Quote Originally Posted by Ash View Post
We got to the Nazis in about four posts. Top Godwinisation there. A straw man too, as concentration camps per se do not imply genocide, just detainment.
The crapness of the comparison is the point, though. It's how 'whataboutery' works - a deliberate attempt to mitigate, deflect from and avoid taking responsibility for one's own wrongs by trying to undermine your accuser's moral position. The classic was always the Russians attempting to deflect criticism of their oppressive regime by pointing out the plight of black people in the US. In other words, a reasonable point on the face of it, but utterly irrelevant to the case in hand. It's a rhetorical tactic that is entirely morally bankrupt.

If I were a thief, a murderer might denounce me as a thief, but the mere fact of him being a murderer would not in any way make me less of a thief or make my theft less heinous.