bigotry : stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one’s own.

Surely even bigots can find within themselves some impulse to behave and to articulate with some respect for other human beings despite the differences between them, yes? I don’t think bigotry necessarily implies the degree or immediacy of hostility and abuse seen in many of the comments highlighted in this article.

Perhaps what we’re seeing here is increasingly visible evidence of ‘dark tetrad’ personality traits. If that’s so, then the context of this particular incident isn’t so much ‘the problem’ as it may be a symptom of a larger problem — larger in the sense of cultural rather than partisan. Searching online for “dark tetrad”, particularly for correlations between “Internet troll” and “everyday sadism”, may prove insightful.

In any case, my heart goes out to Emily for the abuse directed at her.