David's review
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right
by Al Franken
David's review
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right by Al Franken
David's review
rating:
Franken has a quasi-Socratic disingenuousness. It's not quite that he claims ignorance while exposing the ignorance of others. What Franken claims is that he's a comedian, in contrast with the apparently serious political commentators he skewers. And he really is funny. And sharp. I laughed out loud at "Loving America the Al Franken Way," a grab bag of facets of America, rated on a good/bad/weird scale.
But often Franken sounds deadly serious. In the same chapter, responding to the claim that liberals "train our children to criticize America, not celebrate it," he says, "To a four-year-old, everything Mommy does is wonderful and anyone who criticizes Mommy is bad. Grown-up love means actually understanding what you love, taking the good with the bad, and helping your loved one grow." It's a good point. And it is funny, sort of, that Franken's target (in this case, Sean Hannity) seems to miss it. After a while, though, the seriousness seeps through. I fou...more
But often Franken sounds deadly serious. In the same chapter, responding to the claim that liberals "train our children to criticize America, not celebrate it," he says, "To a four-year-old, everything Mommy does is wonderful and anyone who criticizes Mommy is bad. Grown-up love means actually understanding what you love, taking the good with the bad, and helping your loved one grow." It's a good point. And it is funny, sort of, that Franken's target (in this case, Sean Hannity) seems to miss it. After a while, though, the seriousness seeps through. I fou...more
