Rating:  Summary: Bad reviews here - all talk, no evidence Review: Notice that none of the bad reviews show any evidence that Al Franken lied in the book. Nobody is disputing the facts in the book. This book was very well-researched with the help of a team at Harvard. The end of the book lists newspaper & magazine articles and websites (including government websites) where you can check the facts for yourself.
Rating:  Summary: THE BEST!! THE FUNNIEST!! THE LEAST LIKE BILL O'REILLY!! Review: Now that the right-wing has a seemingly firm grasp on the media, it's nice to know that at least one loopy, articulate, alienated wacko has the answer--laugh at them. Laugh at Ann Coulter before her vulgar stupidity infects your children, mock Bill O'Reilly before his pompous sputum covers your house, poke fun at Fox news for its bigoted, biased, blarney-filled broadcasts. It's not the same as taking the media back from its conservative bias, but it sure beats watching it. If nothing else, this book should serve as a mild antidote to all the insane propaganda served up by Mr. Murdoch's troops. It's really, really worth reading.
Rating:  Summary: Breezy, informative read Review: Now, first I've gotta admit: I've been an Al Franken fan since his quarrelsome stand-up acts with Tom Davis. When he entered the political-punditry arena, I cheered like a cheerleader. Because I knew that his brand of comedy was truly a no-holds-barred affair, as opposed to others who've sleekly embraced that notion without ever really practicing it. "Rush Limbaugh Is A Big, Fat Idiot" was perfect for its time, when the titular powder keg of cellulite and half-digested balogna and his equally immense Republican brethren gleefully dug their mud-caked snouts into the Clinton administration, squealing with innuendo and sweat-drenched, cottage-cheese-thighed delight. And now, in a time when Shrill O'Lielly, Sham Hammity and P-Diddy Colmes, and Ann Colt-face have the ear of the public with their bestselling toilets of half-baked and lie-based accusations, we need the angry Franken more than ever to tell it like it is.And man, does he. Not only does he hand the fortysomething Ann Coulter her lunch, he beats her down with it. Sean Hannity is given the heave-ho, and Bill O'Reilly? Let's just say that if I were Bill O'Reilly, I'd take my crimson face and disappear before people really sit down, read this book, and begin to think twice about all the dribble that tumbles from his bullish maw. A victory for free-thinking people everywhere. The Al Franken Decade gets an extension.
Rating:  Summary: Terrific, fun, laugh out loud and important read Review: Now, more than ever, it is important to speak out against the ultra conservative right wingers and Al Franken does a great job. The writing is straightfoward, well organized, and sharp-witted. Bush took the White House without the majority of the popular vote. Congress is controlled by the Republicans and the Supreme Court leans to the Right at about 5 to 4 right now with the probability that one or two will resign before W leaves office in '04. Fox News is all right wing. MSNBC isn't far behind and I don't need to mention the Right wing AM radio all across the US. SO, the Left needs a voice. The left needs a well-researched answer to all the right wing claims and complaints - now more than ever. With Franken's wit and sarcasm and refreshingly direct style his political views and debunking of the Conservatives is a welcome piece of literature.
Rating:  Summary: Delivers what it promises...both hilarious and horrifying Review: Obviously not a book for the uptight or fervent fans of the likes of Bill O'Reilly- but what a hoot otherwise! A goldmine of comedy relief for these grim times, Al Franken also has some serious issues to address, mainly the myth of a "liberal media"-and when he reminisces about his friend, the late senator Paul Wellstone, he's sincerely poignant-but for the most part, it's enough laughs to carry you all the way to 2004. Illustrated with facts, footnotes and some mind-bogglingly great first-person anecdotes that expose an awful lot of hypocrisy, cheating and, yes, plain old lying from many prominent pundits and politicians of the right-wing in America. Some of the chapters are pure parody, such as the brilliantly funny "Supply-side Jesus" piece, done in a Mad-magazine-style comic book format, and "Operation Chickenhawk", which imagines the scene if all of our most high-ranking republican draft-avoiders, including George Bush, had actually gone to Vietnam. Franken gives ample evidence of what made him one of the brightest stars of the original Saturday Night Live gaggle of writers. If you've any bent at all either towards the middle, or nudging the left of the so-called political spectrum, it's a must-read. Enjoy.
Rating:  Summary: Wow...talk about your lies... Review: Obviously written by a frenchman disguised as a Democrat.
Rating:  Summary: Funny and Depressing at the Same Time Review: Obviously, only the already converted will read this book, but I do suggest it to all you liberals out there looking for more reasons to get mad at rabid conservatism. The Bill O'Reilly and Anne Coulter bits are very funny, but there are some really important things in this book too, especially about the press and Al Gore and what the Right did to Paul Wellstone's memorial. This book has some truly horrifying moments, and yet is written so well and wittily that you laugh while you cry. A real eye-opener, even for the most liberal person in Kentucky ;). Buy it now, and then buy the paperback. Al Franken is awesome.
Rating:  Summary: As usual, Franken is hilarious Review: Of course he has good material any time he takes a look at the right. With such absurdity over there in la la land, it's healthy to laugh at it because the only other option is to break down and cry. Franken does a good job of catching neocons lying like cons and then smugly shrugging their shoulders. Franken makes the mainstream press look beaten and incompetent, a far cry from the myth proposed by the "righteous" that the media is liberally biased.
Franken obviously has his favorite whipping boys/girl. Sean Insannity, Rush Limberger, Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, FoxNews and Karl Rover provide so many examples of deceit that it is hard to know where to begin. Franken does what others have done and caught our illustrious President telling some real whoppers during his ascendency to the top of the manure pile. Historians 200 years from now will look upon this President as one of the worst and most corrupt Presidents in the history of this Republic.
One part of the book I found disappointing was Franken's ruse to have his staffer apply at Bob Jones University (BJU). Nothing in his encounter at BJU really added much to the book and showed, what most of us already know, that Christians are nice, decent people. The "disciplitis" they suffer from isn't really all that funny, just sort of sad.
Even with the flaws, I enjoyed this book. Thank goodness there is someone on the left who has a sense of humor who can show just how ludicrous things are over there in "red state heaven". One thing for sure, with Bush, his advisors, and his propaganda machine continuing their corrupt business, Franken should have no trouble coming up with a sequel.
Rating:  Summary: Very, very funny, and very, very true Review: Of course you have to go into a book like this one knowing that Franken has an ax to grind, but there's virtually no one who does it as well as he does. Whether you're on the right or the left, you're sure to find a lot to laugh about here. Of course if you are a liberal like I am, you'll get extra enjoyment out of Franken taking many of the right's major points and tearing them apart as lies one by one. The two chapters where he kicks Ann Coulter's butt are worth the price of the book by itself. Great stuff-keep it up Al!
Rating:  Summary: Truth can be the funniest thing going Review: Oh my God, is this book delicious. Proof that getting your facts straight is more interesting-- and funny-- than wholesale fabrication ala FOX news/Ann Coulter/Rush Limbaugh. Vastly entertaining.
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