Rating: 
Summary: should be a primer for modern politics
Review: No matter which side of the fence you stand on, a read like this is as important a political analysis as any, because it doesn't so much pander to the individual politics of each side, but instead focuses on the basic "right and wrongs" of the government climate of today. I think of Franken as less of a liberal and more of a person that calls others out on their "B.S.". Reading this book, you get angered by the way that the Bush-led govn't can't seem to take responsibility for its own faults, and is amply content to point the unpatriotic finger at those who would criticize them. Watching the republicans work is like watching 6-Graders at recess. Bottom line, this is an excellent expose' of the climate of today. In an election year, it is refreshing to be familiarized and reminded of the many serious problems of the Bush administration. Arm yourself, citizen of common-sense.
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Summary: Just look at his titles
Review: No need to read his books just read the titles, and you have covered the "depths" of not only the whole book but his intelligence as well. He talks about everyone not having thier facts straight, but I dont see him giving references to all his "truths". Al's what my kids call "a wanta be". Sorry
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Summary: Just highlighting lies does not have much purpose
Review: No question this book is funny, readable and informative. But that's not enough. It is one thing to complain about the bad situation of the US, from a "liberal" perspective, by highlighting lies of non-liberal liars. It is another to do something about it. In other words, Iraqi and Afghani people continue to die and suffer under the illegal US occupation, while Franken and O'Reilly exchange courteous insults, making money over the head of naïve readers. Because, if those people whom Franken mentions did lie as he says they did - and I have no reason not to believe him - instead of being exposed, they should be brought to justice and tried for crimes against mankind. The US set a great precedent with the Nuremberg trials of the late 40's, and there is no reason the procedure couldn't be used against rulers of the US itself, which is the only country of the world that has been formally accused internationally of terrorism, thanks to the indictment by Nicaragua. But it seems Franken would chicken out at that idea, because he seems to believe that changing from a Republican to a Democratic administration would fix everything. It would not, since many of the crimes for which the US is known internationally have been committed under Democratic administrations, as the shortened list of Korea, Santo Domingo, Vietnam, Indonesia, Greece and Cuba illustrates. Franken seems to believe that Republicans are the source of all lies, while Democrats are the center of honesty. But if that were so, why don't Democrats use the golden opportunities offered by President Bush's lies - described by Franken - to impeach him several times over? Why did they support all those illegal wars, lastly that in Iraq, and swallow all those lies and hoaxes about WMD, uranium from Niger, and Saddam's involvement in the Twin Tower massacre? Why did they agree over and over again to new war expenditures and mendacious tax cuts? Why don't they support US troops by sending them home IMMEDIATELY? Franken also says that Clinton was the greatest president of the twentieth century. If so, why didn't he stand up to the indignity of being tried for impeachment for reasons that made the US the laughing stock of the whole world? Why did he not say, I refuse to answer such questions and I appeal to all people to condemn such repulsive behavior by hypocrite Republicans? Maybe because he was too busy watching polls, instead of standing up like a man! I imagine Louis XIV looking down at modern kings and shaking his head at the low level at which, in the name of democracy, present world leaders are held accountable for their personal behavior, with asinine accusations, that neither he nor Mitterand could even think of!, while Kennedy and Roosevelt behaved as they pleased. Now, maybe Clinton is not a hardened criminal like the current president, but among others he illegally bombed a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan, a fact which, aside from the immediate casualties of a few thousand deaths, is believed to cause the death of about 100,000 people, among the poorest on earth, depriving them of needed medicines. Enough to put him in the list of war criminals, together with several past US presidents, secretaries of state, generals and the like. The fault might be with the title "a fair and balanced look at the right". In fact it is neither fair nor balanced and represents a back-door, sneaky rationale to give some kind of legitimacy and respectability to outright liars and crooks (read: the "nice" people at Bob Jones, who teach creationism in the 21st century!). Which shows the limits of those "liberals" a-la-Franken: willing to complain about distortions of the system, but not to recognize that there might be an inherent flaw in how this new "version" of the system has been built lately, with heavy contributions by the Democrats. Let's see instead what the US Declaration of Independence states: "...That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends [those of the rights of the Citizen], it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it". This is long overdue in the US, as in many other "democratic" countries, after decades, if not centuries, of abuses of mankind, both inside the borders and on a world scale, as the present crimes by the US and Great Britain eloquently indicate. Americans should do better and listen to a scream that has been heard worldwide for several decades: "yankee, go home", and demand immediate closure of all those imperial military bases worldwide, on foreign soil, which have served to perpetrate so many crimes, from Guantanamo to Sicily passing through the Pacific. Even though Franken seems to be deaf on that one! To conclude, in spite of the apparent accuracy and funny style of the book, the reader is better off learning about those lies from more serious and impartial activists and researchers like Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky, Scott Ritter, Gore Vidal and Paul Krugman.
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Summary: Al Franken Takes Fox et al To The Woodshed
Review: No wonder Fox and company did not want this book released. Franken exposes them as absurd liars and bullies - and makes you laugh at the same time. It's just too bad that the people who should read this book won't. They'll be at home listening to Rush, cursing all those liberal traitors who just don't get it.
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Summary: Fair and Funny
Review: No wonder Fox tried to stop this book from being published - Franken rips apart their conservative blather with well researched facts. His counter liberal spin and Clinton adoration are a bit much, but made with more cheer and honesty than the angry Republican zealots.
Rating:
Summary: Splotchy
Review: No wonder FOX wanted to stop publication of Al's book. This is a wonderful expose of the Republican Party and their henchmen in the media. While the Chicken Hawk parody was delightful (thanks, Don Simpson!), the right-wing exploitation of Sen. Wellstone's memorial was sad and pitiful. By the way, why is Bill O'Reilly so splotchy? Too much sun? Or too many lies?
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Summary: The best laugh of the year
Review: No, it wasn't the awful book. It was when my girlfriend told me that Al's wife's name is: Franni Franken What a scream! I spit out my coffee when she said that.
Rating: 
Summary: Spend your money better
Review: Not much here. Spend your money better by buying an extra copy of Molly Ivin's BUSHWHACKED and then giving it to someone who really needs to be educated about the excesses, inadequacies and untruths of the Bush leaguers.
Bill Baker, Saratoga, WY
Rating:
Summary: A great book
Review: Not only did I find it informative, I was laughing out loud. Al Franken presents an intriguing view on the conservatives and the lies we are fed by them, and can keep it funny while he's at it. I'd recommend this for a laugh and for a good liberal read.
Rating:
Summary: Very Funny
Review: Not only does Franken totally destroy Hannity, O'Reilly, Coulter and other Republican mouthpieces using plenty of documented cases of outright deceit - he has written an incredibly funny book. The story of the Chickenhawks had me in tears. I'm laughing again just thinking about it. Anyone with a sense of humor will enjoy this book. Mr. Franken, thank you for writing such an important book, America needs you.
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