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"The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one’s time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are f
by 0815test 8y ago
"The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one’s time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all."
- fixermark 8y agoWith respect, putting a bad idea in quotation marks doesn't make it a good idea. Mencken was extremely intelligent, but applied over-broadly, the concept embodied in this quote implies we should defend even murderers against the oppression of banning murdering. I much prefer "Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake."