Thinking about casual pejoratives and - gasp - political correctness

So tonight on one of my "groups" on Facebook, a mother asked a question about seat belt laws in a state they plan to visit on vacation soon.  She included the statement that "I don't care about seat belt nazi beliefs. Just trying to avoid a ticket if we get pulled over."  My eyes widened.

So some interesting discussion had ensued even before I tuned in, and I began to scroll.  Amazing how a group of parents - primarily mothers - can get so passionate and opinionated and begin insulting each other both explicitly and by implication.   And then someone brought up the point that she disliked using "nazi" as a casual pejorative.  I concurred, noting that I was asked by a Jew some years ago (also in an online forum) not to use the term "nazi" in that way (grammar nazi, etc.), as they felt strongly that it was dismissive and disrespectful of Holocaust victims and survivors, and that it always surprises me to see the term used casually.

Original poster responded with - wait for it - "my friend's great grandmother survived the Holocaust, her father is a messianic rabbi, and she's used the term."  I think my mouth may actually have dropped open at this logic, which I find strikingly similar to "my son's best friend is Hispanic and jokes about wetbacks, so it's okay for me to do it as well."  Shortly afterwards, she asked a moderator to close the thread, after some choice comments about how moms can treat each other like shit.  This from an atheist homeschooler - a double minority of sorts.   I found this quite ironic.

It's a reminder to me that it's not only the folks who get called out about their white privilege who get angry and defensive and start derisively claiming "everything's too politically correct," and "you can't say anything anymore without offending someone."  I'm no fan of extreme political correctness, but you know, when someone makes the statement that something can or is offensive, and gives a thoughtful reason why, I think the best response MIGHT be something like "Oh, I had not considered that before.  Thank you for giving me something to think about."

I mean, how damn hard is that?