Hearing all the blather directed at those who would apply the rule of law even to Osama bin Laden and the Taliban, I am reminded of this exchange from Robert Bolt’s” A Man for All Seasons”:
Roper: So now you’d give the Devil benefit of law!
More: Yes. What would you do: Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
Roper: I’d cut down every law in England to do that!
More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you – where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country’s planted thick with laws from coast to coast – man’s laws, not God’s – and if you cut them all down – and you’re just the man to do it – d’you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake.