The Cooter from Dukes of Hazzard weighs in on the Battle Flag | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Judge for yourself if it is about making money or just a reasoned view.

    The Cooter Speaks Out

    Ben Jones was my congressman in Dekalb County many years ago. I did not vote for him the first time he ran. He ran again in 1988, against Pat Swindall, this time easily winning with 60% of the vote. This time he did get my vote as Swindall turned out to be a crook who was indicted on ten counts of perjury related to a money-laundering scheme. I guess you could say I learned a lesson about voting the party line. Ambition is a very dangerous thing when left unchecked.

    I met Ben many times and found him to be a decent man of honor who just happened to have different political views that me. He was a liberal Democrat back when that was just a point of view and not a weapon used to bludgeon the opposite side. How things have changed on both sides. Politics is and probably always has been a blood sport.

    For the young, He was the "Cooter" on the Dukes of Hazzard TV show which as filmed mostly in the Lithonia and Covington, Georgia area.
Bobby Tony with The General Lee: Above.
    Today we are in the midst of a big debate on the Battle Flag and if it should be banished or not. I have tried to state my position with some humor in another post. We must be very careful of allowing symbols to be the sum total and final say on any issue.

    Ben currently has a web site devoted to the old TV series and sells memorabilia, so it may be accurate to say that he has a horse in this race. However, I know him to be a honorable man who does not subscribe to the darker nature of those who have usurped the flag for their hatred.

    Coorer's Place

    While it may be simple to just declare a symbol as racist and move on confident in the belief that the problem is solved. That is the liberal way.

    Ben Jones has made it clear that he does not believe that the flag is a purely racist symbol. It will be interesting to see how they devour one of their own now that he has ventured off the reservation.

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