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Godwin's rule of Trump analogies

Summarily shutting down discussions with depth charge comments that quickly invalidate another's argument must work quite a lot, be it by winning the conversation with a fatal hit; or, more likely, just because the rhetorician believes he has one based on the soundness of his burn, drops his mic, and leaves the encounter. There are quite a few of these.

Whataboutism is a cousin of this method. According to Wikipedia:

"Whataboutism, also known as whataboutery, is a variant of the tu quoque logical fallacy that attempts to discredit an opponent's position by charging them with hypocrisy without directly refuting or disproving their argument."

Ironically, it's mostly used as a foil against conversations the debater dislikes the ramifications of. The most popular line of whataboutism is every variation of, "Trump did this and is a horrible person" with the counterargument being, "but Obama did that same thing during his two terms" and the reply, no matter whether there is proof, evidence, or proper refutation, whataboutism has become the defacto version of "I'm covering my ears like a kid. When your words mean nothing, I go la la la." But dressed in academic gowns.

And it's extremely popular during the Trump presidency because, over the course of at least the first administration, Godwin's rule of Hitler analogies has evolved to include Godwin's rule of Trump analogies. Everything has become a binary between "the right side of history" and whatever Trump and the Trump base believe in or cares about. It's an either/or.

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