Rating: 
Summary: Franken's funny look at Fox, Coulter, O'Lielly and Dubya
Review: I bought this book at noon yesterday, and have been laughing ever since. I'd never watched Hannity and (poor)colmes, but tuned into the Fox duo on while I continued reading the light-hearted book that takes a heavyweight swing at a bunch of, well, LIARS. It made the Fox News funnier than Saturday Night Live! Every time Hannity said "fair and balanced!" I'd get tickled and nearly fell off the couch. The Fox show should be subtitled "Laurel and Hardy".This book will entertain anyone who hasn't paid serious attention to the frothing right-wing pundits, and bring hilarity to their veracity-challenged antics.
This is no dry, mean look at the right, although it has some eye-opening tables and charts that expose some big lies we've all heard. From the "No Child Left Behind" teleplay to the letter sent to Administration officials asking them to be role models and share their real-life experiences with sexual abstinence, it's dead-on funny and on the political mark. Every Republican needs to buy it, read it and loan it to their poor Democrat friends.
Rating: 
Summary: Just not funny
Review: I bought this book hoping for a good laugh. But instead I was infuriated by the twisting of facts and bald face lies put forth under the banner of truth. The worst part was that people will believe this! The chances that anyone who seeks this book out will actually read the books that Franken attacks are slim. Those that do will see that the entire chapters Franken committed to what he saw as a single or perhaps double discrepancy in an entire book is laughable! How does he respond to the hundreds of other charges leveled in Slander and Bias? Even if what he is saying is true, it is obscured by the near constant personal attacks and laughable mud slinging...did I say laughable? Little about this book was laugh inducing at all. Wait, I take that back. The funniest part of the book was at the end when he declared that "most people are liberals like him." Now that is funny!!
Rating: 
Summary: Can't we all just get along?
Review: I bought this book initially because I am sick of seeing labels such as 'Treason' demonizing a views held by half the population of this country. With this book, Al is not demonizing the conservative viewpoint, but attacks a few specific media people who are either 'true believers' who care nothing for fact-checking or pure machiavellian liars who will say anything to give power to the right. The title of the book caters to the angry leftists, but the content of the book is suitable for anyone who wants to hear the liberals defend themselves without the demonizing the average joe conservative. The book is funny, but not exceptionally hilarious or anything like that. I could have done without the 'Operation ChickenHawk' chapter. Hey Al, if Ollie North likes it I wouldn't take it as a good sign. But overall the humor makes this book very easy to read. The book is very informative, loaded with hard refutations of 'facts'laid out by Fox newsers. An example is O'Reilly's "Im a registered independent" line is debunked with a scan of his voter registration card with Republican checked. Another thing he brings up: I always thought of Alan Colmes as a lightweight too! He needs to be replaced...Where is Micheal Kinsley? Anyways, overall a good and funny book
Rating:
Summary: Tremendously Entertaining and Educational
Review: I bought this book primarily as a dig at the Fox news network (at 40% off, why not?) thinking that Franken probably wouldn't be much of an author -- then read the whole book in two days. It is tremendously entertaining, well written and a real eye opener. Franken does get a little annoying and petty at a couple of points, but overall the book is very informative and funny. The chapter (in cartoon form) "Supply Side Jesus" contrasting a Jesus who believes in Supply Side Economics with the real Jesus of Nazareth was my favorite part, and should be required reading for every person who beleive that being a Christian means supporting Bush-style economics.
Rating:
Summary: A refreshing change!
Review: I bought this book solely because of the frivolous lawsuit brought by Fox News at the behest of Bill O'Reilly. It arrived today and over the past several hours I have gotten through the first hundred and fifty pages. So far, it seems to be extremely well researched and documented (although I haven't checked all the facts) and definitely gives the reader some pause for thought about the veracity of much of the anti liberal 'facts' spewed forth nightly by a variety of right wing pundits. I particularly like the way that Al Franken methodically presents his case and mixes it with suitable amount of humor and cynicism resulting, ultimately, in a very entertaining and thought provoking read. Frankly, I am amazed by a seemingly endless list of half-truths, misstatements, and outright falsehoods that are attributed to Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, The Administration, etc. Shouldn't our nation's journalists be asking some hard questions? This book is a must read for liberals, conservatives and centrists alike. I'll bet Mr. O'Reilly is kicking himself for creating such a fuss!
Rating:
Summary: ... like lambs to the slaughter (so go the fans of O'Reilly)
Review: I bought this book the morning it hit the shelves and finished about 100 pages in the first night. Other than being a well-researched, honest account of the endangered species known as 'fair and balanced' U.S. media, Al Franken's "Lies" exposes how many Americans are easily led to nonsense. The lies repeatedly spewed by Coulter, O'Reilly and the Fox News ilk (shamelessly headed by Uber Aussie Rupert Murdoch and right-winger Roger Ailes) should be ridiculed and shamed, not bought into blindly. Once the misled Americans wise up and begin thinking critically, they can start the long overdue boycot of everything Fox and take our country back.
Rating:
Summary: Humor is the greatest Weapon
Review: I bought this book the other day, and can't put it down. A lot of people in these reviews seem to misinterpret this book, and Al Franklin. Al is not an extreme leftist. He is not a Chomsky progressive, or a Michael Moore type pit bull activist. He is a simple Democrat. More than that, a comedian who uses his weapons of irony, sarcasm, and laughter with tactful proficiency. In "Lies", Al uses his humor to "take the piss out" of several blowhards. It is not so much that Al is exposing O'Reilly, Hannity, Coulter, etc. as liars; which is, in itself, fascinating. It is that he exposes these people as hypocrites. He uses their own arguments against them, proven that these people believe that the standards they set for others don't apply to themselves. Does Al live up to these standards? No, but that doesn't matter, because he doesn't claim to. The point of the book is hold up a mirror to those people with pointing fingers, and see what happens when they scrutinized by their own standards. To address the so called impartiality that these "pundits" claim to possess. Some reviewers are bothered that Franklin doesn't live up to these standards himself, but that's not the point of the book. Al never claims to be impartial; he puts his bias right out there for all to see. What I like most about this book, though, is that he never shows the dripping animosity towards his opposition. Even more frustrating to them...he laughs in their faces. The laughter is very contagious.
Rating:
Summary: This opened my eyes
Review: I bought this book thinking, "I know all the lies the conservative media has been telling, but I'd like to hear another point of view and maybe pick up a few facts." Once I started reading, and realized that I really had believed some of the lies, I couldn't put the book down. Al tells it like it is, and makes it fun to read. I've never seen Al on TV and I've never read his other book(s), but I'm going to start now. The only chapter I didn't fully enjoy was the cartoon of Operation Chickenhawk, where the humor became more important than the hard hitting facts. I would recommend this book to anyone (even those on the right).
Rating:
Summary: The Stage
Review: I bought this book to see how an ultra right wing liberal thinks. And, it was pretty cheap at Sams.What I got was drivel, unfunny mantra of the ilk of Ted Kennedy and sweet Hillary.I see a stage where Al Franken, Michael Moore and Ronald Reagan are standing.The comparison of Franken and Moore to Ronand Reagan, now that makes me laugh!
Rating:
Summary: This book is absolutely hilarious!
Review: I bought this book today, and as soon as I opened it and started reading, I couldn't stop laughing. I bought this book for the sole purpose of laughs -- but was pleasantly surprised to find some good facts interspersed with the laughs. Overall, a great buy, a great read, and great laughs. I can't wait to read his other stuff.
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