The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #115684   Message #2478569
Posted By: Alice
28-Oct-08 - 06:23 PM
Thread Name: Review: A vote for McCne/Wrzlbkr one for Hitler!
Subject: RE: Review: A vote for McCne/Wrzlbkr one for Hitle
Godwin's Law or Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies

Joe the Plumber obviously doesn't understand Obama's policies if he is saying Israel will be destroyed, but to bring in "Hitler" or "Nazi" into this I think is an example of Godwin's law.


---------see link to Godwin's Law---------
    "As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one."

Godwin's Law is often cited in online discussions as a deterrent against the use of arguments in the reductio ad Hitlerum form.

The rule does not make any statement whether any particular reference or comparison to Hitler or the Nazis might be appropriate, but only asserts that one arising is increasingly probable. It is precisely because such a comparison or reference may sometimes be appropriate, Godwin has argued[4] that overuse of Nazi and Hitler comparisons should be avoided, because it robs the valid comparisons of their impact. Although in one of its early forms Godwin's Law referred specifically to Usenet newsgroup discussions,[5] the law is now applied to any threaded online discussion: electronic mailing lists, message boards, chat rooms, and more recently blog comment threads and wiki talk pages.