Rating: 
Summary: The BIG LIE
Review: The BIG LIE about this book happens happens on the copyright page. It says, "first printing, September 2003!! Thank you FOX for the early release.Al Franken's new book is funny indeed, and at times it is insightful, illuminating and even vicious. One gets the feeling he has finally taken off the gloves and is ready to get in there and sling it with the best of them. At times he overstates his case. Like when he catches Bill O'Reilly lying about where he came from, being an independent, the whole Polk/Peabody thing, or catching Ann Coulter lying about her age. These kind of lies, while they may say say a lot about the individuals' personalities, are not all that important. The book might be better if he talked more about the really important lies, but it wouldn't be nearly as funny! Don't get me wrong. He talks a lot about about the big lies, the statistics designed to deceive, the dirty campaign tricks, the dishonest reporting, the conscious effort to mislead the public, etc. Al claims the media does not have a liberal bias, and he makes a decent argument. I disagree with some of his conclusions, but I agree with his contention that news media (left, middle and right) suffer from many more serious biases that undercut their ability to do a good job of reporting. One of my own peeves is their bias toward oversimplification. They seldom take enough time to discuss complicated issues. The excuse is they're always "running out of time" which is a riduculous notion. I mean they're 24 hour news channels - they literally have all the time in the world! What they really mean is they are afraid of exceeding the attention span of their viewers. If they are really that short of time, CNN wasted some on Al's Aug. 28 interview with the brainless Paula Zahn She clearly had not read the book - OK, that's why they have staff. But even so, she did not seem to understand what they had given her. She used material from his book to apparently catch Al in a lie of his own. At least that seemed to be her take on it - she had one of those "gotcha" looks on her face. The fact that the "lie" is presented as such in the book and is clearly used for satiric purpose, seems to have been lost on her. On the same day, FOX dropped their lawsuit against Al. At least that was how they described getting trounced in court ( "without merit"... "an easy decision"). I'd like to know what former employee at FOX thought it would be a good idea to sue in the first place. What does it say about their standards that they thought they had a case? Why didn't they ask Greta? In summary, the book is funny and worth reading. Even though it's target is the right wing media, the lessons are applicable to all. It should be of value to news viewers to show them the many ways in which they are mislead and deceived. No one should take what they see and hear from these people at face value. The book does not have an index, so the targets will have to search for their mentions and might even be forced to read whole sections! Al has challenged them to find factual errors. I hope they try. They might learn something.
Rating: 
Summary: Selection Bias and Ad Homininy
Review: The biggest joke in this book is its title. Franken claims to have exposed "the right" as liars. He wants his readers to conclude that the right makes more noise than sense. How does he go about trying to do this? He selects out the least capable opponents he can find. To Franken, a fair and balanced look at the right means attacking media personas like Bill O'Reilly, Anne Coulter, and Sean Hannity. While it is true that these figures are, shall we say, excitable, they are hardly the best opponents to Welfare State Liberalism. If Franken really wanted to devastate opponents to the modern welfare/regulatory state, he should have gone after the most capable of these opponents available. Franken could have written a chapter on John Stossel. Stossel is, after all, an important critic of big government. However, Stossel does not rant like Sean Hannity, he just lays out the facts in a sober fashion. Franken could have written a chapter on Walter Williams. Williams has written much in the popular media, and fills in for Rush Limbaugh on WABC. However this would mean taking on a real expert (Williams is an economist). Franken would rather take on O'Reilly, who tries to comment on everything and is therefore an expert on nothing. Tom Sowell is another economist, and widely read critic of big government that Franken avoided. He would rather call Anne Coulter "a nutcase" than risk entering into a real debate. Interestingly enough, Franken accuses Hanity of employing this very tactic. He claims that Hanity wants Alan Colmes as an opponent because Colmes is a weak opponent. Not only is this claim hypocritical, it is arguably false. Franken seems to measure the effectiveness of ones argumentation by how loud and animated they are. Fox News leftists like Alan Colmes and Juan Williams are not as animated as Begala and Carville at CNN, but that makes them more effective to many people. There are many loudmouth idiots in the media, who rant and rave instead of presenting serious arguments. Apparently Franken feels comfortable participating in this kind of non debate. The bottom line is that Franken fails even against the few he selected out as opponents for this book. Mostly, he is does what he accuses his opponents of doing. He slings mud, distorts the facts, and engages in seemingly deliberate deception. He does cite some real sources and evidence, but he does not understand much of it. He even caves in to Supply Side economics without realizing it (on p295). He also engages in near constant personal attacks. Franken seems quite at home in the gutter of popular debate. I got what I paid for from this book. Someone gave me a copy of this book as a gift. Anyone who, after reading this book, takes its "arguments" seriously should not be taken seriously.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny AND Factual
Review: The book arrived yesterday and I've been reading it nonstop ever since. Admittedly, I've always been a fan of Franken, but he's outdone himself this time. This book has been overdue -- and I don't meen at the library either. I've been waiting for somebody -- anybody -- to pick apart the Coulters, O'Reillys, and Bushies for a year or two now. As expected, Franken is absolutely hilarious. But he doesn't just use humor to dissect the Lying Liars on the Right; he uses hard, cold facts. With a team of researchers, he has documented lie after lie after lie that spews from the mouth of Ann, Bill, or Sean. You'll be pleased at the number of graphs, charts, and transcripts in Franken's book. After reading "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them", I'm now equipped with evidence -- real evidence -- that many conservative pundits really are arrogant, lying, self-serving pricks willing to distort reality for political gain. One of the best things Franken said was how conservatives love America like a 4-year old loves her mommy: mommy is wonderful and anyone who criticizes mommy is terrible. Liberals love America like grown-ups: actually understanding what you love, taking both the bad and the good, and helping the one you love grow. I just hope Howard Dean picks Al Franken as a running mate!
Rating:
Summary: Absolute Pleasure to Read
Review: The book covers serious topics, but in a quite amusing way! Seriously, the book is fascinating and the points that Franken and team make are important. I plan on giving copies of this to several people.
Rating:
Summary: 'LIES' is all about the TRUTH
Review: The book first drew my attention when I learnt that FOXnews had lost a lawsuit against the author/publishers trying to get its title changed. If FOXnews had filed a lawsuit against it, I HAD to read it. I ran to my local [store] and started leafing through the pages.. Hannity: Ahh. There was something in it about the most repugnant, uncouth and psychotic character in Talk Radio. This is the chapter I read first. What I read made me buy the book immediately.... 'Operation Ignore': The conservatives have been crying themselves hoarse over how 9/11 was all Clinton's fault. While Clinton's administration had very seriosly tried to warn Bush's about the seriousness of the threat from Al Qaeda, Bush et al totally ignored it and instead got busy pursuing their usual conservative agendas - screwing the environment, bashing their predecessors, missile defence, to name a few. Until AFTER 9/11 ,when they made it appear as if they came to power just
to fight terrorism. Read about it, this is a very important chapter. 'Clinton's Army': The present administration has spared no effort in criticizing Clinton's "gutting" of America's Armed Forces over the years. From Bush campaign speech (summer of 2000): 'When the call to duty comes, major divisions of the
forces would respond "We are not ready, Sir" '. That call came in Nov '01. Unless Rumsfeld waved his magic wand and turned the forces completely around in 9 months, we all know what happened. Ditto, Mar '03. 'Barbara Bush': Find out why Washington insiders who are familiar with her call her "Q.B.". Funny anecdotes. This is a MUST READ book! Contains many little known facts that will disabuse even the savviest experts on current affairs. Kudos to Al and TeamFranken for all the work that went behind Al's magnum opus. And of course all of it written in Franken's witty and entertaining style. Al, we can't wait for your show on Talk Radio !! -Tim
Rating:
Summary: Fair & Documented. Franken exposes deception of the right
Review: The book FOX NEWS tried to ban.!
I am objective and enjoy right-wing talk radio, Fox News/CNBC cable TV, as well as populist and liberal commentators. I have read books from all political & social ideologies. Al Franken (AKA Stuart Smalley), is an incredible satirist, creative and fluid. Franken exposes hundreds of factual errors, misrepresentations distortions and blatant lies by such people as Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, Bernard Goldberg and Sean Hannitty. It's all documented stuff in Franken's book. I double-checked some of his references today.
I read Bill O'Reilly's response editorial where he called Franken a "smear artist". No-where in this article did Bill O'Reilly state what parts of Franken's book is inaccurate.
I also watched the CSPAN Book Seller Conven, where O'Reilly claims he was ambushed and picked on by liberals. O'Reilly really is the childish bully who cries when he gets smacked. I believe even if you are a conservative; the excesses and arrogant lies of right-wing commentators will floor you.
Rating:
Summary: Lots of fun
Review: The book is an attempt to expose the deceptive rhetoric of the conservatives (mostly of Coulter, O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Hannity; less of Bush, Chenny, Gingrich, Wolfowitz). Liberals nowadays are in much need of a popular commentator 1) to defend against the plethora of conservative criticism towards the left, 2) because not responding to the false accusations amounts to admittance. Franken carries out this role successfully with humor and rigor (he hired a team to verify sources of claims present in this book). I enjoyed the book, and even learned a point -- that one has to verify validity of each sentence *independently* so as to guard oneself from falling prey to sleight-of-hand tricks, which Franken asserts prevalent in recent political commentaries (again especially in Coulter's, O'Reilly's, Limbaugh's, and Hannity's arguments). However the book lacks a constructive view. It criticizes the right, but stops short from providing alternatives. For instance in my opinion the book would have been better if a comparison to the Democratic Party's monetary policies was included in addition to his criticism against Bush's tax cut proposal (even if the proposal didn't make any sense to begin with). The best part of the book to me was anecdotes of Franken confronting proponents of conservative propaganda. Those were hilarious in a profane way.
Rating:
Summary: Hysterical, factual and intelligent... antagonistic
Review: The book is brilliant. It is well written, logicial and filled w/ interesting facts. Al is hysterical. My only complaint is perhaps if the tone of the book were a little less combative, it might draw a broader audience of readership. Besides viciously attacking the credibility of his targets, he offers insightful counter viewpoints to his rightwinged nemeses. I thought the Wellstone chapter was too long. I suspect Al's personal feelings got in the way of editorial judgement there. I think that chapter weakens the book, but overall excellent satire and wit. The audio version is read by Al and also good.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good...but not fair and balanced
Review: The book is fun. Franken is witty and intelligent, but he distorts the truth as much as Ann Coulter or Bill O'Reilly. For example, he goes on about "lies" by Coulter, and makes a point about Evan Thomas not being--as Coulter claims--the son of Socialist Norman Thomas. True enough, but Evan Thomas is the grandson of Norman. He apparently notes the distinction in the footnotes, but those of us listening to the audio book didn't get footnotes. Second, Franken is especially venomous toward Christianity. His comments about wanting to be photographed on a cross at Bob Jones University were neither funny nor tasteful. Those comments aside, this is a very interesting and-for the most part-funny book. The section about the pig geyser is not to be missed. "Fair and balanced" it isn't, but entertaining it certainly is.
Rating:
Summary: Finally! Truth for Americans!
Review: The book is intelligent and based in fact. I love how Mr. Franken cites everything so there's little room for debate. There are a few quotes that may be taken out of context, but the great thing about this book is that he actually teaches how it easy it is to check our information. Hopefully we will not be accepting the slander as easily and hopefully those people named in the book will be more accountable from here on out.
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