Free speech is great and all, but the internet is probably the best argument against it. Before, everyone had an opinion. Now everyone has a forum to actually share it. Speaking of, straight out of the “Where Are They Now?” file of The A.V. Club, the man who played “Cooter” on the popular television show The Dukes Of Hazzard is serving up his southern-fried opinion on all of this Confederate flag malarkey.
“Cooter,” otherwise known as Ben Jones, took to Facebook to offer his thoughts on the outdated symbol of treason the only way he knows how: in an all-caps post on Facebook, just like your libertarian uncle.
Cooter’s statement says “THAT FLAG ON TOP OF THE GENERAL LEE MADE A STATEMENT THAT THE VALUES OF THE RURAL SOUTH WERE THE VALUES OF COURAGE AND FAMILY AND GOOD TIMES,” which was true as long as your family was white. (Warner Bros. announced today that it will stop licensing toy versions of the famous car, but will continue selling T-shirts and other Dukes merchandise sans the good ol’ stars and bars.)
Jones goes on to say that while the Confederate flag has been removed from retailers such as Amazon, Target, and Wal-Mart, “IT WILL NEVER BE REMOVED FROM ANY OF OUR COOTER’S STORES AND MUSEUMS.” Jones and his wife Alma are the proprietors of three “Cooter’s Place” Dukes Of Hazzard museums located in Nashville, Gatlinburg, and beautiful downtown Sperryville, Tennessee. (They’re the perfect museum for people who don’t like museums.) He’s also the lead singer of Cooter’s Garage Band, which makes appearances all over the corndog circuit, and was elected to a Democratic seat in the United States House of Representatives when The Dukes Of Hazzard ended its seven-season run.