look around you, there are people out there that could use your help.

It can be as simple as some change or a buck in the pot of the Salvation Army volunteer at the mall. A toy for a tot. Got some canned goods that are going to expire soon? You have a local food bank. Someone told me a few years ago that they instituted a gift from Santa for each of the kids that went to a charity that the kids had to pick. You get the idea.

And, if I’ve sparked a bit of emotion, guess what? Following up on my suggestion will make you feel really good.

If I don’t post before Thursday, enjoy the holiday and give some thanks for what you’ve got however much or little it is.