Mary Novaria

Indignant? Horrified? Dismayed?  I can’t find the exact right word, or combination of words, to adequately describe my feelings about what happened in Charlottesville and in the days since.  I can’t fathom the depths of bigotry that motivate the hateful rhetoric and symbolism of the white nationalist movement. How do we even begin to heal the vast chasm that divides these extremists from the rest of us? The fact that there is an “us” and a “them” is abhorrent, but I will clearly stand with my sisters and brothers and declare myself on the side of People of Color, Jews, the LGBTQ community, and anyone else targeted by the vile (anagram of evil) fringe that bangs its drums to the rhythm of fanatical narrow mindedness. Is it a paradox to be intolerant of white supremacists while calling for them to be tolerant of others? Are we allowed to hate them and the people who refuse to harshly condemn them? Can we claim that we are on the righteous side of the abyss...

The vitriol that is spread under the cover of social media anonymity is quickly infecting the rest of society. March 7, 2017  by  Mary Novaria   Featured on The Good Men Project Getty Images I’ve heard it said that folks who spew malicious attacks and toxic name-calling on Twitter are hiding behind relative anonymity—that they would never look someone in the eye and repeat face-to-face the same nasty, ugly venom, they type out to the world in 140 characters or less. Whether that theory is true, and I’m not convinced it is, doesn’t matter. Words are currency. Whether delivered via social media, a phone call, email or text, or in the presence of others, the words we choose and way we use them speaks volumes about who we are, both individually and as a society. ◊♦◊ So when I see the headline,  Longtime Trump Adviser Calls Critic a “Stupid Ignorant Ugly B—–, ” it gets my hackles up. Although some of his most profane and poisonous tweets wer...