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Larry Flynt

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Reflections on Independence Day

Posted: 07/03/11 07:28 PM ET

On Independence Day, I ask you to think about how many freedoms we have and how many we're in danger of losing. Every day, the right wing moralists are trying to chip away at our basic civil liberties. They're trying to restrict women's access to healthcare, strip workers of their ability to earn a living wage and pass laws about who you can marry.

The right wing is fond of saying that freedom isn't free. And they're right. It isn't. We see it in the cost of the lives of brave men and women in uniform. But it's more that. I've said this many times, the freedom on which this country was founded is not the just freedom for the thoughts we love and agree with, it's freedom for the thoughts we hate the most. That too is a cost of freedom which must be paid by everyone.

Today as we pay tribute to the bravery and sacrifices made to build this nation, it is important that we remember the full cost of liberty, and not forget that independence is more readily available when people remain focused on the fullest pursuit of their own happiness rather than condemning the way others pursue theirs.

 
 
 
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07:55 PM on 07/10/2011
check this ---larry flynt for the president ---on you tube ----
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
karen lyons kalmenson
i poem/paint, sometimes, i ain't
10:27 AM on 07/10/2011
July 4th
is the day we celebrate
Everything that has made
this country great
The fact that we can sit here
And dissent,
Many nations of the world
never experi ence this
Accomplishment
Although with our politicians
We May disagree
This is a land of infinite possibilities
Of a people proud, diverse and real
There are not enough words
To express how I feel
Yes, now we are living in
Difficult times
But We Americans never falter, in our
Uphill climbs
Christians, muslims, hindus, jews,
Every color in the human spectrum
May god bless you

and, mr flynt, you are a great american!!!!
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kahalaman
your content will resume shortly
05:51 AM on 07/11/2011
Nicely put.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
karen lyons kalmenson
i poem/paint, sometimes, i ain't
06:48 AM on 07/11/2011
Thank you
boycottrightwingthings
FightingFascism1dayatime
01:01 AM on 07/09/2011
I couldn't agree more, Mr. Flynt!!
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kalidescopemind
Creek Paddler
08:13 AM on 07/06/2011
Wish I could fan Flynt!
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KeepLeft
This is not my self.
01:07 AM on 07/09/2011
see that red button with the heart up beside his name? click it.
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matt t
03:04 AM on 07/11/2011
I wish I could fan mr Flynt too - given that mr flynt's values encompass women exploitation for a buck. That said, I love his stand against narrow-minded self-righteous braggers...

As to your taking time to explain how to click on a little icon, thanks! :)
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HollisHoHo
02:07 AM on 07/06/2011
Call me nuts, but I love Larry!
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ddeanfountain
01:55 AM on 07/06/2011
235 years ago the Continental Congress was presented with the Declaration of Independence declaring our freedom from the oppressive tyranny of the English government, their taxation without representation and the trampling of civil rights so this country could create it's own oppressive government, impose taxes and trample the rights of it's own citizens!
Genders
Love, Tolerance, Enlightenment
08:41 PM on 07/10/2011
Oh, close! The USA founder were Locke Liberals fighting against the richest families and the British Empire they controlled.

"When economic power became concentrated in a few hands, then political power flowed to those possessors and away from the citizens, ultimately resulting in an oligarchy or tyranny." John Adams

"As riches increase and accumulate in few hands . . . the tendency of things will be to depart from the republican standard." Alexander Hamilton
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Lochness71
Here I am.
02:03 PM on 07/05/2011
We could use about a million more people like Mr. Flint.
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01:45 PM on 07/05/2011
Larry Flynt has walked the walk.
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01:33 PM on 07/05/2011
"...independence is more readily available when people remain focused on the fullest pursuit of their own happiness rather than condemning the way others pursue theirs."

Like Mama said; "Mind your own business, its all that you can handle."
12:58 PM on 07/05/2011
Larry Flynt actually went to the mat for us when he took his freedom of speech case all the way to the supreme court. He put his money where is mouth was and won a landmark decision. Larry, it is people like you that make the 4th of the July meaningful. July, 4th represents freedom to Americans and what is more important than the freedom to express your ideas. Good for you Larry Flynt. You are a genuine American hero.
10:05 AM on 07/05/2011
happy 4th of july larry i read your thoughts and they really got to me i am disable living in florida but my heart is still in N.Y.where i was born and raised.you and i have ment many many years ago.i have always been some what of a fan of yours,why #1 i advertised in your paper ,#2you have fought for freedom for the people no matter as long as they were,nt really off the grid.But I shear the same feelingscan i ask you a questonthat has bothered me.in the 1700,speople wanted freedom from the britishcorrect? non of the people who shared the same feeling and spoke up wheather they knew any thing but they knew what freedom was.these people were not paid for putting the affairs of new england N.C.,S.C.,N.J.,N.Y.IN ORDER,my question is thepeople didnot pay these gentleman who madeup the so called congress why must the people who want to run for an office get a pay check when they beleived in the things they are running for.the people who want to run for any office should be paying us if their hearts and feeling are so passionatefor what they beleive in. please forgive this if it comes out wrong, but it,s just a question.as i said earlier in this comentbut reading what you posted i felt the urge to reply,by the way freedom of speech.besides eatting god gave us a mouth to express ourselves!!!!!
11:01 AM on 07/05/2011
How I miss 14th street.
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08:53 AM on 07/05/2011
God bless Larry Flynt!!!!!
08:31 AM on 07/05/2011
Right you are. The zealots who want to tell us how to think on the subject of reproductive rights (and deny abortion access) harm democratic principles. At the same time, they hurt society by mandating the birth of thousands babies who will be unwanted by the mother. One step forward, two back.
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MUDPUPPY
06:31 AM on 07/05/2011
The more powerful and less accountable a government, the less free and independent the citizens. It just works that way.
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ddeanfountain
01:59 AM on 07/06/2011
More like absolute power corrupts absolutely!
Genders
Love, Tolerance, Enlightenment
08:43 PM on 07/10/2011
Oh, so close. It's the rich that want you suppressed. Not a functioning Democratic Republic.

"When economic power became concentrated in a few hands, then political power flowed to those possessors and away from the citizens, ultimately resulting in an oligarchy or tyranny." John Adams

"As riches increase and accumulate in few hands . . . the tendency of things will be to depart from the republican standard." Alexander Hamilton
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savconsulting
05:49 AM on 07/05/2011
Larry,
I am a huge fan of your goal to continue to protect our liberties. In additional, I think a parallel goal would be to try to get Americans to realize that we are being lied to on a regular basis and to point out those lies. I am a huge fan of fact checking and beieve more people should demand accuracy in all so called factual statements made by politicians and advertisers. The only way to inforce consequences is in the court of public opinion. I think a fact checking network or magazine or newsletter is needed to embarass those caught in obvious misstruths. We need to show the people that believe a certain network claiming to be '"fair" is actually a media arm of a major political party. I realize that fox watchers will listen to anything, because fox will tell them that the fact checkers are lying and people need to confirm their own political stances. I am willing to put my time and effort into a FREE e-mail newletter fact checking most major political and advertising comments. Any suggestions on how to spread the word without major costs?
Savconsulting
07:12 AM on 07/05/2011
A noble idea. Fox "News" may be one of the greatest threats to our democracy today. It is certainly far more dangerous to democracy that al-Qaeda ever was or will be. Unfortunately, I suspect that those who have the inclination to double check facts are already skeptical of Fox or are not watching Fox at all. Perhaps we need laws such as Canada has, forbidding media referring to itself as news from reporting outright falsehoods as the truth. Perhaps people in government should be covered by a similar law when making statements to the public...
But any such laws would constitute an infringement on our First Amendment rights. The truth is often hard to define and can be subject to perspective. Who shall be the author of the truth? We do have Jon Stewart...
Let's all just continue blogging, commenting, rebutting and otherwise paying attention, and have faith in a majority of our fellow Americans to make the right calls often enough for us to get by.
Or, perhaps it is already too late.
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savconsulting
10:15 AM on 07/05/2011
Thank you Peter for your thoughtful response. It provide some degree of hope to me that the Tea Baggers are old, fat, and will be gradulally dying off. The Jon Stewart viewers as a group are fair minded and non-fox watchers. I don't know if I can wait that long to see smart happen. I'm 72 and I 'm looking for something to help kick-start progress. If we could only get lots folks to feel like Peter Finch's character in "Network," "roll up your windows and scream out, "I'm sick and tired and I can't take it anymore." We need to get the smart independents in the middle to show their outrage and get it to go viral. I'm still going to write a free, fact checking e-mail debunking polititians lies. Any thoughts on how to get it to go viral? Send it to my name at yahoo.