The Best New Google Chrome Extension

If you watched the GOP debate last Thursday, there's one exchange you probably remember. It was arguably the most dramatic isolated moment in the entire night: Megyn Kelly challenging Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on his history of directing insults at women, and Trump playing the whole thing off as an argument about "political correctness." Maybe the anti-PC crowd could stand to benefit from this — Donald Trump needs this political correctness Google Chrome extension.

While critics of political correctness sometimes hail from the left, there's no doubt that conservatives seem to hold it in the highest scorn. And Trump's invocation of it is particularly bad, treating the entire concept of political correctness like a cheap rhetorical trapdoor to duck past or present gaffes. It was a deeply frustrating moment, and it came right after one of the few decidedly big responses Trump drew that night, when he claimed he'd only directed such insults at Rosie O'Donnell.

Why do so many people love the idea that Trump isn't "politically correct" so much? It's impossible to say for certain, but maybe it has something to do with a lack of respect. Which is why this Google Chrome extension is perfect – whenever you come across the words "political correctness," it replaces them with a simpler description, "treating people with respect."

So, for example, with the Chrome extension this CNN headline would change to "Trump: I don't have time for total treating people with respect." A Washington Times article would become "Donald Trump: Treating people with respect is 'big problem' in U.S." His quotes would change to read a little more informatively: "We need energy and enthusiasm, and this treating people with respect is absolutely killing us as a country."

According to the extension's creator, Byron Clark, the clever idea was inspired by author Neil Gaiman, who wrote the following on his official Tumblr on Valentine's Day 2013.

I was reading a book (about interjections, oddly enough) yesterday which included the phrase "In these days of political correctness..." talking about no longer making jokes that denigrated people for their culture or for the colour of their skin. And I thought, "That’s not actually anything to do with ‘political correctness’. That’s just treating other people with respect."

Which made me oddly happy. I started imagining a world in which we replaced the phrase "politically correct" wherever we could with "treating other people with respect", and it made me smile.

You should try it. It’s peculiarly enlightening.

I know what you’re thinking now. You’re thinking “Oh my god, that’s treating other people with respect gone mad!"

If you have any doubts whether Trump's comments are really just a matter of violating basic standards of respect, well, you should take a look at them. As Kelly said in her question to Trump at the debate, he's thrown around words like "fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals." In 2011, columnist Gail Collins wrote for The New York Times that Trump responded to a crack about his wealth by sending her a copy of her picture with the phrase "The Face of a Dog!" written on it.

Simply put, you shouldn't get to cry "political correctness" when you're called out for being a boor. If Trump had said something controversial in pursuit of a greater, important truth, he'd at least have more of a case for himself. But it seems to just be all about jabbing at critics for him, and those are the people who could learn something from Clark's Google Chrome extension — people who confuse respectfulness with weakness, and personal attacks with truth-telling.