Violating Godwin's Law

On the Internet, Godwin's Law is usually invoked when someone brings up ol' Adolph Hitler or Nazis when no such reference is necessary. It's a pretty good rule, and it gets plenty of usage.

Calling someone a Nazi isn't a very nice thing and yet folks throw the term around all the time on the Internet, and occasionally in person (or interviews).

Even folks in pretty high places. Folks who should know better-like Julian Bond, President of the NAACP:

Civil rights activist and NAACP Chairman Julian Bond delivered a blistering partisan speech at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina last night, equating the Republican Party with the Nazi Party and characterizing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her predecessor, Colin Powell, as "tokens."

"The Republican Party would have the American flag and the swastika flying side by side," he charged.

Calling President Bush a liar, Bond told the audience at the historically black institution that this White House's lies are more serious than the lies of his predecessor's because Clinton's lies didn't kill people.

This isn't the first time Bond's caused controversy by going off on the Bush Administration. In fact, he apparently recycles the same themes every year. The fact is that the NAACP shouldn't tolerate this behavior for the simple fact that Bond leads an organization that should be preaching tolerance and racial harmony, and yet provides quotables that show he's nothing more than a racist who knows how and when to use the term Nazi to describe his political opponents.

Don Surber thinks that Bond's got the full and complete right to make a jackass of himself. Absolutely. The question is what is the NAACP going to do about it. Probably nothing given that they didn't take action against Bond's statements in the past. They apparently tolerate his statements, and that doesn't speak well for the venerable organization which was at the forefront of the civil rights movement.

And I don't quite get the whole token thing that Bond brought up. Rice and Powell are two extremely well qualified people who were appointed to some of the highest offices in government. They also happen to be African American. Yes, that's how I see them - qualified people first and foremost. It's a novel idea, I know. Yet, Bond's disdain for what they've accomplished suggests that if you don't fit Bond's particular political viewpoint, you're just a token or an Uncle Tom.

And I find that extremely repugnant. Especially as the head of the NAACP.

Others noting Bond's statements: Confederate Yankee, Scott Allan's World wonders what would have happened if Bond had commented on Muslims, and not the GOP, Dawg's in the Pantry, Big Lizards, Ragged Thots, Freaking Genius, MacsMind, Stop the ACLU, and Modern Tribalist.