The Truth (with jokes)

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**The Truth (with jokes)**

Author	Al Franken
Country	United States
Language	English
Subject(s)	2004 presidential election
Genre(s)	Political satire
Publisher	Dutton
Released	2005
Media Type	Hardcover/paperback
Preceded by	'Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right'

The Truth (with jokes) is a book of political satire and humor by Al Franken, released in October 2005. The book's main focus is on the 2004 presidential election and Franken's research into the Republicans' strategy in their narrow victory.

1 Fear, Smear, and Queer
2 Style
3 See also

[edit] Fear, Smear, and Queer

In the book, Franken looks at what he calls "fear, smear, and queers," or the Republican strategy used to win the election of George W. Bush. Like his previous work, Franken relies on direct quotes from Republicans to back up his research.

[edit] Fear

Franken uses several quotes from throughout the 2004 campaign to highlight the use of fear. In several instances campaigners heavily relied on the events of 9/11 to paint President Bush as a strong military leader and John Kerry as a waffler.

Franken counters with direct quotes from the 9/11 Commission that show Bush ignored or overlooked several key pieces of intelligence from the CIA that, if acted upon, could have prevented the attacks altogether.

Franken also claims that Bill Clinton received similar intelligence regarding proposed Millennium Attacks and was able to quickly raise the security level and prevent any terrorist activity.

[edit] Smear

Franken addresses the accusations of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth group that alleged during the 2004 election that John Kerry's medals for valor were actually based on an act of cowardice. The incident, involving Kerry's killing of a Vietcong soldier, was not attended by any of the group's members. Moreover, the group claimed that Kerry shot a potentially unarmed and wounded teenager in the back while attempting to escape.

Franken states, using the testimony of the soldiers who were actually there, that Kerry's original version is the correct version. Franken also quotes a Ted Koppel story from 2004 when Koppel went to Vietnam and actually spoke with the commander of the Vietcong attack, who verified the man killed by Kerry was an adult, and military records that show the man was in possession of a grenade launcher.

[edit] Queer

Franken lays out John Kerry's exact stance on gay marriage (he's against it but agrees with civil unions). While Franken disagrees with this view, he says that Kerry has spoken on the record with the same opinion since at least 1996.

Franken shows photos of protestors and pamphlets in red states and swing states that say "Support Gay Marriage, Vote John Kerry." Franken implies that these protestors were employed by Republicans trying to sway voters by using the controversial issue of gay marriage.

[edit] Style

Like Franken's other books, this one relies on his comedy writing background. It is written with a tone of dry wit and sarcasm. Despite the comedic style, Franken does attempt to distinguish between truth and jokes. The book cover is black and has an Al Franken close up, reminiscent of the more serious style in his first book, Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot.