Hustler founder and infamous freedom of the press advocate Larry Flynt has donated $50,000 to the WikiLeaks defense fund, and explains why he thinks we "should have a ticker-tape parade" for Julian Assange in a piece published today by the Huffington Post.

Flynt says he's "sick and tired" of wonks in the political machine hailing Assange as a criminal, when, he says, Assange is a journalist who should be considered a hero. And the charges of rape against Assange? "Give me a break," scoffs Flynt.

The WikiLeaks case touches on a subject Flynt knows well: Censorship. "Here's what I know about censorship," remarks Flynt. "The free flow of information is ultimately less harmful than the impeded flow of information. A democracy cannot exist without total access to the facts."