It's worth remembering that Kenneth Starr wasn't always the left wing's idea of a right-wing conspirator. Before his appointment as independent counsel, Starr enjoyed widespread respect and was considered a likely Supreme Court nominee.
In the summer of 1991, Christopher Edley -- a Harvard law professor, sometime Democratic official, and now President Clinton's chief adviser on affirmative action -- published a piece in the Washington Post in which he denounced Clarence Thomas. "If Thomas were white," wrote Edley, "he would not have been nominated." Because "only color could jump him ahead of such conventionally impressive figures as" -- as who? -- as "Solicitor General Kenneth Starr." Edley went on to say that "if Thomas were still running the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, that agency would file a reverse discrimination suit on behalf of Starr, the disappointed white male."
Then, it was only natural that Starr should come first to a Democratic mind as a Republican figure beyond reproach. Now, however, by investigating a corrupt Democratic administration, Starr has pretty much negated his chances of serving on the high court. But at least, in his old age, he can re-read his pre-Whitewater clippings.