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Al Franken, one of our “savviest satirists” (People), has been studying the rhetoric of the Right. He has listened to their cries of “slander,” “bias,” and even “treason.” He has examined the Bush administration’s policies of squandering our surplus, ravaging the environment, and alienating the rest of the world. He’s even watched Fox News. A lot.
And, in this fair and balanced report, Al bravely and candidly exposes them all for what they are: liars. Lying, lying liars. Al destroys the liberal media bias myth by doing what his targets seem incapable of: getting his facts straight. Using the Right’s own words against them, he takes on the pundits, the politicians, and the issues, in the most talked about book of the year.
Timely, provocative, unfailingly honest, and always funny, Lies sticks it to the most right-wing administration in memory, and to the right-wing media hacks who do its bidding.
Emmy Award–winning television writer and producer, Grammy-winning comedian, and host of The Al Franken Show on Air America Radio, Al Franken is the author of five books, including the number one New York Times bestsellers Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right and Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations. He is the only comedian to have performed at Abu Ghraib, as far as we know.
After Harvard, Franken and a former high school friend, Tom Davis, toured the country as a stand-up team. Fate stepped in when Lorne Michaels caught their act and hired them in 1975 for a new sketch-comedy show based on the Monty Python premise. That show, of course, was the legendary Saturday Night Live. As writers and performers, Franken and Davis were instrumental in putting the edgy new show on the map.
Franken has had an on-and-off relationship with the show, leaving for years at a time to work on outside projects. When he returned to SNL in the late 1980s, Franklin created one of his most memorable characters, Stuart Smalley, the quintessential 12-step therapy optimist whose motto was "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me." Franken spun the Smalley character into a book in 1992 and a feature film, Stuart Saves His Family, in 1995.
In between stints at SNL, Franken carved out a career in the movies. In 1976, Franken starred in Tunnel Vision, an irreverent story about a typical day of programming at TV's first uncensored network. The film wasn't a big hit, but it helped launch the careers of Franken and his costars -- burgeoning comics Chevy Chase, John Candy, and Ron Silver. Franken teamed up with fellow SNL actors once again to star in the box office hit Trading Places (1983) with Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd. He cowrote the screenplay for the inspiring and passionate When a Man Loves a Woman (1994), and he was a guest celebrity voice in Clerks: The Animated Series (2000).
Outside of SNL, however, Franken is best known for his hilarious and engaging books, where his sense of humor is well served by his political background. When Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot: And Other Observations was released in 1996, it quickly established Franken as the top liberal satirist of American politics. A biting attack on conservative politics, it was also critically hailed as being uncompromisingly fair. Despite seeming to single out Rush Limbaugh, the book also blasts Republican leadership on subjects ranging from family values to Vietnam draft deferment. The success of the book helped Franken launch his own sitcom, Lateline, which ran on NBC from 1998-99.
After the success of Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot, Franken fans were delighted when Why Not Me? The Inside Story of the Making and Unmaking of the Franken Presidency was released in 1999. Why Not Me? is Franken's rousing mock-epic race for the White House, detailing how he entered the 1999 presidential race (and won) on a platform condemning unfair ATM fees. In 2002, Oh! The Things I Know!: A Guide to Success, or Failing That, Happiness has Franken referring to himself as Dr. Al Franken, dispensing life-affirming lessons such as "Oh! Are You Going to Hate Your First Job" and "Oh! The Weight You Will Gain." He also served as contributing writer to Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live (2002) and wrote the foreword for the third volume of the popular Bushisms series, Still More George W. Bushisms: "Neither in French nor in English nor in Mexican."
None of Franken's books has generated as much controversy as his 2003 release, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. Franken's fans waited seven years for another work of piercing political commentary, and this one more than delivered. Over the course of 43 chapters, Franken takes his battle straight to the top, criticizing the Bush administration and the scores of conservative pundits who, in his opinion, have distorted facts to support their political causes. Franken was sued by the politically conservative Fox Network for using the Fox slogan "Fair and Balanced" in the title of the book. Fox eventually dropped the case, but not before Franken got the last laugh -- he thanked the Fox Network profusely for boosting his book sales via the controversy.
In 1988, CNN hired Franken to provide commentary at the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta.
Franken served as a Fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government at the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, in 2003.
An excerpt from
LIES: And the Lying Liars Who Them—A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right
by Al Franken
Introduction
God chose me to write this book.
Just the fact that you are reading this is proof not just of God’s existence, but also of His/Her/Its beneficence. That’s right. I am not certain of God’s precise gender. But I am certain that He/She/It chose me to write this book.
This isn’t hubris. I’m not saying this in an egotistical way. God didn’t choose me because I’m the greatest writer who ever lived. That was William Shakespeare, whose work I have a passing familiarity with. No. I just happened to be the right vessel at the right time. If something in this book makes you laugh, it was God’s joke. If something makes you think, it’s because God had a good point to make.
The reason I know God chose me is because God spoke to me personally.
God began our conversation by clearing something up. Some of George W. Bush’s friends say that Bush believes God called him to be president during these times of trial. But God told me that He/She/It had actually chosen Al Gore by making sure that Gore won the popular vote and, God thought, the electoral college. “THAT WORKED FOR EVERYONE ELSE,” God said.
“What about Tilden?” I asked, referring to the 1876 debacle.
“QUIET!” God snapped. God was angry.
God said that after 9/11, George W. Bush squandered a unique moment of national unity. That instead of rallying the country around a program of mutual purpose and sacrifice, Bush cynically used the tragedy to solidify his political power and pursue an agenda that panders to his base and serves the interests of his corporate backers.
God told me that Bush squandered a $4.6 trillion surplus and is plunging us into deficits as far as God can see. And that Bush squandered another surplus. The surplus of goodwill from the rest of the world that he had inherited from Bill Clinton.
And this was pissing God off.
He/She/It was right. But it sounded like a lot of work.
“Look, God, I’m flattered, but I think you got the wrong guy. The kind of book you’re talking about would require months of research.”
And God said, “LET THERE BE GOOGLE. AND LET THERE BE LEXISNEXIS.”
“Very funny, God. I use Google all the time.”
“YES, I KNOW,” God said. “FOR HOT ASIAN TEENS.”
“You must be thinking of my son, Joe.”
“AL? I'M OMNISCIENT.”
“Okay, okay.” I changed the subject. “It’s just that I can’t do this book myself.”
“LEAVE THAT TO ME,” God boomed.
And that’s when Harvard called.
***
Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government asked me to serve as a fellow at its Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy. After my varied and celebrated career in television, movies, publishing, and the lucrative world of corporate speaking, being a fellow at Harvard seemed, frankly, like a step down.
I couldn’t think of anything less appealing than molding the minds of tomorrow’s leaders, unless it was spending fireside evenings sipping sherry with great minds at the Faculty Club. Yawn.
To my surprise and delight, though, all Harvard wanted me to do was show up every once in a while and write something about something. That gave me an idea.
“Would it be okay if I wrote a scathingly partisan attack on the rightwing media and the Bush administration?”
“No problem,” Harvard said absentmindedly.
“Count me in,” I replied. “From now on call me ‘Professor Franken.’”
“No,” Harvard said, “you’re not a professor. But you can run a study group on the topic of your choosing.”
“Great,” I said. “I’ve got the perfect topic: Write My Son’s Harvard College Application Essay.”
“No,” they said. “Harvard students already know how to write successful Harvard applications, Al. We want you to teach them something new.”
Harvard was right where I wanted it. “How about if the topic is: How to Research My Book?”
“Sure,” Harvard said. “Most of our professors teach that course. Why, in the Biochemistry department, most of the graduate level courses are-”
Harvard was boring me. “I gotta run, Harvard. Thanks.”
***
I had my Nexis, I had my Google, I had my Harvard fellowship, and I had my fourteen research assistants. I sat down to write. Nothing.
So I got on my knees and prayed for guidance. “How, God, can I best do Your work through this book? Who, dear Lord, is the audience for a book like this? And what’s a good title?”
God answered, “YOU KNOW THOSE SHITTY BOOKS BY ANN COULTER AND BERNIE GOLDBERG?”
“The best-sellers that claim there’s a liberal bias in the media?” I asked.
“TOTAL BULLSHIT,” God said. “START BY ATTACKING THEM. HE'S CLEARLY A DISGRUNTLED FORMER EMPLOYEE, AND SHE JUST LIES. BY THE WAY, THERE'S SOMETHING SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH HER.”
“That’s pretty obvious.”
“SO GO AFTER THEM, THE WHOLE LIBERAL BIAS MYTH, AND THEN GO AFTER THE RIGHT-WING MEDIA. ESPECIALLY FOX.”
“Okay, God, I’m writing this down.”
“THEN USE THEM AS A JUMPING-OFF POINT TO GO AFTER BUSH. YOU KNOW, BIG TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH, SURGING UNEMPLOYMENT, IGNORING EVERYONE BUT HIS CORPORATE BUDDIES, SCREWING THE ENVIRONMENT, PISSING OFF THE REST OF THE WORLD. THAT STUFF. AND THAT'S YOUR BOOK.”
“Got it. One last thing. Title.”
“HOW ABOUT BEARERS OF FALSE WITNESS AND THE FALSE WITNESS THAT THEY BEAR?”
“Hmm. I, uh, I’ll work with that.”
A Note from the Author xi
Introduction xv
1 Hummus 1
2 Ann Coulter: Nutcase 5
3 You Know Who I Don't Like? Ann Coulter 17
4 Liberals Who Hate America 21
5 Loving America the Al Franken Way 24
6 I Bitch-Slap Bernie Goldberg 28
7 The 2000 Presidential Election: How It Disproved the Hypothetical Liberal Media Paradigm Matrix 37
8 Conclusion: A Lesson Learned 51
9 Five Get-Rich-Quick Tips the Wall Street Fat Cats Don't Want You to Know 52
10 Chapter for American Book by Kharap Juta 56
11 I'm Funnier than Kharap Juta 57
12 The Chapter on Fox 58
13 Bill O'Reilly: Lying, Splotchy Bully 65
14 Hannity and Comes 83
15 The Blame-America's Ex-President-First Crowd 104
16 Operation Ignore 115
17 Our National Dialogue on Terrorism 123
18 Humor in Uniform 124
19 Who Created the Tone? 132
20 Did the tone Change? 142
21 Why Did Anyone Think It Would Change? 143
22 I Grow Discouraged About the Tone 152
23 I'm Prudenized 165
24 Paul Gigot Is Unable to Defend an Incredibly Stupid Wall Street Journal Editorial 170
25 "This Was Not a Memorial to Paul Wellstone": A Case Study in Right-Wing Lies 177
26 I Attend the White House Correspondents Dinner and Annoy Karl Rove, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, and the Entire Fox News Team 206
27 The Lying Years 217
28 Bush Can't Lose With Clinton's Military 220
29 Operation Chickenhawk: Episode One 226
30 Fun with Racism 252
31 I'm a Bad Liar 261
32 Thank God for Jerry Falwell 277
33 Abstinence Heroes 283
34 Abstinence Heroes II 287
35 "By Far the Vast Majority of My Tax Cuts Go to Those at the Bottom" 288
36 The Waitress and the Lawyer: A One-Act Play 304
37 The Gospel of Supply Side Jesus 313
38 I Challenge Rich Lowry to a Fight 324
39 Vast Lagoons of Pig Feces: The Bush Environmental Record 328
40 I Meet Former First Lady Barbara Bush and It Doesn't Go Well! 336
41 My Personal Search for Weapons of Mass Destruction 342
42 The No Child Left Behind Standardized Test 349
43 What is a Lie? 352
Sources and Notes 355
Meet TeamFranken 369
Acknowledgments 373
Endnotes 379
Barnes & Noble.com: This interview is taking place a little earlier than expected, due to Fox News's lawsuit against you and your book, Lies -- a lawsuit that not only failed to delay its publication, but dramatically increased its sales. How badly did Fox screw this one up?
Al Franken: Very badly. Fox News Channel chairman Roger Ailes had to know that this case was a loser from the beginning but gave in to placate an out-of-control commentator who was in an infantile rage. He clearly underestimated how foolish they'd look and the damage it would do to the network. Everything about the way they handled this thing only corroborates what I say about Fox in my book.
B&N.com: Left-wing pundit Joe Conason has suggested that Fox News should adopt a new motto, based on the judge's lawsuit in your favor: "Wholly Without Merit." What new motto would you recommend?
AF: The judge did say that it is unlikely that Fox's trademark "Fair & Balanced" is even valid. And he said their case was "wholly without merit both factually and legally." So Joe then suggested the "Wholly Without Merit" motto. I really can't beat that.
B&N.com: You had a now-legendary run-in with Bill O'Reilly earlier this year. Any chance O'Reilly will ask you onto his show to discuss your book?
AF: The event was the BookExpo in Los Angeles. Molly Ivins, Bill, and I were there to tell the booksellers about our books. I was promoting Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, and Bill was promoting his latest, Living with Herpes. Which, by the way, is very good. No, no. Actually, his book has another, even better, title.
Anyway, Bill forgot that it wasn't his show and went after me, so when it was my turn, I got up and told a story from my book that showed he was an egregious liar. Well, Bill went nuts, yelling "Shut up!" It was on C-SPAN, and someone said it was the most exciting C-SPAN since the impeachment. Anyway, Bill's tantrum eventually led to the lawsuit and to my being No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
Chances that Bill will invite me on his show? I'd say small.
B&N.com: Ann Coulter's newest right-wing screed, Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism, is selling quite well at the moment. What's your take on her?
AF: While researching my book, I talked to a lot of conservatives. Almost to a person, when I brought up Ann Coulter, the next words out of their mouths were, "Off the record, there's something wrong with her." She is a thoroughly dishonest writer, but you should really read the two chapters about her in my book. Personally, I love my country. I will be doing my fourth USO Tour this Christmas when I go to Afghanistan and Iraq.
B&N.com: You assembled a large research team -- dubbed "TeamFranken" -- to help put your book together and to make sure you got your facts straight. Does Bill O'Reilly employ a similar team? If he did, what name would you give his team?
AF: I don't know if there is a "TeamO'Lie-lly." But if there were, I'm sure they'd all hate him.
B&N.com: O'Reilly's Fox News co-worker, Sean Hannity, also comes in for a fair amount of abuse in Liars. In your opinion, who's worse: Bill or Sean?
AF: Hard to say. They're different animals. Hannity is more the movement conservative who carries water for the cause. He lies a lot -- again, documented in my book -- but some of it might be stupidity. O'Reilly has an almost deluded self-image. He talks a lot about coming from poverty and likes to crow about his hardscrabble childhood in working-class Levittown, Long Island: "You don't come from any lower than I came from on an economic scale." In fact, he grew up comfortably middle-class in Westbury, Long Island, a completely different village than Levittown. O'Reilly, however, while clearly conservative, does not toe the party line as much as Hannity.
B&N.com: What's your favorite George W. Bush lie?
AF: I think "the trifecta." When his budget started going into deficit, Bush claimed to have said during the campaign that he would allow us to go into debt during a national emergency, a war, or a recession. "I guess I won the trifecta," he joked inappropriately and kept using the line at fundraisers. Both Tim Russert of NBC and the Washington Post found that he had never said any such thing [during the campaign]. One candidate did, however. Al Gore.
B&N.com: How complicit is the media in the right-wing lie machinery?
AF: The media has been cowed into letting the Bush administration and the right-wing media get away with this. They're so afraid of being called liberal, that they bend over backward. After 9/11, they completely lost their peckers. Read all about in my No. 1 bestseller, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.
B&N.com: Has Bush used the country's anger and sorrow over 9/11 as justification for attacking Iraq?
AF: I think there was a case for the war with Iraq that could have been made, but Bush chose to mislead the American people into believing there was an imminent threat to us and a tie to al-Qaeda. If we continue to get mired down there, Americans are going to be a lot less forgiving than if he had been honest with us.
B&N.com: Is it true you had a run-in with Karl Rove at this year's White House Correspondents Dinner?
AF: I didn't have a run-in with Rove. We jibed each other a little. That doesn't mean I don't hate everything he stands for.
B&N.com: Do any of the current Democratic candidates for president excite you? Who would you like to see run, ideally?
AF: They all excite me. Actually, I think Bush can be beaten, and a number of these guys could do it. I think all of the top-tier candidates would make good presidents. I'd love to see Bill Clinton be able to run again, however. He'd squash Dubya. Actually, I had a plan to get around the 22nd Amendment. I run for president, Clinton for vice president, and as soon as I'm sworn in, I resign -- Clinton's president. It works. Read the amendment.
Ankenman
Posted January 23, 2009
I felt that this book was a great source of insight into the side of politics that most conservatives won't even look at. Al Franken has a terriffic blend of, what seems like, sardonic humor mixed with solid research. Having said that, I found myself at a loss sometimes in this book, not exactly knowing how to take a certain joke, as it seemed that it would have to have been said in person. Also, it isn't all to friendly to the people who don't really know much about Liberals or Conservatives, I'm one of them, so to those types of readers, I think it would be a challenge to try to understand what Franken is writing about in his book. I had to personally look up definitions of Liberals and Conservatives, which is a good thing seeing as how that meant I enjoyed the book immensely, but bad because it should have been laid out in the beginning. In all fairness though, I doubt anyone who didn't know anything about the two sides would try to muscle their way through the book. My favorite part was the story, "Operation Chickenhawk: Episode One". It blended such a wonderful sense of humor, poking fun at actual political battles that went on in America, but also at, most likely, personal dislikes of certain choice American representatives. In conclusion, Al Franken is a brilliant author, but luckily gives credit where it's due, so to TeamFranken, I congratulate you on a successful book, and I learned a lot from your research. Thank you.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 2, 2008
This is an excellent expose of the Republicans and their dirty tricks. Al has done a fine job of defending truth and reality. This book needs to be read by everyone in America today.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 5, 2006
I found this book to be not only fact based and intellectual but amusing and quite funny. Previously I was unaware that Al Franken was a writer, and I am glad that I have found him. I enjoyed the main message of the book, which was to see a fair look at the conservative, right side of America in politics and writing, and to see what was wrong with it. With all the humor, this book was a very easy read, and quite educational. I enjoyed Franken¿s hits against the liberally biased media, poking fun at people like Ann Coulter. There are so many corrupt people in the media, and all they seem to be feeding the pubic is lies. It was nice to have someone give us the real story, to get the hard-hitting facts. Pointing out the lies that people in politics and people in the media is something that this country needs, and I got a great kick out of it. I also liked that he pointed out that countries like The Soviet Union are not the evil countries that America makes them out to be. I thoroughly enjoyed his comics, especially the one about the ¿Supply Side Jesus.¿ I loved the chapter in the book when Franken talks about meeting Barbara Bush, where he compares how charismatic the woman seems, while in all reality she was not a nice person, to how charismatic President Bush seems, but how horrible his policies are. I liked that Franken talked about terrorism, and showed how closed-minded Americans are about the reasons for the attacks. I also got quite a kick out of the charts Franken made, while some had humor, others made it a lot easier to understand the situation or topic. Because of me being younger normally it is much harder for me to comprehend a lot of politics, but Franken had a way of making it understandable for me. There were many facts in this book that I had never heard of before, things that the media and Politicians have been covering up or softening intensely for the American public. As a young person, I was almost appalled to read and learn some of the things in this book. I was glad to learn truths about our country, because after all, knowledge is power. Many parts of this book made me think, and although sometimes when one has to think about something they don¿t want to hear is almost painful, it is much better to be living in the light than in the dark. I found this book enjoyable, and don¿t have anything bad to say about it. I believe that anyone could read this book, and get something out of it, including the conservative right winged people in this country. Therefore, I would definitely recommend this book.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 20, 2010
The audacity and majestic breadth of lies that right wingers utter is always humbling. To have someone meticulously analyze them, find the humor in them (and the persona's behind them), while having the journalistic integrity to cite his sources - was a breath of fresh air for the climate this book was written in.
But, I found Franken to be a little more than mean spirited at times. Perhaps his targets deserved it? Perhaps not. But that negativity got to me at times, which is why this gets 4/5 stars despite being an otherwise brilliant read.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 11, 2010
This book talks about the lies being spread by the right. From Ann Coulter to Bill O'Rilly, Al tells; you what they say, a joke, the truth and finishes with an explanation. This book was very enjoyable. From the start when Al talks to God to the end the book. Al makes polotics fun and the book seems like a conversation with Al rather than a nonfiction book. This book is great for those people who want to read nonfiction but haven't in the past.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 9, 2009
Lies<BR/>By Al Franken<BR/><BR/> The book Lies And the lying Liars Who Tell Them is a great political book to read for people that are at least fifteen years old. Not only because of its accuracy but how Al Franken. It is a mix of comidec responces, and also serious responses throughout the book. Another thing Al franken does is he shows how the Newspapers and publicity takes sides. For instance there is a graph in his book that shows violent crimes for Reagan, Bush, and Clinton. What he shows the same graph twice but one that Newspapers or Magazines can show with foul play. His untamperd graph shows little difference wich makes the violence levels almost the same. But the graph that uses foul play shows that Reagan has majorly reduced violence crimes. While Bush¿s and Clintons bars seam like thir going to busrt off of the book.<BR/> This book can¿t be praised enough for how much work he put into it, three hundred and Seventy-seven pages of pure genious. But he sticks to his point. That¿s point is the liars that leed our country. But in the beginning of the chapter the Lying years was a part of the book that really made me think. One thing he wrote was ¿Bush lied while claiming that Clinton had undermined the readiness of the military.¿ Now on the same page, page 217; he wrote direct quotes from Carl Levin and Richard Armitage. Carl Levin says ¿But I want to get back to the two divisions not being ready for duty, becase Mr. Amtiage has not answerd that. Are those divistions ready for duty, or arent they.¿ Armitage says ¿I believe those two divsions, Senator, are ready for duty. <BR/>As Levin answers, ¿That¿s not what Governor Bush said the other night, and that¿s why I think an appology is apropiate.¿<BR/> On the next page Al Franken crituques this information and even tells that instead of apolagizing , he bolted from the hearing room, knocking over a veteran reporter, breaking her hip and jaw. All of this information just shows how much information Al Franken put into this book. Now if you want a book opening the truth in politicks, seeing cold hard facts, and finally laghing on how he alborates on these subjects. This will be a great book for you.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 3, 2008
Al Franken proves one thing in this humorless book. He is actually more ignorant about comedy than he is about politics. A real rebel-without-a-clue.
1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 9, 2006
Al makes some good points: Bill O'Reilly's Voter Registration Card is a really big ' Gotcha! ' But the problem is that Franken characterizes every disputed statement as a deliberate lie, when in fact it's possible that some were simply honest mistakes: When VP Cheney talked about the Crosses at Arlington Cemetery, was he really trying to deceive people??? Some of the statements Pres Bush made regarding Iraq before the war were not accurate, but that does not prove Bush knew they were not accurate at the time. It's one thing to show a statement is untrue, it's something else to prove it was intentionally untrue. Franken needs to remember that.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 8, 2006
So you like this? Then you'll love Peter Schweizers 'Do as I say (Not as I do)' Which is a book and an Author that the Left Wing extremists (yup Al is one) are trying to ignore rather than comment on. Why is that?
1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 24, 2006
I really enjoyed this audio book. It wasnt because i agreed with everything he wrote, it was because Frankin and his researchers took the time to give thoughtout reasons for their opinions and points of view. Unlike may political collumns, books, etc this one layed out the lines of research and methods by which they came to their conclusions. Others tend to state their opinions, joke, then continue to the next topic. Frankin, on the other hand, gives the listener the background and information from which his statements are derived. While he obviously delights in pointing out inconsistancies or lies in his opponents, with hilarious effects in the audio, he also admits to some failures in his research. In a few cases he tells of setting out with a particular agenda and not finding the 'dirt' he had expected. Although in some sections Frankin exagerates and stylalizes for comedic effect, overall he maintains a conversational tone. The audio, in his own voice, is pleasant, comedic, and invites the listener apply their own critical thinking.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 24, 2006
Love this guy¿love his book. Loved him on SNL and actually got his autograph once! Okay, I¿m a moderate, so get on that ¿sides¿ issue, but this is one great book. BUT, Franken does back up his assertions with hard evidence, so what can you do? Heck, he persuaded me. And the book is funny and knowing, like the writings of Pynchon or Jackson McCrae (Katzenjammer) or even some Vonnegut. But mostly, it is informative and from a dry-witted, highly intelligent guy who will convince you that he¿s right! Must highly recommend McCrae¿s ¿Katzenjammer¿ for those who are into Franken¿s sense of humor.A well-educated man, a great comedian, and a great writer. I highly recommend it!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 3, 2006
Okay, in this world there is ALWAYS going to be bias. Of course people who read Ann Coulter are going to think this is a piece of junk. People like me who are completely appaled by the lies and the decit and the false policies in our administration find this humorous. Get a sense of humor. When I read right wing jokes about liberals that are funny and creative I laugh, don't be a narrow-minded person and say this book stinks just becasue a liberal comedian wrote it. Some stuff is bias but a lot of it is based off of fact. Get over yourselves, each party lies, each party is crazy at points, but our administration, as outlined in this book, is out of control. Read the book, do some research, and understand a little bit before you come out here and start calling people liberal commies. The only reason I dislike George Bush and his staff members are because I love this country. No more of this liberal commie junk, Al franken first and foremost is a comedian who is making A JOKE!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 7, 2005
Mr. Franken not only uncovers the lies and deceptions so easily overlooked by the masses, his points are well written with a sharp witted comedic edge which makes for easy reading. So many of his topics of discussion uncover so many facts that many of us either missed in the daily sludge of watered down news sources or just never saw with a clear mind. Franken lifts the smoke screen covering the truth and makes it easy to see the real inner workings behind the lies. Thank you mr. Franken for a GREAT book!!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 1, 2005
This is a hilarious BackAtcha! to the ultra-conservative, even radical, pundits in the mainstream media today. Just as in his Rush Limbaugh book, the facts are indisputable, in fact, not one single item in either book, reported as fact, has been disproven. The interesting thing is that when confronted with these facts about their previous lies, O'Reilly and company have resorted to even more lies to cover the first lies. This book is Laugh-out-loud funny, but at the same time, deadly serious when dealing with the issues of media bias, corporate cover-ups and the attempt to indoctinate an entire population through lies, deception and hypocrisy. He exposes the Hitler-like methods being levelled at the American Public, through the media, by the NeoCons and their cronies. Entertaining, thought provoking, and hilarious!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 10, 2005
Mr. Franken's book is funny, well-written, and well-researched. Bravo. Bellissimo. I think it's especially hillarious how Bill O'Reilly's and Fox's suit over Franken's satirical use of the phrase 'Fair and Balanced' shot the book from number four-hundred-and-eighty-something to number one on the Barnes and Nobles top-sellers list. Ah, the delicious irony. I would also agree with a previous reviewer that I got the impression that most if not all of the people who have written negative reviews have not read the book themselves, but have heard isolated quotes and anecdotes from friends, or just heard that it was bad. Myself, I'm going to reccomend it to all my friends who I think can handle it.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 8, 2005
I was listening while I was driving and once I even had to pull over and stop while I laughed. Yes, he points out that statements such as Ann Coulter's 'Liberals hate America' are absurd when one considers the likes of John Glenn, but those are the easy ones to poke holes in. Franken takes on the more insidious lies, too, using careful research at each step. There are, of course, valid conservative political points of view, and ethical conservatives everywhere should be decrying the foul methods their most prominent spokespeople are using to get out their message.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 30, 2004
This book is a very funny and enlightening book. It exposes the hypocrisy of the conservative movement. This book could not have published a better time. We are blinded by the conservative media and the lies of the Bush administration. This book exposes the age old myth of 'liberal media.' This book is especially important considered the recent sex and drug scandals involving so called 'conservatives' such as Bill O'Reily and Rush Limbaugh. These conservatives preach moral values to other people but engage in immoral acts. These so called 'conservatives' lie all the time to mislead good Americans. It is must read for every smart American who see this obvious hypocracy.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 21, 2004
Just as dumb as RUSH LIMBAUGH IS A BIG FAT IDOIT, he's back. He makes dumb comments like '...and this is from a Christian Science magazine. Not only are they Christians, there also scientists.' If he had done any research on the subject he would know that not every adherant to the religion of Christian Science (which is not Christianty anyway) IS NOT A SCIENTIST. He makes stupid comments like this throughout the entire book. Al Franken needs to go back to acting. What he was good at. BOO!!!!!!!
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 12, 2004
After reading this book I have one question? Why isn't Franken's picture on the cover? Possibly the most misguided dribble I've ever read. Funny he doesn't mention the 'Harvard stationary' incident. This 'gem' should sit along side Ann Colter's ideologically driven Edsel in the 'sorry I didn't get all the facts straight' section! If I could rate this a '0', I would. By the way, I recommend this book so that you can identify the 'left' wing kooks as well as the 'right' wing kooks!
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 31, 2004
Although I am admittedly conservative, I do respect the views of thinking liberals like Bill Bradley, Alan Colmes, Chris Matthews, and others. However, I find Franken's work to be creative yet 'ultra-smearing' and downright hateful. Though some might believe his 'documentation' of fact is convincing, I find little accuracy among his 'documentation.' I am 'turned off' that such a dynamic and intelligent person has chosen a path of destructiveness that may sell books, but clearly is not winning converts in the real arena of ideas. I was disappointed with the book and would describe it as 'candy for the liberally biased.'
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Overview
Listen to Al Franken as interviewed by Dan Susskind of Another Perspective on VoiceAmerica.com!
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Al Franken, one of our “savviest satirists” (People), has been studying the rhetoric of the Right. He has listened to their cries of “slander,” “bias,” and even “treason.” He has examined the Bush administration’s policies of squandering our surplus, ravaging the environment, ...