Kenneth Starr says the “constitutionally dubious” and “structurally unsound” Independent Counsel Act should be allowed to expire when it comes up for renewal by Congress this summer. Who better to pass sentence on this important law than the judge who wrote the book on dubious and unsound?

For 21 years, this post-Watergate law has given the public the assurance that allegations of misconduct within a presidential administration will be investigated and, if called for, prosecuted in a fair, non-political, non-partisan way, beyond the reach of an attorney general appointed by the president. Four administrations, more than two dozen separate cases, have passed beneath the gaze of independent counsels. The outcomes have not been perfect, all doubts about impartiality have not always been erased, but at least the truth had a fighting chance.

Then along came Judge Starr. From the beginning, when he was appointed to investigate Whitewater nearly five years ago, there were serious, legitimate concerns about his strong ties, ideologically and financially, to organizations and individuals that went way beyond conservatism to the farthest reaches of irrational Clinton-hating. He did nothing to assuage those concerns, he took no steps to build public confidence in the investigation, he couldn’t even at first be bothered to drop his roster of big-paying, Big Tobacco clients.

No one should be more furious with Judge Starr and his office, in fact, than true conservatives. President Clinton philandered and fibbed his way into a world of trouble; a reserved, thoughtful, truly probative investigator could have nailed him, if not with removal from office, at least with censure, political ruin and the harshest judgment history can offer.

Instead, future historians will wonder how a president could behave so disgracefully and still lead his party to a mid-term election romp, see his most vehement congressional foes crash and burn and enjoy insanely high approval ratings. It is fashionable to pin the blame on Dow Jones; those future historians inevitably will conclude the real culprit is Kenneth Starr and his gang of salacious, sensation-seeking bullies. To most Americans — and to most senators — this independent counsel made the choice between the lesser of two evils a fairly easy call.

Still, one almost has to admire his nerve for now trashing the law he manhandled for so long and for at such absurd expense. But an excess of gall is not reason enough for Congress to listen to him.

Instead, it would do well to listen to such colleagues as Sen. Fred Thompson. The Tennessee Republican advises a cooling-off period for hurt feelings and heated emotions before any decision on the independent counsel law is made. That’s good counsel, something the nation did not get from Kenneth Starr.