Caption This. Al Franken the Newsman

[GulliverSwift]

"You know I'm Fair and Balanced. Anyone as boring as me must be fair and balanced."

[GulliverSwift]

By the way, for you DC Freepers. Here's where the the four-eyed blob will be to promote his book:

I'll be at the Borders at Bailey's Crossroads on Thursday, September 4, at 7:30. I'll be speaking, answering questions, and signing books. It's actually the kickoff book signing on my "Fair and Balanced" Tour 2003. See you all there!

[martin_fierro]

If anyone has a looping animated clip of Franken being clobbered by a car airbag on the short-lived "Lateline" sitcom, PLEASE POST IT.

[4mycountry]

"And the Lying Liars who tell them"???

Geez, did he ask a three year old to help him with the title?

[basil]

There is a bit of redundency there.

[quark]

"Yes, folks, it's me -- the fat, unfunny FJB with no secondary male sex characteristics."

[weegee]

Also a bit of hypocrisy. Does anyone actually believe that it will be a fair and balanced look at the right? That implies that there will be some pro-conservative statements made in addition to conservative bashing. That the set up for positions won't be tilted to slam conservative viewpoints.

How about writing a book that is a "Fair And Balanced" look at liars in the political arena (networks, publishers, editors, candidates, politicians, etc.)?

A Fair and Balanced look at the Right? I doubt it.

[Spyder]

[ditto h]

He might as well write books because he hasn't been funny in a long, long time.

[South40]

He might as well write books because he hasn't been funny in a long, long time.

Tue. The only time I ever thought he was funny was when he was being himself.

[Snowy]

"Yes, folks, it's me -- the fat, unfunny FJB with no secondary male sex characteristics."

[Johnny Gage]

This is Ima Pigfaced-Geek reporting from Baghdad.

[glock rocks]

[Ed_in_NJ]

Be on the lookout for my new book "Al Frankenshmuck is a Cheap Two-Bit Whore: Inside the Mind of a Dopey Opportunist" -- it will be full of blank pages.

Do you think Al will get the joke?

[mjp]

GOD CHOSE ME to write this book. The reason I know God chose me is because God spoke to me personally.

He is obviously lying about God speaking to him, so why should I believe anything in his book?

[jsbankston]

Franken's book is still number one on Amazon But Hillary Clinton is way down at 40 Something!

For some reason Amazon is reporting Coulter's book to be at Number 36. Looks to me that Amazon in cooking the books.

[AppyPappy]

Al Gore interviews Alfred E. Newman

[glock rocks]

[Jonah Johansen]

Email to Borders Management

Several weeks ago I read a report on-line, which said many Borders Book Stores were deliberately 'hiding' Ann Coulter's new book 'Treason'.
So I decided to check this accusation out for myself, by paying a visit to our local Borders. I looked for Ann Coulter's new book, 'Treason'. I could not find it displayed anywhere. After looking on every display table and endcap display, I found two copies of her book in the politics section, neither one was face out. The previous several days Ann Coulter had been on numerous national TV Shows hawking her book. I checked Amazon.com and her book was #2 after Harry Potter and I believe it was #3 or #4 on your list just ahead of Hillary's book.
I asked to speak to the store manager. She was very nice, listened patiently to my complaint. She assured me numerous, times that Borders was in the business of selling books, not suppressing the sales of books. I told her that what I had just witnessed made me very skeptical. She assured me that there were many copies of 'Treason' on order and if it was indeed a bestseller the book would be prominently displayed. I also paid a visit to Barnes and Noble that morning, basically the same story, the same denials from the store manager.

I am not a paranoid or a conspiracy theorist. I prefer to test things myself for the truth.

I went to Borders today to buy a book on World War II. I thought this might be a good time to check out how Borders was handling Al Franken's new book, also. I visited the store at precisely the same point in the books selling cycle as I had with Ann Coulter's book, i.e. the first week of release, immediately after the author had made the rounds of the talk shows,with the book near the top of Amazon.com's bestseller list.

What I saw was this. Not 2 books squirreled away on a shelf in the back; but right in front of the door as you enter store a huge display of Al Franken's book facing the door, 2 complete columns of books on display in the Bestseller's section right near the door(all the other bestsellers had one column). In other words Al Frankin's book had the most prominent display in the store. If one had wanted to increase sales you could not have had better placement, if the publisher themselves had been working in the store they could not have placed the book more advantageously.

I believe the incredible disparity in the way these 2 books were displayed when they first came out can not be dismissed as an anomaly or a simple oversight. I read accounts online, from almost a dozen people, saying that they had observed something similar at other Border's bookstores. To be fair some reported that they did see Ann Coulter's book displayed along with other best sellers.

If you are planning on writing me to assure me that Border's would never show favoritism towards books from the left over books from the right please spare me the aggravation.

People who work for your company at some level, store management, purchasing management, corporate management are delibertly trying to influence the sales of books in the first crucial weeks after release on the basis of their own personal political beliefs.

As a side note, while I was browsing the books in the history section of your store today, I thought "what am I doing here, I am not buying a book in this store, from these people". After finishing this letter I will be browsing Amazon.com for my World War II book. It is sad, because I was originally very happy to see a Borders come to our area, but I will not do business with people who put their thumb on the scale and favor an ideology I disagree with.