What the Starr says

The boxes have come, 36 of them, sealed explosives. They are the independent prosecutor's you've-done-it against the president of the Uni...

The boxes have come, 36 of them, sealed explosives. They are the independent prosecutor8217;s you8217;ve-done-it against the president of the United States. Perjury, obstruction of justice, abuse of power 8212; this president has done enough to be a non-president, contend the inquisitor. Evidence suggests impeachment, so please go ahead, dump this lier, this sexual pervert, this slayer of family values, let America be ruled by someone with a character, someone whose libido is more discriminate in its manifestation.

Kenneth Starr wants all this, he wants the Congress to make maximum use of his voluminous evidence. Evidence? X-rated dirt collected through methods seen only in cheap spy thrillers. There were secret wiring, subterfuge, legal protection as a reward for total confession. And there was of course a semen-stained dress.

Not that Kenneth Starr, the conservative truth-seeker, has visited every salacious corner of the First Citizen8217;s privacy only to ensure that in future every prospective intern will be able toenter the Oval Office without risking her virginity, without staining her best dress. He has done this most elaborate investigation not to bring back family values to the vital centre of American polity. He has done this to evict Bill Clinton from the Oval Office.

Should Bill Clinton go? At this juncture, it is his personal choice. One day, it could very well be the choice of the Congress. Certainly, as of now, it is not the choice of the Americans who have elected him. They have realised it long ago: this Bill Clinton is a rogue. They know that he has been lying all along. They also know that he has been lying about something which most of them would not have admitted in public if they were in his position. But his position is unique: he is the president.

His belated public let-me-bare-my-soul was not an absolute mea culpa. He was clever by half. Still, should Private Bill be allowed to destroy President Clinton, who has after all done a fine job? Should the president be impeached on the basis ofKen Starr8217;s evidence, the sexuality of which was quite accidental. And what this Persecutor Starr has to say about the Whitewater deal, his original brief?

The answers lie trapped in an idealistic system which continues to be manipulated by the parallel republic of media, lawyers and courts.

The system ensures that even trivia can be a subject of moral warfare in the marketplace of arguments. It can be interpreted as an earnest pursuit of truth and ethic.

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That is why today even a Ken Starr can afford to ask what is truth?8217; Yesterday, it was the OJ Simpson trial that magnified the power of the moral judgment. Every public figure is subordinated to this ruthless system in which the realm of the private is not autonomous. A Clinton saga won8217;t be repeated anywhere else in the world.

Once upon a time, for the record, there was a President who retorted So what?8217; when asked about his illegitimate daughter. In Clinton8217;s case, the system has written the judgment. It is not inscribed in the book of history asthis wannabe JFK has always dreamed. It is inscribed on an intern8217;s dress. What is written in the contents of Ken Starr8217;s 36 boxes of evidence should not be allowed to stop Clinton from playing out the last chapter of his presidency.

Let Americans have an appropriate relationship with their beloved rogue of a president.