Earlier this morning, I wrote a piece titled “It is Time to Unite Behind Ted Cruz. Right Now.” As you might have expected, the piece has generated quite a bit of reaction around the Internet. Somewhat insanely, the vast majority of the negative reaction has not been from supporters of either Trump or Rubio, but rather from supporters of Cruz himself. I think it’s probably time for Cruz supporters to take a deep breath before engaging people from here on out.

The piece in question was designed specifically to convince people who don’t like Cruz to get on board with Cruz to stop Trump. To that end, I set forth a number of the reservations that some people have about Cruz and then explained why, whatever you think about Cruz, Trump is worse in that regard.

I did’t need to write a post to convince people who do like Cruz to get on board with Cruz, because they are already on board. So I didn’t write that piece.

Nonetheless, I got tons of angry comments, emails, and tweets from insanely defensive Cruz supporters who felt I was insufficiently worshipful of Cruz during the course of the post and slamming my post as “classless.” Many people accused me, even more insanely, of hating Ted Cruz. Others simply couldn’t handle the fact that I said some nice things about Marco Rubio during the post.

Get a freaking grip, people.

The idea that I don’t like Cruz or haven’t treated him positively this campaign season is absolutely insane. I’ve known Cruz since he came to the very first RedState gathering and have written literally hundreds of articles praising Cruz since then. To my knowledge, I’ve written exactly one post ever that was even marginally critical of Cruz, which was last fall when I thought he was being too cozy with Trump (a criticism which I stand by). I have never, not even once, been a jerk or condescending to people for supporting Cruz.

Listen to me: Cruz has won the battle between himself and Rubio. If, as I predict, he beats Rubio in Michigan tomorrow, that will be conclusive proof that this thing is all but over. Show some freaking class and good grace, people. Is the goal to help Ted Cruz win an election, or is the goal to prove to people on the Internet that you are the Most Right Person Who Ever Lived? If it’s the latter, then by all means be a jerk to Rubio supporters. Spike the football all you want. Achieve all the public catharsis you want after a bruising campaign.

If, on the other hand, you are interested in seeing Cruz win this thing, then consider that it might be a good idea not to push Rubio supporters into voting for either Trump or Kasich out of spite. Consider that, for Cruz to win, he needs to get at least 90% of Rubio’s support, so it might be a good idea to show a sunny side every once in a damn while and to respond to the bitterness and disappointment of Rubio supporters (which you yourself would feel if Cruz had taken a walloping on Saturday) with support and welcoming arms instead of childish sarcasm.

This is not a damn football game. The future of our country is at stake. If you can’t manage to not be a jerk to people who Cruz needs to stop the Trump Train, then maybe unplug from the Internet for a while until you have achieved a decent sense of equilibrium. This primary has been ugly and divisive enough already, and Donald Trump feeds on that for the base of his support. If we are going to turn this around, it’s time to let wounds heal and that starts with being gracious to one another.