Rating: 
Summary: Al Franken exposes the right wing liars with real facts
Review: Al Franken's book was long overdue.
He points out with real facts and real research the following:
1. There is no liberal bias in the media.
2.Fox news has a right wing agenda.
3. George Bush's failure to stop terrorism contributed to 911.
4. Bill Clinton did much more against terrorism and if the Bush administration had followed through what Clinton was doing, 911 might have been prevented.
5. The Fox Network stars have lied and distorted the facts.
6. The deficits in the 1980's were not because of liberal spending.
And lots of other stuff.
I like the parts about how the right wing distorted the things Al Gore said in their relentless campaign against him.Franken uses real facts and not half truths and made up stuff that the right wing uses in their crusade against liberals.
I would expect anyone who criticises this book to have at least read it first.
Every high school student and every Fox lover and Rush lover should read this book.
It may just change their minds about the right wing and its agenda in this country.
Thank you Al Franken for the courage to write this book!
Rating:
Summary: Fairly Unbalanced
Review: Al Franken's critique of the Right is about as well balanced as the Titanic, shortly before its final plunge. More seriously, and in all fairness, it must be said that this book is somewhat uneven. About as uneven as the state of Texas might be after a hundred-mile-wide asteroid plunged into the heart of Houston. And that is exactly where this book is aimed: straight at George W. Bush and his team of enormously wealthy corporate sponsors. Having gotten your attention, in the fashion of a naked, screaming maniac running with scissors down your street at high noon, Franken's book proceeds to document a laundry list of lies, distortions, and bullying by the likes of Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and George W. Bush. More importantly, "Lies" attempts to puncture the respectful silence and the aura of intimidation surrounding the Right's current domination of all three branches of government and most of the electronic media. Did it take a screaming maniac to make that point? Could the author have found a kinder, gentler, more subtle and compassionately conservative way to break our glazed television stare, our mesmerized and fearful gaze since 9/11/2001? Read Al Franken's fascinating book, and judge for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: An Instant Classic
Review: Al Franken's latest book is an instant political classic, even though its not even out yet. Franken has done a great service by exposing Fox News and the rest of the conservative media for what they are- liars- without the books hitting the stores. And that apparently, by showing that News Corp's lawyers did not pay attention in copyright law. Regardless of one's stance on the First Amendment (personally, I'm a fan), its the law of the land and the courts have ruled time and time again that parody is fair use. Unless Fox's high-powered corporate lawyers really didn't know this (in which case disbarrment would serve the public interest), they must think their fans are complete morons who haven't heard of Al Franken, whose last political classic hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. My suspicion, and its just a hunch, is that Fox News knew the case had no merit, and they simply wanted to delay Franken while getting in the first shots. They called him a "C-rated journalist" in justifying their lawsuit. Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know the First Amendment applied to those political satirists that received an "A-rating" from Fox. They also called him "shrill and unstable," as well as "increasingly unfunny." Well, I guess Fox has a point here. The First Amendment does NOT apply to those comedians that don't entertain Rupert and crew at Fox. All the while, Fox impugned the integrity of the First Amendment, something that as a "fair and balanced" source of news they should espouse. And they wasted our tax dollars by making the court system actually have to entertain this. Before anyone even reads this book, Fox will not only face the same scrutiny that hit Rush Limbaugh a few years back but their attack will backfire- the Federal judge hearing the case said their trademark on "Fair and Balanced" is weak. Probably even weaker than Franken's trademark on the word "funny." As an added note, for a news station to call themselves "fair and balanced" is like the car salesman who tells you to trust him. By the way, congratulations to Bill O'Reilly on his two Peabody awards.
Rating:
Summary: Al Franken delivers a catalyst for change in 2004
Review: Al Franken's latest book is his best yet, blending satire, comedy, and political insight. Make no mistake, at the end of the day, unlike "Why Not Me" and "Oh, the Things I Know", whicih were more on the comedy side, this book is about mobilizing those who yearn for change in the White House, by systematically exposing the tools of the right-wing, and those behind it who are gaining the most. Mr. Franken goes to great length to specifically target the rantings of Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, and Sean Hannity and discredit their methods. He and his research team bring out fact after fact to bring down the right wing zealots in pieces. Mr. Franken also spends a great deal of time discussing the "liberal media bias" and how it is a product of the biases of the right wing media. Again, facts and revealing quotes from the right and the left contribute to paint a picture that seems far closer to the truth than what one would see on Fox News. The latter half of the book focuses on exposing the lying ways of our current sitting President and the causes he defends the most. In particular, the religious right, the environment, and dodging military service are spotlighted. Through it all, Franken keeps his sense of humor and allows the book to be an easy read. I continue to hope for Al Franken to get more airtime, either through a radio show or a talk show. The American public needs to hear commentary from this man as we gear up to the 2004 elections. His wit and insight shine throughout the book, and I would highly recommend this to anyone genuinely interested to reading about how the right wing media operates and influences Americans, while protecting a President whose primary focus is on advancing the financial interests of a few people. Thanks Al for taking the time to write this.
Rating:
Summary: Calculated to drive the right nuts
Review: Al Franken's latest book is very different from his previous ones. I had worried that it would be nothing more than a rant making cheap shots against the right that were easily dismissed. Instead Al seems to have set out to prove that a political hatchet job (which the book unquestionably is) can be both funny and accurate. Al has an important message, right wing pundits have been lying to us repeatedly and for years. Far from failing to give these pubdits a platform the 'liberal media' have repeated their attacks without question. Jayson Blair was not the only journalist reporting stories he never researched. While the Fox lawsuit against Franken will inevitably color people's view, this book is about far more than one far right cable news channel. It is also a good read, I read the whole book on a plane flight in one go. I would personaly prefer it if Al dropped the humor entirely and just stuck to the real story without any 'kidding' which detracts from his main message.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Funny and Very Serious
Review: Al Franken's latest book makes excellent reading. I laughed out loud and at the same time was sad and angry as Mr. Franken refutes point by point the statements and arguments made by those pundits and politicians on the right who intentionally misstate the facts (i.e., lie) for monetary and political gain. (No, not all those on the right lie, but woe to those that do!) If you have bristled every time the right tries to make LIBERAL a dirty word; if you cringe every time you think about Florida...you will love this book. And any other fair-minded person--of whatever political persuasion--should find book stimulating, humorous and brilliant! Now, if you are closed-minded and a big fan of Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, George Bush (I or II), Sean Hannity, Bernard Goldberg, Fox News Channel, Jerry Falwell and rest of the crew, you may not like this book. Here's how to tell if you will: buy the book, read it and if you don't see the humor, you probably didn't like it. And that's OK.
Rating:
Summary: Lies and the Lying Liars ... a reference book
Review: Al Franken's latest book provides a scathing review of right-wing propaganda stitched together by Al's wry wit. Ordinarily, reviewing right-wing lies is as much fun as cleaning out a stopped toilet but the humor makes it possible to review the spew. Having discussed politics for years in USENET groups, I was surprised by how many times Al's book provided material that directly punctured right-wing fantasies with facts and data. Al's book provides the information needed to challenge the right-wing editors and libertarians who nearly dominate the TV guest seats. As Al's book becomes more widely read, they will not be as happy to take call-in questions on C-SPAN in the future. With forty-three chapters and 354 pages, not everyone of them is a zinger. For example, chapter 29, "Operation Chickenhawk: Episode One," didn't work because it too closely copies O'Reilly's style. Right-wing propaganda copied too closely even in parody becomes Stalinist unfunny and down right boring ... even Al can not breath life into that corpse. Perhaps the most telling aspect is last week, "Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them) A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right" was in the 'Political' section of a national book chain and this weekend, it is sold out and Al Franken's previous books have been moved to the 'Humor' section. What could not be accomplished in the court house is being accomplished by a faceless, chain store executive or the local manager. That reminds me, I must send a request to the FBI to find out if they have my record of buying this book ... and make sure it is updated.
Rating:
Summary: Seriously funny
Review: Al Franken's latest has been slammed by the Far Right (and taken to court by Fox News), so I couldn't help but want to read it cover to cover. Finally, after months of putting it off, I purchased Mr. Franken's book and finished it in the course of two days. Franken takes on the spin-meisters of the right, and makes you wonder about what the a-holes on the right are so ticked off about. Apparently they are nutjobs (Ann Coulter), idiots (Sean Hannity) or bullies (Bill O'Reilly)...and that's just the hacks. The real menace are those in power, the Nixon-esque Bush Administration, and Franken elequently documents their history of lies to the American people. Franken is obviously partisan to the Left, and some have taken this as a jumping-off point to accuse him of being "just another liberal media pundit with an axe to grind who hates America and leaves the country's back door open for terrorists to get through" and other such nonsense. The fact of the matter is Mr. Franken is an intellegent, passionate, and wonderfully funny man who doesn't like the direction his country is going on thanks to the group-think of Bush-era "compassionate conservativism". All in all, this is a book for anyone who can't help but wonder how the "liberal" media could possibly be such a threat to America's way of life. When all the BS is over, Franken and his ilk will stand as the true patriots who genuinely love their country. Coulter, Hannity, O'Reilly, and FNC will be exposed as the hypocrites and degenerates they are.
Rating: 
Summary: An entertaining view of the sad state of political opinion
Review: Al Franken's latest piece of work reveals some of the outright lies and deception of the conservative right. Drawing on numerous examples of blatant dishonesty and distortion of facts, Franken successfully discredits a number of high profile conservative blowhards such as Anne Coulter, Bill O'Reily and Sean Hannity. He also reveals some of the more flagrant untruths and falsehoods perpetrated by the current Bush administration - from the well known personal life lies of G.W. Bush to the blatant incompetence in dealing with terrorist threats prior to 9/11.
The Author's style resembles that of Michael Moore, however unlike Moore, Franken is occasionally funny and with the aid of an enthusiastic bunch of Harvard students, his research and fact checking display more diligence. At times Franken's sarcasm gets a little tiring bordering on childishness. Although, considering the hysterical finger wavers at whom he is taking aim, the tone is about right. Franken makes the observation that supporters of the right's staunchest proponents are only interested in hearing what confirms their pre-conceived opinions. Ironically that's exactly the type of audience that this book appeals to. Franken encourages an attitude of us against them, liberal versus conservative but fails to address that behind the facade of left versus right, there is little difference in the ideological beliefs of either camp. More important issues get lost amongst the Democratic/Republican pissing contest. For example, the phrase 'government for the people by the people'is now an anachronism Eit's true nature more akin to a private club representing corporate interests regardless of the persuasion veiled beneath platitudes of democracy and freedom to mollify the masses. Anyone with their eyes open will recognise the yawning gap between the rhetoric and reality. To be fair, Franken doesn't pretend to tackle such issues, and even if such conundrums do concern him they are not the topic of this book. The agenda of "Lies and the Lying Liars who tell them" is to expose the often brazen dishonesty and barefaced lies of the right - and on that score Franken is successful.
Rating:
Summary: Take that, you right-wing crazed media!
Review: Al Franken's masterful piece of writing entitle Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them manages to smite every conservative in the book. He delivers the message with wit and genius making the book a pleasure to read. If there is any doubt in your mind about the media as is or even if your just bored, this book is a must have. Franken's book is truly wonderful and you should not delay in ordering it.
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