AP
Most of America knows him as Cooter from “The Dukes of Hazzard.” But since Washington is dorkier than most places, we probably know Ben Jones best as a two-term congressman from Georgia (1988-1992).
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Jones recalls his Washington days in his latest book, “Redneck Boy in the Promised Land,” which hits stores today. And, while he fondly recalls being able to savor Washington’s sights and sounds, there was one sight that stuck out above all: that of President George H.W. Bush … naked!
Jones recalls being in the House gym’s locker room in 1989, having just finished playing basketball.
“I was sitting naked, soaking with sweat, at my locker when Congressman Sonny Montgomery, whose locker was across from mine, asked me, ‘Ben, do you know the president?’ I looked up and there was President Bush, as naked as I was. Being an old exhausted gym rat, I just nodded at him and said, ‘Yeah, I know him. Hey, howzit goin’?’ Then I thought, ‘Holy [crap], that’s the president of the United States! The leader of the Free World! … And it reminded me of Bob Dylan’s old line: ‘Even the president of the United States sometimes must stand naked. …’
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But Jones doesn’t fondly recall everything about his time in Washington. Like, say, congressional incumbency: “The system sucks. It really does screw the individual.” Or the incestuous nature of Washington: “The sycophancy in D.C. is as thick in the air as the humidity in August.”
