The Truth (with Jokes)
The Truth (with Jokes)
Author:
Al Franken
Publisher:
Penguin Group
Date of Publication:
2005
ISBN:
0786561785
Rating:
8
Summary:
Back when Al Franken was on Air America and it was streamed online for free, I used to listen to him regularly. I don’t agree with all of his political positions (“some” is more accurate), but he does have at least one additional attraction: he really is quite funny. Combining politics and humor made his show appealing and I enjoyed it. This book came out about the time I was listening to him regularly (almost two years ago now) and I have wanted to read it ever since. I finally found a little bit of time, so here’s what I thought…
The book has two aims: (1) explain how George Bush won in 2004, and (2) illustrate how terrible the Bush Administration is (in particular) and Republicans are (in general). Franken’s arguments concerning number one boil down to three components – fear, smears, and queers. The first part should be fairly apparent – the Republicans used fear as the primary component of their campaign. In the run-up to the 2004 Presidential election, the Bush Administration tried to cast the decision between Kerry and Bush as a decision for or against terror. To do so they invoked fear, or as Franken puts it, “And that is almost literally the choice that Bush offered America’s voters on November 2, 2004: Vote Republican, or be ripped apart by dogs.” (p. 33). It wasn’t actually dogs, but more along the lines of “mushroom clouds” (actual quote) and terrorism (no need to quote; this was the 2004 Republican platform).
The second component Franken illustrates by dissecting the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads and claims. He basically illustrates that their claims were bald-faced lies and clearly were designed to smear Kerry. The most unfortunate thing about these claims is that so many people took them seriously and it actually seemed to work.
Finally, while accurately minimizing this component, Franken also points out that a hot-button issue was on the ballot in many states – amendments to state constitutions banning gay marriage. Franken draws on the work of political scientists to illustrate that these amendments did, in fact, have some influence on conservative voter turnout and that may have helped push Bush over the edge in pulling out a victory (though the other two components were more probably more important).
The second aim of the book is actually more implicit, as he does this just in passing. For instance, Franken attacks the current situation in Iraq and places the blame squarely on the Bush Administration, “If you’re curious why Iraq is in the crapper, it’s because everyone one of these eminently reasonable recommendations fell not on deaf ears, but on ears into which fingers had been deliberately inserted.” (p. 398). The recommendations to which Franken is referring are the many plans and ideas suggested by consultants and the military during the planning for the war. Franken builds a fairly persuasive argument to indicate that the Bush Administration quite literally ignored all of this advice, resulting in the quagmire that is now Iraq.
Review:
I read Barak Obama’s latest book “The Audacity of Hope” shortly after reading this one (but obviously before writing this review). The tones are quite different and I think reading Obama’s book has led me to soften my views on Franken’s book somewhat. Don’t get me wrong, I still agree with a lot of what Franken writes and I think his analysis is pretty accurate in a lot of ways, but I also see the merit to Obama’s more centrist and empathetic perspectives.
That said, Franken has finally done what I think most future political writers are going to have to do: he turned to the scientific community to support his arguments. For instance, Franken draws on social psychological research in Terror Management Theory to bolster his argument that fear-mongering, particularly death-related thoughts, leads people to prefer charismatic/visionary leaders (e.g., Bush) over task-oriented or relationship-oriented leaders (e.g., Kerry). In terms of beliefs, thoughts of death also lead people to favor preexisting cultural worldviews (e.g., conservatism) as opposed to more liberal or radical worldviews (e.g., liberalism). The fact that Franken actually cites some peer-reviewed literature was encouraging. He doesn’t claim to be an expert, but he does at least recognize the importance of basing his claims on empirical science and not just on opinions. It was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise empiricism-absent political arena.
For most individuals who keep up with the news and current events, much of the information in this book won’t be surprising (and by keeping up with the news and current events I mean reading something other than the Wall Street Journal and watching something other than Fox News). But a few of the things Franken noted surprised me. For instance, Bush claimed the loss of 3 million jobs from 9/11; the Bureau of Labor Statistics put the number at 125,637 (pp. 56-57). The fact that a politician misstated numbers isn’t surprising (this isn’t something unique to Republicans, of course), but I just hadn’t heard the BLS numbers before. The most surprising datum, however, was this one about post-conflict casualties in former wars, “Bush partisans like to point out that after World War II, it took years to form democratic governments in Germany and Japan. What they won’t tell you is that the total number of post-conflict American combat casualties in Germany, Japan, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo is zero, a number invented by Arab mathematicians like Ahmed Chalabi.” (p. 466; I like the joke at the end, too). I had heard that post-conflict occupations in Germany and Japan took a long time (a lot longer than four years), but I had not heard that there had been no casualties. Making this comparison, then, is really like comparing apples with oranges and is a disingenuous comparison for Republican spinners to make.
Overall, I think Franken does a good job of building and supporting his arguments. While he is probably overly partisan (he seldom criticizes Democrats, who certainly aren’t immune to criticism), he does make a lot of good points. And, he’s funny (in fact, laugh-out-loud funny at times). As is often the case in the U.S. (as Barak Obama points out in his excellent book), the people who read this book are more than likely going to be people who agree with it to begin with. That’s unfortunate, as it does have some compelling arguments. But at least Franken’s choir-directed preaching is laden with jokes, which does make the book well worth reading.