Rating: 
Summary: Proof politics can be amusing..
Review: As a relative conservative without the hysterical bent of Coulter I couldn't help but find myself grinning through many parts of this book. Its simply a fun read. True, there are those sections that I found a tad overwrought and a few expose's that are nitpicky, and I'm wondering where the outrage over Bill is hiding. BUT, that being said, you can't help but enjoy Mr. Franken's clear glee with the task at hand. With excellent research Mr. Franken pokes fun at a few who take themselves entirely too seriously. This book will probably be appreciated best by individuals who cling to neither party. Trapped between Moore and Coulter, we need some commentary that, while making fun of others, will spare a few laughs for itself also.
Rating:
Summary: A Republican review of Al's book
Review: As a Republican, you would expect me to be attacking Mr. Frankin and his book. If so, you would be wrong. The problem with Al's book is that he provides sources for his statements, references for what he says and explains clearly HOW he came to his conclusions. He explains how Ann Coulter used LEXUS/NEXUS to distort the truth. He cited his sources instead of "a friend of mine's wife's cousin", etc.
This book won't make me a Democrat, only make me more aware of why I need to vote for more worthy candidates, no matter what their party affiliations may be.
Frankin does offer opinions and some unsubstantiated or poorly substantiated "facts", but not nearly as many as a Rush Limbaugh or other far right winged commentators have. Most importantly, it substantiates many of the rumors I had been hearing for a number of years now by citing actual sources of these statements. Now if I say something, I can cite real sources instead of "I heard or read such and such" on the Internet the other day.
For those who denigrate this book by saying that it is a bunch of lies, please cite ONE SINGLE LIE that you have found in this book, along with YOUR source proving that it is a lie.
I have read dozens of reviews saying he has written a pack of lies but not a single citation of a lie they have found in the book.
Al proved that Bill O'Reilly lied about his Peabody awards. He proved that O'Reilly was not from a "poor" family and worked his way up to his $4 million a year job, but rather grew up in an affluent suburb of NY and went to private schools. He proved he was a registered Republican (no sin) and not an Independent as he has claimed constantly.
So I await someone citing even one lie in this book, let alone that the whole book is nothing but lies. I am sure there are some facts that are wrong, but so far nobody has pointed out a single one yet.
The negative points I have about this book are:
1) It rambles a bit too much and has too little detail on some points and too much on others.
2) It mirrors right wing dogma in that it sees no good in people on the right and no bad in people on the left. Both sides have good and bad and it reduces the impact of the book to paint with too broad of a brush.
3) It spends too much time on meaningless people like Coulter, O'Reilly and Hannity and not enough on those who really impact our lives like Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft and the rest of the Bush cabinet.
Rating:
Summary: The voice of reason
Review: As a self-confessed recovering right-winger, this book served to further fuel the fire ignited in me by previous exposure to fantastic left-wing reading material, notably that of Michael Moore. Intelligent, insightful and with an acid wit, Franken tears apart the right-wing case for a liberal bias in the media, and proceeds to tear one by one into his critics in the right, exposing each for the fraud that they are.Better still, he rips into the idea that the views of the left amount to 'hate-speak' or treason, and catalogues the vile bigotry, racism and general low-brow babble propagated daily by the right, with a little help from their media mogul buddies. Franken does what the Bush administration and the right-wing media like to talk about but seem categorically incapable of: he 'changes the tone' and attempts to bring 21st century America into a place where responsible, high-tone political debate can flourish, and the real winner is the truth. He combines perfectly the freedoms so fiercely guarded by the left with a sense of real responsibility to truth and a genuine concern for tomorrow and those who will inherit this earth from us. The open-minded reader will gain a real sense of the political and media climate in the States at the moment, even as an outsider, and will see the hatred, bigotry and deception perpetrated by the right, in all its forms. A must read for every responsible, concerned citizen out there.
Rating:
Summary: A Glorius efficatious piece of non fiction from God
Review: As a staunch supporter of www.democraticunderground.com and an unabashed liberal I was indeed delighted by this book. First and foremost he completely debunks bill O'Reilly's belies and self aggrandizements by showcasing evidence to the seriously emotionally wounded talk show host. The beauty of this book is that Franken is an Washington outsider and not a politician and a D.L.C democrat (The D.N.C. hijacked the party and I became a socialist independent). Even as an incessant reader I don't too often discover hilarity especially in political satire or political science, but alas do Franken breaks the mold. His writing style is impeccable from grammar to precise punctuation and "Supply side Jesus" is a wonderful example of how a conservative Jesus would have acted. Trust me while I have not obtained a PhD in the field of biblical scholarship i do know from reading scripture that Jesus was indeed a Liberal and supported progressive Taxation. Indeed unlike coulter its impossible to catch Franken in a lie, because he admits when he makes mistakes. The chapter on him (he's Jewish remember) and a member of team Franken going to Bob Jones University is a classic, I mean I was like fiction isn't this amusing, and its all true, but he admits he told fibs to the staff there to get the prank to work. Unlike hannity, o'reilly, coulter etc Franken lacks Racist propaganda and belies in this book though which is a loss, in fact he actually supports affirmative action and gives a few great anecdotes, damn he cares about the downtrodden and impoverished, o'reilly was right "Al Franken is a vile human being." He's so vile he mentions numerous times how what made him cry and a few of the things were speeches by Republicans. Also he openly admits to supporting a handful of republicans, every descent human being knows Olympia Snowe (R-MAINE) and John McCain (R-Arizona) are benign benevolent beings (I Own alliteration (you get the joke when you read this book))
However some things that he exposes will make a neo con run straight to the gun rack. He exposes Chaney's lies about how he felt making a helicopter trip every day for four years and seeing the crosses row on row at Arlington, which we know their aren't crosses their headstones, the crosses were from a cemetery in France i.e. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, which Chaney mistook for Arlington. And you have got to read "Operation Chicken Hawk" every neo con from Thomas to Chaney to Pat Robertson is fighting in the Vietnam war, and john Kerry is their commander while al gore is a reporter for stars and stripes (by the way non of them served they all got the most scandalous 4f and deferments. All in all if it came between having the financial blessing of bill gates or knowing the truth that he exposes id have to choose Al Franken, a gift from God to expose the truth.
Rating:
Summary: This Book is what our country needs right now
Review: as an antidote for the horrible Treason by Ann Coulter, there is Lies, and the Lying Liars who tell them, a hilarious but always right on the mark observations from Al Franken on why the conservatives are lying liars. And he proves they are. VALID proof. Unlike the 'proof' of rapid conservatives which is finely crafted LIES. That is why they are the lying liars featured on the cover of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book based on FACTS
Review: As an Independent, this was a solid book with outstanding information based on FACT from the more liberal side. I say FACT because Franken slices and dices conservative bozos who easily thwart honesty and credibility in their books. He truly does a wonderful job with his Harvard "Team Franken" to support all of his claims. Thank goodness the team was not from YALE, otherwise, we might have had another book resembling Limbaugh or Coulter.
Rating: 
Summary: Lies and the Lying Liars...
Review: As Dr.Jones said in the first movie: "In here we deal with fact. If you want truth go to the philosophy department down the hall." Franken deals with fact. The examples are all similarly structured. To wit: Bill O'Reilly is a liar because he said he was always registered as an independent. Here is the show transcript with his words. Here is a transcript of the phone conversation with Franken where he said he was always registered as an independent. Here is a photocopy of his voter registration plainly marked Republican. It could only be marked by him. Most of the examples are like that. There is a good illustration of the Bush "tax cut" in the form of a conversation with a single mother. I gave it 3 stars because Franken does engage in some name-calling which while understandable and perhaps even justified, seemed beneath the scope of the book. Nevertheless the book is based on well documented fact. I also suggest reading Tucker Carlson's book which a right-wing tome. He uses very little fact and relies on name-calling, inuendo, supposition, and erroneous conclusions based on misrepresenting the facts. Interesting comparison. Also read the 1 star reviews of this and like works to get an idea of the "you're stupid and you suck" sort of argument from the right wing.
Rating: 
Summary: A Unfair & Unbalanced Look At the Right
Review: As far as I know Al Frankin has never had the guts to go on Talk Radio and defend his views. This constitutes a very troubling trend from the left where name calling and invectives are used in an arena where the attacker evades the butt of his spineless rage. If Al Frankin is to have any credibility, he must have the courage to take on the right and point by point stand up for his beliefs. This type of dialogue would constitute a fair and balanced look at the right and not the one sided diatribe.
Rating:
Summary: The far right hates America.
Review: As Franken points out, the neo-cons say a lot of ridiculous things. They've be getting away with it for far too long without being taken to task. Although most intelligent people realize the neo-cons are extremists, the problem is that they have gained control of much of the media. As a result, people who don't pay a lot of attention or question what they hear get the message that the extreme is the "mainstream". It's about time someone has said "enough is enough". Kudos to Franken, Moore and others for standing up. An example of the far right garbage is when right wing extremists say liberals hate America. Actually, if anyone hates America it's the far right. They envision America as a greed driven, intolerant, Christian fundamentalist society in which lies, misinformation and deception are casually and routinely used by the highest government officials. America is in fact built on the LIBERAL principles of democracy, caring for the poor and oppressed, tolerance for differing points of view, reasoned debate and separation of church and state. These are the values that the far right hates but they are the core values that made America the leader of the world. If the far right hates those values (and they do) then obviously, they hate America. This book is hilarious in the way Franken uses his razor sharp wit to slice and dice far right nit-wits. However, if half of what he states in it is true (and given how well researched the book is, it sure looks like all of it is true) then this is also a very frightening book. Intolerant, closed minded, extremists are in charge of this country right now. Frightening. Everyone in the country with an open mind (which I still believe is most of us) should read this important book.
Rating:
Summary: Vintage Franken!
Review: As good as Rush is a big fat idiot. I couldn't put it down, except when I was convulsing with laughter. God couldn't have found a more worthy scribe to expose Bush et al. Ah, humor, that's the way to disarm them.
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