Rating: 
Summary: Al Franken should receive the Nobel Prize
Review: Al Franken uses his wit and intelligence to uncover that which has been dubbed the Moral Majority and which is neither. The media is controlled by a band of mega-wealthy, immature, impudent right-wingers who have destroyed our American notion of free press and the free and fair exchange of ideas. Conveniently, they use their media to defame everyone who stands in the way of their agenda, to promote war and destruction, to hide environmental disasters, and to destroy political gain by opposing parties. Except for projectcensored.org, journalism in America is dead and has been supplanted by corporate propaganda which serves only the network owners who support right wing fanaticists rather than the audiences they pretend to care about. Franken does a fine job of calling them on the carpet, showing how news is invented to sabotage people, and how, although he has lost weight due to his medications, Rush Limbaugh is still a big (if no longer fat) idiot. The American people deserve better than the media and politics to which they are being subjected, and Franken won't let the abusive power-brokers get off the hook so easily. The lies and venom of Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Coulter, Gingritch and their ilk serve nobody but themselves. Hiding behind our American Flag, they are bullies in the greatest sense, interested in their own ratings and financial gains while deceiving their listeners into thinking they are intelligent, independent Americans. Give Franken the Nobel Prize and his own network because the majority of us Americans are sick of hearing only one-sided "news" and commentary.
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Summary: A novelty: being "right" and telling the truth
Review: Al Franken uses the ancient technique of telling the truth and actually documenting both the content and context of the lies he exposes. Team Franken, as Al Franken likes to call his group of hip research assistants, help provide the all-too-revealing look at those who profess to be 'fair' and work in a 'no spin zone,' but appear better suited to an episode of the Twilight Zone (apologies to Rod Serling's legacy). Franken's wit on the page might be even funnier than hearing Franken speak...which is quite difficult to do. He exposes Bill O'Reilly as a blowhard loudmouth, who wouldn't know a Peabody award if he was "Pead" on, Sean Hannity as one who plays fast and loose with the facts, Ann Coulter as a bad blonde joke, who takes statements out of context, doesn't know her own age, and may well have committed voter [errors] (if you can believe her driver's license), and Alan Colmes the diminutive and toothless left-wing punching bag. This book is a masterpiece. Unlike most stories that are based on facts, this one is loaded with thorough documentation and the research is impeccable. Franken is "Right-On" by exposing these Right Wing-Nuts, some of whom seem to care about their bank balance than being balanced. Can't wait for volume 2!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Not good enough, not smart enough
Review: Al Franken was a 2nd rate comedian on Saturday Night Live, only barely remembered thanks to his parody of his own therapy sessions with a psychologist who tried to help him deal with his deep feelings of inadequacy. "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me" was not a simple joke created in the halls of Saturday Night Live. It was from his own real-life therapy for his real-life problems. It was funny because it was so pitiful. Having long ago been retired from SNL Mr. Franken seeks to build a new career in the entertainment industry as an unashamed leftist political commentator. As a comedian he was mildly successful, but as a political commentator he is out of his depth. "Lies" has no deep insights, no shocking discoveries, no intelligent arguments, and no new information. If all you require from a book is that it call anyone outside of the left-wing nasty names like 'poophead' then this book might make you happy. Or you can save yourself some money and just watch 'Jackass' on TV. For those not militantly and religiously committed to the left-wing this book is neither insightful nor funny. It is hateful, bigoted, and dishonest. It appears to be yet another desperate attempt to recover the lost credibility that Bernard Goldberg's best-selling book, "Bias" has recently taken from the Left. And it is no mere coincidence that Franken's latest empty political joke book was rapidly released just prior to Bernard Goldberg's newest best-seller, "Arrogance." If personal attacks against the opponents of socialism are what you love then this book was written for you. If objective truth and facts are important to you then you will be disgusted with the stupidity in these pages. It is poop in a shiny cover.
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Summary: Hillarious
Review: Al Franken was a genius on Saturday Night Live and it shows through his book. Fraken's use of facts and humor gives it a rare je ne sais qui
Rating: 
Summary: Not too good!
Review: Al Franken was a mediocre comedian at best. As a comedic writer for SNL he was marginally better. As a political activist, he fails miserably. Though maybe I am biased. I don't agree with basically anything that is in this book and I am grateful he has no say whatsoever in the policies of this nation. Just the fact that he thinks the idea of a "Liberal media" is a lie started by the right who actually own the media speaks volumes for how deep his hatred and ignorance of the "right" is. My advice, read the incredible COCKPIT CONFESSIONS OF AN AIRLINE PILOT, by Stephen Keshner... much more funny, more poignant, and definitely NOT Politically Correct.
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Summary: An UNbalanced look at the Right.
Review: Al Franken was never funny as a comedian and he's not interesting as a political commentator either.
Rating:
Summary: Lies & Liars
Review: Al franken was not that good at stand up and worse at telling the truth. I was curious and tried to read it but it is more like gossip from a unhappy Liberal. Give it up Al. Look what you had to put on the cover to help you sell it. Al could not even come up with an orginal idea for the cover he had to copy one from Fox news. The book is a waste of paper!!!!!!!
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Summary: He's definitly found his place...
Review: Al Franken was one of the few guys on SNL who was consistently not funny. He didn't have much of a future as a comedian or actor, so he moved on to his real love, politics. Now he can make lots of money by writing books with such extreme vitriol and bias that he will always have an audience and plenty of publicity. (Do you think he pays a little extra in taxes just to protest the Bush tax cuts?) I suppose when someone agrees with you he seems much more witty and profound. Let's be honest, there are plently of liars in politics on both sides of the spectrum (gasp) and it wouldn't be too tough to write a book about all the lies of, say, the Clintons - even if you left out the big one - or even FDR, JFK, LBJ, etc. But then they are Franken's heros so he spares them his righteous scorn. Let's face it, it's tough to be a real liberal nowadays. Even Bill C. had to stay near the middle. After the Reagan miracle, the fall of communism and the world-wide shift towards capitalism, there's a sense that what was once right-of-center is a much more reasonable view. A real defense of liberalism is almost impossible, so the only thing left to do is attack. And after all, it doesn't take all that much work to find contradictory statements from someone quoted as often as, say, George W. Unfortunately, the left has set itself a trap with Bush, similar to the one with Reagan during Iran-contra. When you constantly say someone's an idiot, it undermines your subsequent case for him being a mastermind who weaves a web of lies so well that it takes a genius like Al Franken to cut through them all. Oh well, despite Franken's (and much of the media's) best efforts, it's hard to fool all of the people all of the time. Most people believe Bush simply because he says what he thinks and believes what he says. While he certainly isn't the most eloquent speaker, he actually is one of the most honest politician around - although admittedly that's faint praise. There is a really profound lie told by the left, however. That is that we can somehow get to a place where everybody is happy by simply passing a few laws and redistributing wealth (er, not their's, of course). Al, the road to enlightenment begins with a step towards reality.
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Summary: Should be required in Civics classes standard curriculum
Review: Al Franken with the help of a good sense of humor and 14 Harvard student researchers hits the right where it can not fight. He uses facts and reasoned arguments. He talks truth to power, and makes it fun at the same time. While the chapter on the vile distortion of the great Paul Wellstone's memorial service was ponderous, one gets the sense that Al was personally outraged at the smearing of his freinds memory to the point where he lost editorial clarity. This book inspired me to go back and read "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot" which was perhaps more entertaining but less informative. That is simply because it offered more ad hominem attacks, as the point of the book is that this is exactly what the right does, but did not have the depth of research found in "Lies and the Lying Liars..." (In light of Limbaugh's recent self-immolation Al will need to change the title of his older book to "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Hypocritical Racist Drug Addicted Idiot.") Franken is funny, insightful, and one of a growing cadre of outraged thinking American patriots who are mad as hell at the extremist liars who are ruining our great nation. The biggest message to readers, especially younger readers who did not experience the viciousness of Nixon or the "in your face" lies of Reagan need to be fully brought to realize how dishonest their "leaders" and the media can really be.
Rating: 
Summary: The facts are in line, its all funny....
Review: Al Franken writes a nearly universal rebuttal for conservative books and claims. This book is an excellent mix of iron clad refutations and hilarious ad hominems. He takes people such as Ann Coulter and Bill O`Reilly to task for shoddy and dishonest writing, and does so very well.
In this book, Franken also goes after his counterparts who claim to be engaging in legitimate and thought provoking journalism or media. He raises very good points, but clearly has no interest in raising intelligent discourse.
If you want to read a book written by a factually-robust, leftwing version of Rush Limbaugh, read Lies and the Lying Liars who tell them. If you want a humorous book and you're either left-wing or willing to take a lot of jokes, read this book. If you want dry (though still bold) assertions, read something by Noam Chomsky. Do us all a favor by disregarding the 1-star reviews in which the author obviously did not read the book, of which there are many.
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