Author Topic: Al Franken, LIES And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. A view from the (somewhat) Right.  (Read 961 times)

Offline GtoRA2

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A friend of mine bought it and gave it to me after he read it. He is a lib, and thought it was really funny. He really liked the part about Anne Coulter.

I read it, and was very suprised. It was a fun read, and eye opening. It did not piss me off like I thought it would. In fact in a few cases it made me stop and think.

Now I have said here before Politics really bother me, and that I hate the politicians on boths sides are such scum. I never have thought that Bush was that great, nor have I thought he was the anti christ. I think slightly less of him now.

There are things in here I am going to have to look into, to confirm, that they are true. But I just do not get the sense that Franken is lying in most cases, though I think I may be confusing humor with fact, I am not sure. Some of the stuff in here I wish he was joking about.

I would recomend it for a fun read, and it never hurts to read something from the othersides point of view.

One of the most eye opening was the Paul Wellstone Memorial, talk about making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Before any of you attack me for being a Lib, I am not I am pretty right on most things...

I think I am going to find the other book he did, The Rush is a big fat idiot one... lol.

Nakhui

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Originally posted by GtoRA2
A friend of mine...

Before any of you attack me for being a Lib, I am not I am pretty right on most things...


Isn't it interesting that "LIB" spelled backwards and hyphonated is "Bi-L"

What does the "L" stand for?

Perhaps Llamma... nah.. what about Lamda.

A green Lambda inside an upside down pink triangle is the sign for gay activists.

What exactly are you saying GtoRa2?

Offline midnight Target

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Give in to the dark side Luke.... Let your anger flow....

Offline mietla

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Originally posted by midnight Target
Give in to the dark side Luke.... Let your anger flow....


Never... I'll never join you...

Offline Yeager

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AlFrankenCrap?  

No thanks youngster, there are simply too many books worth reading and not enough time to read em.
"If someone flips you the bird and you don't know it, does it still count?" - SLIMpkns

Offline kappa

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Originally posted by Yeager
AlFrankenCrap?  

No thanks youngster, there are simply too many books worth reading and not enough time to read em.


Com'on Yeager.. He said it was entertainment... 8)
- TWBYDHAS

Offline GtoRA2

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LOL it was entertaining.

Getting all your info from one source is a bad thing. I like reading things from both sides.


Yeager, not everything someone on the left says is a lie, and not everything someone on the right says is the truth. If you only hear it from one side it is hard to tell what is truth and what is BS.

Offline capt. apathy

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Give in to the dark side Luke.... Let your anger flow....


If you aren't outraged, you aren't paying attention

Offline Yeager

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GtoRA2

what does your bbs name mean?  would their be a significant shift in meaning if I reversed the caps?

gTOra2

Anyway. dont worry about me getting biased or limited information in this, the age of information.  If anything I suffer from overexposure to dizzying variations of even the most unvaried sort.

AlFrankenCrap is real, real REAL low on the list for access to my brain.  Thats all, nothing more.  If you enjoyed his book then good for both of you.
"If someone flips you the bird and you don't know it, does it still count?" - SLIMpkns

Offline VAQ

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Al Franken, LIES And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. A view from the Outside.

I am so apolitical my wife has to remind me what party the president belongs to on the rare occasions it even comes up.  My wife and mother-in-law are always trying to convince me that this party or that is better so they asked if I would like to read Frankin's book.  I read everything so sure, what the heck.  Al Frankin, right?  SNL?  Humor?

Did not convince me of anything other than what I already figured- people in the public eye will use their ready access to the public to further their own agendas, irrespective of their political ties.  Democrats, Republicans, they all come across the same to me.

First half of the book seemed to be well researched and documented (granted I have not read the other side of the story).  Last half of the book it seemed Al and his research assistants ran out of...research, so it came across as, well, contrived and vindictive.

Chapter 18, "Humor in Uniform," tend to agree with the commander of the 86th Airlift Wing.  The Taliban Cheerleaders bit wasn't very good.

The whole "Operation Chickenhawk" (chapt. 29) bit was just stupid.

Does a religious person find "The Gospel of Supply Side Jesus" (chapt. 37) offensive?  

Everyone has an axe to grind and he sure did.
« Last Edit: January 05, 2004, 03:01:16 PM by VAQ »

Offline Sabre

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Not read the entire thing, but I don't generally spend much time reading political satire.  By the way, Franken was called out on serveral inaccuracies he wrote in that book.  His reply was that it was "satire" and therefore he felt at liberty to stretch the truth.  It's also been well documented that Franken (and confirmed by Franken himself) lied to at least one of the people in the Bush Administration (Ashcroft, IIRC) when trying to get information for his book.  He never apologized for lying, only for using without permission a University's letterhead in his contact letter to Ashcroft.  Takes one to know one?

Since you're talking about needing to get both sides of the story, did you bother to read any of Anne Coulter's books, such as "Treason"?  It will also make you think (I've read a few excerpts from both books).  So take your own advice if you haven't already.  You can laugh about the Coulter bashing Franken engages in, but she at least has admitted that her research in those two instances Franken mentions was in error.  One of those errors was in mixing up a son of a certain political figure for a grandson.  Yet, Franken's book implies the person in question is not related to the political figure at all.  Personally, I find both Franken's and Coulter's writing to be a bit too shrill, all in all.  Both try a little hard to either demonize (Coulter) or marginalize (Franken) their political opposites.

Sean Hannity's new book sounds a bit more balanced (mentally, that is), though a bit preachy.  Democratic Senator Zell Miller's new book also looks worth reading.  Don't know if I'll have time for either.
Sabre
"The urge to save humanity almost always masks a desire to rule it."

Offline GtoRA2

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Sabre
 I may read coulters, but I have heard so many bad things about her I am not sure I want to bother. I read Michael Savages book and liked it to a degree, and I was thinking on picking up Sean Hannity's as well.

 Like I said, I do not believe all he had to say and will be doing some fact checking, but I found it very funny over all.

Offline VAQ

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Originally posted by Sabre
Sean Hannity's new book sounds a bit more balanced (mentally, that is), though a bit preachy.  Democratic Senator Zell Miller's new book also looks worth reading.  Don't know if I'll have time for either.


Wife came home just as I posted earlier.  I was subjected to an intense dissertation about left, right, liberal, conservative, moderate, etc.  

I assumed a thoughtful air, nod my head sagely, and make appropriate noises at the right times.  Anything to get her to stop as soon as possible.

I also made note of your recommendations, then realized that I probably would not read either one (no offense) so I gave the note to her.
« Last Edit: January 05, 2004, 03:36:27 PM by VAQ »

Offline Sabre

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Sage advice, indeed.:)
Sabre
"The urge to save humanity almost always masks a desire to rule it."

Offline Airhead

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Sage advice for a happy marriage, too. It's all in the nod and the grunt.