Status
Available
Call number
Publication
New York : Penguin Group Inc., c2004, c2003.
Description
Offers a whimsical critique of the Right, exposing their deceptive practices, challenging conceptions about the media's liberal bias, and identifying inconsistencies in the Bush administration.
Media reviews
Franken proves himself to have a lethal capacity to deploy wit as a part of a wider political takedown. He does his homework (one can usually guess the Washington outfit that does it for him, such as Citizens for Tax Justice, but he always gives credit) and then, when he is sure he has caught Bill
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O’Reilly or Ann Coulter, he begins to slow himself down, give himself time, and really milk the kill. If it’s not laugh-out-loud funny, it’s still pretty good polemical journalism. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member ecw0647
This very funny but extremely serious book goes after the deliberate falsehoods perpetrated by the right-wing on "liberals."
As you may know, the Fox Network went after Franken for trademark infringement because he used the phrase "fair and balanced." The judge threw out the suit as completely
.
Harvard University gave Franken a fellowship to basically do whatever he wanted, but demurred at his idea of having Harvard students write his son's college application. Franken finally hit upon the idea of having a group of students do research for his book. They bought the idea.
His first target is Ann Coulter, author of Scandal. Franken methodically picks apart her book, revealing it for the inaccurate, if not disingenuous, piece of nonsense it is. He also shows how she has blatantly lied about things. Her Connecticut driver's license shows her birth date as 1961; her Washington DL says 1963. She claims the Washington DL is correct, which means she voted as a sixteen-year-old. On one of the applications she lied about her age. Now, many people have done that, but since the US Patriot Act makes it a felony to put false information on a government ID, she could be whisked away and held without counsel for a long time. I wish they would. Simple charges she makes in her book were never checked. For example, she complains that Evan Thomas, supposedly one of those heinous liberals, was the son of Norman Thomas, four-time [sic:] candidate for president on the Socialist party ticket. Actually, he ran six times, and a simple phone call to Evan Thomas reveals that he is not the son of Norman Thomas. Coulter's book is filled with such false details. Either she is extremely lazy or a blatant liar. Franken obviously suspects the latter.
Francken has infuriated that scion of right-wing Fox Bill O'Reilly by publicly pointing out many untruths that O'Reilly has put forth. At Book Expo in Los Angeles, O'Reilly was humiliated by Franken, who categorically listed all sorts of lies O'Reilly had perpetrated on the public. Now, Franken makes clear that occasionally making a mistake on a statistic is hardly a crime, but O'Reilly's customary tactic, when challenged with the correct information from unimpeachable sources is to simply bully and yell at his challenger rather than correct the mistake. The problem is also that he makes lots of mistakes. More from the "sewer of right-wing dishonesty. When he interviewed the son of a worker killed on 9/11 on February 4th, 2003, he became enraged at the son's opposition to the war in Iraq, had his engineer cut off the man's microphone, and sent him packing saying to him after the show's end, "Get out of my studio before I tear you to f*cking pieces."
O'Reilly, who constantly rails at the lyrics of rap songs, wrote a murder mystery in 1998, Those who Trespass (about a serial killer who murders everyone who interferes with his rising television career), that took explicit sex and violence to new heights and the English language to new lows. In one murder, the victim is killed by having a spoon driven through the roof of her mouth into her brain stem. Variants of the "F" word and "B" word are used more than 51 times. Case of the pot calling the kettle black? O'Reilly is not a nice man.
Team Franken took a look at Hannity's (of Hannity and Colmes,) book to verify the factualness of his statements. Examples of disingenuousness and dishonesty abound.
Bush's initial indifference to al Qaeda prior to 9/11 is astonishing. The Clinton administration had developed plans for eliminating Bin Laden, but those plans were ignored. That the Bin Laden family were good friends with the Bush family is well-known, and Franken speculates as to what might have happened to Clinton had he been so nice to the Bin Laden family, permitting a Saudi plane to fly around the country picking up family members for return to Saudi Arabia, while American airplanes were grounded. In the meantime, President Bush has broken all presidential records for the number of days spent on vacation.
The book is often uneven, some parts funnier and some more serious. Should one laugh or cry learning that many of our leaders today, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Perle, Bush, and other chickenhawks who are sending men off to die in war, did everything in their power, having their fathers pull strings and inventing flimsy excuses (shouldn't pick on Limbaugh, I think he was just too fat) to avoid service in Vietnam.
As you may know, the Fox Network went after Franken for trademark infringement because he used the phrase "fair and balanced." The judge threw out the suit as completely
Show More
ludicrous and made several trenchant comments about the inability of the Fox executives to recognize satire when they saw it.
Harvard University gave Franken a fellowship to basically do whatever he wanted, but demurred at his idea of having Harvard students write his son's college application. Franken finally hit upon the idea of having a group of students do research for his book. They bought the idea.
His first target is Ann Coulter, author of Scandal. Franken methodically picks apart her book, revealing it for the inaccurate, if not disingenuous, piece of nonsense it is. He also shows how she has blatantly lied about things. Her Connecticut driver's license shows her birth date as 1961; her Washington DL says 1963. She claims the Washington DL is correct, which means she voted as a sixteen-year-old. On one of the applications she lied about her age. Now, many people have done that, but since the US Patriot Act makes it a felony to put false information on a government ID, she could be whisked away and held without counsel for a long time. I wish they would. Simple charges she makes in her book were never checked. For example, she complains that Evan Thomas, supposedly one of those heinous liberals, was the son of Norman Thomas, four-time [sic:] candidate for president on the Socialist party ticket. Actually, he ran six times, and a simple phone call to Evan Thomas reveals that he is not the son of Norman Thomas. Coulter's book is filled with such false details. Either she is extremely lazy or a blatant liar. Franken obviously suspects the latter.
Francken has infuriated that scion of right-wing Fox Bill O'Reilly by publicly pointing out many untruths that O'Reilly has put forth. At Book Expo in Los Angeles, O'Reilly was humiliated by Franken, who categorically listed all sorts of lies O'Reilly had perpetrated on the public. Now, Franken makes clear that occasionally making a mistake on a statistic is hardly a crime, but O'Reilly's customary tactic, when challenged with the correct information from unimpeachable sources is to simply bully and yell at his challenger rather than correct the mistake. The problem is also that he makes lots of mistakes. More from the "sewer of right-wing dishonesty. When he interviewed the son of a worker killed on 9/11 on February 4th, 2003, he became enraged at the son's opposition to the war in Iraq, had his engineer cut off the man's microphone, and sent him packing saying to him after the show's end, "Get out of my studio before I tear you to f*cking pieces."
O'Reilly, who constantly rails at the lyrics of rap songs, wrote a murder mystery in 1998, Those who Trespass (about a serial killer who murders everyone who interferes with his rising television career), that took explicit sex and violence to new heights and the English language to new lows. In one murder, the victim is killed by having a spoon driven through the roof of her mouth into her brain stem. Variants of the "F" word and "B" word are used more than 51 times. Case of the pot calling the kettle black? O'Reilly is not a nice man.
Team Franken took a look at Hannity's (of Hannity and Colmes,) book to verify the factualness of his statements. Examples of disingenuousness and dishonesty abound.
Bush's initial indifference to al Qaeda prior to 9/11 is astonishing. The Clinton administration had developed plans for eliminating Bin Laden, but those plans were ignored. That the Bin Laden family were good friends with the Bush family is well-known, and Franken speculates as to what might have happened to Clinton had he been so nice to the Bin Laden family, permitting a Saudi plane to fly around the country picking up family members for return to Saudi Arabia, while American airplanes were grounded. In the meantime, President Bush has broken all presidential records for the number of days spent on vacation.
The book is often uneven, some parts funnier and some more serious. Should one laugh or cry learning that many of our leaders today, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Perle, Bush, and other chickenhawks who are sending men off to die in war, did everything in their power, having their fathers pull strings and inventing flimsy excuses (shouldn't pick on Limbaugh, I think he was just too fat) to avoid service in Vietnam.
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LibraryThing member DCArchitect
Franken brilliantly takes what should be making us cry and manages to have us laughing about it. Provided you agree with Al Franken's politics, which, If you're reading the book, you probably do. Or you're some sort of masochist.
LibraryThing member cbradley
Lies is probably my favorite of Franken’s books. Funny yet informative, Lies takes on the big names in conservative media and politics while remaining funny the entire time. Franken uses the right-wing tactics used to bash liberals against them. Franken balances the humor and the information
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perfectly in Lies. A great read for anyone who enjoys a little conservative bashing, political humor, or even just a couple of ironic and funny stories of Al Franken’s life. Show Less
LibraryThing member csweder
Any book that starts out with a conversation between the author and God, I'm a little skeptical of. Unless of course, that conversation is one that points out the stupidities of most of what I find wrong with our political system today.
While it took me a really long time to get through this book,
The biggest thing that I will take away from this book isn't an idea that just came to me while reading it, but is one that I've noted before.
Democrats are bad at pointing out all the stupid shit (forgive the language, but it's really the only word that will do it justice) that Republicans do. This book showed example after example of Republican actions and speeches, where, had they been done/said by a Democrat, the Republicans would have been ALL OVER IT. Calling Dems _____________ (fill in derogatory word here).
Republicans are good at calling Democrats out--even when the Reps are in the wrong.
By all means, I am not saying Dems are perfect, they aren't. But, damn, do they let Reps get away with stuff.
Call this book biased, it is. Call me biased, I am. If my dad can read Rush is Right, I can read about all the time Rush has Lied.
An interesting read.
While it took me a really long time to get through this book,
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it was fun and enjoyable. The biggest thing that I will take away from this book isn't an idea that just came to me while reading it, but is one that I've noted before.
Democrats are bad at pointing out all the stupid shit (forgive the language, but it's really the only word that will do it justice) that Republicans do. This book showed example after example of Republican actions and speeches, where, had they been done/said by a Democrat, the Republicans would have been ALL OVER IT. Calling Dems _____________ (fill in derogatory word here).
Republicans are good at calling Democrats out--even when the Reps are in the wrong.
By all means, I am not saying Dems are perfect, they aren't. But, damn, do they let Reps get away with stuff.
Call this book biased, it is. Call me biased, I am. If my dad can read Rush is Right, I can read about all the time Rush has Lied.
An interesting read.
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LibraryThing member elle-kay
Extremely funny and - although it takes an extreme in-your-face liberal bias - extremely informative! A very quick and easy read, with plenty of comedy tossed in with the serious evidence of lies the right makes. Al Franken is my new hero!
(I also just feel like I have to menition the humor that
(I also just feel like I have to menition the humor that
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Franken writes in and make the reader aware of it. It's not flat-out, here's a joke so laugh at it kind of humor. It takes a little thought process, as sometimes a joke or punchline or funny comment is thrown in the text to make it sound as if it's just another fact., but it's really not true. I'll admit, sometimes it may be a little confusing to the reader so if you don't have the same sense of humor as Franken does, you might find yourself going "huh?" at times. However, if you do, then I can assure you when you're reading it, you will think it's the funniest book ever written). Show Less
LibraryThing member bookcrazed
It's preaching to the choir--I mean who else is going to read it? but I loved every scathing word of it. Franken delivers facts with incredibly fine humor and tidy scholarship.
LibraryThing member thatotter
I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did. In addition to being funny, Franken is serious and intelligent enough that I was convinced to donate (a small amount) to his current Senate campaign.
But man, reliving all that stuff about the 2000 election and the dishonesty of right-wing
But man, reliving all that stuff about the 2000 election and the dishonesty of right-wing
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commentators made me so mad! Show Less
LibraryThing member kkirkhoff
Believe it or not I really did enjoy reading this book. The premise of it, in my opinion, is that Al Franken and his Harvard-financed rag-tag team of hand-picked Republican haters (hereafter called TeamFranken) set out to show that any popular political pundit who criticizes Democrats has lied, and
Since Franken was a writer for Saturday Night Live, the book was funny, in a satirical way. Toward the end of the book though, TeamFranken breaks from their theme and starts in on why the GOP stole the election, why Clinton was the greatest President, and why all things liberal are way better than all things conservative. For me this was where he lost his credibility. While I didn't feel like fact-checking every piece of information in the book, there were some items (the election and Iraq come to mind) that have been hashed and re-hashed so much that even I could see that TeamFranken were the ones lying and misleading. Also Bernard Goldberg does a much better job of pointing out problems with the MAINSTREAM media being liberally slanted in his book than TeamFranken could even begin to refute. Franken spent much of their time bashing the Washington Post, FoxNews, and the Wall Street Journal.
It was entertaining to see his attack on Bob Jones University backfire. He basically lied to them about being interested in enrolling his nephew there. He does say they were very friendly and not too threatening with their ideals. But that doesn't stop him from trying to tie the University's founder to Nazi Germany by way of some valuable campus art. Of course the reason he tells the Bob Jones story is to point out that to be a good liar you must be really mean and have no ethics or morals. He therefore is not a good liar. He is a liberal, and liberals are good.
A lot of the rest of the topics included Barbara Bush, the Wellstone memorial, the tone in Washington, the environment, racism, education, and weapons of mass destruction. Franken's issues with these topics may have some truth behind them, but in my opinion, his complaints all boil down to politics. Both sides are going to massage statistics and subtly mislead people to get votes. I didn't put much stock in these rants. As Franken himself says (twice), "statistics don't lie". But you CAN interpret them to suit your argument.
At the end of the day, though, this was a Republican bashing book in much the same vein as a Hannity or Coulter book. Read this book if you're a member of the choir.
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because of this we should never believe anything they say. His main targets are Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, the Bush administration, and Bill O'Reilly. Along the way he smacks around Bernard Goldberg and Fox News. For the most part he does point out some pretty suspect behavior.Since Franken was a writer for Saturday Night Live, the book was funny, in a satirical way. Toward the end of the book though, TeamFranken breaks from their theme and starts in on why the GOP stole the election, why Clinton was the greatest President, and why all things liberal are way better than all things conservative. For me this was where he lost his credibility. While I didn't feel like fact-checking every piece of information in the book, there were some items (the election and Iraq come to mind) that have been hashed and re-hashed so much that even I could see that TeamFranken were the ones lying and misleading. Also Bernard Goldberg does a much better job of pointing out problems with the MAINSTREAM media being liberally slanted in his book than TeamFranken could even begin to refute. Franken spent much of their time bashing the Washington Post, FoxNews, and the Wall Street Journal.
It was entertaining to see his attack on Bob Jones University backfire. He basically lied to them about being interested in enrolling his nephew there. He does say they were very friendly and not too threatening with their ideals. But that doesn't stop him from trying to tie the University's founder to Nazi Germany by way of some valuable campus art. Of course the reason he tells the Bob Jones story is to point out that to be a good liar you must be really mean and have no ethics or morals. He therefore is not a good liar. He is a liberal, and liberals are good.
A lot of the rest of the topics included Barbara Bush, the Wellstone memorial, the tone in Washington, the environment, racism, education, and weapons of mass destruction. Franken's issues with these topics may have some truth behind them, but in my opinion, his complaints all boil down to politics. Both sides are going to massage statistics and subtly mislead people to get votes. I didn't put much stock in these rants. As Franken himself says (twice), "statistics don't lie". But you CAN interpret them to suit your argument.
At the end of the day, though, this was a Republican bashing book in much the same vein as a Hannity or Coulter book. Read this book if you're a member of the choir.
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LibraryThing member DSD
I picked this book up as I think it was mentioned in Michael Moore's - Dude! Where's My Country? And since I enjoyed that it follows that this might be a good follow on book. While I wasn't disappointed, I think I was a bit out of depth as the material covered in this book was a lot more people
From the back cover - A fair, balanced, even-handed (and slightly left-of-centre) look at the greedy, evil, warmongering bigots and scumbags of the American right ...
Al Franken's storming bestseller has already had America up in arms over the exposure of lying right wing politicians and pundits, now you can find out why.
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specific and since I don't live in America I wasn't always sure of the context or history of the person being discussed. This wasn't a bad thing though as the author's style was very humorous which carried through to even a non-American like myself. The book also manages to pack 43 chapters into 379 pages so a lot of different topics are covered many of which interrelate. One interesting observation is that the Author (a male) almost always defaults to using women of female pronouns when illustrating something not involving real people - not something you come across every day. I enjoyed this book!From the back cover - A fair, balanced, even-handed (and slightly left-of-centre) look at the greedy, evil, warmongering bigots and scumbags of the American right ...
Al Franken's storming bestseller has already had America up in arms over the exposure of lying right wing politicians and pundits, now you can find out why.
Show Less
LibraryThing member heinous-eli
Political matter tends to be depressing, but Franken managed to breathe life and laughter onto a dreary-looking political landscape. His research is undeniably sound. My only gripe has been addressed in another review --- the not-so-spectacular finish of the work.
LibraryThing member Frozeninside
Good book if you haven't read it yet go do so. Al Franken does his homework unlike most talked about in this book. It may offend some, hell it might even piss them off. If you have a since of humor and some what aware of of the past few years you'll enjoy this book.
LibraryThing member dvf1976
A decent book. I like any book that takes down the blowhards that are on the Fox News Channel.
Some of his stuff seems a bit like grandstanding. Especially his trip to Bob Jones University. What was the point of that?
Some of his stuff seems a bit like grandstanding. Especially his trip to Bob Jones University. What was the point of that?
LibraryThing member ardh
Like Al's radio show, the information is a lot better than the humor. Al's a funny guy when the flow is natural, but he tries way too hard at times. Still, there's a lot of great information in here.
LibraryThing member sterling32
Listening to Al Franken read this book is the only way to hear it. It's his book and he does an excellent job of telling his story.
LibraryThing member jburlinson
Something of a letdown from Rush Limbaugh is a Big, Fat Idiot. Franken forgets he's a comedian in some of these pieces. Maybe he felt that, considering his pending run for the Senate, he needed to sober up a little. In God's name, why? At least he'd be one senator who got paid money to make people
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laugh. His little sketch of Barbara Bush is pretty good, though. Show Less
LibraryThing member madamejeanie
Wonderfully witty barbs thrown with a seasoned flair. This is a definitive rout of the so-called "fair and balanced" news network. Keep up the good work, Al!
LibraryThing member ngennaro
03/01/2004 Ok whereas Michael Moore in my mind goes over the top, Al manages to do it and make you laugh. This book is just too funny and sadly enough cuts close to the bone. I've recommended and lent this book out to several people but if you give it to a conservative you will end up with a
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Michael Savage book in return - a poor exchange. Show Less
LibraryThing member CasualFriday
Not as funny as Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot, but still an entertaining read. I loved "Supply Side Jesus."
LibraryThing member arsmith
This is a quick and entertaining read. He does point out many inconsistencies present in many conservatives’ arguments. Franken is a comedian, so the book reads a little fluffy. He talks a lot but repeats many points.
LibraryThing member eduscapes
Although Michael Moore's books are more fun to read, Al Franken has some interesting perspectives.
LibraryThing member JBreedlove
A tongue and cheek look at the hypocrisy of the conservative movement in American politics.
LibraryThing member Cyanide_Cola
A hilarious book. I actually did laugh out loud while reading this book. It's hard not to laugh at his Ann Coulter comments.
LibraryThing member clydec
Great book, a little draggy and preachy in parts. Brilliant humor. Anyone with even a slight right wing leaning will hate this.
LibraryThing member mnlohman
Well researched response to the ring-wing media and political hacks. Interesting and entertaining read.
LibraryThing member annbury
A good book. Franken skewers most of the right wing nutjobs and does a great job.
Subjects
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — 2004)
Grammy Award (Winner — 2004)
Language
Original publication date
2003-08-29
Physical description
xxi, 421 p.; 22 cm
ISBN
0452285216 / 9780452285217
Similar in this library
DDC/MDS
| 320.97302/07 |
Collections
Pages
xxi; 421