Quotes from Ari Melber

I don't look at ratings when they come out in the afternoon before the show because I'm focused on that day's show, but I do see the overall numbers.

Obama won the presidency by running the first integrated three-screen campaign - reaching people directly via Internet, cell phones, and TV - with an authentic, complex style that resonated for voters sick of dark, deceitful, and divisive politics.

I started freelancing, writing op-eds and book reviews, one at a time. I then got the opportunity to write recurring freelance pieces for 'The Nation' magazine, focusing on how the Internet was changing politics.

The Bush administration opened several lines of attack against the rule of law and the integrity of an independent Justice Department. The scandals are so famous that they've been reduced to shorthand: Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, NSA, Attorneygate.

Honestly, anchoring the news on a nightly basis is the hardest job I've ever taken on.

Only in Washington can the pursuit of a conservative agenda, with centrist policies, be depicted as liberal reform.

I think hip-hop has always been political because this is a community that doesn't have any other choice.

'House of Cards' is aiming for truth, not accuracy.

When I get serious criticism - if I get serious criticism - it's about how I'm thinking and engaging in a topic. I can't think of an example of someone saying, 'You're too nice.'

Of course, no one doubts McCain's personal tenacity, from braving torture to overcoming cancer. Yet plenty of nonpartisan observers doubt his credibility.

There's a great deal of enthusiasm about quality, serious journalism. And some of it relates to personalities because it's people who do the news. But I think it reflects a real desire for facts, real news and reporting.

Being an independent reporter with legal knowledge fits me better than being an attorney who is representing one side or one goal.

Confronting Republicans can definitely mobilize a disaffected Democratic base.

TV can keep you honest because the viewers really do listen. People who have succeeded in this have shown the audience how hard they work and that their reporting is really worthwhile.

It's never a good sign when extremism becomes the norm.

'House of Cards' is full of hypocrites, some ashamed, many proud. There is no silver lining here, no appeal to a just system that is temporarily thwarted by corrupting forces.

I've worked in government. I've worked in competitive New York litigation, I've worked as a writer and reporte..

When a government forcibly holds enough people indefinitely without trial, it evokes the kinds of raids, detention, and abuses of power associated with authoritarian states - or darker periods in American history.

A louder government with less journalism does not enrich our democratic process.

I was more interested in journalism and fact-finding than other things, so I didn't plan to work 30 years as a lawyer.

Hypocrites are more enraging than extremists, as every campaign operative knows.

The Obama campaign has adeptly used YouTube and social networks as a relatively thrifty way to do targeted messaging.

Companies like YouTube will continue to be tested on their commitment to the mission that made them such popular and profitable websites - providing an open platform to a wide range of ideas from around the world.

If you believe in democracy, you accept, by definition, the existence and triumph of opposing ideas. The people who believe deeply in the Internet's force as a commons operate on that kind of premise.