Rating: 
Summary: While reading this borrowed book....
Review: The song out of touch would be a supurb candidate for theme music... Hall and Oates from Big Bam Boom Shake it up is all that we know
Using the bodies up as we go
Waking up to fantasy
The shates all around aren't the colors we used to see
Broken ice still melts in the sun
And times that are broken can often be one again
We're soul alone
And soul really matters to me
Take a look around You're out of touch
I'm out of time
But i'm out of my head when you're not around Reaching out for something to hold
Looking for a love where the climate is cold
Manic moves and drowsy dreams
Or living in the middle between the two extremes
Smoking guns hot to the touch
Would cool down if we didn't use them so much
We're soul alone
And soul really matters to me
Too much
Rating: 
Summary: Be Afraid--Be Very Afraid
Review: The state of affairs in this nation, since Bush has "taken" the presidency, seem to have gone from bad to worse. After eight years of good times, financial abundance, and awesome growth, we are now in a state of contraction. It seems the minute Bush took office, things went bad, like there's a dark cloud over this country that's not lifting. I fear the future of this country is in jeopardy. I listened recently to two men talking politics: one pointed out that Bush is in office to reward his billionaire buddies and that he's no one's friend but theirs (and he presented facts to prove it); that he's taken our surplus and made it into a huge deficit; that he knew about 9.11 before it happened, but did nothing because it would give him a chance to extract revenge on the middle eastern oil guys he had a personal vendetta against; that he has the media in his tight little fist because he threatens to ban any of them from the White House who don't agree with him. The other man, a staunch Bush man, didn't refute anything he heard with facts. All he could say was, "Well, what about Clinton?" How many people who blindly support Bush use that seeming standard line when they can't handle the truth of what they're hearing? Al Franken has opened my eyes to hatemongers I didn't even know existed, although I've seen that raving maniac, Bill O'Reilly, when I've been flipping through the channels. Seems I could never leave his foul mug on my tv screen very long without discomfort and now I know why...he a lying liar! To the Republican reviewer that enjoyed Franken's book but would have liked information on more relevant people like Bush, Cheney, and Ashcroft...I refer you to a phenomenal book called "Fortunate Son" by an author named Hatfield. He gives a straightforward account of Bush's background, business affiliations, and voting policies when he was governor of Texas. You even grow to like the young Bush...but something happens to him as he matures. He becomes a "hit" man for his wimpish father in the White House...in addition, he's in charge of the dirty tricks of his father's campaign...and carries them through with venom. He threatens anyone who doesn't support his father and follows up on his threats. He never forgets what he considers a transgression (simply someone who may have an opposing viewpoint). Read "Fortunate Son." It's an eye opener. Thank you, Al Franken, for your brave expose of the yellow media that's got this country hoodwinked. Their propaganda is reminiscent of how communist countries distort the truth to retain control. Big bucks buy power...and power corrupts (see example of greedmeister, Ruppert Murdock). I can only pray that enough people read this book and galvanize to make sure Bush doesn't make it a second term. Otherwise, we might not survive as a nation!
Rating:
Summary: Crap
Review: The target audience of this book can't read anyway. Nonsensical propaganda.
Rating:
Summary: A sorely-needed dose of honesty
Review: The thing to remember about Franken in general is that he is a comedian first and foremost, and a liberal second, so unlike those hypocrites he uncovers, he has no obligation to write books criticizing right-wing extremists. This book is meant to be funny, and downright hilarious it will be to anyone reading it without a frothy conservative vehemencence. Even the opening remarks show Franken's brutal honesty in all things, and his ability to poke fun at himself. The part of this most worth reading for me is the expose on Ann Coulter and her novels. Like Franken will constantly remind us, the woman is messed up. Literally, reading her books convinced me to take a liberal standpoint about many issues just so I would be on whatever side she wasn't. Franken points out numerous examples of the many, many, many, many flaws in citation, source, logic, and general accuries Coulter's works have. If I have one complaint about that book, it's that occasionally it's difficult to tell when Franken is joking. But he always tells the reader afterward, so it's not a big problem.
Rating:
Summary: A prime example of liberal "logic"
Review: The title "lying liar" implies that conservatives are telling the truth. Franken's logically challenged viewpoint represents liberalism quite well. Want to transform America into a third-world country? Vote Democrat.
Rating: 
Summary: Fair, not balanced
Review: The title is tongue in cheek, folks. Al is clearly a liberal, writing about certain out-of-control conservative ideologues, and it's not going to be pretty. But it is funny. And yes, fair. For instance, in describing the Wellstone memorial service, he did not defend everything that was said; he admitted that part of it got out of hand. Rather, he said that that segment was not representative of the memorial service as a whole, but was presented as such in the media. The people he attacks and makes fun of in this book would never make that kind of distinction. For them, it is always a zero sum game, which is why they have to distort that part of the truth they're not comfortable with. That is, they have to lie. For me, the most effective and refreshing part was the flat declaration that the Fox emperor has no clothes. Whenever any organization has to continually describe itself as "fair and balanced," chances are they're neither. All you have to do is compare Fox's coverage of any controversial subject with that of other networks, and you can see the difference is that others often offer more than one side; Fox does not. It is refreshing to see someone successfully expose the lie of "The No Spin Zone" (basically "spin" on that show is any opinion or fact of which O'Reilly disapproves). Best of all was the analysis of HANNITY & colmes, because Fox commonly touts that show as an example of its "balance;" it was good to see someone just say honestly that colmes is no match for HANNITY, and that HANNITY can get away with saying anything on the show because of that. A couple of chapters (Barbara Bush, Bob Jones U) were entertaining, but peripheral to the purpose of the book and probably should have been left out. It's an easy read, unless you're a dyed-in-the-wool conservative, and I found it hard to put down. Another good section rehabilitated Al Gore in my mind. I voted for him, but reluctantly, and Franken's book actually demonstrates that a number of raps on him during the campaign were not truthful (of course, no right-winger caused him to behave so weird during the third debate). Bottom line: If you're a hard-line conservative, you probably won't like it. But if you're in the middle (there is still a middle in America, isn't there?), you'll find it funny, informative, imperfect, and fair--but not balanced. And you have to be smart enough to take some of the humor--including the title--in the tongue in cheek manner in which it was intended. The Chickenhawks chapter, for instance, is satirical humor; it did not really occur. Down, Ann. Down. If this book results in just one reader coming to the realization that dissent such as this is Not Treason--that it is an essential part of America--then the book will have accomplished something. Hope it does.
Rating:
Summary: waste of time...
Review: The title is totally misleading. It is anything but "fair" and "balanced" and paints everything negative u can imagine... Waste of time and money!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: The title is very fitting for the current administration and there media cohorts. Franken coats it all with some great humor but also exposes the lies with good hard facts. He catches the administration and their cohorts in several mistruths and lies by using fact finders to expose them with none other than their FACTS. These lies are not about their sextual endevors but about things that effect our, (you and me) everyday lives. For example 9/11, Clinton and his staff had set up an elaborate antiterrorism plan including evidence that Osama bin Laden would attack using planes that was passed to the Bush administration and ignored. Both Bush and Cheney were great benefactors (millions)of inside trading just like the type that they scolded Enron execs for. Also the many lies were refuted from the likes of Coulter, Hannity and O'Reilly. I would like to see a republican refute this book with evidence that proves that these statements are untrue instead of expecting us to just believe them when they say that they are lies. Please don't just say that they are using "fuzzy math" and expect that to convince us.
Rating:
Summary: Poor Franken just needs a hug.
Review: The title of my review says it all. If we all took the time out of our busy schedule to give Al just one hug then maybe, just maybe, the world would be a better place.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Counterattack to Right Wing Hacks
Review: The title, the fact that I give the book 5 stars, and that I find the book to absolutley hilarious should be enough to tell you I really enjoyed the book. However, I'll take this space to beef about one concept of the book that I did not enjoy and seems pervasive in all "liberal" books: hero worship of Bill Clinton. Now, Bill Clinton was not the worst President ever, but why do smart people like Franken act as though he is the best ever? It's not because of they're smart and it's not because they are correct. Bill Clinton, obviously, is a slime who time and time again humiliated his office. Agreed, Republicans wasted this countries time and energy on affairs that were none of their business and Clinton did have some excellent policies (as well as policies, such as cutting welfare, that were straight robbed from the GOP playbook), but that doesn't change that Clinton was a slime. So let's get over it and let's get over William Jefferson Clinton.
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