Glenn Greenwald: Stop Comparing People to Hitler(Note: Be sure to read the clarification at the end of this post).
This is pretty funny. Glenn Greewald gets upset at the
comparisons to Hitler. No, not
those comparisons:
These comparisons:
To pro-Bush war supporters, the world is forever stuck in the 1930s. Every leader we don't like is Adolph Hitler, a crazed and irrational lunatic who wants to dominate the world. Every country opposed to our interests is Nazi Germany.He invokes Godwin's Law:
The now well-known principle, Godwin's Law, holds: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler" increases and that once such a comparison is made, "the thread in which the comment was posted is finished and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever debate was in progress." That principle should be applied 100-fold to foreign policy choices, especially decisions about whether to start new wars.Predictably, it only takes a few comments before the most common comparison to Hitler is made:
The Queen is Not Amused said...
One regime that can be compared to the Nazi regime is the Bush regime. Everyone knows that. We also know that this country was "founded" on the same principals...CONQUER THE SAVAGES and TO THE VICTOR GO THE SPOILS. (What...? You thought it was freedom?)Clarification: Glenn stopped by in the comments and was, shall we say, not amused. Let me be clear. Glenn's point is reasonable and debatable. I do think that in general, comparisons to Hitler by either the Left or the Right are hyperbolic. What I found funny was that one of his commenters almost immediately responded with a comparison of Bush to Hitler.
