In Person
Larry Flynt
By Wells Dunbar, Fri., Sept. 3, 2004
BookPeople, Aug. 30
A mildly milquetoast crowd of the middle-aged, couples, and the stray infant was definitely unexpected. Momentarily, I thought the BookPeople marquee erroneously juxtaposed names with dates, with a pastoral counselor speaking tonight, and Larry Flynt, self-proclaimed atheist pornographer and Hustler empire magnate, tomorrow. Once Mr. Flynt parted the crowd in his golden wheelchair to speak, it dawned that the divide between Flynt and a tent revivalist was thinner than at first thought; only, he and his flock are devout disciples of the First Amendment and the country that birthed it.
"I'm not new on the political scene. In 1998, I decided to write a book, and the next six years became more and more bizarre. The impeachment, voting debacle in Florida, 9/11, the PATRIOT Act, and Bush's tenure." And in discussing that book, Sex, Lies and Politics: The Naked Truth (Kensington, $24), Flynt, nattily attired and adorned with icy jewelry, spoke truth to power as graphically as an installment of Beaver Hunt.
Starting with Clinton's troubles, he recalled his million-dollar offer to mistresses willing to expose philandering politicos who hypocritically attacked Bill over Blowjobgate. Congressman Robert Livingston was the first casualty. "He referred to me as a bottom feeder. I said, 'Yeah, that's fine, but look what I found when I got down there.'" And the race to the bottom continues today. "If I was Kerry, the thing that I would be the most scared about is nobody really realizes what a slime ball George W. Bush is. He will fight dirty." Case in point: Florida. "He did not win that election, when you have five Republican judges select a Republican to occupy the White House." And did W consult his uniquely qualified father before Iraq? "No, he talked to a 'higher power.' We've all got weird friends that talk to that guy all the time," mused Flynt to rapturous laughter. "But when you've got a guy with his finger on the button and he's got this direct connection to God, I'm worried that it might get short circuited." Then, when the laughter died, he said, "We have no justice in this country. We have a shot at justice. If you've got money, there's a chance you might be able to get justice."
