Rating: 
Summary: A masterpiece that is likely to make history
Review: I bought Al Franken's book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them
four days ago and have read all but about three chapters of it. I
want to shout it from the rooftops: BUY THIS BOOK!! It is a
masterpiece! It is the most well-written, simply written, devastatingly
sharp "nailing" of the lies by Bush, Cheney, O'Reilly, Coulter,
Hannity, the whole Fox network, and on and on. Franken just may be the re-incarnation of Tom Paine -- or posssibly our own Lech Walesa. Several wonderful books have come out recently that I have read or am reading, like Conason's Big Lies, but THIS book, I believe, has the potential to be the first real shot to topple the evil right wing empire that has stolen America right out from under us -- the empire that is, irony of all ironies, trying
to make it into a mirror image of the late unlamented Soviet Union, a place where anyone who questions the ruling powers is labeled a "traitor" and bullied or banished into silence. This book -- I am not in any way related to or employed by Al Franken or his publisher and get nothing out of writing this -- is up there with J'Accuse and Candide among the great political books of all time. What puts this ahead is that it's so well-written, so clear and easy to follow, and delivered with real grace and humor. You HAVE to lighten this material up sometimes, otherwise it would get so horribly depressing and turgid, people would just get overwhelmed and turn off. It is also so jam-packed with specifics about right-wing lies. For this, Franken gives due credit to his amazing team of 14 Harvard grad student researchers, who helped dig up all this dirt. (I hope you'll give them lots of money from the royalties too, Al! Except maybe the guy from the ultra-wealthy family!) If you buy this book, you won't have to sputter when you talk to a dittoheaded or no-spin-zoned relative. Instead, you can take apart what he or she says and show it to be the lie that it is. This is absolutely required reading for any and every Democratic activist. It should be read and studied, it
should be given out to every person who goes to the Democratic
convention next summer. Read this, and you will be outraged, and fired up, and also happy, because somebody is really, really, really laying it out on the line what's happened. Read the chapter on how
Bush is absolutely, positively at fault for completely ignoring all the warnings of a terrorist attack (including knowing that Al Qaeda wanted to hijack planes and fly them into buildings), but blamed Clinton. Read how the right wing deliberately lied about and "spun" Wellstone's FUNERAL to win the Minnesota senatorial race. There really IS a terrible right wing conspiracy, and it's really
bad -- no, it's even worse than you probably think it is. The supposedly "liberal" media has aided and abetted this attack on American democracy. And it's ALL HERE. GO NOW and BUY THE BOOK. It is likely to make history.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely worthless
Review: I bought the book thinking it would be funny. It wasn't. If the liberals think that the best they can do for a spokesman is Al Franken, it looks like four more years of Dubya for sure.
I looked through the other reviews to see if I was perhaps missing something . . . some folks were calling Al Franken a "genius", or "insightful". Wow. Guess the bar wasn't set too high.
Rating:
Summary: I'm really ticked off about this book....
Review: I bought this because I thought it was put out by Fox News, and that it would be a tribute to "Bill O'Really?" who is pictured on the cover -- boy, was I fooled! As soon as I quit laughing, I'll send a letter of complaint to the publisher. It's a great book full of guffaws and facts. Buy it for yourself, your friends, and what the heck, send one to your favorite pun(k)dit at Fox News.
Rating:
Summary: Funny and Informative
Review: I bought this book after following the Fox News law suit against the author. After seeing what fools they made of themselves, I had to se what they were afraid of. In short, this is a great read and was hard to put down. I read it in two nights and found it's writings to be right on the mark and well reasearched. As some other reviewers stated, the footnotes/endnotes are all there, but can be hard to follow. If they were paying attention, they would know that this was done on purpose to show how authors can lie in the body, then correct in the footnotes/endnotes, knowing that most won't make the effort to research facts. Here, it was also used comic device too. This book exposed the nasty tactics used by so many in the media and in office. It did so in a very entertaining way. I was glad to find that I wasn't the only one who thought these people were full of it. If you are a thin skinned or without a sense of humor, you may not like this book.
Rating:
Summary: Franken gets the last laugh
Review: I bought this book after hearing about Franken's clashes with Bill O'Reilly (or, as Franken calls him, Bill O'Lie-lly), and enjoyed this almost as much as his Rush Limbaugh book. This his humor can occasionally be off the mark (Cheerleaders in chadors? What the hell was he thinking?!?!), more often tan not it is as on-target as a laser-guided missile, and I found myself laughing out loud at something in almost every chapter. As good as the book is, though, I did have some reservations: 1) the Operation Chickenhawk chapter was way too obvious and heavy-handed, 2) unless you're really up on your current events, it may be hard at times to tell when he is joking and when he is relating a true incident, 3) there is no index, making it difficult to locate specific points in the book. However, the chapter on the memorial to Paul Wellstone is deeply moving and more than makes up for it. Very highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Franken's funny look at Fox, Coulter, O'Lielly and Dubya
Review: I bought this book at noon yesterday, and have been laughing ever since. I'd never watched Hannity and (poor)colmes, but tuned into the Fox duo on while I continued reading the light-hearted book that takes a heavyweight swing at a bunch of, well, LIARS. It made the Fox News funnier than Saturday Night Live! Every time Hannity said "fair and balanced!" I'd get tickled and nearly fell off the couch. The Fox show should be subtitled "Laurel and Hardy". This book will entertain anyone who hasn't paid serious attention to the frothing right-wing pundits, and bring hilarity to their veracity-challenged antics.
This is no dry, mean look at the right, although it has some eye-opening tables and charts that expose some big lies we've all heard. From the "No Child Left Behind" teleplay to the letter sent to Administration officials asking them to be role models and share their real-life experiences with sexual abstinence, it's dead-on funny and on the political mark. Every Republican needs to buy it, read it and loan it to their poor Democrat friends.
Rating:
Summary: Just not funny
Review: I bought this book hoping for a good laugh. But instead I was infuriated by the twisting of facts and bald face lies put forth under the banner of truth. The worst part was that people will believe this! The chances that anyone who seeks this book out will actually read the books that Franken attacks are slim. Those that do will see that the entire chapters Franken committed to what he saw as a single or perhaps double discrepancy in an entire book is laughable! How does he respond to the hundreds of other charges leveled in Slander and Bias? Even if what he is saying is true, it is obscured by the near constant personal attacks and laughable mud slinging...did I say laughable? Little about this book was laugh inducing at all. Wait, I take that back. The funniest part of the book was at the end when he declared that "most people are liberals like him." Now that is funny!!
Rating: 
Summary: Can't we all just get along?
Review: I bought this book initially because I am sick of seeing labels such as 'Treason' demonizing a views held by half the population of this country. With this book, Al is not demonizing the conservative viewpoint, but attacks a few specific media people who are either 'true believers' who care nothing for fact-checking or pure machiavellian liars who will say anything to give power to the right. The title of the book caters to the angry leftists, but the content of the book is suitable for anyone who wants to hear the liberals defend themselves without the demonizing the average joe conservative. The book is funny, but not exceptionally hilarious or anything like that. I could have done without the 'Operation ChickenHawk' chapter. Hey Al, if Ollie North likes it I wouldn't take it as a good sign. But overall the humor makes this book very easy to read. The book is very informative, loaded with hard refutations of 'facts'laid out by Fox newsers. An example is O'Reilly's "Im a registered independent" line is debunked with a scan of his voter registration card with Republican checked. Another thing he brings up: I always thought of Alan Colmes as a lightweight too! He needs to be replaced...Where is Micheal Kinsley? Anyways, overall a good and funny book
Rating:
Summary: Tremendously Entertaining and Educational
Review: I bought this book primarily as a dig at the Fox news network (at 40% off, why not?) thinking that Franken probably wouldn't be much of an author -- then read the whole book in two days. It is tremendously entertaining, well written and a real eye opener. Franken does get a little annoying and petty at a couple of points, but overall the book is very informative and funny. The chapter (in cartoon form) "Supply Side Jesus" contrasting a Jesus who believes in Supply Side Economics with the real Jesus of Nazareth was my favorite part, and should be required reading for every person who beleive that being a Christian means supporting Bush-style economics.
Rating:
Summary: A refreshing change!
Review: I bought this book solely because of the frivolous lawsuit brought by Fox News at the behest of Bill O'Reilly. It arrived today and over the past several hours I have gotten through the first hundred and fifty pages. So far, it seems to be extremely well researched and documented (although I haven't checked all the facts) and definitely gives the reader some pause for thought about the veracity of much of the anti liberal 'facts' spewed forth nightly by a variety of right wing pundits. I particularly like the way that Al Franken methodically presents his case and mixes it with suitable amount of humor and cynicism resulting, ultimately, in a very entertaining and thought provoking read. Frankly, I am amazed by a seemingly endless list of half-truths, misstatements, and outright falsehoods that are attributed to Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, The Administration, etc. Shouldn't our nation's journalists be asking some hard questions? This book is a must read for liberals, conservatives and centrists alike. I'll bet Mr. O'Reilly is kicking himself for creating such a fuss!
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