In many ways our politics mirrors the Playboy philosophy. Once, a divorced man could not be elected president. Recently, a president had sex with an intern in the Oval Office and millions thought it was a private matter and no one else's business.

Madonna writes children's books and her heir-apparent to the crown of slut queen - Britney Spears - engages her in a lip lock on national television. David Letterman proudly announces the birth of his out-of-wedlock child and the audience erupts in wild applause. Marriage announcement to come, or not. It doesn't matter. Gwyneth Paltrow and her "boyfriend" announce she is pregnant. They got married last week. Maybe they'll get divorced next week or next year. It's all the same to devotees of the Playboy philosophy.

Hefner and his philosophy have demeaned women, turning them into the sexual toys the feminist movement decries. Because Hefner is pro-abortion (he would have to be, given the consequences of what he promotes) and because of his financial donations to numerous liberal causes, he gets a free pass from feminists.

Many think Hefner is cool as he hands over his "little black books" to be auctioned and lounges in bed in a New York Times picture and article that ignore the cultural havoc he has unleashed on America.

Hefner has said he freed Americans from their uptight attitudes about sex. Given what replaced it, restraint, fidelity, character and chivalry never looked so good.