We’ve all seen Godwin’s Law used by rightwingers to shut down criticism. It was always an underhanded tactic, and it’s getting some attention. John Oliver said last night on Last Night:
This was a white nationalist rally. You have to call that out by name. There honestly aren’t many instances in modern American politics where you can honestly think “that guy really should have mentioned the Nazis”. But this is emphatically one of them. It’s like a reverse Godwin’s Law: If you fail to mention Nazism, you lose the argument!
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXszx68uhsY)
Exactly. I think I have a moral duty now to not flinch or be intimidated from pointing out the stark undeniable reality that the right has finally come out of the closet and fully embraced National Socialism…or White Nationalism in an American context.
Analyze those terms and you see they describe the same concept: Tribal loyalty to the Volk and hatred of the Other. White Nationalism is Nazism. And I promise to call Nazis what they are.