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Summary: The Cons are Running the Prison
Review: I had never heard of Al Franken before I picked this book up on a whim while waiting for a flight to Tokyo. The language is a bit strong, but the work is excellent and thorough. I read it back to back with Paul Krugman's The Great Unraveling. The two read like chapters of the same book, The Enron Presidency. Economists and forensic accountants will make careers over the next few decades unravelling the fraud Franken describes. The brilliance of using the government itself to run a trillion dollar sting is breath-taking. Having been in the fraud detection business myself, I was deeply impressed by Team Franken's work.
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Summary: I love AL!
Review: I had never read one of Al franken's books before I was pleasently suprised by his ability to have an opinion and humor about the way people act and the things that they say with out attacking them in a vicious way. I couldnt put the book down and i recommend you set aside a day if you are going to buy this because you wont want to do anything else...my favorite part is about ann coulter's drivers indentification falcification and how under the patriot act she should be in jail for indentification fraud...it was great..i cant stand that woman...buy this book it's great...
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Summary: Extremely enlightening
Review: I had no idea how often these talking heads will lie with such energy. Franken does a great job of lining up the lies and the contradicting truths. And he does it with the help of a Harvard research team. And he's got sources...I've checked his sources and they all check out....great book. Funny.
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Summary: Conservatives, how does your medicine taste?
Review: I had to pleasure of reading Mr. Franken's book and mostly enjoyed it. He will not get the Pulitzer, but he has gotten America to listen to another side. After being bombarded with "CNN bad", "NPR bad", "all media, except for FOX News, bad" the American public is finally listening to somebody saying "FOX News bad". I am now thoroughly convinced that all media is biased (prove to me that it is not) and it is all the more important for all to make up their own mind, not to believe channels that say they are are "balanced", only because they are. Mr. Franken's book is as "balanced" as FOX News is. It seems to me that ever since Clinton was elected, or more importatnly lied to America about a relatively trivial thing, the right has felt a sense of righteousness. This has only resulted in the election of a president that is farther from center than Clinton ever was. And the result, the hate for and lies being told by the for Bush and the current administration are much stronger than those regarding the Clinton administration. I hope America stops this back and forth, as it is very destructive. But in the meantime, Mr. Franken gives the left a lot of valid ammo (nobody has shown me the lies in his book) to volley at the right.
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Summary: Partisan Morons and the Moronic Messages They Spew
Review: I had to read this thing--borrowed it from one of my liberal friends, wouldn't give FrankenStein a dime for it--and, unfortunately, it didn't surprise me one bit with the "insight" or "truth" I was hoping for. Better title: %#&*@^s and the Nation of %#&*@^s They Hope to Cultivate and Control as Good, Liberal, Pro-Democrat-Anti-Everyone-Else, Anti-American Socialist Sheep.
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Summary: An unbias review..
Review: I happen to agree with everything Franken has to say, but at the same time I found this book somewhat repetative and boring. He states more and more lies by the right, which are interesting at first, but get tiresome after about half the book. If you are very liberal(like myself) you will often be frustrated by the facts presented in this book and I think I would rather read and Ann Coulter book and think about how crazy she is, then hear propoganda from my own side.
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Summary: More than just witty
Review: I happen to be a liberal and an Al Franken fan. I disagreed with some of the conservative pundits but it never occurred to me that the facts they were using to support their stances could have been fabricated, misused or taken drastically out of context. During the publicity tours for this book, Franken repetedly touted the amount of research that went into the book. As far as research goes, it wouldn't take much to one up "You're Smart Enough...", but this book goes to the source of the habitual lies disseminated by the media unlike any other book I've read. Transcripts of "Hannity and Colmes" and the "The O'Reilly Factor" to illustrate where the lie was first told and how the liar came up with the lie. Often another transcript excerpt presents an instance in which the liar lied about having lied. If there is one weakness in the book it is one pointed out by Franken himself in the introduction: it is sometimes difficult to differentiate joke from fact. Some of the truths in the book are so outrageous it is difficult to believe them until one actully looks up the source from the "Sources and Notes" section. After criticizing Ann Coulter for her crafty use of endnotes it would be helpful to have a system which cited sources as they were used rather than simply listing them in the back, but descriptions along with the websites and newspaper articles listed there do make it fairly easy to find the source of the information. Although he does not keep any of his beliefs secret, fortunately most of the book is used to dispell myths from the right rather than to promote Al Franken's personal opinion. Many on the right will criticize his method for doing nothing to promote bipartisanship. But when public support for one side is based on a set of lies that have been repeated enough times to be believed there is nothing democratic about the argument. I sincerely hope we will see more from Al and the rest of TeamFranken. It is amazing that figures such as Bill O'Reilly are able to hold positions of such high influence when they have such grave issues with telling the truth. Since Fox News clearly doesn't have an interest in promoting truth, I hope enough people read this book to force the industry to make such figures accountable for what they say.
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Summary: Nothing but the facts
Review: I hate being lied to. That's why I read this book. I wanted to find out who was lying. Kudos to Al Franken and TeamFranken, his 14 Harvard students who helped with the research. Maybe those who reviewed the book here should have read it first. That should be a pre-requisite, rather than using amazon as a venue for their close-mindedness. If you want to have a REAL opinion, read the book. Just as I also read Rush Limbaugh's book. That way, when I want to argue about it, I know what I am talking about (I just try to buy it second-hand so it doesn't count for his book sales). Al - your book was phenomenal. A real eye-opener. The waiting list I have for people who want to borrow it from me is gigantic.
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Summary: what madness is this
Review: I hate this book, because Rush and NR said to. It is a perfect example of how the stupid evil weak traitorous liberals are destroying America, by questioning the President in every way. Without absolute faith our city on the hill will crumble like the bistro food so many effete liberals enjoy. I purchased this book simply to burn it, and show those fascist liberals what is what.
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Summary: A review from the right
Review: I hate to admit it, but this book really illustrates the poor research and constant mistruths that come from my party. Coulter is a disgrace to not just the right but America and all it stands for. Hannity and Colmes should be re-named to the Sean Hannity Show because Alan Colmes simply is not as vociferous as his counterpart and it hurts the left. I'm Republican but more importantly I'm a proud American. I would prefer to hear fair and balanced because it is good for public discourse but it simply is not happening and never will. He who yells loudest is usually the one heard. I was really disheartened to learn the truths about Al Gore and Love Canal, the Internet and Love Story. Franken illustrates the truth about the lies that were told by the media that negatively affected Gore's run for the presidency. It is worth buying this book just to read about this alone. Some that read this review may question my loyalty to the GOP. At times I do myself. I simply wish that everyone would put the country first rather than their agenda. After completing the book I'm a little more than disillusioned with the lies in the media. We should stand for it no longer. This is an excellent book for everyone!
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