Los Angeles- After all these years, Larry Flynt says he's bored with pornography.
So what's his new turn-on? Attacking hypocrisy - "the biggest danger" to American democracy - by exposing politicians such as former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and his $4,000-an-hour prostitute, and Idaho Sen. Larry Craig and his men's room peccadilloes.
While he's at it, Flynt would like to run Cardinal Roger Mahony out of town after first tarring and feathering him over his role in the Catholic Church sex-abuse scandal.
In an interview with the Daily News at his Beverly Hills office, the veteran porn peddler also has some harsh words for child pornographers.
But does he have a problem with middle-school girls wearing the "Porn Star" T-shirts sold in his stores? Not really.
Question: How have attitudes toward sex changed since the 1960s and '70s?
Answer: The big change since the sexual revolution is women have taken their rightful place at the table. The guys are the same old wooden heads they've always been. But women are much more demanding about what they feel they are entitled to in a sexual relationship.
Women are not the shallow girls that grew up being a Girl Scout, selling Girl Scout cookies. Now, they're making decisive decisions about what kind of sexual partners they want and what they want out of sex as a relationship.
Q Does the porn that you broke ground in three decades ago still give you the same thrill?
A: Nothing is more boring than pornography. I sell it. I treat it like any other product, like a jar of peanut butter. I am not obsessed with looking at the next nude photograph.
Q How much have you spent on your offers to pay a million dollars for verifiable stories proving members of Congress hired prostitutes or did other salacious things?
A: Well, over the years we've been doing it, we probably paid $3 million or $4 million. You've got to understand that there is more than one source involved, and they all don't get a million dollars.
Q: Did Sen. Larry Craig's arrest on charges of soliciting sex from a male undercover cop in an airport bathroom surprise you?
A: Not at all. We had a team of investigators following him up to two weeks before that happened. We were acutely aware that (Craig was one of) two gay congressmen. (He) was speaking out against every gay initiative there was, a real family-values guy. Thought being gay was not a part of that. He voted against all the gay-rights legislation. And then he gets caught in the restroom of an airport.
Q The Democrats aren't angels, but the Monica Lewinsky affair looks like Sesame Street compared with what Craig, Sen. David Vitter, Rep. Mark Foley and other Republicans are alleged to have done. Are Republicans just kinkier?
A: Republicans say their prayers before supper and before they go to bed, and they're advised that God will punish them if they don't behave. So they keep all that pent-up sexual frustration inside them, and they are never able to let it go.
They've got all that baggage that's attached with a ton of guilt, and they can't get rid of it. They accuse me of being biased and always outing the Republicans and not the Democrats. But it has nothing to do with it. The Republicans are more fun, you know. ...
If someone takes a position contrary to the way they live their private life. If they give you the old family values thing and they have three mistresses, then to me they're a hypocrite. And I think the biggest danger that faces democracy is hypocrisy.
Q People could call you the hypocrite. You are busting them for things your publication endorses.
A: Hey, we're not talking about me. We're talking about them. I am not ashamed of what I do. For 30 years I have fought for my right to free expression in most of the courts in this land. Occasionally, when they want to sample the forbidden fruit, it's OK. But it is not OK for Larry Flynt to publish what he publishes?
Q What would happen if you limited your $1 million offer to politicians in the Los Angeles area? Do you think we would be surprised by who might turn up on the list?
A: No. But economically, it wouldn't make sense because if you bust a few small fries in this community it is not really going to effect change that much. Change comes out of Washington.
Q What about the Catholic Church? Why not go after them, extending the offer to catch some rogue priests and clergy?
A: We are always after them.
Q Did Mahony do enough to rid the Los Angeles Archdiocese of child predators?
A: I think he ought to be tarred and feathered. Send him to the pope, to Rome. Get him out of L.A. The stench is bad with him here.
Q The Internet has wiped out some of your competitors. How has your business held up in the digital age?
A: It's not a problem. Our video division is profitable. Our publishing division is profitable. Our apparel division is profitable. Our broadcasting division is profitable, and our casinos ... I've got a $20 million-a-year cash cow in them.
Q You ventured into casinos, and you have gone into politics, running for governor. Are you trying to create a legacy away from porn?
A: No, not particularly. We think the future expansion is going to be in the casino area.
Q Do you think there are pornographers out there now who have gone too far? Such as extreme porn, where there are simulated scenes of women getting hurt?
A: What some of the producers of porn are doing is they are giving the entire industry a bad reputation. ... When you start messing around with kids, when you start doing extreme bondage cases, when you have rape scenes and things like that, to me they're totally bad. I'd like to see them come down hard on some of the guys, especially the guys who are exploiting children.
Q Are you OK with 12-year-old girls walking around with T-shirts that say "Porn Star"?
A: We sell those shirts. Girls like them.
Q Even 12-year-old girls?
A: I don't know. In my stores, a 12-year-old wouldn't be allowed to buy one. If her older sister or mother buys one for her, there's not much I can do about that.
Q Are you going to become more politically involved, maybe in the 2008 presidential election?
A: I am the kiss of death for politicians. I give quietly, and I don't make any fanfare out of it.
Q Did Woody Harrelson do justice when he portrayed you in "The People vs. Larry Flynt"?
A: Woody played me better than I play myself.
Q What's the single most important thing that Larry Flynt has done?
A: The single most important thing I did in my life was winning the Supreme Court case against Jerry Falwell by a unanimous decision, making parody protected speech. That case has been taught in every single law school in America as the single most important case since the Sullivan vs. New York Times case in 1964.
A lot of people don't realize the significance because we went 200 years without having parody protected as speech. That was a huge contribution.
