Yes dear readers, I am giving something away for free. Why? Because I want to show you how much I enjoy you stopping by and reading my awful shit. Does that make me a kiss ass? Perhaps. But who cares? You’re getting something for free.

And what is that something? Why it’s a book. Yes, a book. What book? Why the book Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth by Joe Conason. What’s it about? Here’s Amazon’s description:

Conservative talk show hosts and newspaper columnists have made an industry out of incessantly deriding the American left, citing liberals for everything from moral decay to bad economic policy to a soft approach on terrorism. Often these accusations are bound in book form and sell quite well. Only one problem, according to Salon.com and New York Observer writer Joe Conason: the charges they’re leveling just aren’t true. In Big Lies, Conason dissects 10 of the most persistent, and–according to him–glaringly incorrect, arguments made by conservatives. Each chapter begins with a quotation (“Liberals control the media and misuse their influence to promote left-wing politics,” “Conservatives are the only true champions of free enterprise”), which is then picked apart using statistical evidence and detailed historical research and rejected. The modern right wing, in the opinion of Conason, is not the bastion of virtue and defender of the common man it claims to be. Rather, it is a calculating and shrewdly efficient group of propagandists fueled by revenues generated by a system that rewards cronyism. Granted, it doesn’t take much to deflate the bombast of shrill political talk show hosts whose very living depends on making shocking accusations about public figures, a couple of raw facts usually does the trick, but Conason offers more than simple refutation, going deeper to challenge the presumptions that generate such platitudes. And he navigates a highly readable and informative writing style that feels more substantive than Molly Ivins and Al Franken but still a lot wittier than Noam Chomsky. Many of Conason’s arguments, like those of his foes, naturally come down to matters of opinion, and published material can readily be found to back up nearly any perspective. Nonetheless, he presents clear and logical points, and his thinking is well supported by both the historical record and empirical data. Accusing Joe Conason of lies (of any size) would certainly be a difficult task.

So how do you get this amazing book? Just leave a comment (with your email address) about which conservative lie you hate the most, and you’re entered to win. (The number of times you comment doesn’t mean your chances of winning goes up.) I’ve leave this post up on the front page until Sunday 8:00 pm est. Then I will randomly select a winner (via a midget, a hat full of numbers, and some scotch) and announce it after I finish watching Curb Your Enthusiasm. It’s that simple.

So good luck.

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