Porn king takes shot at Palin's son: 'A virtual vegetable'

Larry Flynt

Larry Flynt proudly proclaims the First Amendment gives him the right to be just as offensive as he wants to be, including calling Sarah Palin's son Trig, who was born with Down's Syndrome, a "brain dead virtual vegetable" whom "its" mother merely parades around as a political prop.

"Sarah Palin is the dumbest thing. But I made a fortune off of her," said Flynt, referring to a porn film he made based on the former governor of Alaska.

Turning to Palin's decision not to abort Trig, Flynt said, "She did a disservice to every woman in America. She knew from the first month of pregnancy that kid was going to be Down's Syndrome. It's brain dead. A virtual vegetable. She carries it to all these different political events against abortion; she did it just because she didn't want to say she'd had an abortion.

"How long is it going to live? Another 12, 15 years? Doesn't even know it's in this world," he continued. "So what kind of compassionate conservative is she? I don't think anybody will want her near the White House."

Johann Hari of London's The Independent interviewed the multi-millionaire pornography king, founder of Hustler magazine, for an article that some will say answers itself, called "Larry Flynt: Freedom fighter, pornographer, monster?"

Flynt, who once spent several months in prison for wearing the American flag as a diaper and was arrested by U.S. Chief Justice Warren Burger for contempt after he called the court's judges to their faces, including Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, "nothing but eight a--holes and a token c---," has often been in court stretching the bounds of free speech.

"That's our purpose – to be offensive," Flynt told Hari of his pornography empire. "We're always pushing the envelope; it's understandable that people are getting upset – but that's what built our reputation and it's what our core readership like."

Heralded by some as a champion of free speech, Flynt has spent decades battling obscenity laws.

"The First Amendment gives me the right to be offensive," Flynt told Hari. "If you're not going to offend somebody, you don't need the First Amendment."

Count his interviewer, Hari, among those Flynt has successfully offended.

When Flynt fired off his comments about Trig Palin, Hari narrated his thoughts at the time: "I am so thrown by the unpleasantness of all this, I don't even interject."

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