Did Donald Trump Destroy Godwin’s Law?
As a nerd who values old school internet memes, I value Godwin’s Law — an internet staple since 1990, that as online discussions grow, people become more likely to compare the other side to Hitler.
Its meaning and poignancy rests on the accusation having no basis.
What if the accusation had basis?
Godwin’s Law is poignant and meaningful because it reveals how people lose perspective amid the anonymity the internet gives them and their counter party. No matter how much you dislike someone who disagrees that your favorite movie is the best movie ever or whatever your online discussion, that person isn’t Hitler, or even comparable.
Godwin’s Law has meaning in showing the accuser lost perspective. The accuser loses the debate.
The least comparable comparisons
Among the candidates for most opposite from Hitler, you’d have to include Franklin Roosevelt, who led America’s fight against him.
You’d also have to include Dwight Eisenhower.
If any Hitler comparison was the most impossible, the United States presidency would hank highly.
A new basis for comparison?
Donald Trump’s response to neo-Nazis in Charlottesville appears to associate him with open Hitler supporters. Granting him the benefit of the doubt, he seems to be courting support from and giving support to people who support Hitler’s legacy.
If the man who holds the office held by two of the people most responsible for defeating Hitler associates with brown-shirted people waving flags with Nazi swastikas and heiling with Nazi salutes, what meaning does Godwin’s Law have with everyone in between?
One could argue that Trump was supporting people merely near the brown-shirted people waving flags with Nazi swastikas and heiling with Nazi salutes, not the actual Nazi supporters. By the time you’re making that fine a distinction — you don’t have to get that near a Nazi flag to know your presence supports a movement that many died fighting — you seem to be on thin ice.
I want to make it very clear: I am not comparing anyone to Hitler. I am merely wondering how close the U.S. president is to people who openly support his legacy. I wonder if Godwin’s Law has lost its poignancy.
