Godwin’s Law ― which says that in any sufficiently long online discussion, someone will compare his opponent to Hitler ― is often interpreted to mean that if you do, in fact, start making Nazi comparisons, you’ve lost the argument and can no longer be taken seriously. I’m all for that. (Does this mean that we should no longer take any significant figure in the Republican Party seriously? Yes, it does.)
But there are a lot of moral equivalents of Nazi comparisons, and they should receive the same treatment. I propose that we officially declare that anyone who
1. Responds to calls for more government action in some area ― employment creation, health care, whatever ― by invoking the example of the Soviet Union
or
2. Responds to suggestions that moderate inflation and/or dollar depreciation is acceptable by invoking the example of Zimbabwe
or
3. Responds to any demonstration that projected debt levels, while high, are within the range advanced countries have successfully dealt with in the past by invoking the example of Argentina
