Chuck, Vlad, and Godwin’s Law

Heaven knows, I don’t have much time for Prince Charles. His views, particularly on the subject of alternative medicine, strike me as being not only misguided, but downright dangerous because of his position of influence. Still, just as a stopped clock is right twice a day, he is capable of saying something close to sensible sometimes. Except on this last occasion he appears to have broken the media’s version of Godwin’s law by comparing Vladimir Putin to Hitler. Naturally, our Vlad doesn’t like it.

While it’s easy to laugh at both Charles’ continuing ability to open his mouth to change feet, and at Putin’s reaction, it’s probably better to consider the comparison between Putin and Hitler more soberly. Stephen Liddell has done just that, and it makes for interesting, and rather worrying, reading.

Addendum: I have just read David Mitchell’s article on the same topic, and notice that he also uses the “stopped clock is right twice a day” line. Pure coincidence, I assure you – I definitely didn’t plagiarise Mitchell’s article…