Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them
Author	Al Franken
Language	English
Subject	American politics, American conservatism
Genre	Political satire
Publisher	Dutton Penguin
Publication date	2003
Media type	Hardcover/paperback
ISBN	9780452285217
OCLC	884599126
Dewey Decimal	320.9730207
LC Class	E885 .F728 2003
Preceded by	Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations
Followed by	The Truth (With Jokes)

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 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]

Summary

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 (like the Republican Jesus meme), 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

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

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]

Recognition

The audiobook version was awarded the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.^[10]

Editions

ISBN 0-525-94764-7 (hardcover, 2003)
ISBN 0-452-28521-6

References

^ 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.

[1] Hertsgaard, Mark. "Chapter and verse on the need for regime change". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008.

[2] Jansen, Sue Curry; Martin, Brian (2015). "The Streisand effect and censorship backfire". University of Wollongong. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.852.9159.

[3] Krugman, Paul (2007-02-02). "Missing Molly Ivins". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-02.

[4] "Lies: And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them - Bookreporter.com".

[nytfox-5] 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.

[stanfordprogressive-6] Corman, Mary (2003-08-23). "Franken Speaks Frankly". interview. Stanford Progressive. Archived from the original on 2007-01-09. Retrieved 2007-03-15.

[joneshill-7] 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.

[8] Franken, page 218

[9] Franken, page 227 of the paperback

[10] "Become A Compelling Audiobook Narrator - Paul Ruben Webinar Oct. 16". archive.constantcontact.com.

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v t e Al Franken
Bibliography	Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations (1996) Why Not Me? (1999) Oh, the Things I Know! (2003) Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them (2003) The Truth (with Jokes) (2005)
Political career	2017–18 United States political sexual scandals Employee Free Choice Act Medical Loss Ratio Student Non-Discrimination Act 2008 U.S. Senate election 2014 U.S. Senate election Weinstein effect
See also	The Al Franken Show Air America Radio Saturday Night Live Stuart Smalley Stuart Saves His Family When A Man Loves a Woman (1994 film, co-writer) LateLine Al Franken: God Spoke (2006 documentary) Fox v. Franken Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party
People	Tom Davis Amy Klobuchar Tina Smith Norm Coleman Mike McFadden Leeann Tweeden
Category

v t e Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording
1950s	The Best of the Stan Freberg Shows – Stan Freberg (1958) Lincoln Portrait – Carl Sandburg (1959)
1960s	FDR Speaks – Robert Bialek (producer) (1960) Humor in Music – Leonard Bernstein (1961) The Story-Teller: A Session with Charles Laughton – Charles Laughton (1962) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – Edward Albee (playwright) (1963) BBC Tribute to John F. Kennedy – That Was the Week That Was (1964) John F. Kennedy: As We Remember Him – Goddard Lieberson (producer) (1965) Edward R. Murrow - A Reporter Remembers, Vol. I: The War Years – Edward R. Murrow (1966) Gallant Men – Everett Dirksen (1967) Lonesome Cities – Rod McKuen (1968) We Love You Call Collect – Art Linkletter & Diane Linkletter (1969)
1970s	Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam – Martin Luther King Jr. (1970) Desiderata – Les Crane (1971) Lenny – Bruce Botnick (producer) & the Original Broadway Cast (1972) Jonathan Livingston Seagull – Richard Harris (1973) Good Evening – Peter Cook and Dudley Moore (1974) Give 'em Hell, Harry! – James Whitmore (1975) Great American Documents – Henry Fonda, Helen Hayes, James Earl Jones, and Orson Welles (1976) The Belle of Amherst – Julie Harris (1977) Citizen Kane (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) – Orson Welles (1978) Ages of Man: Readings from Shakespeare – John Gielgud (1979)
1980s	Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein – Pat Carroll (1980) Donovan's Brain – Orson Welles (1981) Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Movie on Record – Tom Voegeli (producer) and Various Artists (1982) Lincoln Portrait – William Warfield (1983) The Words of Gandhi – Ben Kingsley (1984) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom – Mike Berniker (producer) & the Original Broadway Cast (1985) Interviews from the Class of '55 Recording Sessions – Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chips Moman, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, and Sam Phillips (1986) Lake Wobegon Days – Garrison Keillor (1987) Speech by Rev. Jesse Jackson – Jesse Jackson (1988) It's Always Something – Gilda Radner (1989)
1990s	Gracie: A Love Story – George Burns (1990) The Civil War – Ken Burns (1991) What You Can Do to Avoid AIDS – Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Robert O'Keefe (1992) On the Pulse of Morning – Maya Angelou (1993) Get in the Van – Henry Rollins (1994) Phenomenal Woman – Maya Angelou (1995) It Takes a Village – Hillary Clinton (1996) Charles Kuralt's Spring – Charles Kuralt (1997) Still Me – Christopher Reeve (1998) The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. – LeVar Burton (1999)
2000s	The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography – Sidney Poitier, Rick Harris, and John Runnette (producers) (2000) Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones – Quincy Jones, Jeffrey S. Thomas, Steven Strassman (engineers), and Elisa Shokoff (producer) (2001) A Song Flung Up to Heaven – Maya Angelou and Charles B. Potter (producer) (2002) Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them – Al Franken and Paul Ruben (producer) (2003) My Life – Bill Clinton (2004) Dreams from My Father – Barack Obama (2005) Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis – Jimmy Carter / With Ossie and Ruby – Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee (2006) The Audacity of Hope – Barack Obama and Jacob Bronstein (producer) (2007) An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore – Beau Bridges, Cynthia Nixon, and Blair Underwood (2008) Always Looking Up – Michael J. Fox (2009)
2010s	The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Audiobook) – Jon Stewart (2010) If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't) – Betty White (2011) Society's Child – Janis Ian (2012) America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't – Stephen Colbert (2013) Diary of a Mad Diva – Joan Rivers (2014) A Full Life: Reflections at 90 – Jimmy Carter (2015) In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the Sandbox – Carol Burnett (2016) The Princess Diarist – Carrie Fisher (2017) Faith: A Journey for All – Jimmy Carter (2018) Becoming – Michelle Obama (2019)
2020s	Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth – Rachel Maddow (2020) Carry On: Reflections for a New Generation from John Lewis − Don Cheadle (2021) Finding Me – Viola Davis (2022) The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times – Michelle Obama (2023)