When a tempest in a teapot hits CNN

During my vacation last week, it seems the Cincinnati Pops got into a heap 'o trouble with them good ol' boys down south. A not-so-friendly dispute is being aired, courtesy of former one-term Georgia Congressman Ben "Cooter" Jones, from coast-to-coast on TV, radio, the Associated Press and throughout the blogosphere, that contends (take your pick):

a) The Cincinnati Pops contracted a "Dukes of Hazzard"-themed show with actor/crooners John Schneider and Tom Wopat, scheduled for a summer pops concert, then canceled it.
b) No such show was ever contracted or scheduled.
c) The show would/would not feature the famous (or infamous) General Lee with a Confederate flag enblazoned on the roof.
d) Jessica Simpson would make a guest appearance as Daisy Duke.

Okay, I made up the last one. But already, the Pops version of "Messopotamia" has become fodder for CNN, Bill O'Reilly, this week's issue of Entertainment Weekly, Playbill, bloggers, op ed page editorials and today a guest column by Cooter himself.

I'm confused about a lot of things, including why did Mr. Jones choose to wage his campaign in the national media?

It got me thinking about all of the true works of art regularly seen on stages that one might deem offensive today -- to African-Americans, Latinos, Asians, Jews, Moslems, women, the disabled, and others --and I came up with a whole lot of standard operatic and symphonic fare.

But whoa-- is "Dukes of Hazzard" art? Granted the Pops has strayed afar from its origins as "lite classics" ... Putting aside all charges about political correctness, why is this ilk suitable for symphonic treatment??