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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November 15, 2012
Sen. Lindsey Graham on Obama: "Failed as commander in chief before, during, and after the [Benghazi] attack."....Sen. John McCain on Obama: "Has either been guilty of colossal incompetence, or engaged in a cover-up."....Fox affiliate anchor Tricia Macke on Rachel Maddow: "Such an angry young man."....Ross Douthat on Dick Morris: "A joke to every smart conservative in Washington and most every smart conservative under the age of 40 in America."....Historian Douglas Brinkley on Romney: "The only thing he seems proficient at is making himself money."....Rush Limbaugh on Dems: "Hard work is sneered at."....Guy Nicolucci on Karl Rove: "Has redistributed more money from billionaires than Barack Obama ever will."....David Letterman on Rove: "A pudgy little weasel.".... -
November 9, 2012
Karl Rove on Obama: "Succeeded by suppressing the vote."....Dick Morris on Obama: "Only a nitpicking, quarrelsome, negative figure."....Radio host Michael Graham on Obama: "He ran on the Republicans are Satan incarnate, and if women vote for him they're going to be forced into rape camps."....Neal Boortz on election: "Moochers, trial lawyers, union goons -- they win the day."....Ted Nugent on Obama: "Pimps, whores and welfare brats and their soulless supporters have a president to destroy America."....Rush Limbaugh on America: "Liberty versus tyranny. We're four years into tyranny winning."....Donald Trump on Brian Williams: "Was never a smart guy but always passes himself off as such.".... -
November 7, 2012
Brian Williams on Donald Trump: "Has driven well past the last exit to relevance."....E.J. Dionne, Jr. on GOP: "Determined to bring the Gilded Age back and undo the achievements of a century."....Rudy Giuliani on FEMA: "Has dropped the ball, certainly as big as they did with Katrina, maybe bigger."....Rush Limbaugh on Obama: "This guy is about revenge and vengeance."....James Taranto: "If Obama loses, the left will blame imaginary racists."....The Economist on Romney: "Has an economic plan that works only if you don't believe most of what he says...There are a lot of Romneys and they have committed themselves to a lot of dangerous things."....'Runaway Slave' painter Jon McNaughton: "The Democratic Party has brought the demise of Black America."....Hunter at Daily Kos: "Hell's only news channel will consist of Allen West appearing on Fox & Friends, nonstop, for countless millennia.".... -
October 31, 2012
Biden on Romney GM ad: "Scurrilous...Flagrantly dishonest...An outrageous lie."....Michael Reagan on Obama: "Egocentric...Control freak."....Norm Onstein on Romney: "If you're looking for gold medals in terms of audacious lying, and adamant refusal to turn over personal information, nobody comes close."....David Axelrod on Romney: "The most secretive candidate we've seen probably since Richard Nixon."....Harvard economist Larry Summers on Romney budget plan: "Alchemy."....Robert Reich on Romney: "Wants to do everything he can to make the superwealthy even wealthier and the poor even poorer, and he justifies it all with a thinly veiled social Darwinism."....Michael "Heckuva Job Brownie" Brown on Obama: "One thing he's gonna be asked is, why did he jump on [Sandy] so quickly and go back to D.C. so quickly when in...Benghazi, he went to Las Vegas?"....Barbara Walters on Donald Trump: "You're making a fool of yourself.".... -
October 23, 2012
Chris Christie on Obama: "Blindly walking around the White House looking for a clue."....Obama on Romney: "The 1980s are now calling and asking for their foreign policy back."....Romney ad on Obama: "Four more years of this? You've got to be kidding."....Matt Taibi on Romney-Ryan platform: "A fourth-rate parlor trick designed to paper over the real agenda -- cutting taxes even more for super-rich dickheads like Mitt Romney, and getting everyone else to pay the bill."....Biden on Romney: "What I can't understand is how he has gotten in this 1950s time warp."....Paul Krugman on Romney team: "Willfully, nakedly, distorting the record."....John Kerry on Romney: "Has changed his position on almost everything."....Gloria Steinem on Romney: "The most-destructive-to-equality candidate I've ever heard of."....Andrew Sullivan on Romney: "A fraud, a war-monger, a liar and a budget-buster."....Ann Coulter on Obama: "The retard."....Todd Akin spokesman Rick Tyler: "If Claire McKaskill were a dog, she'd be a Bullshitsu."....