After skewering the right-wing media in his 2003 book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, comedian and satirist Al Franken returns with the authoritatively-titled The Truth (With Jokes), an equally incisive, hilarious dissection of dishonesty and Republican hypocrisy.

The argument against books like Franken’s is that they preach sorely to the choir. But here, unlike the shrill Ann Coulter, Franken never attacks the other side’s rank-and-file. And for good reason: Polls show that growing numbers of Republicans now disapprove of President George W. Bush’s performance. After reading Franken’s sourced analysis of the administration’s exploitation of Sept. 11 and the ugliness of Republican politics thereafter, it’s easy to see why.

Incidentally, the book is hilarious. As Franken describes the Election Day realization that Kerry would lose, a Democratic Congressman characterizes the outlook as merely being “cautiously optimistic.” “Cautiously optimistic? That’s not good,” Franken writes. “That’s an optimist’s way of saying, ‘We’re screwed.’ I’ve instructed my wife that if a doctor ever tells her that he’s ‘cautiously optimistic’ about my test results, she is to pull the plug immediately. I saw what happened to Terri Schiavo …”

Politics aside, it’s tough to deny Franken’s writing power. He is a master at intelligently using his anger and disappointment to generate something far beyond a political screed. It’s fierce, it’s funny, it’s hopeful and it’s more than just The Truth…it’s The Truth (with Jokes). m