Reviews for The truth (with jokes)

The average rating for The truth (with jokes) based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-09-25 00:00:00 Laura Moreno Reina I had an office at the VA when I read this book, and was seen during lunch breaks with it open before me. I can't tell you how many veterans, some obviously wounded in Iraq, stopped to tell me what a great book this is. I'm sure it was more than a dozen. In George W. Bush's America, they were grateful that Franken told the truth about why we were really fighting overseas and the right wing media that helped the administration sell the war to the American people. Perhaps the need for this book seems less pressing now, but it is still an excellent critique of Fox News and other truth-shirkers that very much applies today. It is also still timely for the way it shows how far the US has fallen from the "idea" of a democracy we all grew up believing, and the birthers and anti-health care shout-downers demonstrate today. Debate is crippled to America today, and the truth--and therefore sound policy--is not possible without fair debate. This book is extremely well documented, and cogently argued. It is also funny, sometimes very funny. The only flaw is that the jokes sometimes go on a bit long when you want to get to the next point. This will NOT bother many people as much as it does me. Highly recommended.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-02-28 00:00:00 John Faragher Another gem by Al Franken. The difference, to me, between how Al Franken writes and how, say, Ann Coulter or Bill O'Reilly write (or Rush Limbaugh, for that matter), is this: He researches. He goes to the source of information for clarification. He backs up what he's saying with other sources instead of spewing his opinion and calling it fact. He doesn't say, "I have said it, so it must be true." And? He's funny and clever as all hell. The Truth, of course is his follow-up to Lies and focuses more on how GWB got us involved in the Iraq war and some of the more infamous shenanigans of his inner circle. It begins with the heartbreaking (to him) defeat of John Kerry in 2004 and then goes on to talk about how Bush and his cronies have used terror and intimidation to get the American people to kowtow to his administration. Another eye-opening book, to say the least, in terms of the filth-infested wool we, as Americans, have allowed our president to pull over our eyes. And of course, I read this while GWB was still president, so I was even more irritated and outraged and ready for that bastard's term to be finished. Franken also touches on the Terry Schiavo case and how Bush and his crew disgustingly used that woman's plight (with the permission of her parents and siblings) to try to further insinuate themselves into the lives (and deaths) of Americans. Luckily for us, it backfired on them. Of course, Terry Schiavo's situation should never have been in the national spotlight to begin with, if you ask me. Obviously, Franken writes with a liberal slant. That's no secret and he doesn't try to keep it as such. He's proud to be a Democrat, proud to be a liberal, and so if some of his barbs at conservative Republicans seem a little harsh, they are also ultimately, sadly apt in the harsh light of day. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. And his writing style is so easy and flows so smoothly, I nearly got through it in one sitting. By the way, Franken is a comic genuis, in case you didn't know.