On Thursday’s broadcast of “Fox & Friends” on the Fox News Channel, former Rep. Ben Jones (D-GA), who also played the character “Cooter” on the hit TV series “The Dukes of Hazzard” decades ago, questioned the wisdom of TVLand and its parent company Viacom for pulling reruns off the air over the image of the Confederate battle flag painted on top of the show’s iconic 1969 Dodge Charger.
Jones argued the programming wasn’t divisive, but in fact brought people together.
“I think that the train is off the tracks,” he said. “What we need to do in this country is to bring people together [for] an honest and open discussion. Nothing brought people together more than the ‘Dukes of Hazzard.’ Back in the day, more than 30 million in this country — black folks, white folks, red folks, brown folks, yellow folks and loved it — old folks, every section of the country. It’s become a permanent part of Americana and there is nothing more positive.”
Jones went on to blame Viacom for castigate Viacom for caving to pressure despite being willing to offer “some of the sleaziest trash” programming elsewhere and likened the act to an effort to erase history as the they did in pre-World War II Nazi Germany.
“[T]his is like the book burning in Nazi Germany or something,” he added. “This sweeping cultural cleansing that they’re doing. It’s got to stop.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.