• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer, October 17, 2017

As the past few decades have shown, when our collective American public life becomes absurd, the only way it can become more absurd is getting Larry Flynt involved. Now, gentle reader, is one of those times. 

In the same cicada-like fashion as “Weird Al” Yankovic’s once-a-decade reemergence, the notorious “Hustler” founder has surfaced yet again, called forth from the bowels of the earth by the Trump presidency, as hubris summons nemesis. 

The hardcore porn impresario is offering $10 million to anyone who can provide information about President Trump damaging enough to get him impeached. And no, it’s not a joke.

Flynt, with an estimated net worth of $500 million, took out a full-page advertisement in The Washington Post to announce the bounty, which was accompanied by a fair amount of legal language indicating that the offer is sincere.

The ad leaves little doubt as to the brash, self-promoting businessman’s opinion of his counterpart in the White House.

It declares “there is a strong case to be made that the last election was illegitimate [emphasis in original] in many ways – and that after nine tumultuous months in office, Trump has proven he’s dangerously unfit to exercise the extreme power accrued by our new ‘unitary executive.’”

Acknowledging that is not grounds for impeachment, Flynt asserts that Trump has, in fact, committed impeachable offenses, including “Colluding with a hostile foreign power to rig our election… Compromising domestic and foreign policy with his massive conflicts-of-interest global business empire… [and] Gross nepotism and appointment of unqualified persons to high office.”

Flynt also argues that Trump’s “foreign policy decisions have been marked not by sober reflection, but thin-skinned emotion and erratic, ill-advised tweets, often at odds with established policy.” 

In summary, Flynt admits that “Impeachment would be a messy, contentious affair, but the alternative — three more years of destabilizing dysfunction — is worse.”

Anyone still inclined to dismiss Flynt’s offer as empty bluster should consider his past success claiming political scalps.

Previous victims of Flynt bounties include Congressman Bob Livingston, who was on course to become Speaker of the House, but then resigned after Flynt exposed an extramarital affair in 1998. Flynt also exposed Louisiana Sen. David Vitter’s use of escort services in 2007.

In both cases, Flynt offered $1 million bounties and took out full-page ads in The Washington Post to publicize them.