Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them is a satirical book on American politics by Al Franken, a comedian, political commentator, and politician. It was published in 2003 by Dutton Penguin. Franken had a study group of 14 Harvard graduate students known as "TeamFranken" to help him with the research.[1] The book's subtitle, A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, is a parody of Fox News' tagline "Fair and Balanced." FNC sued Franken over the use of the phrase in a short-lived and unsuccessful lawsuit, which has been credited with increasing the sales of the book, an example of the Streisand effect.[2]
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them largely targets prominent Republicans and conservatives, highlighting what Franken asserts are documentable lies in their claims. A significant portion of the book is devoted to comparisons between President George W. Bush and former president Bill Clinton regarding their economic, environmental, and military policies. Franken also criticizes several pundits, especially those he believes to be the most dishonest, including O'Reilly, Hannity, and Coulter. The book includes two comics, "The Gospel of Supply Side Jesus", a cartoon by Don Simpson, which parodies the seemingly un-Christian policies of Republicans who frequently invoke Christianity, and "Operation Chickenhawk: Episode One", which features Vietnam veterans (and prominent Democrats) John Kerry and Al Gore leading a group of popular neoconservatives—none of whom actually served in the Vietnam War—into battle, only to get fragged by the cowardly "chickenhawk" neocons.
Fox News sought damages from Franken, claiming in its lawsuit that the book's subtitle violated its trademark of the slogan "Fair and Balanced". The lawsuit was dismissed, and backfired on Fox News by providing Franken with free publicity just as the book was launched. "The book was originally scheduled to be released Sept. 22 but will be made available Aug. 21," according to its publisher. "We sped up the release because of tremendous demand for the book, generated by recent events."
In the lawsuit, Fox described Franken as "intoxicated or deranged" as well as "shrill and unstable." In response, Franken joked that he had trademarked the word "funny", and that Fox had infringed his intellectual property rights by characterizing him as "unfunny." The publicity resulting from the lawsuit propelled Franken's yet-to-be-released book to #1 on Amazon.com.[4]
On August 22, 2003, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin denied Fox's request for an injunction to block the publication of Franken's book, characterizing the network's claim as "wholly without merit, both factually and legally." During the judge's questioning, spectators in the court's gallery frequently laughed at Fox's case.[5] Franken later joked, "Usually when you say someone was literally laughed out of court, you mean they were figuratively laughed out of court, but Fox was literally laughed out of court."[6] Three days later, Fox filed to dismiss its lawsuit.
Franken describes the legal battle in a paperback-only chapter of Lies entitled "I Win".
Receptionedit
In a largely favorable review of Franken's book in the Washington newspaper The Hill, reviewer Mary Lynn F. Jones wrote: "Franken's tendency to mix fact with fiction [also] left me wondering sometimes what was true and what wasn't."[7] As an example, she cited a passage in Franken's book in which he wrote that former Bush foreign policy advisor Richard Armitage "bolted" from a Senate hearing and "[knocked] over veteran reporter Helen Thomas, breaking her hip and jaw".[8] The paperback version has a footnote saying, "The Helen Thomas thing is a joke."[9]
^"Become A Compelling Audiobook Narrator - Paul Ruben Webinar Oct. 16". archive.constantcontact.com.
January 01, 1970
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Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them is a satirical book on American politics by Al Franken a comedian political commentator and politician It was published in 2003 by Dutton Penguin Franken had a study group of 14 Harvard graduate students known as TeamFranken to help him with the research 1 The book s subtitle A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right is a parody of Fox News tagline Fair and Balanced FNC sued Franken over the use of the phrase in a short lived and unsuccessful lawsuit which has been credited with increasing the sales of the book an example of the Streisand effect 2 Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell ThemAuthorAl FrankenLanguageEnglishSubjectAmerican politics American conservatismGenrePolitical satirePublisherDutton PenguinPublication date2003Media typeHardcover paperbackISBN9780452285217OCLC884599126Dewey Decimal320 9730207LC ClassE885 F728 2003Preceded byRush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations Followed byThe Truth With Jokes Lies is one of several books published in 2003 written by American liberals challenging the viewpoints of conservatives such as Bernard Goldberg Bill O Reilly Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter These books by Franken and fellow authors such as Joe Conason Michael Moore and Jim Hightower were described by columnist Molly Ivins as the great liberal backlash of 2003 3 Contents 1 Summary 2 Publicity 3 Reception 3 1 Recognition 4 Editions 5 See also 6 ReferencesSummary editLies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them largely targets prominent Republicans and conservatives highlighting what Franken asserts are documentable lies in their claims A significant portion of the book is devoted to comparisons between President George W Bush and former president Bill Clinton regarding their economic environmental and military policies Franken also criticizes several pundits especially those he believes to be the most dishonest including O Reilly Hannity and Coulter The book includes two comics The Gospel of Supply Side Jesus a cartoon by Don Simpson which parodies the seemingly un Christian policies of Republicans who frequently invoke Christianity and Operation Chickenhawk Episode One which features Vietnam veterans and prominent Democrats John Kerry and Al Gore leading a group of popular neoconservatives none of whom actually served in the Vietnam War into battle only to get fragged by the cowardly chickenhawk neocons Publicity editSee also Fox v Franken Fox News sought damages from Franken claiming in its lawsuit that the book s subtitle violated its trademark of the slogan Fair and Balanced The lawsuit was dismissed and backfired on Fox News by providing Franken with free publicity just as the book was launched The book was originally scheduled to be released Sept 22 but will be made available Aug 21 according to its publisher We sped up the release because of tremendous demand for the book generated by recent events In the lawsuit Fox described Franken as intoxicated or deranged as well as shrill and unstable In response Franken joked that he had trademarked the word funny and that Fox had infringed his intellectual property rights by characterizing him as unfunny The publicity resulting from the lawsuit propelled Franken s yet to be released book to 1 on Amazon com 4 On August 22 2003 U S District Judge Denny Chin denied Fox s request for an injunction to block the publication of Franken s book characterizing the network s claim as wholly without merit both factually and legally During the judge s questioning spectators in the court s gallery frequently laughed at Fox s case 5 Franken later joked Usually when you say someone was literally laughed out of court you mean they were figuratively laughed out of court but Fox was literally laughed out of court 6 Three days later Fox filed to dismiss its lawsuit Franken describes the legal battle in a paperback only chapter of Lies entitled I Win Reception editIn a largely favorable review of Franken s book in the Washington newspaper The Hill reviewer Mary Lynn F Jones wrote Franken s tendency to mix fact with fiction also left me wondering sometimes what was true and what wasn t 7 As an example she cited a passage in Franken s book in which he wrote that former Bush foreign policy advisor Richard Armitage bolted from a Senate hearing and knocked over veteran reporter Helen Thomas breaking her hip and jaw 8 The paperback version has a footnote saying The Helen Thomas thing is a joke 9 Recognition edit The audiobook version was awarded the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album 10 Editions editISBN 0 525 94764 7 hardcover 2003 ISBN 0 452 28521 6See also edit nbsp United States portal nbsp Politics portal Media bias in the United States Republican JesusReferences edit Hertsgaard Mark Chapter and verse on the need for regime change Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on December 11 2008 Jansen Sue Curry Martin Brian 2015 The Streisand effect and censorship backfire University of Wollongong CiteSeerX 10 1 1 852 9159 Krugman Paul 2007 02 02 Missing Molly Ivins New York Times Retrieved 2008 03 02 Lies And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them Bookreporter com Saulny Susan 2003 08 23 In Courtroom Laughter at Fox and a Victory for Al Franken New York Times Archived from the original on 2007 10 14 Retrieved 2007 03 15 Corman Mary 2003 08 23 Franken Speaks Frankly interview Stanford Progressive Archived from the original on 2007 01 09 Retrieved 2007 03 15 Jones Mary Lynn F 2003 09 09 Franken s humor overpowered by cynical Look at the Right The Hill Archived from the original on 2007 01 07 Retrieved 2007 03 17 Franken page 218 Franken page 227 of the paperback Become A Compelling Audiobook Narrator Paul Ruben Webinar Oct 16 archive constantcontact com Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them amp oldid 1090747021, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
