Venezuelan opposition leaders now fleeing the country, some by boat, to escape Maduro's thugs

Yes I know what Godwin's Law is, you Internet smart guys. I also know that a hard-and-fast rule only holds until a situation comes along that obviates it. "When you bring up Adolf Hitlef in a debate, you've already lost." Bolshevik.

No, there are no concentration camps or gas chambers, and there's no specific ethnic group that's being targeted. These are not small details but you've still got a dictator flouting all law to consolidate his power while everyone who has dared to oppose him is either being arrested, beaten or now, forced to flee the country:

He recounts how he was driven 500 km (310 miles) west from the capital of Caracas, took a seven-hour boat ride to the island of Curacao and caught a flight to Washington D.C., where he is now living in a hostel. He is one of 33 magistrates who President Nicolas Maduro threatened with jail after Congress named them to a parallel tribunal last month to challenge the existing Supreme Court, which has heavily favored the ruling Socialist Party. "I never imagined that they would have such an aggressive reaction, I think no one imagined it," Martin said in a telephone interview. "The government has crossed the line between good and evil."

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Twenty-one others have sought similar refuge: besides Martin, seven have fled to the United States, six to neighboring Colombia - in some cases crossing the border on foot - and eight are living in the ambassadorial residences of Chile and Panama in Caracas. Three have been arrested, and the whereabouts of the remainder is unknown. Critics of the government say the exodus is a further sign of authoritarianism under Maduro that could become more pronounced under a heavily-criticized all-powerful legislature called the constituent assembly that was elected in July.

Either way you look at it, you've got the people of the country facing shortages of essential goods while dealing with continual terror that the government's thugs will take them out if they say a word about it. Every independent branch of the government has been declawed, and a new phony-baloney "legislature" has been seated via a fraudulent election to give Maduro the veneer of credibility when he imposes whatever he wants on the country. This is absolute tyranny and it's happening at a break-neck pace.

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The more plausible argument against the Hitler comparison is that Maduro appears to have no expansionist ambitions. In the world of the 1930s, which was ruled by conventional weapons and featured no proven superpowers, it was feasible for Germany to set its sights on all of Europe. In today's world, a country the likes of Venezuela has no hope of conquering even its neighbors in South America, lest the United States be inevitably drawn into the conflict to protect its friends. Otherwise, who knows what Maduro might be thinking? Then again, are you sure his mind will never go there? Rationality hasn't restrained him so far. That said, I think this is more likely to go the way of Romania toward the end of the Cold War. Maduro has seized control of every political institution, but he's still no match for thousands of citizens who've decided they've had enough and aren't afraid of the government's thugs. Is it really hard to imagine a repeat of the Caeuscescu-takes-a-bullet-in-the-forehead scene in the streets of Bucharest? This time Caracas is the setting and Maduro is the one who ends up with his brains all over the pavement. It's an ugly way for this to end, but if you can think of a pretty one, by all means let me know.