A 'recovering congressman'

Ben Jones, whose fame came as the mechanic Cooter on the popular tv-series, "The Dukes of Hazzard," spoke last night at the Arkansas Municipal Police Assocation's annual convention here in Texarkana. Jones, a recovering alcoholic, served two terms in the U.S. House from Georgia as a Democrat prior to a redistricting that removed a seat in that state -- same thing happened to my grandfather -- the guy with the lowest seniority gets the boot. He later challenged Newt Gingrich and lost and later even challenged Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) and lost. He referred to himself as a "recovering congressman."

On one of his nights back in the 70s outside of a bar in Augusta, Georgia, he was cited for "failure to move on* ," a citation that summed up his life at the time, he said. Shortly after he sobered up for good, he auditioned for the part on the Dukes, which sought a "goold old boy, redneck mechanic." After showing up, their first words were "this is our guy right here." On Daisy Duke: "She could make a bulldog break his chain." Here he is singing Johnny B. Goode with the band at the Elk's Lodge:


*- The 2nd best name for a citation I've ever heard. While studying for the Louisiana bar exam at LSU, I heard another student tell of a friend in southern Louisiana who got a ticket for violating the "hooting and hollering" ordinance. Thank goodness that didn't show up on the bar exam down there.