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July 12, 2007
Look Out For Larry
Uh-oh. Larry Flynt is at it again, and if you happen to be a right-wing, moralizing member of Congress with a less than pure actual lifestyle, look out.
On the heels of Louisiana's junior United States Senator David Vitter's admission that, after his name was linked to the infamous "DC Madam", he had committed a "serious sin", pornography mogul Larry Flynt says he's not finished. (Incidentally, it appears Vitter's troubles may be just beginning.)
Flynt is claiming he's hot on the trail of 20 or more additional members of Congress, and that he interesting only in "exposing hypocrisy." WaPo's Sleuth tracks how Senator Vitter was got. For the record, anyone dumb enough to call a hooker from his home phone deserves what he gets.
Readers may recall that this isn't Larry Flynt's first go-round exposing moralizing elected officials who don't live up to their own rhetoric. During the Clinton-Lewinsky impeachment mess nearly a decade ago, Flynt sunk the career of almost-Speaker of the House, Republican Bob Livingston (also of Louisiana) over his own sexual picadillos.
It's a real travesty, isn't it, seeing a moral, upstanding Christian man like Vitter be subjected to a witch-hunt by a liberal pornographer and the wiiling media? After all, what about those two California Democrat mayors who were unfaithful to their wives? This is the pathetic "everybody does it" defense being trotted out by apologists on the right.
There is one very important difference. Gavin Newsome and Antonio Villaraigosa haven't been out thumping their chests as defenders of "traditional marriage" and "family values." Vitter got caught casting stones from a glass house, and nobody likes a hypocrite. Tough luck, David. When you play the political game at the highest levels, you'd better be prepared.
Oh, and just as a reminder, since it got basically no mainstream news coverage, turns out that ultimate paragon of virtue, Tom DeLay, has had his own extramarital escapades. Whoops. No big deal, right? Just like, what's a little money laundering among friends?
Ah yes, the Republican Party -- standing up for what is moral and right in America. The joke is getting pretty old, isn't it?
Posted by houtopia at July 12, 2007 09:11 AM