Yeah, so what? What does his weight or his IQ have to do with anything? Here's the real question : Rush Limbaugh is such an easy object of satire; how did Al Franken manage to swing and miss ? If you've ever listened to Rush's radio show, you know how bombastic and braggadocious he is; he seems to be making fun of himself half of the time. In fact if you've ever heard the Rush parody on Imus in the Morning, the real show isn't much different. He's completely over the top, tries to stir up controversy, takes on every hot button issue, and talks for three hours a day. Over the years he must have said thousands of things that you could pick apart and make look stupid. But all Franken has to offer is a few such examples and some personal invective about his weight, personal history and multiple marriages. The book is neither funny nor a response to Rush's ideology. If Franken actually had anything to say, he might have taken Rush down a few pegs. Instead he got the only response this book really deserved, a book called Al Franken is a Buck-Toothed Moron by JP Mauro. When you go for the easy shot and don't dig any deeper, you leave yourself vulnerable to like retaliation. (Reviewed:) Grade: (F) Tweet Websites:-The Al Franken Web -ESSAY : Irrational Affairs: Is Bush Dumb? Or is Bush just too busy remembering the names of his old frat brothers to focus on things like who he had executed last week? (Al Franken, Rolling Stone) -INTERVIEW : Frankenly speaking Political comedian Al Franken on the Bush daughters, why conservative pundits are so annoying and Barbra Streisand, rain forest killer (Ian Rothkerch, Salon) -INTERVIEW: Fresh Air with Al Franken (Terry Gross, Fresh Air (NPR) -INTERVIEW: "Hello, I'm Rush L., and I'm an overeater." (MARK SCHAPIRO, Salon) -INTERVIEW: 'Why Not Me?' : Al Franken has disturbing visions of his 'presidency' (Miles O'Brien, CNN) -INTERVIEW: Al Franken : He's good enough, he's smart enough, and, doggone it, most people like him (Richard Blow, Mother Jones) -ESSAY: The Other, Stupider Convention : Spend enough time with Arianna, Granny D., and Al Franken, and you, too, will favor legalizing drugs (Matt Labash, Weekly Standard) -ESSAY : Why I Won't Fight Al Franken : Al Franken called yesterday to challenge me to a fistfight. (Rich Lowry, National Review) -REVIEW: of AL FRANKEN IS A BUCK-TOOTHED MORON by J.P. Mauro Franken gets response (YVONNE CRITTENDEN, Toronto Sun) -REVIEW: of WHY NOT ME? The Inside Story of the Making and Unmaking of the Franken Presidency. By Al Franken (PJ O'Rourke, NY Times Book Review) -REVIEW: of Why Not Me Shtick & Soul : Al Franken Mainstreams the L-Word (Richard Goldstein, Village Voice) -REVIEW: of 'Why Not Me?' by Al Franken Franken's most creative work (Robert Nebel, CNN) RUSH
CONSERVATISM
CONSERVATIVE ORGANIZATIONS:
LINKS:
Comments:Uhm....you yourself didn't actually bother to shoot down any of Al's points. Care to elaborate? - Justin K. - Jan-22-2007, 15:36 ******************************************************* I seem to remember there being just a bit more substance to what he said besides the obvious cheap shots (and yes, this being Al Franken, the guy who did a comedy sketch on national TV about having a brain tumor, so he takes ALL the available cheap shots). It's kind of half-and-half, so it probably wouldn't make everybody entirely happy. Personally, I've come to feel that railing against media pundits is kind of an empty exercise; even though they influence the quality of ground-level public debate, they don't usually do much more than talk. The only way to counteract "bad" talk is with "good" talk, to be sure, but if people really want to get things done, write your Congressmen. Think about it this way...if he wrote the book now, he'd have to call it "Rush Limbaugh is a Little Thin Idiot." And apparently Ollie North didn't mind his portrayal in the Chicken Brigade story. :) - Eric W. - May-31-2003, 14:42 ******************************************************* |
Copyright 1998-2015 Orrin Judd