I really try to avoid discussing politics on this blog. Talking politics on the Internet never ends well, and it kind of goes against the celebration of escapism this blog is meant to be.

But I feel we may be at a tipping point in history, and I feel the need to speak out. I very much doubt my little blog will make any difference, but I have to at least try, if only for my own sanity.

This post is about Donald Trump, but it is addressed to the Democrats, left wingers, and all people of sanity and decency in the United States of America.

Let’s be clear here: Trump is a Nazi.

Yes, I know about Godwin’s Law, and I know the Hitler comparison is ludicrously over-used in discussions of politics. Even my own side is guilty. I mean, Bush was horrible, but he wasn’t Hitler.

But when a candidate has openly advocated for committing war crimes, when he’s said he wants to see anyone who protests or disagrees with him savagely beaten, when he plans to force labels on a specific religious group, when he’s been endorsed by the KKK, when people at his rallies perform the Nazi salute and tell black protesters to “go back to Africa,” the shoe starts to fit.

Now is the time for all people of good conscience in America to unite for sanity and humanity.

That’s not what’s happening.

All I see from the left in America is vicious in-fighting between the supporters of Bernie Sanders and Hilary Clinton.

For what it’s worth, I think Bernie is the better candidate. If I had a magic wand, I’d put him in charge (actually I’d pick Elizabeth Warren, but he’s the second best choice).

But it’s disgusting the way Bernie supporters have demonized Hilary Clinton. Even more so that so many Bernie supporters say they will vote for Trump if Bernie doesn’t get the nomination.

Others say that if Bernie doesn’t get the nomination, they’ll write him in, or vote for an independent, or just not vote at all, but any of those options amounts to a vote for Trump, and you’ll still bear the responsibility for what will follow.

Look, I understand the anger. Corporations have dominated the American political system for far too long. They’ve jeopardized individual liberties. They’ve made a mockery of democracy.

Bernie is offering a hope of breaking that yoke, and that’s a dream worth fighting for. But it isn’t the only thing that matters.

Trump has declared his desire to commit murder of innocent people. I want you to sit back and think long and hard about what it says about you if you’re more concerned about your own political cause than the lives of other human beings.

If Bernie Sanders doesn’t become president in 2016, that will not be the end of the hope for getting big money out of the political system. There will be other chances. Nothing is going to bring back the people Trump is going to kill.

And maybe even that doesn’t move you. You know, I can understand that. I’m not the most altruistic person myself. You might not be too worried about what Trump is going to do, especially if you’re not one of the groups he and his supporters are out to get.

But consider that World War II didn’t end so well even for the people Hitler did like. Plenty of Aryans died for his twisted dream of purity. Maybe you’re not worried about being the next Auschwitz, but you should be worried about being the next Dresden.

And I get that Hilary is not the most immediately likable person around. She’s a career politician, and there’s a lot about her that’s clearly artificial.

But she’s not the spawn of Satan. At worst, she’s a continuation of the status quo, and the status quo has a lot of problems, but it’s vastly better than Trump’s vision of the future.

Her being the consummate politician isn’t entirely a bad thing, either. Whether Bernie wins or loses, he’s created a huge push for social progress, and I think Hilary will respond to that. She’ll do it because it’s popular, not because it’s the right thing, but if she does it, what does her reasoning matter?

Neither can we be sure Bernie would accomplish all he hopes to. There seems to be the belief that if Bernie is elected, he will instantly purge all wickedness from the American political system, and the sun will shine brighter, and everyone will get a pet bunny.

I’m not an expert on US civics, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work that way. He’ll still need to work with an entire political system that is very much against him. I imagine he’d achieve more positive change than Clinton, but I wonder whether the gap is really that big.

Don’t think I’m only picking on Bernie supporters, either. Hilary’s camp has more than its share of extreme views, too. If you’re one of the people calling Bernie a communist, or trying to hold him responsible for some the douchey things people have done in his name (without any prompting from him), or otherwise trying to demonize one of the few truly good and idealistic people in American politics, you are absolutely part of the problem, too.

The fact is they’re both strong candidates. I think Bernie is better, but you could do a lot worse than Clinton. In any other election cycle, this kind of in-fighting might be tolerable, if asinine, but there are bigger fish to fry, people.

Maybe you think I’m being hyperbolic, and I hope I am, but a lot of people didn’t take Adolf Hitler seriously until it was too late. He wasn’t able to unleash the horrors he did because Germany was full of evil people, but because the Germans of good conscience failed to stop him. Don’t let history repeat itself.

If it were only America on the line, I’d say just leave it to its fate — you reap what you sow. But America is a very powerful country, and hate like Trump’s doesn’t stay contained. It will spread and poison my country and many others.

I don’t want to be Poland, so you guys better get your act together.