# Al Franken lied **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 28, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350 "2003-09-28T20:12:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/1 "2003-09-28T20:12:06Z")
Al Franken didn’t do his [research](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=166003) on page 44 of Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/2 "2003-09-28T20:20:36Z")
It’s a trap!! ---
**Author:** ![Soup\_du\_jour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Soup\_du\_jour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup_du_jour)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/3 "2003-09-28T20:23:42Z")
I have the book right here in front of me. Franken makes the claim that, among other things, Bush said that “more and more of our imports are coming from overseas,” or something to that effect. Your research link is pointing to a thread wherein the Dopers discuss the veracity of the Bush “More and more of our inports are coming from overseas” gaffe. The consensus in that thread seems to be that Bush did, in fact, say those words. (Or something similar. I’m quoting from memory.) I’m confused, **AcidKid**. ---
**Author:** ![cheddarsnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cheddarsnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cheddarsnax)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/4 "2003-09-28T20:27:35Z")
**AcidKid** , your conclusion on the “overseas” quote in the linked thread is that it is “Accurate”. **mhendo** used Nexus to find this: > [@](#): > > **You know, a lot of times on the campaign, they asked me about economics, and I actually said this. ‘‘More and more of our imports come from overseas.’’ [Laughter]** > > George W. Bush, “Remarks at a Celebration of Reading in Houston, Texas,” _Public Papers of the Presidents_, vol. 37, no. 17, 30 April 2001 The consensus in that thread seems to be that the quote in question is accurate. You are one who agrees with that conclusion, based on your comments in the thread. Just what are you trying to pull here? _previews_ What **Soup** said. ---
**Author:** ![Soup\_du\_jour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Soup\_du\_jour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup_du_jour)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/5 "2003-09-28T20:33:41Z")
To nitpick, it is “LexisNexis.” ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/6 "2003-09-28T20:49:20Z")
> [@](#): > > The consensus in that thread seems to be that the quote in question is accurate. You are one who agrees with that conclusion, based on your comments in the thread. Just what are you trying to pull here? Al Franken wrote that the statement is stupid. The statement is not stupid since imports do not have to come from overseas. ---
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/7 "2003-09-28T20:54:52Z")
:::Waiting for the other shoe to drop::: ---
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/8 "2003-09-28T20:57:28Z")
Do imports from Canada or Mexico come from overseas? Don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/9 "2003-09-28T20:59:49Z")
This is pretty lame. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/10 "2003-09-28T21:00:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AcidKid \* > \*\*Al Franken wrote that the statement is stupid. The statement is not stupid since imports do not have to come from overseas. \*\* Good grief. You apparently **disagree** with Franken’s **assesment** that the statement is ‘stupid’. That doesn’t make him a liar. That makes him ‘some one w/whom you disagree’. While it is true that not ‘all’ imports come from ‘overseas’, I also agree that the statement that Bush made was ‘stupid’. And I ain’t lying. ---
**Author:** ![cheddarsnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cheddarsnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cheddarsnax)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/11 "2003-09-28T21:00:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AcidKid \* > \*\*Al Franken wrote that the statement is stupid. The statement is not stupid since imports do not have to come from overseas. \*\* It’s a matter of opinion. He thinks it was stupid. You don’t. While it is factually correct that imports do not have to come from overseas, at first glance the statement does seem odd. To call Franken a “liar” who “didn’t do his research” over this is truly pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/12 "2003-09-28T21:09:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tars Tarkas \* > \*\*This is pretty lame. \*\* I don’t even _like_ Al Franken and I agree with this. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/13 "2003-09-28T22:41:28Z")
If this is the extent with which you can impeach the truthfulness of Franken’s book, I think you just paid him the ultimate compliment. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/14 "2003-09-28T23:15:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Frostillicus \* > \*\*If this is the extent with which you can impeach the truthfulness of Franken’s book, I think you just paid him the ultimate compliment. \*\* That reminds me of the time when “Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot” was on the charts, and I was looking at the bestsellers in a local bookstore. A couple guys notice the Franken book and start insulting it and Franken, saying what a terrible book it was, etc. Then there’s a pause, and one of says “…and I heard some of it isn’t even true…” I laughed to myself. If only a quarter of the thing is true, Franken made his point. The best the guy could come up with was maybe “some” of it wasn’t true. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/15 "2003-09-29T02:42:11Z")
/sarcasm ON Al Franken? Lie? Surely you jest!!! 🙂 /sarcasm OFF ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/16 "2003-09-29T02:55:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SnoopyFan \* > \*\*/sarcasm ON > > Al Franken? Lie? Surely you jest!!! 🙂 > > /sarcasm OFF \*\* What’s with the sarcasm? Perhaps you can cite an example of when Franken has ever lied in one of his books? Franken isn’t like Ann Coulter or Rush Limbaugh or Michael Moore or Bill fucking O’-Lie-ly. You may not like him but he gets his facts right. He has no history of dishonesty in his books or in his television punditry so your “sarcastic” comment really has no context. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/17 "2003-09-29T03:47:21Z")
[overseas](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=overseas): adv. Beyond the sea; abroad. [abroad](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=abroad): adv. & adj. Out of one’s own country. In a foreign country or countries. Away from one’s home. Conclusion: George Bush said something terribly stupid. Also in the news, bear shits in woods. Film at 11 on the Discovery Channel. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/18 "2003-09-29T04:05:31Z")
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not in the habit of taking Al Franken very seriously. I do this for the same reason that I don’t take David Spade very seriously. Yet, if I wanted to, and I considered Franken a deadly earnest political writer whom I opposed vigorously, I don’t think I would make a big deal about abroad versus overseas. If this was the best I could do, and I went with it, the implication would be that there aren’t any significant errors in the book. I haven’t read the book. I read the sample pages of his Limbaugh book that are up on Amazon, and I noticed a couple of innacuracies and what appear to be outright fabrications incuding what looks like the deliberate confabulation of a research study to suit his ends. This doesn’t really disturb me though as I would tend to read Franken as I would PJ O’Rourke. It’s political humor and there’s quite a bit of license allowed. In a probably apocrophyl story concerning this book Franken reportedly talked about running into Rush Limbaugh after he published the Limbaugh. In this interview Franken supposedly says that when he noticed Rush Limbaugh was at the same event he got a little nervous, and when Limbaugh walked up to him he got a little scared that Limbaugh was going to punch him in the face or something. Apparently Limbaugh said “Helluva Book!” and slapped Franken lightly on the back in a friendly manner. It would be nice if that’s a true story. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/19 "2003-09-29T04:15:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Apparently Limbaugh said “Helluva Book!” and slapped Franken lightly on the back in a friendly manner. > > It would be nice if that’s a true story. I’d like it…if it was a true story, it wouldn’t change my opinion that Rush just does his crap because it gets him noticed, but it would at least tell me that he doesn’t take himself seriously. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350/20 "2003-09-29T04:21:19Z")
Al Franken is a humorist, like Mark Twain only not nearly as good. Anyone who takes him seriously needs to re-evaluate how they judge information sources. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-franken-lied/204350.md?page=2)