Frankenbook of Lying Liars

I finished Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken and I have a few brief comments:

1. Liberals will probably like it most, but all it takes is a minimal of sense of humor to laugh either way.
2. It has a lot of statistics. Franken admits to being a statistic freak.
3. I wanted to see where each of these stats came from; alas, there were a few un-cited stats. He busts the balls of various Conservative writers and commentators for dishonestly using bullshit stats but fails to cite some things himself. That's not so funny.
4. He quotes a particularly graphic, awkward, and poorly written excerpt from Bill O'Reilly's little known novel, "Those Who Trespass." I won't even give it the honor of an Amazon link. He then compares the excerpt (and entire novel) to a Ludacris album. That was really funny.
5. He and an assistant researcher mock Bob Jones University, an unaccredited religious institution. Though he does feel bad about it, it's pretty mean and puts him on a level tantamount to his right-wing counterparts...but it was also really, really funny.
6. He hassled Alan Colmes at a benefit dinner about why Colmes doesn't stand up for himself and other Democrats on the Fox New Channel's "Hannity and Colmes" show. That wasn't funny. Leave the poor sap alone. Yes, he's a tool, but I feel bad for the guy.
7. A fellow FNCer took notice of the conversation and got in Franken's face. Franken responded with equal zeal. As the tension came to a peak, a drunk FNCer waddled up and asked for a picture. Franken spun the angry FNCer around, put an arm around his shoulders, and said, "Smile." That was funny - and classic.

Regardless of your political affiliation, give this book a shot. It's entertaining, witty, and well written. And it's always good fun watching people make asses of themselves.

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Article Author: Particleman

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