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.
-
March 28, 2015
Glenn Beck on GOP: "They are not good....They're torpedoing the constitution and they're doing it knowingly."....Charles M. Blow on Gov. Bobby Jindal: "Increasingly comes across as nuttier than a piece of praline."....Stephen King on Maine Gov. LePage: "Full of the stuff that makes grass grow green...Needs to remember there ain't no free lunch.".... -
March 18, 2015
Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder on Ferguson report: "There is more racism in the Justice Department than there is...anywhere that I see in the St. Louis area."....Univision host Rodner Figueroa on First Lady Michelle Obama: "Looks like she's part of the cast of 'Planet of the Apes.'"....Sen. Dick Durbin on delay of Loretta Lynch confirmation: "The first African-American woman nominated to be attorney general is asked to sit in the back of the bus when it comes to the Senate calendar."....Nahum Barnea on Netanyahu's campaign promises: "Written on ice on a very hot day."....Stephen Sondheim on Lady Gaga's 'Sound of Music' tribute: "Ridiculous...A travesty."....President Obama at Gridiron Dinner: "You don't diminish your office by taking a selfie. You do it by sending a poorly-written letter to Iran. Really, that wasn't a joke.".... -
March 12, 2015
NY Daily News on GOP senators who wrote to Iran's leaders: "Traitors."….Major Gen. Paul D. Eaton: "Mutinous…Defied the chain of command."….New York Times: "GOP Idiocy...Disgraceful and irresponsible."....Leslie Gelb: "Hate President Obama more than they love America."....Bernie Sanders: "Unspeakable...Outrageous."....Obama: "Wanting to make common cause with the hardliners in Iran."....Harry Reid: "Juvenile...Apparently, some of my Republican colleagues do not believe that two wars are enough."....former Reagan adviser Bruce Bartlett on CPAC attendees: "They are really rather stupid and not very well read. To them Reagan is a distant figure in history...I think he would probably be booed out of the crowd."....Phil Robertson: "You know what's happened, GOP? We got too many 'any others' in the White House. It wasn't meant for them.".... -
March 4, 2015
Sen. Ted Cruz: "We need a commander in chief who will actually stand up and defend the United States of America!"....House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Netanyahu speech: "Condescension...[An] insult to the intelligence of the United States."...Sen. Chris Murphy: "A stick in the eye of the president."....Sen. Barbara Boxer: "Circular reasoning."....Rep. John Yarmuth: "Straight out of the Dick Cheney playbook."....Rep. Jan Schakowsky: "Felt to me like an effort to stampede the United States into war once again."....Rep. Jim McDermott: "He was trying to make people afraid."....Christiane Amanpour: "Strangelovian."....Rep. Jared Huffman: "He's never seen a war he didn't want our country to fight."....The Guardian: "Did what he does so well: scared American politicians to death.".... -
February 26, 2015
South Dakota state Sen. Isaac Latterell on Planned Parenthood: "Worse than ISIS."....Keith Olbermann on Penn State students: "Pitiful."....Bill O'Reilly on David Corn: "A left-wing assassin...A guttersnipe liar...I expect [him] to be in the kill zone. Where he deserves to be."....Corn on O'Reilly: "It's impossible to win a debate with O'Reilly because he is not bound by reality."....Rudy Giuliani: "I don't believe the president loves America. He doesn't love you. He doesn't love me."....NY Daily News on Giuliani: "Loves America. But apparently he hates Barack Obama even more."....David Axelrod on Giuliani: "A fading politician, kind of lighting himself on fire and trying to get some attention."....Sally Kohn on Giuliani remarks: "Narrow-minded, ugly and just plain offensive."....Hannibal Buress on fans: "Stop calling me your f***ing spirit animal."....