Godwin's Law was initially an internet axiom that postulated the longer a "conversation" ensued, the higher the probability that Hitler or Nazis would be evoked, is a clever means of pointing out how our discourse tends to wander off track and sink to uncivilized lows.
It may be time a corollary to Godwin's Law be developed; When this new breed of Tea Party/Town Hall types protest, Hitler and Nazi imagery will show up immediately.
During yesterdays House Republican led protest in Washington, despicable placards with Nazi imagery were, once again, very visible and proudly displayed. Rally organizers take no actions to discourage the signs and when asked about the protest signs, Republican politicians invariably claim they hadn't seen them. Deny everything and, therefore, no culpability.
Finally, someone has the spine to stand up and condemn the language and imagery - and it's someone who might make a difference. From Think Progress:
Today, Nobel Prize winner and Holoacaust survivor Elie Wiesel strongly condemned the signs, calling them “indecent and disgusting.”
The National Jewish Democratic Council also criticized the “vile invocations of Nazi and Holocaust rhetoric” and called out GOP leaders who stood in plain view of the signs but ignored them. The Simon Wiesenthal Center demanded that the rally organizers “publicly repudiate the use of Nazi and Holocaust imagery.” Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) made similar comments in a video he posted on YouTube, singling out the rally’s organizer, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN):
"I can’t believe that Congresswoman Bachmann would stand where she stood, and see those images, and not have the common decency to say, “I disagree with the use of those images.” I think that she owes the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust an apology. She owes us all an apology. And I’m waiting. We’re all waiting."
We live in a country where folks can wave signs around proclaiming providing health care to Americans is somehow equivalent to the slaughter of 6 million Jews by Nazi murderers. It's reprehensible and stupid but, clearly, their right. What's more offensive are the cowardly Republicans like John Boehner and Michele Bachmann who feign ignorance, claiming they've either not seen or heard of the signs.
With any luck, Elie Weisel and the National Jewish Democratic Council may shame the likes of Boehner and Bachmann into, at the very least, developing a sense of perspective. A sense of decency may be a little too much to ask for at this point.
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