Time for journalists to embrace Godwin's Law

[steven johnson]

Conservative agitators have been disrupting town hall meetings with uncivil behavior, intimidation, yelling and lies. Apparently, the goal is to stop any positive discussion of the actual healthcare issues with fabricated issues: death panels, government takeover of healthcare, rationing, euthanasia, etc.

And when they are finally confronted with real issues, they bring out the nuclear option -- Obama is bringing the German Worker's Party platform to America -- he is a foreign-born, communist Nazi who hates
America.

All of this is to stop any real public discourse, provoke a response where they can claim they are victims and create the illusion of a public groundswell against the principles of Obama's healthcare reform.

In other words, act like a two-year-old who can't get his way but refuses to stop screaming.

So why is the press giving these people credibility?

Godwin's law is the observation, dating to the early nineties, which states that as a "discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."

A second tenet of the law is that "whoever mentions the Nazis has automatically lost whatever debate was in progress."

So I'm going to offer a new, third tenet:

Media outlets lose credibility in direct proportion to the number of broadcasts they air involving people who violate Godwin's law.


Time for journalists to embrace Godwin's Law

Right wing groups that have previously been throwing Tea Parties received astroturfing instructions from FreedomWorks to disrupt town hall meetings hosted by Democratic congressmen. This leaked memo was exposed on Talking Points Memo, and included such excerpts as:

– Artificially Inflate Your Numbers: “Spread out in the hall and try to be in the front half. The objective is to put the Rep on the defensive with your questions and follow-up. The Rep should be made to feel that a majority, and if not, a significant portion of at least the audience, opposes the socialist agenda of Washington.”

– Be Disruptive Early And Often: “You need to rock-the-boat early in the Rep’s presentation, Watch for an opportunity to yell out and challenge the Rep’s statements early.”

– Try To “Rattle Him,” Not Have An Intelligent Debate: “The goal is to rattle him, get him off his prepared script and agenda. If he says something outrageous, stand up and shout out and sit right back down. Look for these opportunities before he even takes questions.”


Mobs, Intimidation, and Deceit at Town Halls

[elocs]

1. We did the Nazi thing with Bushco, now the freepers are doing it with us.

Once you toss out the Nazi card, what on earth trumps it? The truth is that the Nazi stuff is really over the top for anything but mass genocide where millions are killed. As much as we hated Bushco he was an amateur and wannabe compared with Hitler and the Nazis.

[Ian David]

2. But we squandered the chance to prove it.

Fuck you, Nancy Pelosi.

[unpossibles]

3. True, some people took that too far, but there were also discussions which were a bit more legitimat

Not calling Bush Hitler, but there were a few parallels which are a lot more accurate than what they're throwing at Obama, from invading countries to reducing rights, torture, and other elements common in both regimes, and a discussion of actual tactics can trump Godwin's law.