The language of violence, hate and fear permeate every level of our public conversation.

We cannot avoid it. We cannot tune it out. We cannot pretend it is OK.

If, as children, we had used the kind of insulting and degrading language flowing out of our highest public offices today, our parents and grandparents would have washed out mouths out with soap. (For those under 35 or 40, yes, that was a real thing). Now we consider such language normal. Racially charged insults have moved from the margins of low-bar comedy to the height of political discourse. Degrading the poor or disabled is no longer frowned upon. The so—called “locker-room talk” teenage boys were supposed to outgrow as they learned to respect women has now become a normal part of the workplace and the media…