The preacher and the pornographer

The odd couple: Long after the landmark freedom of speech lawsuit, Falwell and Flynt became friends. — AP

ANYONE who believes that political enemies can't find common ground or that there can't be grudging respect and civility between people at opposite ends of the ideological spectrum ought to consider the bizarre friendship of Larry Flynt and Jerry Falwell.

Have there ever been two more different human beings than Flynt, the hard-core porn peddler who died last Wednesday, and Falwell, the moralising preacher who for years denounced Flynt as a "sleaze merchant"?