David CookMark West, leader of the Chattanooga Tea Party, doesn’t drink. Not a drop.
Joe Ledbetter does. A whiskey man by nature and trade, Ledbetter’s at the center of recent work to amend state laws in order to distill Chattanooga Whiskey (he’s a co-founder; the whiskey is currently distilled in Indiana) right here on Main Street.
The two crossed paths at a recent Hamilton County Commission meeting. West, there to tee-total the distillery idea. Ledbetter, and the 100 or so supporters with him, there to argue for it.
That’s when West stood up and did something pretty cool.
“I commended them,” he said.