Another Descent Into the Gutter

In 1988, Larry Flynt fought for our constitutional right to parody public figures-to fabricate stories about ministers engaging in a drunken incestuous rendezvous with their mothers in outhouses, so long as it did not intend "actual malice." A decade later, Flynt is back at the First Amendment dartboard, this time aiming to accomplish some good ol'progressive muckraking.

Today marks the public release of the "Flynt Report," an 84-page, advertisement-free expose of the alleged sinful sex lives of our nation's Republican politicians. Beginning last October with his million-dollar bounty for Republican dirt, Flynt "Report" is the consummation of his vow to defend President Clinton from Sexual McCarthyism. And after spending $4 million on the project, Flynt's chief investigator Dan Moldera promised, "This is going to get dark, and it's going to get mean. We are not messing around anymore."

But I really wish they were. Just as the MSNBC "talking heads" have finally shifted from discussions of sex to the military and Kosovo, the "Flynt Report" will only catapult us into another round of lies and national embarrassment-if its contents can even be believed. Indeed, Flynt's publication is nothing more than a partisan ploy to exact revenge on the right-wingers in Congress that should be ignored by both politicians and sex scandal followers alike.

If Flynt yearns to protect President Clinton from an onslaught of sexual interrogations and allegations, than his "Report" is the least likely solution. Now that the impeachment beast has finally been put to rest, the "Flynt Report" will be a stick prodding Republicans to oppose President Clinton with even more partisan hatred. Perhaps if the "Report" had been published during the impeachment trial, it would have been more effective at illustrating the hypocrisy of certain Congressmen. But now that the trial is over and the verdict is in, our nation's bout with Sexual McCarthyism has come to a close and should stay that way. Far too much effort has been devoted to cigars, blue dresses and defining the word "is" Finally more grave issues such as NATO's attacks on Serbia and our three prisoners of war have dominated headlines, news and conversations. Enough is enough.

Regardless, Flynt will today exercise his First Amendment right and will release his one-sided, biased "Report." But according to "The Weekly Standard," which was lucky enough to view a copy of "Flynt's Report" last week, the contents of the exposure about as promising as the material of Flynt's other publication, the infamous "Hustler Magazine."

If sex-scandal obsessors were pleased with Kenneth Starr's discoveries about President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, and expected more of the same juice, they will undoubtedly be disappointed.

Instead, they can expect "sloppy clip jobs" from previously known scandals and " a handful of uncorroborated charges" made against Republicans. And this is only after leafing through a 16-page history of Flynt's media treatment, eight pages of responses from fans, and a note from Geraldo Rivera. It seems that though President Clinton unfortunately had plenty of skeletons in his closet to be unearthed, even Flynt's million-dollar enticement could not lure the snitchers to reveal enough about Republicans to fill an 84-page book.

But besides the dubious content of the book, we should consider the dubious character of its publisher. Besides his First Amendment rights victory in the Supreme Court, Flynt was few other accolades to boost his reputation as a defender of public officials. But even more pertinent than his degrading pornographic magazines is Flynt's reckless disregard for the truth. A bit of Flynt's history sheds light on his disrespect for the public and the powers of the media. In 1983, Flynt claimed he had evidence that government officials had threatened John DeLorean's life if he did not participate in their cocaine operation. But Flynt later admitted that the audiotape was as "Fake as a $3 bill." That same year, Flynt declared he had tapes depicting members of Congress and President Reagan in sexual acts but was unable to produce the evidence. Today's "Flynt Report' is probably just another example of Flynt's explanation for the DeLorean scam: "Yes, this is a publicity gimmick, and I thank God you all fell for it."

Though Flynt claims that his "Report' is part of his effort to defend President Clinton against the politics of personal destruction and reveal hypocritical congressmen, it is really a new low in the media's obsession with sex. Surely the "Report" is motivated by more than Flynt's support for President Clinton; he must be eager to earn back some of the $4 million by selling the magazine to impeachment followers that simply cannot get enough. Hopefully, Flynt will earn back only a small piece of the pie and the "report" will languish on magazine racks instead of revitalizing Sexual McCarthyism. Crimson Linas M. Alsenas