Now, I know that Wikipedia has been getting some flak of late on my Friends List for the reliability of its information, but I'd like to bring the whole fucking world's attention to this snippet from their article about "Godwin's Law"...
{emphasis mine} ... Note that the focus of "Godwin's Law" is on the ad hominem attacks that are predictable to develop in Web arguments ... and that when one side starts accusing the other of being "a Nazi" (or comparing them to the Nazis), the former "loses".On Usenet there was a trend toward demonizing opponents in arguments by comparing the position they held to that of Hitler or the Nazis, in Godwin's own words "a trivialization I found both illogical and offensive." So, in 1990, Godwin developed the law as a counter-meme and began posting it in Usenet discussions after such a comparison occurred.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of weenies who will chirp up with "Godwin's Law" ANYTIME the Nazis are used as a point of reference. These idiots need to be beaten, or possibly shot in the face. Oh, yeah, call me a Nazi for that one ... go ahead!