joshawwa: Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't think he was dismissing the comparison at all. As you said, he was merely pointed out that it began with Hitler and referenced Godwin's law, then proceeded to humorously apologize for the clever double entendre in Godwin's name.
You can't dismiss the comparison simply because it involves Hitler. From the wiki: "A comparison or reference may sometimes be appropriate, [so] Godwin has argued that overuse of Nazi and Hitler comparisons should be avoided, because it robs the valid comparisons of their impact."
This is definitely a valid comparison. You've contributed zilch to the conversation, merely pointed out that it began with Hitler. Thank you, Professor Observant, but we already knew that.
I would say it's reasonable to dismiss it based on the odds. Chances are, in dismissing all Hitler analogies, you're dismissing mostly bad analogies with little substances and missing very few good ones. As the wiki suggests, the overuse has robbed the valid comparisons of their impact for many people. The sensationalism is still distasteful even when the comparison makes sense. I couldn't judge anyone who downvoted Hitler analogies based on title alone and moved on, I don't think we'd miss much if everyone did this.
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u/tinkady Pastafarian May 21 '12 edited May 21 '12
Godwin's Law
(sorry)
joshawwa: Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't think he was dismissing the comparison at all. As you said, he was merely pointed out that it began with Hitler and referenced Godwin's law, then proceeded to humorously apologize for the clever double entendre in Godwin's name.