Your principles matter most when they protect someone you would rather condemn.

Principles are only load-bearing at the point where they defend someone you dislike. Applied to allies and sympathetic figures, they cost nothing and prove nothing. The person you would rather see suffer is the actual test, and it is a test most people would prefer not to sit, because passing it means arguing for someone you would happily see lose.

When you notice yourself wanting a rule to bend against someone, ask whether you would want the same treatment extended to you on your worst day. If you would not, say something on their behalf, however small. Doing it once is unpleasant and clarifying.