Rating: 
Summary: Fox news is "fair and balanced",the biggest joke of all! ...
Review: I am very happy to see someone finally has the balls to stand up to the conservative media bullies and their mean spirited, race baiting, hateful rethoric. These(very wealthy)so called "champions of the common man" like to wrap themselves in the flag and brand anyone who disagrees with the conservative agenda a traitor or worse, a terrorist.The sad part is that up until now no one in the "liberal dominated" media has been brave enough to call them on their facts or question their conclusions.The so-called "journalists" in the corporate media should be ashamed of themselves for allowing these misrepresentations and outright lies to be aired in the mass media completely unchallenged. I guess the fear of being branded as un-american or upsetting their corporate bosses is greater than having the guts to live up to their journalistic responsibility to expose the truth.
Even if you don't agree with Al Franken's positions or politics you owe it to yourself to at least question the veracity and the integrity of those who claim to represent you. If I were a republican I would not be very happy to have these insincere, self-serving hypocrites claiming to represent me or my views...
Rating: 
Summary: Not Funny
Review: I appreciate Al's attempt here, but I think his talents are best utilized writing for Saturday Night Live (especially THIS season). Nice try, AL.
Rating:
Summary: It opened my eyes...
Review: I approached this book with more than an ounce of skepticism. I only got the book (the unabridged audio CD version) to pass time on the 10-hour-plus drive from school in Grinnell, IA to home in Louisville, KY. As an avid viewer of Fox News and an avowed fan of Bill O'Reilly (I have read and reviewed all three of his non-fiction books) and the No Spin Zone, despite my disagreements with this loud-mouthed know-it-all on so many issues, I couldn't avoid the hype of Franken and his book, so I figured I would secretly succumb when no one could see me.I remembered the good old days when Al Franken was nothing more than a second-tier comedian on Saturday Night Live. I certainly didn't expect a political masterpiece from him, but was amazed that this is exactly what I found. The breadth and depth of his political knowledge, his wit, his biting sarcasm, and his cynicism towards politics is impressive. Piece by piece he nips away at the dishonest and intrigue with which the right surrounds itself. He gives credit where credit is due, but holds no punches in going after George Bush, Karl Rove, Bill Bennet, Anne Coulter, Rush Limbaugh (I can't wait to hear what Franken will say about the drug addiction) Fox News, et al. Rather than expounding on a vast right-wing conspiracy, he simply responds to their assertions. I don't agree with him on everything (I do believe there is a liberal media bias), but he argues with vigor and honesty. He knows the issues (unlike many of his opponents) and does not patronize the audience. He certainly could not have succeeded without his impressive team of all-star Harvard researchers. They deserve as much credit as he does. Even if one looks at this book through a conservative lens, one cannot avoid feeling changed by it. Yes, he falls victim to some of the same biases he despises (his look at the right is neither fair, nor balanced... he seems to think they are all evil, greedy, racist, homophobic, hegemonic liars, and that liberals are saints), but at least he is honest in his arguments. This shouldn't be the only book one reads, but it is an authoritative response to dozens of conservative books. And this one book probably beats them all, point-by-point. This is definitely a guy I would like to have over for dinner someday. Perhaps when Gephart becomes President, I will see him at the innauguration. ;-)
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious
Review: I assume what he says is true, but regardless he is a hilarious writer. Oh and don't watch FOX news, it's bad for your brain.
Rating:
Summary: Who knew it would be this funny? ... and infuriating?
Review: I bought Al Franken's book primarily as a protest vote against Fox's "wholly without merit" lawsuit before Fox dropped it in embarrassment. Also as a vote against the ultra-right-wing political lies Franken promised to expose. And in the hope that "Lies and the Lying Liars..." would top Amazon's best-seller list and inspire other truth-telling authors and commentators to grow some cohones, get an attitude, and rail against the scary conservative tilt in current government. Once I started reading it, though, I couldn't put it down. Finished in a couple of days still wanting more. Appreciated its thorough research (aided by a crew of Harvard brains) backed by footnotes, direct quotes, and clear and irrefutable cites of source publications, dates, speeches, TV shows... I found the book funny and an easy read, with the author's quirky comedic personality showing through, yet the book was enlightening and reflected a depth of thought far beyond the kind of mindless name-calling you're likely to hear on talk radio. One caution: It also got me angrier than I already was regarding President Dubya Bush's miserably failed term, more convinced of his lack of scruples, seething at the underhanded tactics and truth-bending of his apologists and supporters, and even more discouraged about our current state of affairs with the current political "leadership." It also tipped me over the edge toward throwing my energy behind Dubya's defeat in the '04 election (and I've never been politically active or outspoken before). In short: An excellent book; I recommend buying several copies and passing them out to friends and relatives ASAP (mine's already promised to my oldest son, who will vote for the first time next month in California). Caution, though: you'll enjoy its unvarnished truth and wry humor, but if you're someone who can think critically you'll also be infuriated by the lies and by the lying liars it exposes.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece that is likely to make history
Review: I bought Al Franken's book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them
four days ago and have read all but about three chapters of it. I
want to shout it from the rooftops: BUY THIS BOOK!! It is a
masterpiece! It is the most well-written, simply written, devastatingly
sharp "nailing" of the lies by Bush, Cheney, O'Reilly, Coulter,
Hannity, the whole Fox network, and on and on. Franken just may be the re-incarnation of Tom Paine -- or posssibly our own Lech Walesa. Several wonderful books have come out recently that I have read or am reading, like Conason's Big Lies, but THIS book, I believe, has the potential to be the first real shot to topple the evil right wing empire that has stolen America right out from under us -- the empire that is, irony of all ironies, trying
to make it into a mirror image of the late unlamented Soviet Union, a place where anyone who questions the ruling powers is labeled a "traitor" and bullied or banished into silence. This book -- I am not in any way related to or employed by Al Franken or his publisher and get nothing out of writing this -- is up there with J'Accuse and Candide among the great political books of all time. What puts this ahead is that it's so well-written, so clear and easy to follow, and delivered with real grace and humor. You HAVE to lighten this material up sometimes, otherwise it would get so horribly depressing and turgid, people would just get overwhelmed and turn off. It is also so jam-packed with specifics about right-wing lies. For this, Franken gives due credit to his amazing team of 14 Harvard grad student researchers, who helped dig up all this dirt. (I hope you'll give them lots of money from the royalties too, Al! Except maybe the guy from the ultra-wealthy family!) If you buy this book, you won't have to sputter when you talk to a dittoheaded or no-spin-zoned relative. Instead, you can take apart what he or she says and show it to be the lie that it is. This is absolutely required reading for any and every Democratic activist. It should be read and studied, it
should be given out to every person who goes to the Democratic
convention next summer. Read this, and you will be outraged, and fired up, and also happy, because somebody is really, really, really laying it out on the line what's happened. Read the chapter on how
Bush is absolutely, positively at fault for completely ignoring all the warnings of a terrorist attack (including knowing that Al Qaeda wanted to hijack planes and fly them into buildings), but blamed Clinton. Read how the right wing deliberately lied about and "spun" Wellstone's FUNERAL to win the Minnesota senatorial race. There really IS a terrible right wing conspiracy, and it's really
bad -- no, it's even worse than you probably think it is. The supposedly "liberal" media has aided and abetted this attack on American democracy. And it's ALL HERE. GO NOW and BUY THE BOOK. It is likely to make history.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely worthless
Review: I bought the book thinking it would be funny. It wasn't. If the liberals think that the best they can do for a spokesman is Al Franken, it looks like four more years of Dubya for sure.
I looked through the other reviews to see if I was perhaps missing something . . . some folks were calling Al Franken a "genius", or "insightful". Wow. Guess the bar wasn't set too high.
Rating:
Summary: I'm really ticked off about this book....
Review: I bought this because I thought it was put out by Fox News, and that it would be a tribute to "Bill O'Really?" who is pictured on the cover -- boy, was I fooled! As soon as I quit laughing, I'll send a letter of complaint to the publisher. It's a great book full of guffaws and facts. Buy it for yourself, your friends, and what the heck, send one to your favorite pun(k)dit at Fox News.
Rating:
Summary: Funny and Informative
Review: I bought this book after following the Fox News law suit against the author. After seeing what fools they made of themselves, I had to se what they were afraid of. In short, this is a great read and was hard to put down. I read it in two nights and found it's writings to be right on the mark and well reasearched. As some other reviewers stated, the footnotes/endnotes are all there, but can be hard to follow. If they were paying attention, they would know that this was done on purpose to show how authors can lie in the body, then correct in the footnotes/endnotes, knowing that most won't make the effort to research facts. Here, it was also used comic device too. This book exposed the nasty tactics used by so many in the media and in office. It did so in a very entertaining way. I was glad to find that I wasn't the only one who thought these people were full of it. If you are a thin skinned or without a sense of humor, you may not like this book.
Rating:
Summary: Franken gets the last laugh
Review: I bought this book after hearing about Franken's clashes with Bill O'Reilly (or, as Franken calls him, Bill O'Lie-lly), and enjoyed this almost as much as his Rush Limbaugh book. This his humor can occasionally be off the mark (Cheerleaders in chadors? What the hell was he thinking?!?!), more often tan not it is as on-target as a laser-guided missile, and I found myself laughing out loud at something in almost every chapter. As good as the book is, though, I did have some reservations: 1) the Operation Chickenhawk chapter was way too obvious and heavy-handed, 2) unless you're really up on your current events, it may be hard at times to tell when he is joking and when he is relating a true incident, 3) there is no index, making it difficult to locate specific points in the book. However, the chapter on the memorial to Paul Wellstone is deeply moving and more than makes up for it. Very highly recommended.
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