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.

  • September 12, 2011

    Paul Krugman on 9/11: “It has become an occasion for shame, and in its heart the nation knows it.”….James Taranto on Krugman: “For him, it is never time to be silent and always time to hate.”….Glenn Reynolds on Krugman: “A sad and irrelevant little man.”….Michelle Malkin on Krugman: "A lazy intellectual slob."....Fox’s Greg Gutfeld: “Go to hell Paul Krugman, you bitter bearded buffoon.”….Donald Rumsfeld on Krugman column: “Repugnant…Beyond the pale.”….Krugman on Rumsfeld: “The poster child for 9/11 exploitation.”….Glenn Beck: "Al Jazeera and the New York Times are one and the same."....
  • September 8, 2011

    Jon Huntsman on the U.S.: “Our core is broken. We are weak.”….Huntsman strategist John Weaver on GOP: “A bunch of cranks.”….Rick Perry on Social Security: “A monstrous lie.”….Michele Bachmann on Obama: “Has weakened us militarily and put us more at risk than any time.”….Mitt Romney on Obama: “Doesn’t have a clue.”….Rick Santorum on Obama: “Indecisive and confused.”….Newt Gingrich on Ben Bernanke: “I would fire him tomorrow.”….Sarah Palin on Hoffa: “Thuggery.”….Kim Kardashian on her family: “Like the Brady Bunch on crack.”….
  • September 7, 2011

    Rep. Joe Walsh on Obama: “How idiotic is this president?”….Frank Rich on Obama: “A rhetorical and…substantive failure.”….Sen. Jim DeMint on Obama: “I’m not interested in his speech.”….Palin on Obama: “He doesn’t make sense.”….Ron Paul ad on Rick Perry: “Al Gore’s Texas cheerleader.”….Teamster president Jim Hoffa on Tea Party: “Take these son-of-a-bitches out.”….
  • September 1, 2011

    Congressional Black Caucus member Andrew Carson: “Some of them in Congress right now of this Tea Party movement would love to see you and me…hanging on a tree.”….Ron Reagan on Cheney: “A war criminal.”….John Dean on Cheney: “A classic authoritarian personality.”….Dahlia Lithwick on Cheney memoir: “Starts to sound a little like the crazy lady in the attic.”….Robert Scherer on Cheney memoir: "Lying comes so easily that one must assume he takes the pursuit of truth to be nothing more than a reckless indulgence.”….Lawrence O’Donnell on Rudy Giuliani: “An ego-driven incompetent.”….
  • August 30, 2011

    Rep. Maxine Waters: “As far as I'm concerned, the Tea Party can go straight to hell.”...Romney on Obama: “Have we ever had a president who was so eager to address the world with an apology on his lips and doubt in his heart?”...David Horowitz on Obama: “He basically despises America.”...Rush Limbaugh on Irene: “I'll guarantee you Obama was hoping this was going to be a disaster as another excuse for his failing economy.”...Sean Hannity on Obama’s intelligence: “I’ve never seen his grades.”...Howard Portnoy on Keith Olbermann: “Clueless and hostile.”...Tennis analyst Mary Carillo on Ryan Harrison at U.S. Open: “Mr. Crankypants, he’s just acting like a brat out there."...