# Go Ahead, call them Nazis. Godwin says it's OK **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 14, 2017, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-ahead-call-them-nazis-godwin-says-its-ok/793655 "2017-08-14T18:28:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-ahead-call-them-nazis-godwin-says-its-ok/793655/21 "2017-08-15T18:05:35Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Yeah, I remember the time that Landry invaded Poland. Talk about calling a blitz! Solid. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-ahead-call-them-nazis-godwin-says-its-ok/793655/22 "2017-08-15T18:42:06Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Godwin’s Law is about emotions. That’s it. It’s an observation that when a discussion has gotten to the point where the participants are _comparing each other_ to Nazis, either directly or by proxy, it’s beyond the point of reasoned debate and is in the realm of pure name-calling. > > It doesn’t even have to be Nazis. Stalinists would work as well, or “tankies”, if you want to refer to latter-day Stalin supporters who agree with Stalin’s penchant for crushing peaceful protests using tanks. In the right forum, calling someone a “liberal” or a “conservative” could be equivalent; it just has to be a conversational grenade which thereafter makes the conversation about _it_ and not the ostensible/original topic. Godwin’s point is, once someone’s throwing grenades, it’s over. It’s just anger from then on out. The debate portion of the thread is long over. I’m seeing “neoliberal” used that way in Progressiveland blogs. Heck, “centrist” is taking on the same “You’re just a poopyhead!” aura lately. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-ahead-call-them-nazis-godwin-says-its-ok/793655/23 "2017-08-15T21:26:02Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > \ There are people saying this without irony and in all seriousness?! Yes. Yes, some of the protesters in Charlottesville were wearing German WWI regalia (not like serious reenactors), shouting Seig Hiel or Seig Trump, chanting anti-Jewish and other racist slogans, and/or holding their right arms out stiffly from their shoulders. Watch some of the videos, these people are scary. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2017, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-ahead-call-them-nazis-godwin-says-its-ok/793655/24 "2017-08-16T00:51:26Z")
My grandmother’s cousins in Germany witnessed the original Blood & Soil marches back in the '30s. I’d like to ask them (or their children & grandchildren) what they’d think of the events in Charlottesville this weekend and Trump’s response. But I can’t do that. Those cousins never had children or grandchildren. They don’t have graves either. At least my grandmother didn’t live to see this. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2017, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-ahead-call-them-nazis-godwin-says-its-ok/793655/25 "2017-08-16T03:52:43Z")
Godwin’s Law was created as a commentary on the tendency of posters to fall back on Hitler metaphors, however tenuous, given enough time. But it would be pretty silly to equates actual discussion of neo-Nazis to Godwin’s Law. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2017, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-ahead-call-them-nazis-godwin-says-its-ok/793655/26 "2017-08-16T04:47:20Z")
John Oliver says Trump’s behavior was an example of a “Reverse Godwin’s Law”: When you’re dealing with actual Nazis, if you fail to call them Nazis you lose the argument. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2017, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-ahead-call-them-nazis-godwin-says-its-ok/793655/27 "2017-08-16T08:58:02Z")
**octopus** : people very much have objected to calling actual Nazis Nazis. They’ve rejected comparing white supremacists to Nazis. Maybe you don’t get around online, but I see it all the time. Godwin’s law itself is often used to try and derail discussion of actual Nazi-like attributes. Same thing happened when people were legitimately describing the similarities between Trump and Hitler. Everyone acted like it was the same thing as when someone called Bush Hitler because they were upset at him. Having this guy say this gives you a directly citable quote to combat this when it happens. If it’s a thoughtful comparison and not just an emotional overreaction, it can be valid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-ahead-call-them-nazis-godwin-says-its-ok/793655.md?page=1)