Sir, – References to Hitler almost always land a person in trouble, but public figures continue to be unable to resist Hitler comparisons.
A new phenomenon in the internet age is Godwin’s law – that in an online discussion, sooner or later someone will compare something to Hitler. The corollary law is that Nazi comparisons ruin civil discourse for everybody.
Sean Spicer (World News, April 12th) has just discovered the risks of mentioning Hitler.
Other recent victims of Hitler references include Ken Livingstone, US Republican Ben Carson, Filipino President Duterte, Boris Johnson and Donald Trump. It seems that international public figures simply cannot resist Hitler comparisons.
It is time that they listened to the immortal words of Basil Fawlty – whatever you do, don’t mention the war! – Yours, etc,
SEAN O’SULLIVAN,
Crossabeg,
Co Wexford.