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 Citizen'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 Starr'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.

That is why today even a Ken Starr can afford to ask `what is truth?' 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 won't be repeated anywhere else in the world.

Once upon a time, for the record, there was a President who retorted `So what?' when asked about his illegitimate daughter. In Clinton'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 intern's dress. What is written in the contents of Ken Starr'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.