Hustler founder Larry Flynt -- the self-christened "smut peddler who cares" -- is blanketing the country in support of Sex, Lies & Politics: The Naked Truth, a 263-page manifesto designed to expose "the conspiracy that brought George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and John Ashcroft to power." "I felt that a lot of people were having trouble getting their arms around the issues," explains the 62-year-old Flynt, who's been paralyzed since 1978, when he was shot as he walked out of a Georgia courthouse during one of his many obscenity trials. "I just documented what a farce this has been."
According to Flynt, the travesty includes the President's putting the hunt for al-Qaeda operatives on the back burner so he could pursue a "grudge match" against Iraq. "It's obvious that Bush wanted to go to war in Iraq," he says. "Afghanistan was a diversion.
"I also had to deal with the fact that we put someone in the Oval Office who could barely speak the native language," continues Flynt, who ran for President in 1983 and for California governor in the state's recall election last year. "In the first six months he was in office, people were questioning his inability to articulate himself."
Flynt also attacks Bush for seemingly innocuous acts, such as standing in the Rose Garden to greet British Prime Minister Tony Blair or telling a gaggle of reporters that he's not erred in office. "Now, I make mistakes every day," Flynt admits. "But here's a guy who's done everything Bush has done, and he can't think of a mistake he's made. I find that just astounding. He's totally absent of humility. He's extremely egotistical. If he could be a little more humble, I think he could have gotten a lot more mileage out of his presidency. According to him, he doesn't make mistakes."
Bush will continue to corrupt Americans' civil rights if he's elected to four more years in office, Flynt argues. Take the President's crusade to change the Constitution to exclude gays and lesbians from marrying each other. "It's the silliest thing I can think of," Flynt scoffs. "My personal position on this issue is, I don't care if someone marries a tree. It doesn't affect my lifestyle at all."
But the GOP cares. And that's why Flynt's on a warpath to persuade Americans to vote for anything but a Republican in November. "I think it's important that people really want to understand what's going on in the world while it's happening -- and the reason why it's happened," says Flynt. "I can't imagine [anyone] telling me, 'You got this wrong,' because it's not wrong."
