The Fitzgerald inquisition.

Those who once cheered lustily during the Starr inquisition are now blubbering in the balcony over the fact that Karl Rove is justifiably being roasted by Patrick Fitzgerald. If you can visualize the picture of a pig on a spit, then you’ve captured the essence of what is deservedly happening to ole GW’s Turd Blossom.

There is no partisan issue here. Mr. Fitzgerald is a Republican appointee, named by a Republican Justice Department to investigate alleged misconduct in a Republican administration, at the urging of a Republican President and his C.I.A. director. Mr. Starr was a Republican, appointed by a Republican-dominated judicial panel to investigate alleged misconduct by a Democratic President and his aides.

Mr. Fitzgerald is not only a Republican; he is also a highly competent prosecutor. Mr. Starr had no experience as a prosecutor, yet he was selected to replace another highly competent Republican prosecutor, Robert Fiske, who was deemed insufficiently eager to indict the Clintons for nonexistent crimes.