Dukes to be duked

The Wi-Fi at my house may be back, but this hot piece can't wait until later tonight. US cable network TV Land has pulled re-runs of the 1980s sitcom Dukes of Hazzard, amid controversy over portrayals of the Confederate flag, which is notably featured on the show's "General Lee" vehicle. Viacom-owned TV Land declined to comment on why it has pulled the re-runs, but there has been growing criticism of displays of the Civil War-era flag in the wake of the shooting of nine black churchgoers in South Carolina last month. The man arrested in the shooting, Dylann Roof, is a 21-year-old white man who had posed with a Confederate battle flag in photos posted on a website that displayed a racist manifesto attributed to him. Dukes of Hazzard ran from 1979 to 1985 and centered on the fictional Duke family, who lived in rural Georgia. An orange car bearing a Confederate flag design of the roof and nicknamed "General Lee" was regularly featured in the show. Fans of the program took to social media to express frustration with TV Land's decision. A Change.org petition to bring the show back had more than 6300 supporters as of Thursday morning. This marks the latest effort to banish the racially charged Stars and Bars from pop culture after various states began debating whether to remove the flag, and it's one of the few that have gone too far. The General Lee, believe it or not, is one of few places where a Confederate flag belongs. And with today's photo-editing technology, they could've just digitally removed the flag in scenes featuring the car for the time being if it's that big a deal.