Photo:
Monument Avenue a few days ago. The beauty of the trees and fog hides
most of the hate shown in the Capital of the Confederacy over the past
few months. The general rides high above the filth!
A mixed bag out of Richmond today:
Bad news:
A Richmond Circuit court judge dismissed the case filed by Monument
Avenue residents to stop Governor Northam from tearing down the
magnificent Robert E Lee memorial on Monument Avenue.
GOOD NEWS:
The same judge ordered that the injunction preventing Northam from
touching the monuments stays in place until the appeal, which won’t be
heard until NEXT YEAR!!
LEE STAYS UP!
God bless all those who had the courage to bring this lawsuit and the attorneys who bravely represented them in court.
Be of good courage, Virginians. God WILL vindicate.
Most of you are well aware that Ben
"Cooter" Jones is a descendant of Confederate Veterans, and a fierce
defender of our history and heritage, something very rare among
celebrities today. You might not know that he and Ms. Alma are also
dear friends and steadfast supporters of the Virginia Flaggers.
When we heard yesterday that he was having trouble with his stores'
website, we contacted him immediately to offer our assistance, and true
to form, by the end of the conversation, he wound up boosting my spirits
and encouraging me, instead of the other way around. :)
Please take a look at the video message from Ben below, followed by his
latest correspondence. By the end of the weekend, all Confederate flag
merchandise will be removed from his website. PLEASE KNOW that this is
TEMPORARY while his folks work to move to a new platform.
In the meantime, we are asking our supporters to go to the site and
order something BEFORE THE END OF THE WEEKEND to show Ben how much we
appreciate EVERYTHING he does for our Cause, AND to help pay for the
transition to the new site, which will be costly.
PLEASE take a moment to visit the website here... https://cootersplace.com/pages/shop-cooters
or give them a call and place your order over the phone...
COOTER'S PLACE NASHVILLE
(615) 872-8358
Message from Ben Jones AKA "Cooter"
Hey Y'all,
My daddy used to tell me, "Don't put your business in the street..." He
was an old-school railroad man. He mostly kept his opinions to himself,
and he had a traditional sense of what should be private.
But in show business and in politics, two careers I've had in which I'd
like to think I have been reasonably successful, what you do and think
becomes public, and even the things that should be private have a way of
"getting out there."
So as much as I like to keep my business "close to the vest" we have
suddenly found ourselves in a position in which I must speak out and
also ask for the support of our friends and fans. For the last few
years, our online business has been handled by a company called
"Shopify", which is based up in Canada. Its a big internet outfit and
works in many countries. But like so much business in the digital age,
it does not have a personal touch.
Out of nowhere, totally unexpected, an unsigned e-mail arrived from
Shopify which informed us that we were in violation of their "hateful
content" policy, and if we didn't remove everything with the Confederate
Battle Flag on it within 10 days, they were going to pull the plug
on our business, basically putting our internet shop out of business.
You can probably guess what my response is. We have a really
distinguished attorney, a man of character and intellect. He is dealing
with that aspect of it, letting them know that this is a punitive action
on their part and an unexpected body blow to our company. We will
be pursuing this as a legal matter, while at the same time telling
"Shopify" to "fold it four ways, tie a ribbon around it, and put it
where the moon don't shine!" That is nicest way I can put it.
For we are Christian people. The Flag is a Christian Cross, the
Crucifixion Cross of St. Andrew, who was thought to be Christ's first
Disciple. It is a symbol which has been used for 2,000 years in his
honor and memory. We honor the spirit and sacrifice of all of the
South's people, and I share the blood of my African brothers and
sisters. The Dukes of Hazzard has a huge African-American following, and
that audience has enjoyed the sweet nature and good fun of our show as
much as anyone in the 40+ nations where our show has been seen, for over
40 years now.
As one who was deeply involved in the Civil RIghts Movement of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., and as one who is descended from a slave, and
as one who personally knows and cares about hundreds of our
African/American fans, I am offended close to the point of rage at this
latest example of narrow minded sanctimony and political correctness. It
is dividing our nation on a daily basis. It is wrong, and the people
behind it are wrong.
So we are transferring everything to another internet web host. But that
is an enormous job and will take some time. In the meanwhile, we've put
all our merchandise with images of our beloved flag on sale. The sale
will last through Monday, Oct. 12th. By then we'll say goodbye to
Shopify.
The truly intolerant and narrow minded bigots are those who have no idea
about the good hearts and the undying love of those of us who side with
Uncle Jesse rather than George Soros. What kind of people would we be
if we just caved to these self-righteous and narrow minded people?
Unlike these boneheads, we understand our culture, our heritage, and the
great and colorblind television show that has made millions of friends
around the world, who understand that our show is about people looking
out for one another, regardless of their color or age or politics or
whether or not they are poor or are millionaires. Hazzard Nation is a
loving bunch of people who are not impressed by the latest political
idiocy.
Hang in there,
Ben Jones aka "Cooter"
P.S.
Now, here is how Shopify defines "Hateful Content".
Hateful content: You may not use the Services to promote or condone hate
or violence against people based on race, ethnicity, color, national
origin, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, medical
condition, veteran status or other forms of discriminatory intolerance.
You may not use the Services to promote or support organizations,
platforms or people that: (i) promote or condone such hate; or (ii)
threaten or condone violence to further a cause.
Does that sound like us to you?? Seems to me that we do is the opposite of "hateful content".
