Rating:  Summary: Al is Ann Review: The reason that Al Franken and Ann Coulter despise each other so, is because they are the same. They both are both passionate, well-educated, and artiuclate. In addition, they are both egotistical, whiny, and blame everyone else for thier unhappiness. They lie on opposite sides of the political arena. When you read this book or Slander, remember that they are BOTH giving you their side and only their side of the story. I gave this book 3 stars just like I gave Slander 3 stars. It's the same book.
Rating:  Summary: Actually, it's well done. But it gets too nasty. Review: The research is actually well-done, and it's well-written. And it's even funny. And despite what some reviewers insist below, it IS rather accurate in what it presents. My only hesitation with this book, and what cost it a star, is that Franken goes too far in the nasty, spiteful language he uses about his adversaries. It's easy to convince me that people like Coulter are mean whackos, or that O'Reilley is a verbal bully, but that point loses its edge when the author then shoots similar barbs, himself.
Rating:  Summary: The right (wrong) has been exposed and they know it... Review: The right (wrong) has been exposed and they know it, as exampled by their furious comments on this book. If this book was nothing but fluff, why even comment on it? They are commenting on it for it exposes their lies and manipulations. Why has Al Franken not been sued for this book? - Because its the truth. You see, Al actually backs up his comments with research (which is something I hope the general population would do more of). He doesn't just spew quotes, and thought, and beLIEfs, he presents his point and then has facts and research to back it up. - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Rating:  Summary: WOW! BRILLIANT! Review: The right's reliance on lies and distortions has been laid bare, and plainly documented. This book is delicious. Ann Coulter has been squashed like a bug. Sean Hannity's plastic hair has been melted to reveal an abject distortionist. The "liberal media" myth has been destroyed, along with the "blame America first" canard. The "Al Gore is a compulsive liar" fabrication has been laid to complete waste. In contrast to Gore, George W. Bush's REAL lies about his past are revealed. Oh, and I'm only on page 48. I haven't gotten to the Bill O'Reilly section yet. Can't wait. Another excellent and FACTUAL book by Al Franken.
Rating:  Summary: This is Great! Review: The right-wing ideologues have gone unchallenged for far too long. Franken responds to their pompous prattle in a way which is both intelligent and witty. Unfortunately, that means most of them won't get it!
Rating:  Summary: a Republican loved this book Review: The right-wing media have done such a job hoodwinking gullible people all over America that books are one of the last places where liberal views can be presented without distortion. Franken beatifully dissects the lies and malicious, warped personalities of just a few of the many crazy right-wing pundits using something many might find an amazing new invention: FACTS. When I picked up this book, I didn't want yet another partisan rant. I wanted real information. Franken delivers it in spades. Thank God somebody wrote this. Our national debate needs it, and voices like it.
Rating:  Summary: Its time we relegate FOX news back to obscurity Review: The Rush Limbaugh book was a screamer and this is just as good. As for Fox news, I'd rather watch Jefferson reruns. They are far more informative.
Rating:  Summary: a race for the top spot Review: The sad part is Frankin didnt bother to research this himself, had to rely on the Harvard student body (which doesnt say much for them). He spends a chapter on how Bill O'Reilly mistook a Poke for a Peabody award several years back and you cant help to think with O'Reilly being on the news and all over the media if thats the best he could come up with. That like saying you went to McDonalds for lunch and someone finding out you were at Burger King insted. This book was a waste of alot of good trees.
Rating:  Summary: The Scientific Method- With Humor! Review: The scientific method has been a part of western civilization since the renaissance. In a nutshell, you propose a hypothesis, then use a logical process to test the hypothesis. True believers of various persuasions often oppose this process, much as the Office of the Holy Inquisition opposed it, because there is the possibility that certain faith based statements of "fact" may be refuted by "evidence." Here, various misleading statements, illogical conclusions, and outright lies are put to the test by gathering evidence to prove them true or false. Yes, the results are transmitted to us in a humorous way, but that in no way detracts from the factual basis of the book. The facts are the facts and are subject to verification. Certain people aligned politically with the liars Franken takes on accuse him of being mean spirited, and even of lying himself. The latter is a grave accusation. Fortunately, that is not simply an opinion, it is also subject to verification. If they are correct in saying Franken is not telling us the truth in this book, they should be able to back that statement up with verifiable evidence. No such evidence has been produced so far. In other words, if your calling someone a liar, you had better put up or shut up. Here, Franken has put up. His detractors have not.
Rating:  Summary: Tell us something we didn't already know. Review: The sole purpose of Mr. Franken's current book is, so far as I am able discern, to sell another book. It is not, to my sense of humor, funny. It lacks the acerbic prose of Harper's Lewis Lapham. Franken's work is analogous to the work of his Israeli bretheren in Palestine: to exchange blows, albeit verbal, with his equally inane opponents. When will the opposition acquiesce? Team Franken, the purported vanguard of Harvard's unpaid "intelligentsia", is guilty of another reductionistic attempt to pidgeon-hole the opposition with labels i.e., conservative, liberal, republican, democrat...etc. There is only one true measure of societal demarcation: wealth and poverty. Intellectualism knows no party or philosophy. Perhaps Franken could share the book's royalties with Team Franken's researchers; that would be a novel egalitarian stroke. Or perhaps the profits could be donated to a new foundation e.g., The Society for the Prevention of the Propagation of Ignorance (SPPI: there always has to be an acronym). No erudite intellect could be threatened by the likes of Coulter or O'Reilly; these people have merely fallen prey to the delusions of their own paradigm. Too many beer-besotted sports fans rely on others to verbalize their frustrations (hence the best-selling status: see also Jos. Goebbels). But Franken, too, has stooped in this attempt to match wits with half-wits. If you burned the books of Coulter, Limbaugh, Franken et al, I contend that they would give off heat but no light. When will western society stop pandering to the lowest common denominator? Didn't Californians just elect another movie star as governor? Save your money, this one will be on the clearance table before you can say Schwarzenegger.
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