Product Description
Al Franken, one of our "savviest satirists" (People), has been studying the rhetoric of the Right.He has listened to their cries of "slander," "bias," and even "treason." He has examined the Bush administration’s policies of squandering our surplus, ravaging the environment, and alienating the rest of the world.He’s even watched Fox News.A lot.

And, in this fair and balanced report, Al bravely and candidly exposes them all for what they are: liars.Lying, lying liars.Al destroys the liberal media bias myth by doing what his targets seem incapable of: getting his facts straight. Using the Right’s own words against them, he takes on the pundits, the politicians, and the issues, in the most talked about book of the year.

Timely, provocative, unfailingly honest, and always funny, Lies sticks it to the most right-wing administration in memory, and to the right-wing media hacks who do its bidding.Amazon.com Review
Having previously dissected the factual inaccuracies of a single bellicose talk show host inRush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot, Al Franken takes his fight to a larger foe: President George W. Bush, the Bush Administration, Ann Coulter, Bill O’Reilly, and scores of other conservatives whom, he says, are playing loose with the facts. It's a lot of ground to cover, as evidenced by the 43 chapters in Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, but the results are often entertaining and insightful. Franken occupies a unique place in the modern political dialogue as perhaps the media's only comedy writer and performer who is also a Harvard fellow as well as a liberal political commentator. This unique and vaguely lonely position lends a charming quixotic quality to adventures such as a tense encounter with the Fox News staff at the National Press Club, a challenge to fisticuffs with National Review Editor Rich Lowry, and an oddly sweet admissions visit to ultra-conservative Bob Jones University (with a young research assistant posing as his son when Franken's real-life son refuses to participate in the charade). Less useful are comic book dramatizations of "Supply Side Jesus" and a fictitious Vietnam War story featuring the numerous righties who, Franken intimates, improperly avoided service. And Franken's criticisms of conservative talk show hosts Sean Hannity, O’Reilly, and columnist Coulter, while admirable in their attention to detail, fail to shed much new light on people who have built careers on broad arguments and relentless self-aggrandizement. But Franken is at his best, and most compellingly readable, when he backs off the wackiness and the personal grudges and writes about more personal matters such as the political circus surrounding the memorial service of the late Senator Paul Wellstone. But even on these more serious topics, Franken's wit is still present and, in fact, grows sharper. In a time when much political discourse is composed of rage and shouting, it's refreshing that Al Franken is able to shout in a witty manner. --John Moe ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3024)

The Hobo Philosopher
It is not difficult to understand Al Franken's popularity in this field. His methods of showing up his opponents is often more than funny ... it's hilarious. He starts right off in this book dismembering Ann Coulter. To bolster her argument that the press is left wing, she exposes Evan Thomas, the Newsweek Washington bureau chief, as being the son of the famous socialist presidential candidate Norman Thomas. Al decides to fact check the alligation by calling Evan Thomas. He askes Evan if, in fact, his father was Norman Thomas. Evan's answer is a succinct "no." Franken then asks, "Are you sure?"

The book goes on and on with one witty, cleaver, fact defying chapter after another. The overall point of the book is as stated on the cover. And Al proves his brash statment without question. It makes one wonder how Ann and Rush and these other right "wingnuts" have the nerve to publish these books and say the things they do. It is obvious they never expected anybody to waste so much time fact checking their inane alligations.

I've also read some of Rush Limbaugh, Ann Couler and Bill O'Reilly. I've reviewed Bill's "Culture Warrior." I consider reading his book a total waste of my time. The same goes for the others. One does not have to be a very sophisticated analyst to recognize hyperbole and generalized propaganda. But yet they seem to have their following.

Al also goes into Ann's misuse of footnotes. I thought of doing the same thing myself ... but decided that I have better things to do. But thanks to Al Franken, I don't have to. Of course, you won't find this book funny if you are a fan of these right wing crazies but for all others do yourself a favor and read Al Franken. You will get some good political information along with a lot of laughs. I really wish some of my right wing friends would read Mr. Frankin's books but I know they won't. I don't see how much of this book could be discounted but if Franken's opposition's strong point is falsifying the facts, I suppose they could simply lie about everything that Mr. Franken has pointed out.

Today's politics is truly confusing. When no one is required to speak or write factually only the truly dedicated readers and researchers can have an inkling of what is really going on.

Exposing the right, one hypocrite after another
Al Franken's previous book, "Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot", was long on sarcasm but often left me wishing for more hard, cold facts.My prayers were answered with "Lies..."Meticulously cross-referenced thanks to the work of a team of 14 research assistants, this book offers up one damning fact after another about the habitual deception on which right wing pundits and politicians like Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter, Bernie Goldberg, Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich, and of course George Bush rely on as their stock in trade.

The impact of this material taken as a whole can be absolutely overwhelming, which is why the book serves almost as a small encyclopedia of right-wing duplicity.Although "Lies..." would be better without some of the fictional chapters like "Operation Chickenhawk", the value of this compendium of documented facts about the villainous, unconscionable behavior of so many right-wing figureheads more than makes up for a few excessively long detours into satire.

I have yet to read a negative review from someone who appears to have actually read this book.Right wingers decry Franken with nothing more than cliches and standard party line, but this book does what con-artists like Coulter, Limbaugh and Hannity can't do: backs up its points with FACTS.

If you enjoy Franken's style of humor, it is here in abundance.This is no small accomplishment, given the outage that his facts provoke.Seven years after first publication, "Lies..." remains a useful reality check against the kool-aid from the right.

narcissism at its best
Besides the fact that this guy is completely full of himself, and perhaps is narcissistic, he is an ignorant hypocrite. Why attack the right? What I believe would be more appropriate is to keep the title of the book, change the pictures on the cover to Pelosi, Obama, Dodd and himself, and call it a guide for understand the mental disorder of liberals. That would make a much more "fair and balanced" book. This guy is a joke, and what's ironic is he attacks Rush Limbaugh, who has flourished as a radio talk show host which Al Franken has pathetically and miserably failed at. And there is a reason this book is selling for a PENNY, and his others as well. Because they're are not even worth the cost of paper to print this nonsense.

Hilarious, Interesting, Thought Provoking
This is by far Al Franken's best book. It's hilariously funny - especially when describing his undercover mission into a Strict Christian College, and his jabs at pundits like Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity - and does contain a fair amount of research; Franken was given an entire Harvard research team to complete the book.

At this point much of the information is out-dated (covering the first term of George W Bush's Presidency) but the book is still worth a read if you want an entertaining outlook from the left.

Skilled Critical Thinking
This book is a masterpiece of logical reasoning from the dark ages of US history, the early years of the W administration.With the help of a small army of graduate students from the Harvard Kennedy School of Public Policy, which Al apparently has some academic association with, an incredibly well-researched treatise has been produced refuting every available false argument and talking point used by the Republicans during the height of their power.

While most of the right-wing's attempts at public debate during this period, and for as long as memory serves, are easily dismissed as propaganda by the better educated and politically aware, an undercurrent of truth is sometimes discernible and when found must be intellectually dissected to reveal the psychopathology of the patina of lies.This book slices and dices those lies and places them where they appropriately belong within the context of electoral politics.It's what is called "speaking truth to power" these days and was brazenly swimming against the tide of nationalistic fervor that led us into several unwise foreign entanglements back in the day, from which we are still trying to extricate our troops.

There are well over a hundred specific citations listed as references to the arguments presented.Right-wing logical fallacies are identified and scrutinized, and their use in repeating themes is revealed.Counter arguments are presented in a simplistic logical structure that anyone should be able to understand.This is the coherent other side of the debate that has mostly been suppressed by the corporate "mainstream" media.It presents an incredible contrast in style as well as substance.One side repeats ad-hominem attacks and lies ad nauseam hoping for some kind of hypnotic effect to make constituents act out against their own self-interest, and the other presents cogent, concise and factual explanations of reality through the humorous voice of Al Franken.

Repeating lies does not make them true, nor do the actual facts bend to the political will of the moment.As that greatest of US physicists, Richard Feynman, famously said, "reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled."He was obviously not talking about human nature, which as we all know is rather easily fooled, but this book should help those previously fooled by political propaganda to see the light of truth through the darkness of evil intent. ... Read more

Product Description
Move over P.J. O'Rourke! From Al Franken, America's premier liberal satirist, comes a hilarious homage to the wonderful, awful, and always absurd American political process that skewers a whole new crop of presidential hopefuls--just in time for the 1996 presidential election. "(Franken is) responsible in part for some of the most brilliant political satire of our time".--John Podhoretz, New York Post.Amazon.com Review
Rush Limbaugh claims his talent is on loan. With this book,Franken demonstrates that he owns. The frankly Democratic author'sshtick reminds us how much of a free ride conservatives have gotten inthe mainstream media.For instance, he really drives home theweirdness of the conservatives' preachiness about "family values" inlight of Newt Gingrich's and Bob Dole's first marriages, and RushLimbaugh's first, second and third marriages.And he has great funwith Rush's and Newt's miraculous draft deferments in a chapter wherehe imagines all of the great conservative "chicken-hawks" out on aVietnam war patrol under the leadership of Ollie North. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (397)

narcissism at its best
Obviously, this author has some serious ego issues, perhaps narcissism. He is so full of himself and its repulsive. He has failed at what Rush continues to flourish in. Thats the joke. And his other book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them," his face should of been on that cover and also Pelosi, Obama, and Dodd. I couldn't bear to read this nonsense for more than 5 minutes before I was close to vomiting.

I'm a fan of Rush's
So obviously I don't like this book - but that doesn't mean I don't think it shouldn't be read.

In order to make a decision about anyone, you need to see both sides of the issue. Then, it should be easy to see that issues are black and white, someone is right and someone is wrong.

I lean a little on the side of Rush Limbaugh.

If you've got a Kindle, check out The Rush Limbaugh Report. "I listen to Rush Limbaugh, so you don't have to."

Heh heh. Okay, I just wanted to get in that line, which I think is a clever one. But seriously, before making any judgments about Limbaugh, actually listen to his program for a couple of weeks. Yes, he has some annoying schticks, but overall he makes a lot of sense - if you're the kind of person who dreams of America not as it ever was but as it was supposed to be - the ideal, Americns of all races, creeds and colors, legal immigrants, et al, standing on their own two feet and making this country great.

i wonder
I wonder how many copies of this book would have been sold WITHOUT the use of "RUSH" in the title.
Conservative principles are ideal regardless of the lifestyles of its proponents.

Know Your Enemy
Al Franken does not provide ample arguments to dissuade the conservative argument.Turns out that he is the idiot, not rush.There's a reason why his radio show was not only cancelled, but the entire network folded.

Franken crucifies the big fat idiot
Al Franken speaks truth (with a none too gentle humor) to rightwing liars.We need many more like him to counter the tsunami of rightwing talking heads that get away with all manner of slander and egregious lies in their efforts to program the sheeple to comply. ... Read more

Product Description
Al Franken’s landmark bestseller, Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair and BalancedLook at the Right, was praised as a "bitterly funny assault" (The New York Times) that rang "with the moral clarity of an angel’s trumpet" (The Associated Press). Now, this master of political humor strikes again with a powerful and provocative message for all of us.

In these pages, Al reveals the alarming story of how:
* Bush (barely) beat Kerry with his campaign of "fear, smear, and queers," and then claimed a nonexistent mandate.
* "Casino Jack"Abramoff, the Republicans’ nearest and dearest friend, made millions of dollars off of the unspeakable misery of the poor and the powerless. And, also, Native Americans.
* The administration successfully implemented its strategy to destroy America’s credibility and goodwill around the world.

Complete with new material for this paperback edition, The Truth (with jokes) is more than just entertaining, intelligent, and insightful. It is at once prescient in its analysis of right-wing mendacity and incompetence, and inspiring in its vision of a better tomorrow for all Americans (except Jack Abramoff).Amazon.com Review
Nearly a year after the presidential election of 2004, Al Franken is still checking facts, exposing lies, and trying to clear the record as he sees it. Sneering at President Bush's declaration of a mandate after a two-and-a-half percent victory, he deconstructs Bush's 2004 platform of "fear, smear, and queers," and explains how the president has done some flip-flopping of his own. He offers comment on well-known stories, including the Terri Schiavo case, and some more obscure, such as reports of forced prostitution, indentured servitude, and squalid conditions at clothing factories in Saipan (which is part of the American Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands). Franken focuses on Tom DeLay's connection to the territory and his efforts to prevent bills from being passed that would have required Saipan to follow U.S. labor laws. Iraq, too, is discussed, from its planning stages to the huge sum of money currently unaccounted for, including $8.8 billion missing from the Coalition Provisional Authority's coffers.

On the home front, Franken covers President Bush's attempt at Social Security reform, explaining how they came up with the projected shortfall figure of $11 trillion. For one thing, they adjusted life expectancy to 150 years, while leaving the retirement age at 67: "That's an eighty-three-year retirement. They're never gonna get to that without stem cell research." He also takes some wickedly funny swipes at Karl Rove, lobbyist Jack Abramoff, pundits and hosts such as Rush Limbaugh, Tim Russert, and Sean Hannity, and, of course, President Bush. The Truth succeeds in providing ammunition to liberals and others dissatisfied with the current power base in Washington, D.C.--only this time (with jokes). --Shawn Carkonen

An Exclusive Video for The Truth (with jokes) from Al Franken

We try to keep things civil in our customer review section, but Al Franken, who apparently trained at the Saturday Night Live school of conflict mediation, didn't get the message in his exclusive video for his book The Truth (with Jokes): see high bandwidth and low bandwidth versions.

Customer Reviews (478)

The people of Minnesota must be out of there mind
How the heck does such an ignorant person become senator of a state?! This book is such a joke (no pun intended). It is not even worth the cost of paper to print this nonsense; hence why this book is selling for a PENNY. Al Franken is a waste of your time and a waste of a person in general. God bless you Minnesota

Not That Good. Lies was Much Better
I really enjoyed Lies but found this book by Franken to be bitter, unfunny, and just demoralizing. Franken spends most of the book just complaining about the fact that Bush won the election in 2004 and how he is going to destroy the country by ending medicare and social security and blah blah blah; None of it happened - except destroying the the economy before he left office.

Bottom line, I felt like I was reading a book written by a whining 8 year old instead of the Al Franken I knew from Lies.

Most of the book is out of date now, and unlike Lies, I would recommend you just don't read this; it's really terrible.

Upsetting, even in audio
Upsetting: I paid a full two dollars at a Staples discount table for the audio edition and Amazon has a used copy for $1.46.Well, ok, it IS quite a bit old now, 5 years, in the middle of the last presidency. I'm old enough to remember that presidency although I've forgotton so much. Al Franken is here to remind me. Frankenly, "The Truth" is painfull and also funny. I'd say the audio edition is worth every penny of the $1.46, or even $5.50, you might spend. It was $39 new. You like a bargain! It's a full dozen hours of unabridged talking, just Al Franken and you. Some of the quotes are done with Franken doing imitations of Cheney or President Bush or some random Scottsman. Sometimes he inserts real audio clips - the people he makes fun of do a much better job of making fun. It's a good book, a better audio read.

Great!
Very Good! See also George and Condi: The Last Decayed: A Collection of Poems from the Last Decade Beaver Tales and a Canada Goosing: Poems Illustrating a Uniquely Canadian Perspective (See ArtisanPacificPublishing Website).

Really funny expose of how politics work these days
I just listened to this audio book five years after the Bush/Kerry election it focuses on. I think the added perspective makes it even funnier. Franken is p.o.'d about Kerry losing and Terry Schiavo and many other things, and he exposes the Karl Rove spin and smear approach better than I've ever seen it described. I voted for Bush in 2004 and Obama in 2008--I guess that makes me an independent. The audio book features Franken's perfect Dick Cheney impression, which is worth the price of admission right there. Franken even roasts Kerry in this book, a little--it's funny first and political second. It's non-partisan, in the sense that while Franken certainly leans toward Obama (four years ahead of the crowd, by the way), he's not pushing the Democratic Party per se. He says what he hates most about politics is "I'm going to stop you from doing good because then you'd get the credit." I think he's dead on, but it's even funnier now that he's a senator. ... Read more

Product Description
Updated with more on the real race in 2000!

First came Theodore White's The Making of the President, 1960. Then All the President's Men. Now the searing chronicle that will forever change the way we view the man and the office...

Why Not Me?

...chronicles the dramatic rise and dizzying fall of Al Franken, who would become the first Jewish president of the United States. Meet the president as a young man. Witness the Franken campaign in its infancy, as the candidate pledges "to walk the state of New Hampshire, diagonally and then from side to side." Go behind the scenes and meet Team Franken, the candidate's brain trust: including brother and deputy campaign manager Otto, a recovering sex addict and alcoholic, and campaign manager Norm Ornstein, the think-tank policy wonk who masterminds the single-issue (ATM fees) campaign. Cheer as Franken stuns the pundits by defeating Al Gore for the Democratic nomination, then is swept into office carrying all fifty states and the District of Columbia.

Then, through excerpts from Bob Woodward's detailed account of the first hundred days, The Void, go inside the Franken White House, which is gripped by crisis from day one. After the highly medicated chief executive exhibits a roller coaster of bipolar behavior, Franken is forced to cooperate with the Joint Congressional Committee on the President's Mood Swings. And when the committee releases Franken's personal diaries to the public, his presidency faces its ultimate crisis.

Amazon.com Review
In this hilarious political satire, Al Franken reveals how, byfocusing relentlessly on the issue of ATM fees, he managed to wrestthe Democratic presidential nomination away from Vice President AlGore in the 2000 elections and become the 44th president of the UnitedStates. He then wound up running the second-shortest administration inAmerican history, announcing in his resignation speech: "It is myfondest wish that, in the fullness of time, the American people willlook back on the Franken presidency as something of a mixed bag andnot as a complete disaster."

Why Not Me? is divided into three main sections. The first,"Daring to Lead," is Franken's "authorized campaign autobiography," inwhich he lays out his life story and his reasons for seeking thenation's highest office. Then, in his campaign diaries, we followFranken and his team of advisers--including former Clinton pollster Dick Morris and DanHaggerty, TV's Grizzly Adams--across New Hampshire and Iowa. Finally,there's "The Void," the behind-the-scenes account by Bob Woodward ofFranken's first 100 days in the Oval Office. As a writer, Frankentakes aim at a lot of targets, with nary a miss; there are enoughgreat jokes in Why Not Me? to make almost anybody break downwith a fit of the giggles at some point (especially at pages 132 to133, but don't peek! It'll spoil the buildup). --Ron Hogan ... Read more

Customer Reviews (114)

Some things still pertinent
This novel of political satire by now Senator Al Franken was published in 1999.Looking back from 10 years later, it is interesting to see how things turned out.There are some politcal positions of the "fictional" candidate that still apply and could be quoted, perhaps showing some prescience, such as "...America is the world's only remaining superpower, and with that comes some responsibility.We have to remember that the world is still a very dangerous place.Even a single war is one war too many, but we have to be prepared to fight on two fronts..."

It is not necessarily a great book, but might offer a little insight into the thinking of a person who is now a senator, intermixed with the fictional satirical tale of the rise and fall of a president.Senator Franken is obviously more than just a comedian/writer.

Hilarious and imporant book by (hopefully) Senator Franken
One of the funniest books I have ever read.Makes you think as well as giggle.And the fact that Franken actually wanted a political career while writing this amazing work makes for a better story.Great stuff!

Funny. For Democrats, Republicans, everyone
I listened to this on cassette, somewhat abridged, read by the author,
with some other voices and some sound effects. The Gore imitation is pretty good.


Good satire. Franken's other political books struck me as more hate than humor.
This one can even be enjoyed by Republicans. Political junkies will probably
like it more than most others, but anyone that has been bothered by the behavior
of politicians can get some laughs.

The best of the best
This is the greatest book of political satire I have ever read.If you can think, read and laugh at the same time buy this book.It will have you rolling.

Ignore the bad reviews and get a copy! This CD is FUNNY!
This books is FUNNY.

If you HATE Al Franken you'll love this book. No other character in the book is as despicable as Al. He runs a prostitution ring, cheats on his wife, is insanely stupid, condones violence against political opponents, takes insane amounts of drugs, turns psychotic and is probably the least moral character in modern fiction.

And it's FUNNY.

If you love AL you will hopefully get that it's all a joke. If not, you may not actually AL, you might just think you do.

The book on tape (or CD) will make you laugh often and heartilty.

-Tom ... Read more

Product Description
Al Franken, or Dr. Al Franken as he prefers to be called, has written the first truly indispensable book of the new millennium. Filled with wisdom, observations, and practical tips you can put to work right away, Oh, the Things I Know! is a cradle-to-grave guide to living, an easy-to-follow user's manual for human existence.

What does a megasuccess like Al Franken-bestselling author, Emmy-award winning television star, and honorary Ph.D.-have to say to ordinary people like you? Well, as Dr. Al himself says, "There's no point in getting advice from hopeless failures."

Join Mr. Franken-sorry, Dr. Franken-on a journey that will take you from your first job ("Oh, Are You Going to Hate Your First Job!"), through the perils and pitfalls of your twenties and thirties ("Oh, the Person of Your Dreams vs. the Person You Can Actually Attract!"), into the joys of marriage and parenthood ("Oh, Just Looking at Your Spouse Will Make Your Skin Crawl!"), all the way to the golden years of senior citizenship ("Oh, the Nursing Home You'll Wind Up In!"). Don't travel life's lonesome highway by yourself. Take Al Franken along, if not as an infallible guide, then at least as a friend who will make you laugh. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (62)

Oh well. Not everyone has the same sense of humor
I read a few of the reviews for Al Franken's "Oh, the Things I Know" and found that opinion was all over the place.I loved the book, but would be hesitant to suggest it to friends because not everyone is going to get a kick out of Franken's philosophy, especially his Howard Stern-like comedic honesty.Come on, you just don't talk about some stuff.At least I don't.But when a comedian addresses sensitive issues, I often end up belly-laughing uproariously.I have enjoyed all Franken's books.I must admit, I got the impression that Al didn't put a lot of effort into writing "Oh, the Things I Know", but I enjoyed the heck out of it anyway.Senator Franken is a comic genius.

occasionally funny, and often tasteless
Having recently read a very strange conversation between Franken and journalist Bernard Goldberg (in Goldberg's book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America," I read this book, trying to understand Al Franken's humor style. I don't care about his political activities, but I basically wanted to know if he's funny, and if so, why.

The book is occasionally funny at best, and often tasteless. There are no belly laughs here, but quite a few chuckles, and some serious giggles in Chapter 26, which contains a list of diseases caused by certain people or things as you get older. (No spoilers here.)
His jokes are is often tasteless, and occasionally, utterly disgusting for no good reason. There are occasional jokes on [...:], which were all completely unfunny; one really stupid joke in Chapter 26 about a man with an extra male organ growing out of his forehead, and frequent gratuitous profanity and obscenity. (The only one of those in the entire book that made me laugh was: "'But I don't have enough time to give to my own kids, much less someone else,' they might say. Well, numbnuts, have you ever thought of giving something back with *your* children?") This is entirely an adult humor book; I wouldn't expect a kid to read it, but if you see one pick it randomly off a shelf and open it, don't let them keep reading it.

This book suggested to me that Al Franken is a mildly amusing second-rate comedian who wouldn't be so popular if not for his political activities. He can't resist injecting a *little* politics into this book, but generally, he does a good job of keeping it apolitical, so if you're either annoyed by political tangents or don't share Franken's ideology, Oh, The Things I Know won't annoy you much.

Oh, the Things He Doesn't Need to Share!
This is not Al's best work. It's more rambling than usual and not so pithy. I got it for cheap and got enough laughs to justify my purchase.

Oh, the Puzzling Poor Reviews You'll Read
If you're expecting one of Franken's biting political satires, you'll be disappointed.If you're expecting Stuart Smalley, you'll be disappointed.If you have no expectations whatsoever, and your sense of humor is even remotely in tune with Franken's, you'll have a blast (plan on a) chuckling a lot, b) laughing hysterically only slightly less, and c) even (who knew?) being moved from time to time).Though it is mostly wiseacre (no slight intended), OTIK is, in places, also quite wise.It is a very quick read, more entertainingly digested in one fell swoop, IMHO, than piecemeal.OTIK is proof positive, as though further proof were necessary, that Al Franken is one very funny (and thoughtful) guy.I loved it!

Provocative
Al Franken is known to possess an extremely dry sense of humor. Therefore it is not surprising that his book is as parched as the man himself. Each chapter is utterly short and sweet. Every time a reader thinks the writer is supplying a real good advice the next sentence jolts the reader back to reality i.e. Al Franken is a comedian. Namedropping is abundance. Name-calling seems to be a norm. This man really knows how to make full use of the freedom of speech in the USA - nothing's wrong with that. But, chapter after chapter of similar ranting kind of tires one out after a while albeit the laugh-out-loud jokes that can be found in certain parts of the book. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

From Minneapolis Star Tribune
All's fair after all
In a review of the Franken-Coleman Senate recount, Jay Weiner concludes the result was fair and accurate.

By GLENN C. ALTSCHULER, Special to the Star Tribune

It was one of the ugliest, most expensive and longest U.S. Senate races in American history. And yet, when Al Franken took the oath of office on July 7, 2009 -- having been declared the winner over Norm Coleman by 312 votes -- the Washington Post congratulated Minnesotans on their "calm and orderly demeanor" and an electoral process that "disclosed no evidence of fraud, corruption, ballot stuffing or other deliberate irregularity."

Jay Weiner, a former sportswriter for the Star Tribune and now a contributor to the nonprofit news website MinnPost.com, agrees that as ballots were examined "once, twice, thrice," Minnesota's public officials did not fudge or falter. In "This Is Not Florida," he provides a lucid, step-by-step recount of the recount, based on his own "real time" reporting and interviews with more than 40 key participants. Weiner's political sympathies are not difficult to discern. They may account for the refusal of many Republicans, including Coleman, to talk to him. Nonetheless, he makes a compelling case that the superior organization, data collection, public relations and legal strategy of the Democrats helped secure the victory. And that Coleman did not win the election and lose the recount: When the smoke (and mirrors) cleared, Franken had actually received more votes than his opponent.

The Republicans played the "game so poorly" after the Canvassing Board counted the absentee ballots and Franken took the lead, Weiner implies, because they had no alternative to a Hail Mary pass. The Coleman forces, which had initially taken a page from George W. Bush's Florida playbook and argued against counting all the votes, reversed course and asked the Minnesota Supreme Court to substitute "substantial compliance" with election law for "strict compliance" as the standard for counting votes. "I can see you're not buying this," Republican lawyer James Langdon confessed to the justices. "What can I tell you that will help you buy it?" Probably nothing, Weiner points out, because unlike Florida, with its hanging and pregnant chads, the Minnesota recount did not hinge on voter intent (or equal protection under the law, the controversial centerpiece of the majority decision in Bush vs. Gore), but on whether each as-yet-unopened absentee ballot return envelope fulfilled clearly defined state requirements.

The Franken-Coleman race was rightly decided, Weiner concludes. Nonetheless, he reminds us, expensive and time-consuming recounts pose a threat to our democracy. Simpler ballots, early voting and a provisional seat for the candidate certified as the winner by the Canvassing Board might help. But there appears to be no fundamental remedy that isn't worse than the disease. And so, as politics become more polarized, you won't lose any money betting that the legal wrangling has only just begun.

Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. ... Read more

Product Description
The ultimate meditation book, not to be grandiose...

Take a hilarious, healing journey with Stuart Smalley as he careens down the road to Recovery.For one entire year Stuart recorded an affirmation a day...except when he had taken to his bed (but that's Okay)...and the result is the most entertaining and indispensable meditation book ever.

From program wisdom (Denial Ain't Just a River in Egypt!December 1) to survival tips (When I Go Home to Visit My Family I Will Stay in a Motel! September 26) to some good sound practical advice (I am entitled to file for an Extension on my Income Taxes!April 15th), Stuart's affirmations will empower you!

Work, Friendship, Love, Spirituality, Codependency, Self-Esteem, Acceptance...Stuart deals with it all.And as you share his ups and downs, his triumphs and shame spirals, you will come to see the ultimate truth of Stuart's March 21st affirmation:Today I Will Laugh--At Least Once! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!
I bought this for a friend who has been down in the dumps.It took a little bit to find because it is not published anymore. She loved it!And I loved it. Stuart Smalley was one of the best characters on SNL!

Read this book and laugh
I was in one of those low self-esteem moods. Then I remembered Stuart Smiley. OMG, that was like 20 years ago when I watched Al Franken on SNL. His affirmation about being good enough inspired me to look up the book on Amazon and purchase it. I read the first few pages and I was delighted I decided to get this book. It talks to the inner voice inside of your own head and makes you think back to a moment you felt just like Stuart.You'll laugh to yourself, you'll want to share the book, you'll keep the good thoughts inside of your head.

ACTUALLY, this book is really very good; far better than it need be
I admit it
I own this fact:
I was planning to jump on the hot and happy Hon. Sen. Al Franken bandwagon and write a mildly ironic, snide but glowing review of this book.

Then about mid-way through this can't-put-it-down page-turner I realized this fact:

This book is really very very good; far better than it need be.
Than it has any right to be.

My daily recreational reading (and yes, I have no television) for over five years has been Mr. James Joyce's Ulysses (Gabler Edition) and the Donal Donnelly unabridged recording Ulysses.

A few chapters into this book I realized: Stuart Smalley is the great-nephew of the careful and famously prudent Mr. Leopold Bloom.

BEfore you cough in your tea, remember: Ulysses's later chapters especially are parodies of the style and cliches of the popular literature of the day, including while BLoom meditates Gertie MacDowell upon the strand, except Joyce elevated that superficial popular form to a far deeper magnitude of meaning and art. Franken here does the same with what was then a spopular self-help empowerment movement, and in doing so empowers the persistent reader.

In fact the chapter headings (the Daily Affirmations) began to ring out like the slightly relevant headlines in the episode of Ulysses in the newspaper offices.

You will laugh
You will cry
You will move on

This is a really great book.
It works on several levels.

For one thing it is very well crafted as a piece of writing (not at all the "Obvious Writing" as Stuart degrades it). An early model for Mr. James Joyce was Henrik Ibsen, of Henrik Ibsen Collection (Hedda Gabler / Ghosts / Little Eyolf / The Wild Duck / The Master Builder). Ibsen is famously alleged to have said that if you show a pistol in the opening scene of a play, you must fire it by the third act.

All pistols here are fired, and well, right on target, and all loose ends tied up wonderfully by the end of this apparently drifting account, as wonderfully as in those screwball laugh and cry and learn about life comedies like It's A Wonderful Life (Two-Disc Collector's Set) (B/W & Color). None of the guns are loaded with harmful bullets, (well, except the deer rifle with which Dad shoots Donnie, but I will not spoil it for you), but with great joy, and insight, and surprise and wonder, and the tears of liberation.

Even the introduction, and the gentle urging to read the introduction, pay off later in the book.

Another such pistol of joy for instance is the nonsequitur riddle. Mr. James Joyce in the second episode of Ulysses introduces a non sequitur riddle answered, "The Fox burying its grandmother under a holly bush." which has NOTHING to do with the question but is given in an erudite ancient authority on riddles as THE non-sequitur riddle impossible to solve. Of course the fox, and the bells, and the burying and the rest return as heavily laden thematic motifs and grace notes throughout the novel.

Same here in this around 400 page book (unpaginated). The non sequitur riddle beginning "You know what?" (I used to hear it as "You know what's up?") whose ANSWER I CANNOT GIVE IN ORDER NOT TO BE A SPOILER, will have you screaming with laughter, joy and relief as it is repeated at the end of the book (Stuart often says that laughter is like the mind and soul making love but not with each other). You will laugh at the worst riddle in the world: I guarantee!

And that's okay!

This really is a well crafted tale. You will not be sorry to read it. Divest it of all current political and social baggage, and just read it independently of current context, on its own merits, but read it where you can be alone, where no one will see you cry, where none can hear you laugh, out loud, uncontrollably. It is that good.

And like the ruthless Joyce we never know how the author is feeling about his character. Mr. James Joyce may have used narrative irony through much of Ulysses, but we cannot help feeling great affection for Mr. Bloom in all of his universal, thoughtful, earthy humanity under most trying times. Same with Mr. Stuart Smalley. Like with Bloom, in fact, we engage here with Mr. Smalley in his interior monologue and oddly profound yet innocent thoughts.

Actually I highly recommend it as spiritual reading this Lent, really. Under all of the humour there is much to learn here for our spiritual recovery and progress ("Progress, not Perfection!"). There is much honey poured upon the hard lessons of life beneath. A mother sitting with her heroic eight-year old son upon railroad tracks waiting for a train is not a joke (the boy puts the car into reverse, suffers a dislocated shoulder, but is more than okay in the end! This is NOT a spoiler).

The founder of all twelve step programs (of which Mr. Smalley, a caring nurturer, is a member of several) with AA was a Catholic priest and there is much of Catholic spirituality here, and much we can learn. It is a The Little Way of Saint Therese of Lisieux: Readings for Prayer and Meditation (Liguori Classic) we all may take, which all of us may walk together unto the light and peace. There is great spiritual depth here. This book works on many levels, and works very very well.

In fact, I would recommend any community of monks or nuns to consider this for their dinner time reading, as one reads out loud while the others sit and eat in silence. And I would also hope to be a fly upon that refectory wall!

And by the way, we really do need Stuart Smalley in the US Senate at this time of our history when we as a nation need to join several twelve step programs to recovery, not only Debtor's Anonymous but also as rage-aholics.

This book is very very good. Start it when you have time to read it through cover to cover, and then keep it nearby to read randomly again. Whenever Stuart needs to spend a few days (or weeks) in bed with a surprising series of junk foods, he leaves us a blank page for journalling: this is so like him.

But that's okay!
Because he is good enough, he is smart enough, and Doggone it, people like him.
And you will too.

Interestingly Franken here also broaches topics he will now address upon the Senate floor, aside from a gratuitous comment about the Hon. Senator Ted Kennedy. Smalley's job is lost when he calls an investment company he represents "low life scum" for wasting the pensions of widows (and orphans) in a Ponzi kiting scheme. How very prescient!

Welcome, Senator Smalley
You're good enough, you're smart enough, and doggone it, people like you!

I read this little novella years ago and it remains one of the few books ever to make me laugh out loud - while crammed into a center seat in Coach Class, no less. A gentler Al Franken radiates in "caring nurturer" and desperate optimist Stuart Smalley, whose membership in numerous 12-step programs was inspired by Franken's experiences with Al Anon (for families and friends of alcoholics).

Yesterday's confirmation of Minnesota's long contested election - lawsuits pending, of course - has author Franken headed for the U.S. Senate. If you're as bemused by that prospect as I am (I can't stop grinning!) you will also enjoy reading "Why Not Me," a satirical diary in which Franken defeats Al Gore for the 2000 Democatic presidential nomination, wins the White House, is the subject of a Bob Woodward expose, and resigns in disgrace, urging Americans to "remember my presidency as a mixed bag, not a complete disaster."

Finally, we may have a Senator who has already concieved and written his own scandalous fall from grace. Stuart Smalley would hurry to assure us, "That's OKAY."

Wait! What?
Amazon says I bought this book. I don't remember buying this book. I have read it (I used to run a bookstore) and so I can say that would-be Senator Al Franken is pretty funny in print, but I'm a little weirded out by Amazon saying I bought this, and offer for me to review it, when I never purchased it from Amazon. . . Unless my Dissociative Identity Disorder has kicked in, in which case I'm sure my other personality enjoyed the book, too!

Weird, huh?

Yeah, it's a good book. All Al's books are good. He's funny, he does his research, and he can hold a mirror up to society as all good writers should.

Grab it. It's cheap, and you'll enjoy it. ... Read more

Product Description
Al Franken was a "nobody" in the arena of political punditry before he wrote two best-selling books, Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. Now one of the most prominent figures on the liberal Air America radio network, formed to counter the mostly conservative voice of mainstream talk radio, he consistently boasts "I tell the truth" and "I hold myself to an impossibly high standard when it comes to telling the truth."

Until now, says Alan Skorski, Franken's continuous smears against his enemies while promoting himself as the "ultimate truth teller" have gone unchallenged by the mainstream media. Surprisingly, even conservative or right-leaning media have not challenged the falsity of much of what he says, although Franken does not define what he believes is a lie, except to say that conservatives "get away with it." In contrast, Skorski defines a lie as "intentionally telling an untruth with the purpose of trying to cover up or get away with something," which he then accuses Franken of doing with impunity.

Alan Skorski has researched the facts regarding the allegations in Franken's last two books, monitored his daily radio show, spoken with people cited and referenced in Franken's books, and exchanged approximately 30 e-mails with Franken in order to provide readers with an accurate insight into how Franken thinks and operates. What Skorski finds is something very different from what Franken claims, and he concludes that, unlike many of the petty "lies" Franken writes about in his books—whether Bill O'Reilly's Inside Edition show won a Peabody or a Polk award or whether Ann Coulter said that she and Franken were "friendly"—...Pants on Fire reveals that Franken himself regularly lies, smears, and distorts what others say and do, ultimately discrediting himself as a "truth teller."

Indeed, according to Skorski, while Franken has called many people—from Rush Limbaugh and Brit Hume to President Bush—a "liar," "hypocrite," "cheater," "lazy," "shameless," and/or "dishonest," ...Pants on Fire amply illustrates not only that many of his claims are false but that Franken employs the very tactics he accuses the right of using. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (86)

The critics prove Skorski's point.
If you read the more critical reviews of this book, you will note that the vast majority of them resort to personal attacks which would make Al Franken proud.

Those that do not...simply use the exact same talking points Franken himself uses to "refute" Skorski.Ironically, these reviewers do not address what the book actually says.

Now, a review of the book, which I HAVE read.

This is, to be frank, a book years ahead of its time.Al Franken has long styled himself as a sage of the Left who tells the truth (with jokes), while exposing the lies (and the lying liars who tell them) of the Right.

To be honest, a red flag should have gone up in the minds of readers everywhere, when in the author-note to his book of Lies (From The Lying Liar Who Tells Them), Franken writes, "Thanks to TeamFranken, you can rest assured that almost every fact in this book is correct.Either that, or it's a joke.If you think you've found something that rings untrue, you've probably just missed a hilarious joke, and should blame yourself rather than me or TeamFranken."

Apparently, his book is full of "jokes".

As Skorski, and others, have pointed out, this is Al's convenient excuse whenever an untruth, however major, is detected in his portfolio.Of course, the consequences of this "humor" often prove to be severe, as far as the hearts and minds of his fans are concerned.

Skorski's book is not perfect: his refutation of Al's "minimum wage" numbers is not the best.(For a far better rebuttle of Al's typical "Rush-pulled-the-numbers-from-his-butt" talking point, see the article on this at "lyingliar-dot-com")Nonetheless, his hard-hitting and detailed research of Franken's biggest claims and smears makes this one flaw pale by comparison.

I strongly recommend this book.You may not agree with all the conclusions Skorski draws...but your mind WILL be challenged, as will everything you thought you knew about one of the biggest names in political "satire" of today.

That's all.Thanks for reading.

Just more lies proving Franken's point
This book is just what Al Franken is talking about.A republican looking out for his special interests and distorting information along with outright lies.

The problem is when republicans read this book they won't check the references, but will blindly believe anything they are told.People should take the time to check references on any political book and certainly this one because it just doesn't check out.Skorski has to lie to try to make it appear as though Franken lied, yet I've read Franken's book and checked his references as well and his check out.

Skorski also attempts to make it appear as though Franken is out of line for pointing out facts rather than repeating lies.Part of being a politician should be getting the facts and I respect Franken for taking the time to do so.

It is always MANDATORY when reading any book of this matter to always check the facts.I realize most anyone rating this book 5 stars didn't bother to do that and they'll go on believing and fighting for policy at their own detriment.

awful
Al is right. Alan is wrong. Al tells the truth. Alan tells lies. Al really cares. Alan is just in it for the money. This is also a really poorly written book, the grammar and sentence structure are atrocious, the vocabulary is stilted (writing for a dumb audience by a dumb author perhaps) and there is the occasional big word thrown in that must be coming right out of the Microsoft Word thesaurus ........a nasty book in every way.

No wonder, it's published by World Nut Daily
This entire book has been discredited online. It is nothing more than a pathetic attempt to get back at Al Franken. There is not one disputed fact in Al Franken's book Lies And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them (Paperback Edition)- which is one of the funnest and funniest books I ever read. It's a good humored book that lacks the infantile nastiness that this book (You can read much of it online) markets in. I wouldnt even bother writing a review of this abysmal and amaturistic attack-pulp if the book wasnt "recommended" to me from another book page. Apparently Amazon thinks I would be interested in anything with the word "liar" in the title.
Who would publish such obvious garbage? World Net Daily of course! That explained a lot to me. Recently they declared that Soy milk causes homosexuality. And they have been promoting a fraud named Larry Sinclair who claimed to have had sex with Barack Obama. Sinclair failed three lie detector tests, and then was arrested promptly after a press appearence on an old outstanding fraud warrant. Yeah, THAT's credibility. :-D

coservative ranting
if I wanted to listen to conservative lies and raving i would wach fox news ... Read more

Customer Reviews (478)

The people of Minnesota must be out of there mind
How the heck does such an ignorant person become senator of a state?! This book is such a joke (no pun intended). It is not even worth the cost of paper to print this nonsense; hence why this book is selling for a PENNY. Al Franken is a waste of your time and a waste of a person in general. God bless you Minnesota

Not That Good. Lies was Much Better
I really enjoyed Lies but found this book by Franken to be bitter, unfunny, and just demoralizing. Franken spends most of the book just complaining about the fact that Bush won the election in 2004 and how he is going to destroy the country by ending medicare and social security and blah blah blah; None of it happened - except destroying the the economy before he left office.

Bottom line, I felt like I was reading a book written by a whining 8 year old instead of the Al Franken I knew from Lies.

Most of the book is out of date now, and unlike Lies, I would recommend you just don't read this; it's really terrible.

Upsetting, even in audio
Upsetting: I paid a full two dollars at a Staples discount table for the audio edition and Amazon has a used copy for $1.46.Well, ok, it IS quite a bit old now, 5 years, in the middle of the last presidency. I'm old enough to remember that presidency although I've forgotton so much. Al Franken is here to remind me. Frankenly, "The Truth" is painfull and also funny. I'd say the audio edition is worth every penny of the $1.46, or even $5.50, you might spend. It was $39 new. You like a bargain! It's a full dozen hours of unabridged talking, just Al Franken and you. Some of the quotes are done with Franken doing imitations of Cheney or President Bush or some random Scottsman. Sometimes he inserts real audio clips - the people he makes fun of do a much better job of making fun. It's a good book, a better audio read.

Great!
Very Good! See also George and Condi: The Last Decayed: A Collection of Poems from the Last Decade Beaver Tales and a Canada Goosing: Poems Illustrating a Uniquely Canadian Perspective (See ArtisanPacificPublishing Website).

Really funny expose of how politics work these days
I just listened to this audio book five years after the Bush/Kerry election it focuses on. I think the added perspective makes it even funnier. Franken is p.o.'d about Kerry losing and Terry Schiavo and many other things, and he exposes the Karl Rove spin and smear approach better than I've ever seen it described. I voted for Bush in 2004 and Obama in 2008--I guess that makes me an independent. The audio book features Franken's perfect Dick Cheney impression, which is worth the price of admission right there. Franken even roasts Kerry in this book, a little--it's funny first and political second. It's non-partisan, in the sense that while Franken certainly leans toward Obama (four years ahead of the crowd, by the way), he's not pushing the Democratic Party per se. He says what he hates most about politics is "I'm going to stop you from doing good because then you'd get the credit." I think he's dead on, but it's even funnier now that he's a senator. ... Read more

Product Description
Al Franken and Bill O'Reilly are two of the most intelligent and politically wise men on the planet earth, or at least they think so.Each man has become the personified voice of "Liberals" and "Conservatives".Franken and O'Reilly make a fortune by blaming Liberals and Conservatives for everything that happens in America.Are Liberals and Conservatives destroying America?Or are Franken and O'Reilly laughing all the way to the bank?How much do you know about these Liberal and Conservative groups?Did you know that they control a secretive billion dollar industry?Did you know that these groups are considered "public charities" by the Internal Revenue Service, yet are enormously wealthy and politically influential?Did you know that these groups employ thousands of lawyers, researchers and talking heads who are financed by the most wealthy and powerful people in America?Why are these groups presented as "experts" on CNN, MSNBC and FOX, yet most viewers don't have a clue about who they are?

"Will Al Franken and Bill O'Reilly Please Shut Up" is for the well-informed American who wishes to learn about the origin, financing and agenda of these politically active groups.My goal was to write an entertaining and informative book that reviews the 100 most powerful Liberal and Conservative groups in America.The book is written from a nonpartisan point of view and gives you a clear and concise picture of each group and how it profits fighting the never ending "Culture Wars".

The book is an excellent career guide for students and aspiring political gurus.Most of the groups featured in this book offer internships, fellowships, scholarships, volunteer and full-time job opportunities.The Appendix gives you tips on how to join the group of your choice and the full contact details for each group is provided.Whether you consider yourself Liberal or Conservative, I know you will enjoy reading it.Now will Al Franken and Bill O'Reilly please shut up. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Skorski seems to be a Franken-Stalker
I kind of found this funny coming from this obsessed Franken "fan-atic":

(And wouldn't you know it, Franken's blurb for this book is:
"Walsh is a political genius. He is funny, intelligent and articilate. Everything that I am not."
Another lie from Franken)

Another Lie from Franken?So I guess that means Skorski beleives that Al is indeed "Funny, Intelleigent and Articulate".

So driven to contradict or expose Franken, Skorski doesn't even bother to read what he is rebutting.HIS book "Pants on Fire" ought to be a Hoot, if this is what we can expect.

The book title is misleading
I bought this book thinking it was some kind of satirical look at talk radio.

It was not.

Other than using Franken and O'Reilly's pics on the book cover, it has nothing to do with them. The book goes through different political organizations on both sides of the political aisle, including their founders, history, budget, and mission. Real funny.

I never felt so violated as a book purchaser.

And wouldn't you know it, Franken's blurb for this book is:
"Walsh is a political genius. He is funny, intelligent and articilate. Everything that I am not."
Another lie from Franken ... Read more

Product Description

"There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas,probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once, shame on --shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again."

With signature remarks like these, it's hardly surprising that George W. Bush's malapropisms have become renowned around the world. Editions of Bushisms have become bestsellers in Germany, France, and Italy, and they remain as popular in the United States as ever. Jacob Weisberg, faithful scribe, here presents the best of the latest crop:

"There's only one person who hugs the mothers and the widows,the wives and the kids upon the death of their loved one. Othershug but having committed the troops, I've got an additionalresponsibility to hug and that's me and I know what it's like."

"I'm the master of low expectations."

"First, let me make it very clear, poor people aren't necessarily killers. Just because you happen to be not rich doesn't mean you're willing to kill." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Like a Rock, only Dumber!
Another in the long series of books documenting the gaffes of the Dan Quayle of the Oval Office. If you shuddered through the "W" years, you'll love this book.

Straight From the Horse's Mouse
After reading this short book of Bushisms, it's hard to believe that the President of the United States could have so many neurons and synapses misfiring in his noggin. After all, this is the man who has his finger on the button, that's if he can remember the code, or recite it correctly.

This is the man who followed his mother's suggestion to always use a thesaurus so he would never use the same word twice. It's unfortunate he could not recognize a homonym and instead wrote, "The lacerates came streaming down her face." (It makes you wonder how Mr. Shortcircuit could have ever gotten into Yale without having had his grandfather on its board of trustees.)

I have given this only three stars because the calendar of Bushisms offers far more verbal stumblings and gaffes than this provides--365 to be exact. At only eighty-three pages, it is funny but does not contain the best of Bush, the bonehead. Even though I paid very little, I don't think it was worth the S & H.

This book is neither for republicans, nor Bush suppporters, nor English teachers. (Yes, I know.)

As our president said, "I think if you know what you believe, it makes it a lot easier to answer querstions. I can't answer your question."

You just can't make this stuff up!

And this is straight from the horse's mouse.

Great Gift
My grandfather is definately not George Bush's biggest fan.For his birthday a little humor that tickled his funnybone!

Funny but oh so sad................
I can't help but laugh out loud at the humorous misspeak of our leader, but then again...oh my God...he IS our leader!Why do we ignore his past alcohol abuse, driving while intoxicated record (documented in Maine) and likely cocaine use cover up?Yet I fear that his lingual brain center wasn't the only part affected!

Seldom is the Question Asked, Is Something Wrong with Him?
I used to laugh at Bush's verbal gaffes too, but seldom is the question asked, is there something wrong with the man? Has he fallen off the wagon? Is his brain fried? Mine would be if I kept up the party-boy lifestyle I had as a college undergrad until I was 40. Think about it, wouldn't your brain be toast too after decades of alcohol and possibly cannibus and poppi abuse? Consider, in the August 2004 timeframe alone, Bush: > stammered some hysterically incomprehensible gibberish about tribal sovereignty to a group of native american journalists. Though it doesn't make for a good Bushism "sound byte" his incomprehensible, rambling, ad hoc answer was funny (there's a Quicktime video of this on the web...) Until you realize how remarkabley unprepared he was. His reply to a straightforward soft ball question also was offensive to native americans, who can actually be heard gasping in the background when his answer implied that native americans were "given" their sovereignty by the US government. > Actually, really, said, "Our enemies will never stop seeking ways to harm our country and its people, AND NEITHER WILL WE!" durning a press conference where he signed a $400 billion plus dollar military appropriation. Doh! > Last but not least, made a mega-freudian-faux pax on the campaing trail in front of thousands when he said something to the effect that... "we must not stop OB/GYN doctors from spreading their love of woman across the country." HA-HA-Huh?! Bear in mind, these >all occured around a one month periodRead more

Product Description
Well, it was close...but we won. Al Franken, July 1, 2009

On November 5, 2008, the day after Election Day, US Senate candidate Al Franken spoke to the Minnesota press: We won't know for a little while who won the race.

Many professionals predicted the Minnesota election for Senate between Al Franken and incumbent Norm Coleman would be the closest race of the 2008 cycle. But no one could predict it would take 245 days before the victor would be seated in the US Senate.

No one obsessed more about the election aftermath during those 245 days than a blogger at DailyKos who signed himself WineRev. At DailyKos, Markos Moulitsas ground-zero website for political progressives, WineRev s near-daily updates became must reading. Whether it was recounters in tears in Austin, county judges talking out loud to paper ballots, or the briefcase brigade arguing law or examining witnesses, WineRev's reports became a regular fixture on the Recommended Diaries list.

For all who want to relive the tense days of recounting, the court dates, the insights, wit and everyone's mistakes, Recounting Minnesota pulls together WineRev s diaries, along with trenchant, droll, or exasperated comments from readers, a timeline for every twist, and a foreword by Markos Moulitsas himself, all served up with a lively, Internet-flavored urgency. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Blogging becomes election history
Witty is the right word. Along with lutefisk. Along with the two New York Jews running for the MN senate seat -- one of whom was born and raised in MN. Along with every collectible scrap of local MN story telling that hadn't already been absorbed into "Prairie Home Companion." A delight.

The man can plain write
Carl Eeman's writing style is erudite without being pedantic, extremely witty, and clearly explains complex legalities. This will be the funniest book you ever learn so much from in your life.

Recommended for Al Franken fans, fans of Democracy, and anyone who aspires to be a blogger. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Give it a rest, you haters!
Al Franken is a satirist and comedian. He's meant to use satire and irony. If you don't like it...too bad! Besides, Al Franken would never tell people to "shut up" or tell them "get outta my studio before I tear you to f**king pieces!" like O'Reilly did.

By the way, why do you right-wingers never actually give REASONS for why conservative issues are important? You just put down liberal issues. "Liberalism is a mental disorder" or "Liberals hate America". But I rarely hear conservatives talk about conservative issues. They only blast democratic/liberal ones. Why not actually DEFEND your ideals?

By the way...you say that liberals are stealing your money? It's the PRESIDENT and his ADMINISTRATION who pissed away a huge surplus that was given to the USA by BILL CLINTON...for TAXING THE RICH! So right-wing tactics are screwing the nation and taking the money out of ordinary citizen's pockets. Look at our economy! It sucks! And it's all BUSH'S fault, not Bill's.

Now stop hating. Learn to laugh. It won't kill you.

"Mike" Franken is a fake.Al Franken rocks!
This guy writing in the first review that "Al Franken is a jerk", is a lying neo-con republican idiot, who doesn't even own this disc.....don't be fooled, the right wing is full of lying, slimey hypocrites. He is trying to slam the left....give it up, loser.

not even close to funny
He is not funny, just pathetic. He is a jerk

once again - attempting to profit from another "successful name"!
Why does Franken have to continually "borrow" names from those who are politically opposed to get himself some attention? Without the constant use and abuse of names like "Limbaugh" and "O'Reilly" (with radio and tv ratings to prove their success)in his titles - would ANYONE take a second look? I have to wonder.....

Doesn't Translate
I love Al Franken, but these radio show bits cobbled together doesn't make for very good entertainment. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

How did this happen?
I love most everything Al Franken has done-- SNL, books, radio.AL:so really liked the other Air America CD " The O'Franken factor".

Which makes this CD all the more puzzling.It has maybe one clever and somewhat funny track, theBill O'Reilly war story.The rest of the tracks are, puzzling.They're so unfunny you wonder how they got recorded for posterity.There's 11 minutes of a Wolfman sketch, not a chuckle in the whole thing.There's a unfunny and insensitive sketch about the pillow that snuffed out Arafat.And a sketch about a crying baby that I can't figure out at all.

The CD cover art is amusing though.

... Read more

Product Description
rolling stone ... Read more

Product Description
regular and his alter ego--insecure cable-TV affirmations series host Stu Smalley--offer a collection of self-help humor and satirical daily affirmations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Just Hilarious!
This cassette is so funny that I almost cried.I loaned it to a friend who listened to it while driving and had to pull over to laugh uncontrolably.It is very, very funny in that Al Franken/Stuart Smalley way.I would reccommend this for all those Stuart fans who need a fix.It is worth owning.

Doesn't quite work on audio
Franken's "Stuart Smalley" is probably his most brilliant character, and the short bits on SNL are absolute classics. But somehow it falls flat on tape without the visuals and Francken's mugging.

Perhaps those who are more intimately familiar with the self-help culture will find it funnier. For me, it seemed somewhat lifeless.

I laughed till I cried, and then I cried
Being a member of a 12-Step Program and having endured many well meaning attempts at guided meditation, I thought I would "bust a gut" the first time I started listening to this tape.For all that I laughed, theending is truly Adult Child work, and it moves me to tears every time Ilisten.In fact it is one of those "non conference approved"aids that I recommend to those I sponsor. ... Read more

Product Description
The number one New York Times bestselling author of Bias delivers another bombshell -- this time aimed at ...

100 People Who Are Screwing Up America

No preaching. No pontificating. Just some uncommon sense about the things that have made this country great -- and the culprits who are screwing it up.

Bernard Goldberg takes dead aim at the America Bashers (the cultural elites who look down their snobby noses at "ordinary" Americans) ... the Hollywood Blowhards (incredibly ditzy celebrities who think they're smart just because they're famous) ... the TV Schlockmeisters (including the one whose show has been compared to a churning mass of maggots devouring rotten meat)... the Intellectual Thugs (bigwigs at some of our best colleges, whose views run the gamut from left wing to far left wing) ... and many more.

Goldberg names names, counting down the villains in his rogues' gallery from 100 all the way to 1 -- and, yes, you-know-who is number 37. Some supposedly "serious" journalists also made the list, including the journalist-diva who sold out her integrity and hosted one of the dumbest hours in the history of network television news. And there are those famous miscreants who have made America a nastier place than it ought to be -- a far more selfish, vulgar, and cynical place.

But Goldberg doesn't just round up the usual suspects we have come to know and detest. He also exposes some of the people who operate away from the limelight but still manage to pull a lot of strings and do all sorts of harm to our culture. Most of all, 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America is about a country where as long as anything goes, as one of the good guys in the book puts it, sooner or later everything will go.

This is serious stuff for sure. But Goldberg will also make you laugh as he harpoons scoundrels like the congresswoman who thinks there aren't enough hurricanes named after black people, and the environmentalist to the stars who yells at total strangers driving SUVs -- even though she tools around the country in a gas-guzzling private jet.

With Bias, Bernard Goldberg took us behind the scenes and exposed the way Big Journalism distorts the news. Now he has written a book that goes even further. This time he casts his eye on American culture at large -- and the result is a book that is sure to become the voice of all those Americans who feel that no one is speaking for them on perhaps the most vital issue of all: the kind of country in which we want to live. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (902)

Comically-chraged and somewhat informative reading!
The title of this book alone, should certainly put you on notice that what you are about to read is neither moderate-minded or pleasingly compromising. Bernard Goldberg holds back nothing in what he thinks is wrong in the nation, nor does he stifle his barbs and cheap-shots at the ones he sees as major parts of the problem.

If you are thinking this is going to be an engaging debate about left-wing and right-wing politics, you are going to get very disappointed. However, if you are looking for comically-charged verbal smackdown on some of the biggest policial shakers and celebutard makers, which peppers itself with some interesting facts, about some people you've probably never heard of, this book will give you all you crave for.

I completely enjoyed the book, having read through it more than once. If I took anything away from "100 People Who Are Screwing Up America (and Al Franken is #37)," it would be that political policy, based on emotion over logic, will always create more problems than it will ever solve. I also learned that just because you might be famous, doesn't make you more informed and better versed in knowing the solutions to the problems that confound us today. In fact, you are probably behind the curve, as having the money to make your fantasies into reality, coupled with too much time on your hands and a big soapbox to preach from, is likely to put you there.

If you are very much disenfranchized with the state of our world today, as well as the entire political scene, you'll probably get more than a few chuckles of entertainment value from Goldberg's acerbic, and sometimes witty, slamming of many of those playing the game today. It's not going to be a deeply philosophical journey through the politicized framework of our world, but if the title of the book didn't already tip you to that, then your disappointment in what you read is solely on you (and you might be a candidate for the sequel to this book).

Divisive claptrap
Two words describe this book succinctly: Divisive claptrap.

There is nothing more that needs to be added.

More than meets the eye
You may have heard of Bernard (Bernie) Goldberg from frequent interviews with Bill O'Reilly and other conservative talk show hosts on Fox News. On the surface, his book "100 People Who Are Screwing Up America" may appear to be only 305 pages of right-wing rants, but Goldberg has some excellent and valid arguments to make beyond just the list.

Essentially, "100 People" covers Goldberg's opinions on problems in American society today. The topics include everything from (in Goldberg's words) the "America Bashers" and the "Hollywood Blowhards" to the more controversial "Racial Enforcers" and "Sex Warriors". In the rest of the book, Goldberg counts down from 100 to expose and examine the many harmful liberal (and a handful of conservative) agendas afoot in the country today as well as the politicians, activists, "news" anchors, and celebrities that push them. Goldberg speaks out and makes many points in a way that sometimes made me laugh out loud but at the same time were very sobering and true.

Although I won't name names, most of the usual left-wing suspects are included on the list (with good reason!), but, the list is not completely free of a few right-wing ones as well. I was pleased to see that because it proves that Goldberg is opinionated, but does not jump on the polarized political bandwagon that plagues the country on both sides of the aisle. It's a good read, I recommend it!

Just....dumb
I saw this book in a $.50 bin at a thrift store and I thought - why not? I want my $.50 back. I am a political conservative, not one of these libs on here giving this book 1 star without cracking the cover, simply because Al Franken is #37 (and you know all the so-called "conservatives"gave it 5 stars for the same reason). I dislike the politics of many people (if not all people) mentioned in this book, but simply put, the concept behind this book is just dumb. It's Goldberg's attempt and making a few quick bucks (or quarters) from suckers like me. The book has no real ideas to pass to the reader, just mindless attacks on others while attempting to be funny and/or intelligent. The fact that in 10 years nobody will remember half of the people in this book is another reason why this book holds no water and in 10 years, no one will remember who Bernard Goldberg was. Here's what I will tell people who need a reminder: he's a biased neo-conservative who couldn't write a book if his life depended on it.

person by person, the picture is drawn
We're almost in 2010, five years after the book was published, and after all the reviews here at Amazon, there's not much for me to add.

But the book isn't dated. It's not really about the people, some of whom, of course, are no longer with us. No, the book is about the problems plaguing America, and they haven't gone away. The 100 people are just used to illustrate these problems.

While most of Goldberg's 100 are on the liberal side of the line, he calls them as he sees them. His list includes the murderer of an abortion doctor, the judge who flouted the law to hang the Ten Commandments in his courthouse, the Klansman elected to the House of Representatives as a Republican.

Goldberg says he expects no one to agree with all of his 100 picks, and he's right. For example, I wouldn't have included the delightful Diane Sawyer for one tasteless interview with Brittney Spears, or Barbra Streisand no matter what. I'd have gone easier on Dan Rather considering his life's work in journalism. I'd have gone harder on Al Sharpton and others who've done so much damage to our nation's race relations. (Where was Robert L. Johnson, the founder of BET? Surely he's been far more damaging than the pitiful Courtney Love.)

The book covers a lot of ground, and is not intended to be a scholarly exposition. The author uses exclamation points a little more liberally (small joke, sorry) than I felt necessary. But he's passionate about our nation and he doesn't hide that passion from the reader. He's also a fine writer, using anecdote and wit to help us see his point of view; the book is an easy read.

For better or worse, I found myself almost perfectly aligned with Mr Goldberg, and was glad to see some of my gripes shared. Noam Chomsky and hip-hop have long been thorns in my side, and Goldberg captures their sins well.

I hope this book gets a wide reading. ... Read more

Product Description

The number one New York Times bestselling author of Bias delivers another bombshell—this time aimed at . . .

Customer Reviews (40)

Oi vey. Spare yourself and spend time reading a more worthwhile book.
It's really unfortunate.Instead of complaining incessantly about Hollywood movie stars and college professors that annoy him, Bernard Goldberg could have made this book a thoughtful, insightful commentary on judges, politicians, and other leaders who have a proven track record of being disgraceful (in the opinion of most people).Instead, this book seems largely to be a giant liberal bash.Sure, there are public figures who have said some dumb things, but in my opinion, one dumb quote does not a "screw-up" make.I'm wondering if Mr. Goldberg would like to use that single-sided sword of scrutiny against his own career.I was hoping for a non-political (or at least a non-partisan) insight into figures who are making huge mistakes... this book instead is merely subjective whining.

I personally don't care for Mr. Goldberg's namecalling -- I found it to be immature and unconstuctive.Isn't namecalling reducing yourself to the level of some of these "screw-ups", Mr. Goldberg?

Unimpressive
Bernie Goldberg's book, as mentioned, is a list of opinions, not of facts. That said, his opinions do seem to be rather inconsistent and not based on sound argument. After his declaration of an intent to attack declining standards of decency and incivility and those who promote them, he neglects to place Ann Coulter on his list because "Coulter always has that twinkle in her eye when she calls some liberal 'pond scum,'" while placing Al Franken on the list (at #37, as advertised on the front cover), with the opening remark that "Al Franken says he's a satirist, by which he means he can say nasty things about anyone he wants and then claim it's all in good fun." Coulter gets excused because of the "twinkle in her eye," while the man who was actually a professional comedian gets hammered? Franken's chapter also contains nothing of substance, but merely a crudely assembled fake "interview" between Goldberg and Franken that Goldberg assembled through out-of-context selections of Franken's quotes, based on a technique that Franken used for comedic effect, but never in isolation. This is similar to the chapters on entertainment figures Michael Jackson and Courtney Love, and more seriously, political figure Michael Moore, who is placed in the top slot with a mere picture and out-of-context quotation.

He then places figures such as Peter Singer and Noam Chomsky on the list for no other reason than that he dislikes their viewpoints. There is no objection to the manner of presentation, as the book implied there would be, yet no argumentative criticism of their actual opinions, that presumably being for the reason that Goldberg would lose such an exchange badly, as he knows.

All in all, a wholly unimpressive book. I do wish we could look to knowledgeable political scientists instead of two-bit hacks to provide us with actual commentary.

:)
Really funny stuff with facts that people sometimes forget. I.e. Al Sharpton. This was one of the more fun books I've read.

Bernie Goldberg is a hack
Bernie Goldberg is a joke and should not be taken seriously.I'm a conservative and bernies no conservative.He says Michael Savage is screwing up america.Michael Savage's motto is borders language and culture, hows that screwing up america bernie?I think fixed news is the perfect place for that puppet to appear on a daily basis.

MORE TONGUE IN CHEEK GAS
RONNIE & GEORGIE (TWO PEOPLE) NOT 110 PEOPLE, DID MORE HARM & DAMAGE TO THIS COUNTRY THEN THE COMMUNIST COULD EVERY DREAM OF. AFTER ALL IT'S DISTRUCTION FROM WITHIN THAT ALWAYS WORKS. THESE TWO PEOPLE REAGAN &
W.BUSH SEEM TO ENJOY DOING IT. THESE CONSERVATIVES WANTED TO CONSERVE
THE 12 CENTURY FOR ALL PROSPERITY. MAYBE, EVEN GO BACK TO THE STONE AGES. WITHOUT LIBERALS WE WOULD NOT HAVE SOCIAL SECURITY, OSHA, CLEAN AIR & WATER, VOTING RIGHTS, MINIMUM WAGES, UNIONS, FREEDOM OF CHOICE,ETC.
YOU MAKE IT SOUND THAT THIS IS ALL BAD. MAYBE, WE SHOULD GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT "DODO". BERNNIE, YOU MUST HAVE BEEN PAID A LOT OF MONEY BYCONSERVATIVES TO WRITE THIS BOOK. AT LEAST BE HONEST. IT SEEMS NO ONE ELSE WANTS TO HIRE YOU. ... Read more

Product Description
Social Security is facing the most serious, well-financed, and determined threat to its existence since its inception in 1935. For Americans to make sense of the barrage of conflicting messages on the subject, it’s necessary to understand who is behind the campaign to "reform" Social Security, what the campaign aims to achieve, and how it misrepresents its goals. Best-selling author Joe Conason exposes why and how this is happening. The Raw Deal explores the Right’s privatization goals, Bush’s hard-fought privatization campaign (built on a stacked "study"), the corporate interests behind the plan, the media campaign to undermine confidence in Social Security, and how the swindle can be stopped. Conason’s no-apologies, no-nonsense approach clears up the myriad misperceptions surrounding this important, confusing issue and gets to the truth about the big Social Security bluff. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

An Insult to the Literate
I cannot understand why this book has any appeal.I agreed (and still do agree) with the premise that the Bush Social Security plan was fatally flawed.Joe Conason had my ready and eager mind, but his entire book is based upon the premise that Social Security is the most successful government program ever... and he never developed this premise in any respect.He left the defense of Social Security completely in the hands of Orszag and Diamond.Instead of being an apology (that means "defense" for those of you who drool in ecstasy over this book) for the Social Security program, showing systematically how the Bush proposal attacks the "successful" points of the program, _The Raw Deal_ is nothing but a 130+ page polemic that only serves to reinforce conspiracy theorists.

Finer points throughout the book could easily be debunked as progressive hysteria (which seriously damages the cause of serious liberalism), but there's not much to be gained therein.

By the end of the book he suggests an early edition of Orszag and Diamond's _Reforming Social Security: a Balanced Plan_.I would strongly suggest that one reads the updated edition of that landmark work in progressive economics--one that intelligently (albeit inadequately) explains the Social Security concerns of the federal government and implications of the Bush proposal.

Welfare commits government to increased spending during economic downturns
1. Financial Wealth loses its significance when valuable and expensive services like pensions, health care, and education are provided through collective institutions. Federal pension systems, state colleges, and government health insurance greatly reduce the exposure of ordinary people to financial risks. Costs that are overly burdensome and unpredictable for an individual or family, like those associated with raising a child, treating chronic illness, or outliving one's savings, are instead dispersed across the population.

2. Health care fails on numerous counts: a. Patients lack pertinent information about appropriate medical care b. Patients can not opt out of their health care policy when then interest are not being served. c. Patients cannot afford health care. Many middle class workers go broke paying large deductibles and expensive coverage policies. d. The health care business does not face competition for the market share. Foreign companies cannot setup business and compete for patients. The diversity and numbers of health care production is not stepping up as health care prices climb. There are a limited number of medical schools and not enough medical personnel and schools limit enrollment; as a result, the pool of licensed providers is constrained; medical personnel wages rise, resulting from increasing demand and specialization. As a result, health care has become excessively expensive, the quality poor, and the variety of provides minimal. "Health care in the United States was long provided by independent physicians, bound by professional code of ethics, and by public or not-for-profit hospitals and insurers. For profit chains began buying into the health care system in the 1990s, but suspicions about their motives fueled intense public dissatisfaction with the US health system and recent studies confirm that they offer inferior care." 77 percent of Americans believe the government should spend more on health care; 88 percent want medicare to pay for prescription drugs; and two in three want more money spent on mental health.

3. http://zfacts.com/p/461.html, National Debt clocks, $9.3 trillion, 2008. "Debts of the federal government differ entirely from personal debts; they do not need to be repaid, are not claims on the incomes of ordinary families, and will not plague future generations." When the government runs a deficit in its annual budget, spending more than it collects in tax revenues- it closes the gap by selling T-Bond to banks, insurance companies, pension funds, and mutual funds (this group also controls 70 percent of the wealth in the stock market). The group invests it's cash and buys government debt in exchange for regular interest income, $9.3 trillion dollars worth. $600 billion in notes is held by the fed to back the US money supply; the Treasury extends a loan to the Fed for $600 billion; the fed uses the loan money to create more money; the fed money is sold to banks and they use the new money like a collateral asset that can be leverage to create new loans; the loans charge a premium for usage and the banks profit from the interest; consumers feel safe because their bank monies are protected by Fed insurance; Banks appreciate savings because they are loaned for interest payments returning a minimal payment back to the saver. How does the fed pay the interest payments on the notes? "The treasury roles them over an selling freshly issued notes to new buyers and using the cash to repay the maturing debt."

4. Repaying federal debt is unpalatable. Bondholders are not clamoring for debt repayment. "If fact, without US Treasury bonds to invest in, banks, insurance firms, pension fund trustees, and other financial managers would lose their safest and most negotiable financial asset." "The fed would lose its ability to introduce money cheaply into the banking system." "Retirees would lose their best alternative to putting savings in the unpredictable stock market." Repayment of debt would probably make the stock market more volatile. The Treasury would need to collect additional taxes and transfer more money to the richest 1 percent that hold 50 percent of the bonds. Debt repayment might trigger an economic depression, as individuals and companies curb spending. Depression was characterized as loses in savings, asset price plunge, defaults on loans, credit drought, rising unemployment, 50 percent mortgage foreclosure, and reduced spending.

5. The rich dislike Keynesian economics with a passion. Keynesian economics leads to high taxes for the rich, excessive government spending (10 fold during the Great Depression), and government work projects. "Putting people to work required governments to run deficits and pile up debts." The debts were a loan to the public. The public loan did not exceed $4 billion. Instead, it set a precedent that public debt did not have to be paid for immediately by taxation. Taxation was a barrier to curb spending, reduce debt, and return the system back into balance with budgets. The ten fold spending moved the US economy from deep depression to boom, swelling the deficit to $47 billion by 1944, a six-fold increase in debt. Before the 1930, the US government had faithfully matched spending to tax receipts each year unless the nation was at war. "After the New Deal, fiscal deficits became a fixture of federal budgeting. The treasuring ran deficits from 1934, until WWII, accumulating a 1946, public debt of 120 percent of GDP.

6. Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, child nutrition programs, and plethora of welfare programs create entitlements and commit government to increased spending during economic downturns, regardless of the impact on the deficit. "The government entitlements provide a bedrock level of federal spending in lean years as well as a minimal guarantee income to prevent wages from plummeting into recession." Keynesians warned that deficits promote growth and surplus promotes recession.

7. Statistical studies find a weak or no correlation between deficit spending and interest rates. If crowding out for national savings were a problem, it would happen with or without a deficit. The US Government borrows all the time and under any interest rate condition. In the 1990s when Clinton cut the US deficit, the Fed doubles the short interest rate and "any notion of any link between deficit cutting and interest rate reduction was decisively nullified."

8. Concerns that deficits cause inflation are a myth. If workers are unemployed and factories idle, public programs can only benefit the economy.

9. A serious objection to deficit spending is that debt raises interest rate obligations to lenders; interest payments becoming an ever rising share of the federal budget. "Interest rate commitments will not crowd out federal programs except for the fact antigovernment conservative attempt to set artificial caps on the level of federal spending." Rising interest payment distribute more money to the rich; risk reward for holding so much of the national debt.

10. Reagan urged Congress to pass three tax cuts for the highest earners: 70 percent in 1980 to 28 percent by 1986. The deficit swelled from $74 billion to $221 billion. Bush raised the rate to 31 percent. By 1992, the government was borrowing $290 billion per year. "Deficits would never have happened without tax cuts, that if Congress was unwilling to tax the well-heeled, there was nothing to prevent it from borrowing their money, that deficit hysteria always centered, ultimately, on programs that redistributed the nations income and ameliorated income disparities was labeled fiscally irresponsible."

11. 1990s economic surplus was caused by Japanese foreign investment see "Dollar demise". In 2008, the economy remains robust due to Chinese products and services, see "Real Cost of War" and "The Price of Democracy". And "Wealth and Democracy". "Clinton attributed the strong economy and roaring stock market to tough spending caps and fiscal restraint and pledged further fiscal austerity."

The Planned Destruction of Social Security
The `Preface' by James Roosevelt Jr. says Social Security racks up surpluses as it had done for decades and will continue to do so. The special interests who want to "reform" Social Security really want to weaken or abolish it. So it is up to the American people to protect it in order "to promote the general welfare". Al Franken's `Foreword' wastes its pages on comic comments. The `Introduction' says Bush's scam would be both risky and costly, they use scary stories to fool people into believing their lies. Most Americans don't trust Bush (p.4). Conason warns about the "United Seniors Association" created to scare people into sending them money (p.5)! Powerful financiers want to destroy Social Security (p.6). They use phony fronts to fool people (p.8). Complaints and lies about Social Security go back to 1936; they have been proven false repeatedly (p.10). They can't learn and can't forget.

Here's how this fraud would work. They promised a lucrative return on "personal" accounts but didn't tell that management fees and substantial risks would drain these accounts. They promised the owner of the account would control their money but didn't tell that choice would be limited. They promised these accounts would be inherited but didn't tell you this would need an annuity that would leave little to heirs. They promised that Social Security would go bankrupt but didn't tell you this contradicted their prediction of increased growth in the economy. Heads they win, tails you lose. In the real world, people making these promises on investments would go to jail.

Chapter 1 explains when Bush says he wants to "strengthen" Social Security he really wants to reduce benefits (p.22). Conason neglects to tell that in 1952 Eisenhower promised to extend Social Security to the middle-class by including small business owners and farmers. He did this in 1953. There is no crisis in Social Security, and won't be if economic growth continues. If growth is slow private investments will suffer (p.29). Chapter 2 tells about the various publicity groups formed to attack Social Security with lies and half-truths. Conason names the corporations who pay for these advertising attacks. They simply lied about privatization (p.49)! Billions were squandered by Bush on tax cuts for the super-rich (p.50). Conason explains the frauds of the privatizers (p.56). Privatization was renamed "Choice" (p.57).

Chapter 3 tells about the phony groups who either mislead people to try to defraud them. They make up "facts" to try to prove their case (pp.67-68). This chapter tells of their techniques to divide and conquer (p.74). The AARP opposed Bush's failed proposal, and described the essential elements for a retirement plan (p.77). AARP won't tear down the house because of a clogged drain (p.78). Does the description of "United Seniors Association" on pages 79-83 expose their hidden agenda? Chapter 4 tells about the plans of Wall Street to swindle private accounts (p.86). Private accounts are losers compared to Social Security (p.89). Bush's plan to privatize Social Security because of a lack of popularity (pp.104-105). "You can't fool all of the people all of the time." Social Security was the best-working government program.

The `Conclusion' points out that Bush has not provided an actuarially sound plan to deal with an alleged future crisis in Social Security (pp.109-110). The proposed change could not work. The projected outlook for Social Security over the next 75 years is reasonably good (p.114). [The real problem is falling real wages and too high taxes.] There are other real solutions (p.117-121).

Outdated by events, but still worth reading
Given the current state of affairs in Washington, it's highly unlikely that Bush is going to be able to get very far with his plan to abolish..... (or "reform", as he puts it) Social Security. The Republicans aren't suicidal enough to bring this up before the midterm elections, and let us hope that the results of the elections will put the kibosh on this at least for a while.So the alarm that the book sounds is a bit outdated, since the public woke up to what was going on (at least partly thanks to books like this). But it's still worth reading as an expose of some of the tricks the Republican noise machine has been up to.My favorite episode involved the attempt to paint the stodgy AARP as pushing gay marriage (remember that one?).Let's hope people don't forget it!

Primer on Bush Administration Operating Procedures
If the Ku Klux Klan were to suddenly announce a plan to help black people it would be advisable for blacks to stay as far away from it as possible and when Conservatives announce their intention to save Social Security you can bet that saving it is the last thing on their minds. For 70 years Conservatives have seethed over the existence of Social Security as the de facto centerpiece of the New Deal and St. George W was to be the last best hope to slay the dragon once and for all.

In a sense `The Raw Deal' seemed dated even before it hit the bookshelves since personal accounts were already dead in the water. The disastrous sales pitch may have had a lot to do with timing since it came on the heels of the second largest stock market collapse in history as well a series of corporate scandals. A few sustained years of stock market success and the public might quickly find itself blinded by dollar signs. In another sense this book couldn't be any more timely as it's a template for the operating methods of the Bush administration and the Republican party. The fight for privatization is a classic attempt by wealth to usurp debate. This is boilerplate Bush with attempts to stack the deck, ignore impartial advisement, bully businesses and politicians, use industry sponsored Think Tanks to unleash mountains of biased information and as Bush himself said `catapault the propoganda'. In one of the most cynical moves of late, Conservatives used what are called Astroturf organizations. These are groups that give off the illusion of being grassroots movement for a specific demographic (blacks, elderly etc.) when in fact they are corporate funded with little to no actual members. Meanwhile, in perhaps the lowest move of the battle Conservative funded USA Next, fresh from Swiftboating John Kerry unleashed its fury on AARP claiming them to be anti-military and pro gay marriage.

Social Security `reform' is dead for now but the methods used to push it are so routine at this point that it would be well worth people's time to analyze what was done. In all the back and forth people tend to forget or perhaps never realized that the Bush administration never once drafted specific proposals. Sure they would drop hints and ideas but nothing substantive for critics to actually analyze. The intention was to win the war first and figure out if a solution was feasible later. Since the Bush administration didn't give a damn about arguably the most successful government program ever it didn't matter whether or not any eventual solution worked.

"The Raw Deal" is a small book at 136 pages that can be read in a few short sittings but it's packed with information. The ideas within are much broader than Social Security. They are about leadership, honesty (mostly a lack thereof), cynical politics and manipulation of the public. It's about a president whose ideas are so vacuous that he can only give speeches before pre-selected audiences of converts and sycophants. "The Raw Deal" is a relatively small investment in time that informs far beyond its short length.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Waste of Time.
It reminds me of the saying that if you think you should write a book about your life, Don't. ... Read more