Surry County Rescinds Its Ban on Coke Machines

 

The Surry County commissioner whose abstention from a vote to ban Coke machines from Surry County properties, thus allowing the measure to pass 3-2, found his courage on Monday night and voted with the two "no" votes to rescind the measure that was meant to punish the Coca-Cola Corp. for its criticism of voter suppression in Georgia.

This came after a public hearing on the matter during which the actual owner of the vending machines -- which is mos def not the large corporation in Atlanta -- asked the commission to reconsider its original ban because it was hurting Surry County workers who keep the machines stocked.

Several residents also spoke out against the ban — including Julian Charles Robinson, who described the previous board meeting as “full of conspiracy, hate talk and far right-wing activism.”

“How much will it take for the far-right Republicans sitting here who spoke last week, how much evidence will it take for them to accept and go home having lost the election?” he said. “What’s it going to take?”

Commissioner Eddie Harris

West Caudle from Elkin said commissioners passed the vending machine ban against Coca-Cola Consolidated and “didn’t have a clue about what they did.”

He said he also heard commissioners talk about not wanting companies like Amazon to come to the county.

“Quite frankly, if you sit on the Board of Commissioners for Surry County and you would refuse any company to bring economic development to our county, you are a moron,” Caudle said.

At the end of the public forum, the commissioner who originally abstained moved to rescind the ban, but the two commissioners who originally grandstanded in favor continued to uphold the ban. Explicitly, they didn't care what harm came to local employees of the vending machine company: “I am holding my ground because I feel like that’s the right thing for me to do,” Commissioner Van Tucker said. “I was trying to send a message to the flagship Coca-Cola, and if there were some casualties beneath, sorry about that.”

Sorry 'bout that. Thoughts and prayers for "you beneath."

Commissioner Eddie Harris, who made the original motion to ban Coke, took his case directly to Fox and Friends, "where he said the vote stemmed from wanting to “push back against this woke cancel culture.”

“Our citizens support this,” he said. “They’re absolutely sick and tired of this outrageous left-wing mob that is attacking freedom of speech, that is attacking people’s jobs.”

Quoth the moron.