Archive
Mudline Archive
STICKS, STONES, BROKEN BONES
During the 2000 Bush-Gore presidential race, we began collecting negative soundbites and posting them weekly on a MUDLINE ticker, as a temporary election feature. But in the aftermath of that tumultuous contest we realized that the tone of public discourse was unlikely to improve, and elected to continue the feature. Unfortunately, we were right; two decades later, incivility is hotter than ever. If you just can’t get enough snark on social media, this mud’s for you.
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January 20, 2012
Santorum on Gingrich as Speaker: "No discipline, no ability to be able to pull things together."....Former Rep. Susan Molinari on Gingrich: "Had a leadership style that can only be described as leadership by chaos."....Romney campaign on Gingrich: "An unreliable leader."....Lloyd Grove on Gingrich: "Like a giant Death Star."....Gingrich on news media: "Destructive, vicious, negative."....Romney on Obama: "Taking away the rights of our citizens."....Bill O'Reilly on Ron Paul: "Doesn't get it, and he hasn't ever gotten it, and he never will get it."....Glenn Beck on Paul foreign policy: "Sounds a little like Osama bin Laden."....Paul Begala on Perry: "A dope."....Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson on Kwanzaa: "The racist holiday from hell.".... -
January 16, 2012
Romney on Gingrich Super PAC ad: “Probably the biggest hoax since Bigfoot.”….Perry on Romney: "There's a difference between venture capitalism and vulture capitalism."....Romney on opponents: "Bitter politics of envy."....Gingrich on Obama: "The best food stamp president in American history."....Romney on Obama: "Everywhere he goes we hear him talking about millionaires and billionaires and executives and Wall Street. It's a very envy-oriented, attack-oriented approach."....Perry on Obama administration: "Disdain for the military."....Andrew Sullivan on Perry: "A walking parody of a troglodyte...Will say anything to smear the commander in chief as a traitor.".... -
January 12, 2012
Paul Begala on Gingrich: "Grandiosity, self-delusion, and brazen, utter, shameless chutzpah."....Maureen Dowd on Gingrich: "A crazed Chuckie doll."....James Taranto on Gingrich: "Wretched and unprincipled attacks."...National Review on Gingrich's Romney attacks: "Foolish and destructive."....Club for Growth prez Chris Chocola on Gingrich attacks: "Disgusting."....Rush Limbaugh: "This is not a campaign for the presidency. That's not what this is anymore. This is payback time. This is Newt."....NH activist/artist Vermin Supreme at Gingrich event: "Newt! Newt! Newt! We have you surrounded. Come out with your hands up and your pants down!".... -
January 9, 2012
Gingrich on Romney: "Pious baloney."....DNC communications director Brad Woodhouse on Romney: "Truth challenged."....Carl Paladino on Romney: "A plastic tool of the Republican establishment."....David Axelrod on Romney: "Taking two positions on every issue, one on the left and one on the far right, doesn't make you a centrist. It makes you a charlatan."....Perry on Romney: "There is something inherently wrong when getting rich off failure and sticking it to someone else is how you do your business."....Chris Matthews on Romney: "I have no idea what he believes. He's dog-trained himself to say certain things."....Romney on Huntsman: "The person who should represent our party running against President Obama is not someone who called him a remarkable leader and went to be his ambassador in China."....Huntsman on Romney: "This nation is divided because of attitudes like that."....Michelle Malkin: "We need GOP debate sponsored by Viagra to cure collective impotence of the non-Romneys.".... -
January 2, 2012
Newt Gingrich: "Romney would buy the election if he could."....Rick Santorum on Ron Paul: "Disgusting."....Joe Scarborough on Gingrich: "Not fit to be the president of the United States."....Michele Bachmann on Planned Parenthood: "They want to become the Lenscrafters of big abortion."....Donald Trump: "We have the Manchurian Candidate as our president."....Gingrich on opponents: "Nastier and more dishonest than I expected."....Iowa Gov. Terry Brandstad on Huntsman: "He's an asterisk, and he's never going to get beyond that."....NH Union Leader publisher Joseph W. McQuaid on Ron Paul: "A dangerous man...Has been consistently spouting...nonsense."....Gingrich on Republican Establishment: "Anti-intellectual and anti-change...They're for winning as long as it's meaningless."....Mark Steyn on Ron Paul: "Sheer stupid half-witted parochialism."....Gingrich: "I feel Romney-boated."....