t's one of the primary rules of Internet discourse: The longer you get into a debate online, the more likely someone will bring up Hitler or Nazis. The trend is known as Godwin's Law, and it was coined by Mike Godwin, a lawyer and author, back in the 1990s. But in light of the racist protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, this weekend, Godwin wants to make it clear: You can go ahead and bring up the Nazis.
Godwin wrote on Facebook that someone had asked him to post a statement about Charlottesville, because people bring up his law to shut down arguments all the time. Turns outhe was happy to oblige. "By all means, compare these shitheads to the Nazis," he wrote. "Again and again. I'm with you."
Godwin clarified his statement further to Gizmodo: "Like so many people, I'm so appalled at what happened in Charlottesville that I haven't known what to say, or whether to say anything at all. But [the requester] asked for something that was easy for me to give."
In general, Godwin has always said you can bring up the Nazis in an online conversation, as long as you're doing some research first. "If you're thoughtful about it and show some real awareness of history, go ahead and refer to Hitler or Nazis when you talk about Trump. Or any other politician," he wrote in The Washington Postbackin 2015. But in the case of the white supremacists in Virginia, there's no research necessary to make that comparison. The facts speak for themselves.
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That Godwin Guy Speaks: Yes, Republican Racists Are Like Nazis
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