Spring Break
Don't fall to trappings of Godwin's Law
Bill Bradford
Issue date: 10/29/08 Section: Forum
In the beginning, Barack Obama was accused of being a Muslim in disguise. Then he was accused of "palling around with terrorists." Most recently, he was accused of being a socialist.
Now, thanks to Barometer columnists Wozich and Druckenmiller, Obama is accused of being…a Nazi?
Yes, my friends, Godwin's Law is alive and well.
One doesn't expect to see a flame war leap from the dregs of cyberspace onto a legitimate newspaper. Then again, six years ago no one thought acute respiratory disease would make the leap from Asian chickens to humans.
In October of 2008, Godwin's Law made the viral leap from online discussions to the Barometer Forum pages.
I dislike criticizing fellow Barometer columnists, but Wozich and Druckenmiller deserve it. In fact, I'm not just calling them out, but demanding they have their GOP American flag lapel pins removed and placed in safekeeping until they can prove they are capable of avoiding Godwin's Law.
What is Godwin's Law?
Mike Godwin, a computer geek and a columnist for Jewcy.com, an online magazine for Jewish hipsters, coined the term in the early 90's. According to Godwin:
"As an online discussion continues, the probability of a reference or comparison to Hitler or to Nazis approaches 1."
Or, to put it another way, in the days of USENET (the pre-historic period before web browsers) when an argument reached a level of extreme hyperbole, all one had to do was invoke Hitler or the Nazis, and the discussion was over. It was often used in debates about gays and abortion. The October 16, 2007 issue of the Economist put it perfectly declaring, "a good rule in most discussions is that the first person to call the other a Nazi automatically loses the argument."
By this standard, both Wozich and Druckenmiller lost it. Both making references to Nazis and Hitler when they tried to rail against Obama.
Wozich, in his Forum column on Oct. 10, warned that Obama's followers were guilty of possessing a "sheep-like" mentality, beguiled by his charismatic oratory skills. Wozich wrote:
Now, thanks to Barometer columnists Wozich and Druckenmiller, Obama is accused of being…a Nazi?
Yes, my friends, Godwin's Law is alive and well.
One doesn't expect to see a flame war leap from the dregs of cyberspace onto a legitimate newspaper. Then again, six years ago no one thought acute respiratory disease would make the leap from Asian chickens to humans.
In October of 2008, Godwin's Law made the viral leap from online discussions to the Barometer Forum pages.
I dislike criticizing fellow Barometer columnists, but Wozich and Druckenmiller deserve it. In fact, I'm not just calling them out, but demanding they have their GOP American flag lapel pins removed and placed in safekeeping until they can prove they are capable of avoiding Godwin's Law.
What is Godwin's Law?
Mike Godwin, a computer geek and a columnist for Jewcy.com, an online magazine for Jewish hipsters, coined the term in the early 90's. According to Godwin:
"As an online discussion continues, the probability of a reference or comparison to Hitler or to Nazis approaches 1."
Or, to put it another way, in the days of USENET (the pre-historic period before web browsers) when an argument reached a level of extreme hyperbole, all one had to do was invoke Hitler or the Nazis, and the discussion was over. It was often used in debates about gays and abortion. The October 16, 2007 issue of the Economist put it perfectly declaring, "a good rule in most discussions is that the first person to call the other a Nazi automatically loses the argument."
By this standard, both Wozich and Druckenmiller lost it. Both making references to Nazis and Hitler when they tried to rail against Obama.
Wozich, in his Forum column on Oct. 10, warned that Obama's followers were guilty of possessing a "sheep-like" mentality, beguiled by his charismatic oratory skills. Wozich wrote:
Note: writers will not reply to comments.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
morgamic
Mike
posted 10/29/08 @ 8:10 PM PST
Good post, and I hope those other guys learn that when discussions, even when driven by an agenda, deteriorate completely when you jump to extremes to support your arguments. (Continued…)
Tim Foekema
posted 1/03/09 @ 9:38 AM PST
All true, but beware of the fact that i can now do anything as a Nazi would have. When commented on, i can just refer to godwin! Agreed, he does make a good point and in some cases (obama) discussions go waaay to far. (Continued…)
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