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Summary: FRANKEN'S ROLE AS HEY-BOY
Review: Franken was a mere hey-boy when at SNL and scored heroin for Belushi, et.al. So now this narcotics trafficker and enabler is a political expert? a satirist? i don't think so. he is merely a hate-filled opportunist and extreme left wing radical.
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Summary: Franken hits targets effectively
Review: Franken's book does an excellent job of exposing the lies that many right wingers have succeeded in foisting on the American people for too long, and does so with a good dose of humor. The introduction in which Franken satirizes the claim by all too many zealots on the right that God told them to do what they are doing or chose them to carry out his will (apparently including Bush) is especially effective and funny.
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Summary: Loved it! Funny. Backed up with HARD facts!
Review: Franken's book is a breath of fresh air in an atmosphere poisoned by gastrointestinal emanations from the likes of Anne Coulter. In her book she claims liberals' loyalty to the United States has to be questioned and implies that those who don't toe a right wing line are committing treason. I am utterly amazed someone would stoop so low as to come up with crap like that. The very essence of a democracy is the ability to freely speak out and oppose the government. It is the most un-treasonous thing you can do in a freedom loving democarcy. If you aren't allowed to do that - you no longer have freedom and you no longer live in a democracy. Following her line of thinking, I guess we better throw that traitor Wesley Clark into the brig at Guantanamo Bay. And I'll bet Joe Lieberman is actually an al Quaeda operative just waiting to take power so he hand the country over to bin Laden. Let's see . . In the last presidential election over half the votes were not for the current administration . . so I guess over half the voters committed treason. That's what . . . 70 . . . 80 million people? (OK, I don't have the exact figure, but in any case, we'll have to start building a few more cells at Gitmo to hold all those traitors.) And, gee, didn't our military just overthrow the governments in two countries that were one-party autocracies? I thought that was the sort of stuff we were fighting against. So, if our military is going around the world overthrowing one-party countries where it actually IS an act of treason to speak against the government . . . what does that make HER for advocating we have that system here? What's wrong with this woman? Was she weaned on lemons? Where is she coming up with this b.s.? Franken is right. She is a nut case. Good job Al. Looking forward to your next book.
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Summary: Hard to fault the actual record
Review: Franken's book is a powerful dose of honesty about Right Winger's claims. He has enlisted a crew of 15 fact checkers from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government to double check every claim he makes in the book, and does he ever take the wind out of the sails of elected, appointed officials, and right wing pundits! Talk about correcting "revisionist history"! He takes on the shackled press, too. His crew peels off layers of pejudicial myth and right wing folk tales and "reports" found in "news" papers, heard and seen on media. The blatant dishonesty and hidden agendas stand there bare faced and looking as bad as they are. Personally I reacted to his profanity and vulgarity very sourly. It's not just tasteless, it takes away fromthe power of his work and gives emotional sanction to disregard this very serious work, if not to dismiss it all as sophomoric wallowing in nastiness' just because I can.' I think Chapter 29 the "Operation Chicken Hawk" gets all the animous and bile slathered around so completely I begin to feel the purpose is the "slathering", not to "expose" the personalities presented in the chapter. The crew does very well in that department all through the book, that chapter can be dispensed with. Chapter 37 "The Gospel of Supply side Jesus" is one of the more biting, hurting satires exposing right wing/GOP mentality I've ever struggled through. Mr. Franken tells us he's working on a book focusing on President Bush intended for release in October, just before elections. I hope he manages to leave out the vulagarity and profanity so the power of facts, and the clarity of the record can be seen clearly and with power not murked up by nastiness. Let the record and facts speak for themselves. (I understand an "unofficial biography" will come out in the same time frame by another author.) This book is well worth the time to read. The factual information and the careful, careful proof texting and fact checking make it difficult to rebut. If you go ad hominem- insult the writer, you're disregarding the writing.
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Summary: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Anne Coulter
Review: Franken's book is able to put a cogent argument together, poke holes in the inflated egos of several media prima donna, Bill O'Reilly in particular -- and get a lot of good laughs in to boot. The writing crackles with wit and intelligence while missing the rancor of so much political writing these days. Besides great laughs, Franken brought me peace in accepting that Anne Coulter really is an insane right-winged harpy and not worth a second thought. Thanks Al, I can now sail past that shreiking banshee and not run aground on her sorry siren song. Also, I had never heard of Sean Hannity before. I still don't know much about him, but Al gets his digs in for some good fun. You know, as reviewer 2613 or so, I doubt anyone will read this review. All the same, I want to say "Thanks Al," for giving me some peace of mind in these dingbatty times.
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Summary: Informative...But Repetative
Review: Franken's book outlines numerous ways in which the far-right have twisted words or outright lied to suit their political agenda. Franken goes into excruciating detail on everyone from Sean Hannity right on up the ladder to George W. Bush himself. The most poignant chapter in the book is Franken's one page chapter on our "National Dialogue on Terrorism". In this brief chapter, Franken, in a pseudo-conversation of alternating quotes brings to the forefront the far-right's presumed view on concepts like terror, patriotism, and freedom. Overall, Franken brings up many strong, well-researched points, but if the book has a downside it's that Franken is overly repetative, and at times incessant getting his point across. I've got it Al, these people are liars.
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Summary: Liberal Bias
Review: Franken's book parrot's the eternal liberal mantra. Socialism is good, capitalism is bad; liberals (aka Democrats) are good, conservatives and morally decent folk are bad; hating the U.S. is good, being patriotic is bad; liberal Jews and Christians are good, conservative Christians are evil; Clinton is g_d, Bush is Satan. Enough already! Franken and this book are obnoxious..
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Summary: important book
Review: Franken's book reveals to readers the dishonesty of Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter. Sean Hannity during the 2000 election repeatedly slandered Gore by spreading false information about him. Franken calls him on it. I really liked the chapter Supply Side Jesus. It was funny and it made the point that many Christians especially conservative Christians don't follow the true teachings of Jesus. In my opinion this book wasn't as funny as Franken's other book Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and it could have been better if he edited some of the less important stuff out. On the other hand this book is more significant because it comes at a time when conservatives have the upper hand. I checked that website about Franken's supposed lies. It was pathetic. They actually listed Al Franken's practical joke as a lie.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious and well research
Review: Franken's book, admittedly the first one from him that I have read, is great. (And I probably would have never heard about it were it not for the lawsuit) Like a sniper, he picks his targets and then unleashes two devestating weapons - the truth and his humor. The comedy also makes the book a very easy read. I wasn't particularly fond of his vietnam era story of Al Gore and John Kerry, but for me, that was the only part of the book I didn't find funny. The rest is pure gold.
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Summary: Just like Limbaugh
Review: Franken's book, like his previous tome, the tastefully titled "Rush Limbaugh Is A Big, Fat Idiot," may be amusing, but like the rants of the pompous, hypocritical windbag he so loathes, contributes nothing meaningful to political dialogue. Like Limbaugh, he's part of the problem. Satire is a useful tool, but Franken doesn't use it well. He's as one-sided as his opponents on the right. Of course, it's rather pointless to bother writing any truthful comments about a book such as this. Who the hell shows up at this page except Franken's fans? They probably own the book already, but come here to give a poor rating to any review that suggests Franken is anything less than a genius. Why even let anyone vote on reviews when the votes, like most of the reviews, are biased?
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