Godwin’s Law. Know it. See it. Understand it. But don’t ever be one of those assholes that Godwin spoke of.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with this internet truth, here it is: “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.”
I’ve got a variation on that one. Let’s call it Haire’s Law: “At any political protest, the probability of a comparison involving Nazi and Hitler is inevitable.”
Evidently, the NAACP, and a host of left leaning media outlets, most notably Huffington Post, are unfamiliar with this truth. Seriously, Arianna, it is not news when some yahoo puts up a billboard comparing Obama to Hitler and Lenin.
During the Bush 2 years, it was quite common to see signs depicting Dubya as Hitler. Sometimes they were funny. Sometimes serious. But they were always heavy-handed and lame.
And these signs are almost as lame as the people who actually find these signs offensive.
In these cases, invoking Hitler or the Nazis or the Holocaust not only cheapens the suffering of the Jewish people under the National Socialists and the struggles of the good men and women who stood up to the goosesteppers as they tried to take over Europe, but it is usually such an unfounded statement that the only thing you can do is to shake your head and ignore it: It’s like when your 5 year old tells you he hates you when you tell him to brush his teeth or when your 16 year old tells you that you are the worst dad in the world when you tell her she can’t sleep over at her BFF’s house on a school night (which in all actuality is a cover for what she really plans to do: spend the night at her boyfriend’s house while his parents are out of town.)
But back to the NAACP.
This week the civil rights group approved a resolution condemning racist elements in the Tea Party movement and asked Tea Party leaders to do the same. Yawn.
Look, that’s not to say that the Tea Party movement doesn’t have its fair share of bigoted blowhards branding bigoted signs. Sure it does.
And that’s not to say that certain elements in the GOP have not been as quick to condemn the actions of these assholes as many of us would have liked. Some have remained silent, but many have spoken out … and done so quickly.
The question is why now?
I mean, the summer of hate for the Tea Party movement was last year. 2010 has been noticeably mild. Disappointing even.
Even worse, the NAACP is proving once again how tone deaf it is.
If they are truly behind Obama and the Democratic agenda, then now is not the time to call Tea Partiers racists. (Yes, I know they didn’t say every Tea Partier is a racist, but that’s how the right-wingers will spin it. See, Tim Scott and Sarah Palin.)
Times are tough for the Obama administration right now thanks to the poor economy and the BP oil spill. And the 2010 Congressional elections are looking like they’re going to go in the GOP’s favor. So it’s wise for Democratic supporters to refrain from doing anything that’s going to angry up the blood of the right and undecided, easily outraged centrists.
That said, what’s most embarrassing here is that the NAACP (and Huffington) have chosen to be offended by a few signs comparing Obama to Hitler. Such comparisons are pedestrian.
Below are two of the signs the NAACP has on its page announcing Tea Party condemning resolution:
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