NYT on Franken: "Guy Walks Into a War"

[Rose Siding]

The only time I saw Sean Hannity on television, I assumed he was a comedian - a brilliant parodist of hyperkinetic right-wing talk show hosts. Since then I've been informed that Hannity really is a hyperkinetic right-wing talk show host, although it's hard to believe. How can anyone that funny be serious?

Al Franken openly admits being both a comedian and a lefty talk show host. After reading his new book, "The Truth (With Jokes)," one might wonder: How can anyone that serious be funny? In less experienced hands, earnestness and idealism can be toxic to political humor. It's safer to stick with acid sarcasm, spiced by bursts of cynical diatribe. Franken delivers some of that, and well, but the prevailing tone here is one of patriotic aggrievement at the nation's spiraling state of affairs.

Having grown up in polite, low-key Minnesota, Franken is incapable of either screaming or drooling. He has overcome this handicap to become a popular presence on Air America Radio, and the author of several best-selling books of commentary, including "Lies, and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them." As fans of his old stand-up routines and his sketch work on "Saturday Night Live" are aware, Franken is an immensely funny guy. Yet "The Truth" isn't sidesplitting, nor is it intended to be. Franken believes government has been hijacked by the extreme right, and the book is his call for a Democratic resurgence. He's so serious that he warns you when the jokes are coming, sometimes with helpful footnotes.
....
It happens that Hannity, the Fox News television personality, is one of Franken's favorite targets. Unfortunately, Hannity's bombast is so predictable that making sport of him soon becomes tedious. Franken is sharper and more persuasive when aiming at bigger fish in the Beltway barrel. He and his team of researchers specialize in zinging politicians with their own words, and that's what gives his book weight. Even better than the jokes is Franken's rollicking, journalistic enthusiasm for exposing lies, contradictions and hypocrisy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/04/books/review/04hiaasen.html