Phil Ringnalda‘s simile comparing GET and POST with light switches and firealarms, reminds me of the situation at the head of our stairs.
Making the fire alarm look just like a light switch isn’t an example of daring and innovative design; it’s just dangerous.
At the head of our stairs are two switches. One, a light switch, turns the lights on and off. The other, with a red faceplate, turns the oil furnace on and off. The only difference between the two, aside from the label on the furnace switch, is the color. They both switch things between two states, but the effect of the latter is somewhat more impressive during the winter. I could stand there and flip either switch all day, and the effect would not vary. Somehow I don’t think you can say the same of launching the nuclear weapons.
(I find it somewhat amusing that the same folks we’ve had to bludgeon into using GET instead of POST have finally realized that the URI is a fantastic thing, and now want to shove things properly POSTed into the URI.)