“As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Republicans, MAGA, or Trump approaches one.”
Even earlier is the Reduction ad Hitlerum fallacy, a Leo Strauss creation from 1953. It’s a description of an attempt to counter an argument by claiming the same notion can be attributed to Hitler or Nazis.
As John Gruber suggests, originally “Nazi” and “fascist” were not slurs, but names those groups adopted. It was only when the vile cruelties and ultimate failures of the groups and their leaders became understood worldwide that the terms became insults (or attempted insults).
I agree with Gruber’s idea that Trump, Maga, and Republican (Republicanism?) should become equivalents. Don’t call them “fascists,” call them what they say they are and make that connote evil.
The original “law,” of course, was created by Mike Godwin around 1990, He was talking about the precursor of today’s online platforms, Usenet newsgroups. Newsgroups still exist, you need software that uses NNTP — or just a browser.
