In college, my favorite favorite FAVORITE blog was written by a genius named Allie Brosh.
One of her best entries was about a code word that she and her friends were forced to use: "Please stop."
I'll let Allie take it from here:
When I was a child, one of the things I enjoyed doing was hitting other children with a stick. Many of my classmates also enjoyed doing this. We would walk through the forest in back of our school, trying to find the biggest stick we could feasibly wield as a weapon. When we found the right stick, we would lure an unsuspecting child out of the teacher's sight during recess and attack them. We called this game Stick War and it was the best game ever as long as you weren't the one being beaten mercilessly.
We were able to secretly play Stick War for almost three whole days before one of our asshole classmates ruined it by calling for help when we wouldn't stop hitting him. Our teacher was furious. She sat us down and told us that from then on, if any one of us felt like we were being treated unfairly, we could yell "PLEASE STOP!" and the offending party must stop or face dire consequences.
Life after Please Stop was very different for us. We could no longer overpower our classmates with our brutality.
No matter what was happening to you, you could always count on Please Stop to prevent it from continuing. It was a magic bullet of pure power.
Thanks, Allie.
Many, many times throughout this election cycle, I (and probably you) have thought, "Please stop." Because I have friends of all political and social leanings, I don't post a lot about politics on this blog. Well - I did post a goofy letter to Donald Trump, but that was when he was one of a thousand Republican primary candidates, not the nominee.
At this point, though, Donald Trump has managed to offend absolutely everyone I know in some way. Donald. It's almost amazing.
So here are some thoughts. But because I believe in kindness above almost anything else, I think it's important to say, "Please."
Please stop insulting the families and traditions of veterans who died for this country.
Please stop casually implying that people have the option to assassinate Hillary Clinton should she become president.
Please stop making fun of people with disabilities.
Please stop saying that Mexicans who illegally immigrate to this country bring crime, drugs, and rape.
Please stop telling people that Senator John McCain, famous POW, is not a war hero.
Please stop telling people stories about a video you saw (that, in reality, doesn't exist) where money was airlifted to Iran.
Please stop bullying new moms at your rallies.
Please stop suggesting that Russia hack your opponent's e-mails.
Please stop saying that the PRESIDENT OF THESE UNITED STATES is the "founder of ISIS."
Please stop shooting your mouth off about nuclear weapons.
Please stop.
Please stop.
Please stop.
Listen: every candidate, throughout the history of presidential elections, has said and done things we wish they wouldn't. If you know me well, you know that, though I lean left on the political spectrum, I want there to be two solid, respectable, fantastic people in the race for President of the United States. That's democracy. That's beautiful.
I know that some would argue we have zero solid, respectable, fantastic people in this race. I hear ya.
But this guy? This is some next-level, pretty much completely unacceptable no matter who you are stuff.
You've hurt feelings, incited outrage, shocked, appalled, and bullied. Come on, dude. Seriously. Please stop.