New Oliver Stone TV show: Oliver Stone's Secret History of America.

The Guardian reports on American filmmaker Oliver Stone's new project. Looks quite interesting, and not as controversial as the article or Stone are trying to make it sound. History graduates, I'd argue, are taught how to understand Hitler as a product of context, as much as his own personality. He was not some sort of disembodied demagogue from the start. There was a specific historical situation in Germany which gave room for Hitler and the National Socialists. Still, will be interesting to see what becomes of it. Could be useful in the classroom!What I think is more controversial and perverse is the use of Hitler colloquially in everyday discourse, particularly on the Internet. Comparisons of contemporary people or issues to Hitler or Nazism on the internet is known as Godwin's law, in which Mike Godwin, who formulated the theory, suggests that as an online forum or discussions goes longer the probability of the conversation involving a comparison to Hitler grows. Such comparisons are historically fallacious and unimaginably offensive, especially to people who suffered and died under the Third Reich. The same goes for Nazi costume parties and even Nazi toys/models for model war games etc. I feel the same about Chairman Mao images on clothing.