c. 2006 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Godwin’s Law says you’ve lost the argument the moment you invoke Hitler. Example: “I love my dog.” Response: “Well, so did Hitler.” Ergo you’re a Nazi.

(Note to you old-media types: Attorney Mike Godwin originated the law named for him a good 15 years ago, positing that “as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.” Protocol holds that once such a comparison is made, the thread in which the comment was posted is over, and the Nazi namedropper out. See Wikipedia.)

Godwinizing the debate should always be avoided, and no doubt eyes rolled when some commentators equated Hamas’ electoral victory with Hitler’s ascendance. Sure, they both have a thing about wiping out the Jews, but other than that, it’s just Godwinian oversimplification.

One small problem: In the recent Palestinian elections, there was a candidate named … Hitler. And he won.

As The New York Times put it: “The candidate’s name is Jamal Abu Roub, but everyone here calls him Hitler because, well, that is the name he has answered to quite comfortably since he was a teenager.”

Wonder why. His distinctive mustache and plastered-down hair, no doubt. Maybe he sat around the coffeehouse all day demanding the remilitarization of the Rhineland.

Mr. Hitler ran on the sclerotic, corrupt Fatah ticket, not the dynamic, hunka-hunka-burnin’ hate Hamas ticket, but he won anyway. No doubt commentators would opine that Mr. Hitler must now moderate in order to lead, and perhaps would change his name to Albert Speer.

If the election proves anything, it’s that Hitler can win and people still won’t see the parallels to the last big batch of professional Jew-haters _ no matter how crazy they get.

The election was barely over, and the celebratory bullets hadn’t all pattered to earth, when the demands began. Israeli National News quoted Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar on the key issue of the day: the insulting affront presented by the Israeli flag.

“Israel must remove the two blue stripes from its national flag,” Zahar said. “The stripes on the flag are symbols of occupation. They signify Israel’s borders stretching from the River Euphrates to the River Nile.”

Yes, indeed. And the 50 stars on the American flag symbolize this nation’s desire to occupy and annex the Milky Way.

European diplomats will shrug off Zahar’s demands, just as the Iranian president’s pearls of wisdom are dismissed: He’s only playing to his base. Perhaps, but what does that say about the base? Nothing! They elected Hamas because they were fed up with the corruption of Fatah, just as Americans, tired of Nixon’s skulduggery, voted in the Birch-Klan-Commie Axis in ’74. Or something like that.

In any case, Hamas will have to govern now, the apologists say. Collect the trash. Or, more like, blame Zionist jets for strafing the garbage trucks. They might well “improve” the schools, but since they’ve already announced they will impose Shariah, this might not sit well with secular Palestinians.

(Helpful note to angry e-mailers: This is where you point out that some Christians want to teach intelligent design in Kansas, which of course is exactly the same thing as segregating students by sex and teaching the girls why driving is a sin.)

This should surprise no one, really. And if you don’t think it has any bearing on anything outside Gaza, consider this:

Last September a Danish newspaper published some satirical cartoons about Muhammad, which simply isn’t done. Compared to the illos you find in the Arab press, which could be described as “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion for Dummies,” the cartoons were mild _ but some people will brook no dissent. In Gaza, armed men stormed a European Union office to protest the cartoons, and a group called “Holy War” demanded that all Nordic types leave in 48 hours.

Odd how quickly those tolerated, enlightened Europeans can descend to U.S. status, eh? It’s almost as if support for those anti-Israel U.N. resolutions counted for nothing.

MO LF/PH END LILEKS

(James Lileks is a columnist for Newhouse News Service)

Editors: To obtain a photo of James Lileks, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.