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The Truth (with jokes) Paperback – September 26, 2006
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Senator Al Franken’s landmark bestseller, Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair and Balanced Look 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, Senator Franken 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).
- Print length384 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPlume
- Publication dateSeptember 26, 2006
- Dimensions5.48 x 0.95 x 8.22 inches
- ISBN-100452287677
- ISBN-13978-0452287679
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Subtle, laugh-or-cry-out-loud and ultimately devastating . . . The Truth (with jokes) is guaranteed to rile the right again with its forensic lasering of Republican skullduggery and media mendacity, laced with sharp humor. . . . [Franken] is the voice the American left has been waiting for.”—The Guardian (London)
Praise for Lies: And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them
"Laugh-out-loud funny."—The Washington Post
"Rings with the moral clarity of an angel’s trumpet... Although Franken is a self-proclaimed liberal, his work differs in that it presents well-substantiated arguments and damning examples of false accusations that conservatives have effectively used against Democrats... sharp analysis and humor."—Associated Press
"A typically unabashed blend of razor-witted denunciation and old-fashioned gumshoe detective work directed at right-wing crazies both in and out of government... [An] exquisitely irritating new book."—The Independent (London)
"[A] heady mixture of scathing humor and righteous indignation."—The Onion
“In the kicking, spitting spirit of current all-star political discourse, Al Franken gives as good as he gets.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times
Praise for Oh, the Things I Know!
“With a nod to Dr. Seuss and his popular tome for graduates of all ages, Franken offers his own advice guide, which covers pretty much anything anyone wants to understand about life… This laugh-aloud take on advice books—it is dedicated simply 'For Oprah'—is Stuart Smiley with an edge.”—Ilene Cooper, Booklist
“Easy-to-follow guide to success and, failing that, happiness.”—USA Today
From the Back Cover
The New York Times
"Subtle, laugh-or-cry-out-loud and ultimately devastating . . .The Truth (with jokes) is guaranteed to rile the right again with its forensic lasering of Republican skullduggery and media mendacity, laced with sharp humor. . . . [Al Franken] is the voice the American left has been waiting for."
The Guardian (London)
About the Author
U.S. Senator Al Franken grew up in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Before running for the Senate, Al spent 37 years as an Emmy award-winning comedy writer; author of I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!, Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot, Lies (and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them), and Giant of the Senate; and radio talk show host. He has taken part in seven USO tours, visiting our troops overseas in Germany, Bosnia, Kosovo, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait.
First elected to the Senate in 2008, and re-elected in 2014, he currently sits on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee; the Judiciary Committee; the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the Committee on Indian Affairs. He has been married to his wife, Franni, for 40 years.
Product details
- Publisher : Plume; Reprint edition (September 26, 2006)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 384 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0452287677
- ISBN-13 : 978-0452287679
- Item Weight : 13 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.48 x 0.95 x 8.22 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,980,004 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,588 in Political Humor (Books)
- #3,140 in Elections
- #17,873 in Fiction Satire
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author
Senator Al Franken has represented Minnesota in the United States Senate since 2009. Before entering politics, he was an award-winning comedy writer, author, and radio talk show host. He's been married to his wife, Franni, for 41 years — many of them happy. They have two children, Thomasin and Joe, and three grandchildren. Senator Franken graduated from Harvard College and received his doctorate in right-wing megalomania studies from Trump University.
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I hadn't read any of Franken's books until his previous work: "Lies and The Lying Liars Who Tell Them". When I cracked the cover to that book I couldn't put it down. It was smart, witty, and laugh-out-loud funny. But it wasn't his incredible sense of humor and irreverent satire that got me the most excited. Franken was going after the myth of the Liberal Media Bias, and was doing it to fantastic effect!
Nevertheless, though I loved his last book, it had a few drawbacks. One was that it was very tricky at times to tell when he was making something up as satire, and when he was citing real honest-to-God facts. 98% of the time I could easily differentiate, but there were enough times when I spotted things that I knew some less-attentive readers might take literally, potentially even discounting him in the revelation.
In "The Truth", Franken attempts to remedy this, even poking fun at the fact that some readers of "Lies" had made this complaint. He is better about making it much more clear what's a joke and what's a real quote, although-perhaps frighteningly-some of the quotes that might seem to be too unbelievable to be true (from the vice president for example) are word-for-word accurate. When in doubt, the reference section of his book is filled with great information and further sources, and all of his material seems to be very well documented and fact-checked. Great use of in-text signal phrases are very common making sure you know where he's getting the information he's spitting at you, and he also uses footnotes (the real kind, opposed to Coulter's foot/end notes). There is a high degree of intellectual integrity. The majority of the time, he says right in the sentence where that fact is comming from (what book, report, agency etc), and he's very good about making little "to be fair" notes. When in doubt: if he hasn't cited a source and it sounds sarcastic, it's probably just sarcasm.
But this book is light-years beyond Lies. This book is more focused, and more serious in tone, though still exceedingly funny to me. Examples similar to the more over-the-top antics from Lies (such as the abstinence letter-writing fiasco) are nowhere to be found here, a very good thing as it gains him credibility from the reader. Also, "Lies" was mostly attacking right-wing media hypocrites who consistently bully guests and lie to the public to put forward their views while claiming to be the only objective sources on the air (Hannity, O'Reilly, Limbaugh). The book was arguably very soft of the Bush Administration itself, particularly its lack of truly exposing the hypocrisies and liberal contentions over the Iraq War, as well as other big issues. The biggest "Lying Liar" of them all was the one Franken came down weakest. Not so in "The Truth"!!
In this book Franken has the entire Bush Administration, and the Republican Congress in his sites. He exposes massive scandal and corruption on everything from lies and incompetence regarding Iraq (a major, major subject) and a harsh attack of the administration's Social Security plan. Also Franken shows just HOW Bush managed to barely win the 2004 election, using "Fear, Smears, and Queers" (and a lot of shady campaigning). He exposes Tom Delay, Jack Abromoff, and many others of their corruption.
This is new for Franken, and shows his maturity, and his steady movement towards serious political work (a planned run for the senate in 2008) and his new radio talk show. This book is more political, more serious, but every single bit as hilarious as "Lies". His conciseness, creativity, vivid writing, and concrete research tactics make this book a definitive book of the modern progressive movement. It truly deserves it's title, it is THE TRUTH (at least from the perspective of the left). But Franken is fair enough to drop olive branch after olive branch to show he wants to unite America, not divide it. He portrays all his beliefs, and all his arguments against this current administration amid a backdrop of passionate patriotism, proving that Liberals can and DO love this country every bit as much as the Right, and do not deserve the label of "unpatriotic" that their ideology so often gets.
This book is a must-read for any progressive or liberal, especially those that enjoy laughing about things that are only funny in an abstract sense (and life and death serious in reality). But this book is also a fabulous look at the beating heart of liberalism, its charisma, its principles, and its values, and a very solid criticism of our current leaders. Therefore this book is perhaps even a more important read for any casual (or perhaps even firm) Bush supporter, as well as Conservatives, to really understand the other side, and consider that perhaps your own leaders aren't as true to your values as you currently believe.
His new Washington tone of smear tactics in and the case of John Kerry and his service with conflicting accounts and a total debunking is rendered here. The flip flop accusation also bogus if you compare the record with himself and allies. When a bill such as the Patriot Act was supported, it was only parts of it, which are slanderously misinterpreted as supporting the whole, typical of the Right. To vote against every tax cut includes bogus cuts, not included in attacks. And the Bushian Right wing fear tactics are used to vote for Bush or die from terrorist attacks, then jumping on a word such as "nuisance." The story is told of Zell who first appears an ally and then as deceptive attacker.
Bush's attack on gays and the teaching that it is not biological but learned and therefore immoral. It's not about marriage, its about being gay. Bush knows how to divide a country, not unite.
Franken makes a wonderful statement on the ambiguous nature of God. Without the absolutes and mapped out blueprints, but in the liberal experiential that walks outside the straight jacket of theism in meaningful nature, in "something" behind it all, the tolerant inclusivity in a progressive movement.
The issue of Terri Schiavo, the Right's insidious attacks on the former husband and flagrant exploitation of a families tragedy, on the Left it was even worse to the "pull the tube people," and also the idea of having a camera in every ICU waiting for the thumbs up or down by the government. The issue helped Tom Delay in diversion from his ethical violations. Bill Frist's attack on Edwards and later denial and finally the autopsy which proved she was truly brain dead. While in 1993, Tom Delay actually terminated his critically injured fathers life and suing for $250,000, three years later he cosponsors a bill to end the right of the public to sue corporations for wrong doing, thankfully vetoed by Clinton.
Delay and Jack Abramoff's ugly story of supporting sweat shops and sex slaves in the remote South Pacific island of Saipan. This is truly an ugly story and there's a script of a tape spoken by Delay in support of the American Corps in Saipan. as the shining light of the Republican party, knowing full well what they were doing while he and his family basked in luxury there in hotels, casinos and golf.
The ridiculous number of 11 Trillion used by Bush in Social Security a number from total shortfall adjusted from inflation from now until the year infinity.. The whole privatization thing supports the banks and insurance companies. And there are many ways to cure the so called problem to either lock in benefits or wait and see the growth. Bush's projection is not fair or honest, as the private accounts would do nothing to solve the solvency issue and are not neutral in the long term and net horrible in the short term as far as solvency is concerned. The fool Bush speaks of SS trust bonds as empty pieces of paper and then advocates private investment in trust bonds as backed up by the full faith and credit of the US government. He really is the either the stupidest or most deceptive president I think we ever had. There is much more in this book on this.
Bush administrations attack on the report made about planning and fought every attempted friendly criticism and help in intellectual planning about what to do after the initial attack on Iraq. And the stupidity of thinking to set up Chalabi as the answer to an Iraq waiting with flowers in her hand to US liberators. They forgot about the looting, the infrastructure and of course the explosions. They thought they would just go in "blind into Baghdad," and in a flash take over, loot the assets and bring an investors heaven.
At the end of the book is a fictitious letter from Franken as a grandfather from the future writing with solutions how the Democrats regained control and brought to a large degree amount of credibility to the crazy damages the Right wings have done to this country, the resurrection of hope, as in health care, campaign finance laws, ending repressive drug laws, progressive tax fairness, protected civil liberties, renewable sources of energy, the 100 days of FDR were here the 100 days of this new deal
Even though it isn't as fun as the last two books, it still brings up a lot of interesting points. Chief among these is the level of cynicism and corruption in the Bush administration. Chief among these is the Bush administration's attempt to dismantle the social security system. The only people who would benefit from this would be Bush's broker friends, who would rake in a lot of cash in administration fees. The truth is that the average American wouldn't be able to manage a financial account effectively, and it is quite possible that many people would end up with less money than they put in. Also, you have to consider that the money for current retierees has to come from somewhere. That money comes from current payees. Beware of this plan to switch to private accounts.
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Franken begins with a dissection of the Republican parties election strategy - Fear! - with extremely sharp wit that certainly puts to shame many of the British Political Comedians I've read, though admittedly the American scene is richer in material to work on: Jack Abramoff, Tom De Lay, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George W Bush and a whole host of other dodgy, devious and disingenuous Republicans litter the pages of this book. Still with the '04 election, Franken moves on to debunking the smear campaign targeting John Kerry and his Vietnam War record. To a rational human the sheer shamelessness of the attack given Bush's record during his period of National Service (occasionally putting in an appearance with the Texas National Guard) is astonishing.
He is at his best when deals with issues such as Bush's Social Security Reform where he combines razor sharp wit with a sharp appreciation for the facts. This carries on through to his treatment of a number of issues including Gay marriage, Abortion and the Iraq War. Franken's critique of the Iraq War is on the left of the Democratic Party, which is to say that it is within the mainstream of "reasonable" thinking on the issue and not as critical as it could to be, though certainly funnier than it should be.
A brilliant, confidently written and laugh out loud read from start to finish, though as a committed Democrat (who now sits in the Senate) his confident expectations of future victory for his party being a New Dawn for America seems a little on the myopic side; as do some of his apologetics and celebrations of the Clinton era. Fortunately these are sufficiently tongue in cheek not to mar what is an extremely funny (if now somewhat historical) demolition of the pretensions of the Bush era as it entered its second term. It easily lives up to dual claims the title makes.
This though slips over the edge from satire into just plain angry - understandable perhaps - George W is a very easy target -he and his cronies are unpleasant liars - But there's too much truth here and not enough jokes. Depressing.