(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

Recently the Somerville News Weekly has highly offended myself and other proud residents of Somerville for extremely offensive comments made by James A Norton. In his most recent Reality Bites column, Norton started off immediately by referring to the City of Somerville as “a village of idiots” and followed that up by calling the people of Somerville “dummies,” “mental midgets,” and “douchebags.”

Now, granted this is a small local newspaper that few read (and after that article even fewer), but could you imagine reading an article in The Boston Globe where the columnist insulted the citizens of Boston and went on about how annoyed he is by them? Of course not, because that is not news; and you won’t find any real news in James A Norton’s column. The article was just an excuse for Norton to “bitch and moan” (as he himself stated in his column) over an avalanche of negative feedback from myself and many other Somerville residents over the paper’s endorsement of Donald Trump. Norton attempted to make the article seem as if it was about a foolish PowerBall meme, but it clearly wasn’t.

Somerville has been my home for nearly a decade now. Although I grew up in other surrounding cities I will always consider Somerville my hometown. I live here, work here, and my wife and I got married at City Hall before we had our wedding ceremony. Needless to say, because of my love for the ‘Ville I was extremely offended by Norton’s negative perspective on my city and it’s residents. Where Norton sees “annoying nitwits” in the many squares of Somerville, I see a beautiful diverse culture of friendly faces. Norton sees the citizens of Somerville as “mental midgets,” where I see a thriving young community of artists, intellectuals, and professionals. James A Norton is blind to all that is great about our city and that may be the reason he doesn’t live here. Yes, that’s right. James A Norton is NOT a resident of the city he writes for and insults. We’re all the happier for it. We don’t want people like James A Norton in an open-minded city like Somerville.

Somerville News Weekly and Norton believe that my anger is all about our differing political opinions and that “people are entitled to their own opinions.” That’s true. People are entitled to their own opinions. But newspapers and other news organizations are NOT. Under the Journalistic Code of Ethics journalists are supposed to give a completely unbiased take on events, politics, and culture. And you’re definitely not supposed to insult the city you are representing and writing the news for. Maybe James A Norton should read up on it. Yes James, I do understand you weren’t trying to insult “everyone” in Somerville, but you were insulting people in your hateful column nonetheless. A newspaper is not the place to be airing dirty laundry or personal gripes. Norton’s columns are consistently filled with vulgar language and insults towards whatever/whoever “grinds his gears” that particular week. I’m personally disgusted and ashamed that a newspaper in my city prints that garbage and you should be too.

The reason why myself and many others were rubbed the wrong way by the newspaper’s endorsement of Donald Trump is because Trump does NOT at all represent the values of most Somerville residents. Trump believes that Mexican immigrants coming to this country are the worst the country has to offer and that they are mostly “drug dealers” and “rapists,” which simply isn’t true. Somerville has a large Hispanic population, many of which are Mexican. I’ve worked alongside many Mexican immigrants in my life and have gotten to know them. The majority are hardworking family orientated people who simply come here because they want a better life. Trump and Somerville News Weekly believe that he will get Mexico to pay for a “Great Wall” along our border. Are you kidding me? It’s a completely unrealistic feat logistically. And for anyone who thinks Mexico would pay for a wall to be built to fence in it’s own people … well, I’ve got some magic beans I’d like to sell you.

Recently, Trump had a peaceful Muslim woman and Jewish man thrown out of one of his rallies for just standing there peacefully as his supporters screamed hateful things at them. Trump excludes. We here in Somerville do not share his mentality. We do not support bigotry, racism, or exclusion. We welcome people of all races, religions, sexual orientation, and cultures. It’s part of what makes our city so beautiful and great. I’m sure there are Trump supporters in the ‘Ville, and as I stated before they are entitled to their opinion; but there was a reason why so many people felt the need to speak out negatively about the News Weekly endorsing Trump. Somerville is a very progressive city that is starting to have that hip side of Brooklyn type feel to it. There is a young, vibrant energy that thrives here and brings the beloved weirdos of the city together and unites us. The heart of my Somerville, the city that I love, is the opposite of everything Donald Trump stands for and I know many here agree with me.

So, James A Norton can keep publishing his vulgar insult laced rants, but if you would rather read about all the great things happening in this city check out my new column Villens United here at The Somerville Times. I promise to be the yin to James A Norton’s yang and keep you informed about all the fun stuff happening right outside your door.

Later ‘Villens. Stay Classy. (mic drop)

— Chris Haskell
Somerville