And I'm here wondering if Godwin's idea came because he saw something like this and wanted to stop it or if he saw an opportunity to silence criticism of Nazi-like strategies.

And I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad that we're in a post-Godwin world now. On the one hand, it was a dumb "rule" because there's certainly times where Nazi comparisons are apt. But on the other hand, we only got post-Godwin because Nazi ideas have regained enough popularity that some are openly embracing the label.