Lies (and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them) (Paperback)

The problem with books of this type (for readers outside the US) is that we are not that familiar with subject matter - I have no real opinion about whether the US media has a liberal bias although if the UK media is anything to go by it seems very unlikely.

Franken states that the primary of objective of the book is to be funny; he succeeds admirably although he does on occasion descend into pettiness and name calling. I certainly laughed hard and often as I read the book.

There are some very good chapters in this book. For example, you get a good sense of Franken's heart felt indignation in the chapter about Paul Wellstone's funeral; the exposure of push poll tactics is horrifying, the chapter on how Fox News makes you stupid is hilarious; Karl Rove, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly come in for the kickings that they richly deserve.

On the negative side: for me, his unconditional love of Bill Clinton got a bit too much at times and he is guilty of constantly criticising the conservative agenda while not really discussing the issues with the liberal agenda. However, these are minor quibbles; they did not detract from my enjoyment.
I think that the comparisons to Michael Moore are slightly unkind to Franken. Overall, he has less of an agenda than Moore who I regard as a polemicist, he is funnier and more precise; it is like comparing a scalpel to a sledgehammer.

Very funny, highly recommended particularly if you have a strong interest in US politics

That quote was enough to get me interested in reading this book. And it proves an age old observation: as soon as a powerful organisation tries to ban something, it is guaranteed to become even more popular than it would have been. Some might say that it proves one of the author's hypotheses - that the most vocal members of the US right wing are stupid.

However, if you are thinking of dismissing this book on grounds of it being another example of name-calling masquerading as politics, think again. Franken rebuts a whole series of the most outrageous statements and so-called 'facts' peddled by prominent right wing US politicians and journalists with pinpoint accuracy. He uses humour to expose the tactics of his enemies - tactics which amount to repeating a lie so often and so loudly that people think it must be true. The mock-plays he uses as interludes do not always hit the mark and in some cases serve only to break the flow of his arguments. Furthermore, the chapter devoted to the death of his politician friend and the media coverage of it was too long, though understandable, given the particularly unfair treatment meted out by members of the press who were either too lazy or too politically motivated to cover the story accurately.

These minor flaws aside, this book demonstrates just how low sections of the political establishment and some journalists have sunk to. It exposes the myth of the liberal bias in the national media. It illustrates the inroads the Clinton administration made in reducing gun crime and tackling terrorism, policies that were reversed or put into slow motion by the incoming Bush administration. The sources are all there, and in most cases they are highly reputable ones. In short, it quotes facts to prove points and shows how the right wing have very few of those to prove *their* points.

And finally, I challenge the rightwingers to rebut Franken's points - go on, I dare you to prove, using independent high-quality evidence, that he has got it wrong and that the statements made by the characters Franken criticises are in fact correct. Let's see who needs to resort to name-calling now.