Because I'm not finished digesting the useful info so generously provided by commenters in yesterday's diary, and because I have no interest in delineating just exactly how evil Jane Hamsher is (or whatever today's yammer du jour may be), I thought I'd pass on this story from down our way.
This weekend, Violet, LA resident and certifiable dumbass Herman "Peter" Smiles, 47, smoked a little crack and, his already formidable reasoning powers enhanced by the drug, decided to break into Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church around the corner from the house he shares with his mom to see if he could find a little loose dough.
Instead, Smiles discovered his inner Grinch.
Inside the church, Smiles found no money, but a stash of 65 wrapped Christmas presents the congregation had been collecting for distribution to needy children in St. Bernard Parish. For the next hour, our genius hero unwrapped presents and selected out those he thought desirable. He stuffed his loot into plastic garbage bags and schlepped his ill-gotten gains back to his mom's house, making two trips.
When the church's pastor, Father John Arnone, arrived Sunday morning to prepare for early mass, he found the remains of Mr. Smiles' late-night shopping spree. By Monday, the story of the stolen presents had hit the Times-Pic and local TV and radio, whence it migrated to the wire services.
Yesterday, St. B deputies arrested Smiles and recovered most of the presents he stole.
But the real happy ending to the story is the reaction from around the region and the country to the story. I'll let the Picayune's writers Chris Kirkham and Ramon Antonio Vargas tell it:
The Sheriff's Office returned the five trash bags full of gifts found in Smiles' room but they paled in comparison to the gifts lining every stretch of the church's wall.
Nineteen bicycles donated from a Metairie Boy Scout troop sat in one corner. More than 50 crawfish sacks filled with floor puzzles and other games were stacked against the back wall, a donation from the Salvation Army.
. . .
The church has expanded the initial list of 65 needy families to more than 100 during the past few days but the church still has an overwhelming surplus of toys and gifts. Arnone said some will go to a Baptist church on the east bank of Plaquemines Parish, and that other items have been donated to the St. Bernard Battered Women's Program and to local nursing homes where seniors needed clothing items.
The only thing missing from the story is Harry Bailey flying in from Washington.
Whoever you are, whatever your beliefs, may you have a holiday filled with love and the spirit of giving.