Image source: “Home Improvement” - S07E05 - “A Night to Dismember”
A meme screenshot from the TV series “Home Improvement”. During a Halloween episode, teenager Randy Taylor is pictured in the kitchen discussing his Halloween plans with his mother (not pictured). The text on the meme reads “Watching in 1997: Ah yes, a lighthearted Republican joke on a family friendly sitcom. Amusing.” The next paragraph reads “Watching in 2026: squirms in discomfort”. The punchline on the meme is dialogue from Randy Taylor, displayed as subitles on the meme, which reads: “Yeah. We’re going as the scariest people we could think of: Republicans”.
In 1996, it was widely assumed that fascism was extinct, to the point that Seinfeld could have a Soup Nazi and not have to explain that he’s not an actual Nazi.
Sad Tim Allen grunt
There was also the whole Godwin thing (that basically said that any online argument would, over time, have a higher chance of someone accusing the other party of or making a comparison to nazisim), which eventually evolved to “if you mention hitler or nazis in an online debate, you automatically lose”, which was pretty stupid because sometimes it is relevant (obvious today).
Though today I wonder if that was pushed in bad faith by people who wanted to avoid nazi comparisons because they were apt, so pushed that pseudologic bs that Godwin’s original statement got perverted into. And then it was picked up by the multitude of people who just want an “I win” button for arguments.