I truly believe this presidential election has the potential to implode the Grand Old Party.

House Speaker Paul Ryan got it right in a rousing speech to the House interns and members of the media earlier this week, when he bemoaned the state of the party and of American politics in general.

“All of us as leaders can hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity and decency. Instead of playing to your anxieties, we can appeal to your aspirations. Instead of playing the identity politics of ‘our base’ and ‘their base,’ we unite people around ideas and principles.”

Though he didn’t call Trump out by name, it is clear who Ryan was referring to.

Besides Mitt Romney’s too-little, too-late, too-petty attacks on Trump that have been played to  news media to make himself look good, Ryan’s speech represents the first major Party member—and as third in line to the presidency, the highest member of the leadership—to denounce the coming Trump candidacy that will undoubtedly sink this ailing ship.

Today’s GOP is a mutation of the Republican Party of years past that has been hijacked by racists, con artists, fake evangelicals and uneducated clowns.

The worst thing is that some of these racists and cons are well educated and have used their knowledge—that could do so much good—to inflict oppression and pain onto already undeserved populations. As hard as it is to believe, Donald Trump graduated from Penn State while Ted Cruz went to Princeton and Harvard.

When a formerly-indifferent-about-politics simpleton sees such candidates validating his xenophobia disguised as a religious concern on a national stage, whatever non-existent “political correctness” he possessed can fly out the window and the chance of violence skyrockets.

I do not think political correctness is a bad thing—it is not OK to denounce an entire religion over the actions of a few. It is not OK to cite religious authority to limit women’s rights over their bodies. It is not OK for part of your platform to be the deportation of 3 percent of the total U.S.  and throw them on the other side of a wall that will never be built, no matter how hard you try.

There is a line between being too politically correct, and simply being a decent human being.

In the aftermath of the Brussels attacks, as the world stood with Belgium and offered its condolences and resources to bring the so-called Islamic State to justice, Trump and Cruz offered their plans on how to eradicate Muslims from the U.S., finding a way to turn the attention back to them.

It’s likely that the two front-runners thought they were untouchable, but even conservatives demanded their statements retracted and apologies made—even though it wasn’t over the subject matter, but the timing that made the party look bad.

Donald Trump recently threatened Ted Cruz’s wife on Twitter. In what world is it acceptable to attack the looks of an opponent’s spouse to “get ahead” in the so-called polls Trump is always citing? Let me be clear, I am not defending Heidi or Ted Cruz, and I refuse to attack Melania Trump simply on the fact that she has appeared naked in a major magazine.

A conversation on sexism and slut shaming in elections should not even be had—what’s next? My son is cuter than your daughters? Donald, let me save you the trouble and say that is objectively not true, because despite their unfortunate paternity, Caroline and Catherine Cruz are extremely adorable.

Admittedly, candidates’ spouses put themselves in the public eye and should be prepared for attacks, but not by another candidate and certainly not on what they look. By the way, those “beans” Trump threatened to spill on Heidi Cruz? She worked for the architect of NAFTA and is a Wall Street insider. Surprise!

This election already has had everything: mudslinging, lies passed off as truth, sabotage. It’s as if the playbook for good, strong politics has been thrown out and replaced with a giant neon sign that reads “Anything Goes!”

Even after leaving the race for the White House, former Republican candidates have still found new ways to disappoint the American public with their indecisiveness at best and blatant selling-out at worst. Ben Carson endorsed Trump and justifying it by claiming a spot in his administration. Lindsey Graham endorsed Cruz, even though his attacks of him have been well documented and revived.

At this point, the race for the GOP nomination has become a case of picking the lesser of two very, very evils. This speaks volumes not only about the election, but of the state of American politics today—say whatever you want and there will be no consequences and anyone can be bought because at this point it’s so laughably obvious they don’t even bother clearing up their tracks.