Larry Flynt Makes a Case for Editorial Cartoons

By: Dave Astor "Had the Supreme Court went in the other direction, you'd be out of business," Hustler magazine Publisher Larry Flynt told Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) convention attendees. "All someone would have had to prove is that you hurt their feelings."

Flynt was referring to the famous 1988 decision that affirmed Hustler's right to publish a graphic cartoon parody of Moral Majority leader Jerry Falwell. The AAEC, which met here April 21 through yesterday, had supported Flynt at the time the case was being argued. Not that the AAEC was a fan of Flynt's controversial magazine; the organization backed him for First Amendment reasons. And Flynt is a big backer of cartoonists.

"Believe me, no other group in the country could have gotten me out this week," said the Kentucky native, noting that he's about to start a tour for his new "Sex, Lies, and Politics" book. "When I go looking for icons in publishing, I don't look for editors or publishers or photographers. I look for cartoonists. I've always been fascinated by how a small cartoon can say more than the entire editorial page of a newspaper. You guys are underpaid, you guys are underappreciated, and you get too much static from the powers that be."

But Flynt, a gunshot victim who has been in a wheelchair for years, is not so enamored with the press in general. He said a lot of the media is still too deferential to President Bush. "His warmongering aside, Bush's assault on civil liberties -- vis a vis the Patriot Act -- is probably the most damaging thing he's done to the nation," said Flynt. "The only thing that makes us different from the rest of the world is the freedoms we enjoy." When that changes, he said, "we're getting right down in the mud" with countries that don't have those freedoms.

Flynt also discussed Federal Communications Commission head Michael Powell, calling him "the little snot-nosed kid of Colin Powell's who ended up on third base and thought he hit a triple. He got that job so young."

Some audience members told Flynt they don't think much of Hustler -- saying, for instance, that the magazine is very demeaning to women. Flynt replied that women choose whether or not to pose in Hustler, and added: "One man's pornography is another man's art."

Another AAEC convention speaker, "Doonesbury" creator Garry Trudeau of Universal Press Syndicate, said: "Satire is still protected by the U.S. Constitution. For that we need to thank Mr. Flynt."