Fighting crime - Alabama style

A few young thugs in Montgomery got more than they bargained for when they decided to mess with the wrong guy. From the Montgomery Advertiser:

Joe Whittington's frustration with crime in his Highland Garden neighborhood came to a boiling point Monday evening. With the muzzle of a robber's pistol pressed against his neck, Whittington decided he'd had enough.

Whittington was robbed outside his home by two men who followed him home after he walked to a convenience store at the corner of Powell Lane and Fairground Road around 10 p.m.

"He was going to have to kill me before he got my gun," said Whittington, who has carried a 9 mm pistol for five years.

When one of the robbers walked behind him, Whittington pulled his gun from the small of his back and tried to fire.

"It was on safe, that's the only thing that kept that kid from getting shot," he said. Whittington eventually fired at the men seven times as they ran away, but apparently didn't hit either.

The thieves made off with Whittington's cell phone and wallet. ...

Whittington, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, said he is more concerned about the safety of his north Montgomery community than his money.

Whittington has lived on the 2100 block of Powell Lane for more than 30 years. In that time, he said crime in the neighborhood has gotten drastically worse. Thieves have broken into his home at least 10 times.

"But I'm not going to let them run me out of my house and I'm not going to let them abuse me out in public," he said. ...

Whittington, who expanded his home from 900 square feet to more than 2,100 square feet, said he has seen other residents in the neighborhood leave because of the crime.

"I didn't build all of this for somebody just to run me out of town," he said.

How could anyone not be inspired by that kind of attitude? Standing your ground against those who would destroy everything you have worked for takes a great deal of determination and perseverance. In spite of it all, though, Mr. Whittington and countless others like him continue to hang in there and fight - because it is their homes and their neighborhoods that they are defending. There is a lesson here for all of us: to surrender all we hold dear to savages and barbarians would not just be unthinkable - it would be dishonorable.

Mr. Whittington should consider sending his resume to the State Department. They could use someone like him.