Peggy Noonan, December 21. 1998:

"The Democrats had long labeled the impeachment debate a distraction from the urgent business of a great nation. But the Republicans argued that the pursuit of justice is the business of a great nation. In winning this point, they caught the falling flag, producing a triumph for the rule of law, a reassertion of the belief that no man is above it, and a rebuke for an arrogance that had grown imperial."

Peggy Noonan, April 19, 2009

"It’s hard for me to look at a great nation issuing these documents and sending them out to the world and thinking, ‘Oh, much good will come of that.’ Sometimes in life you want to keep walking… Some of life has to be mysterious."

In other words, when the issue is perjury in a civil suit about a blowjob, it is important to remember that we are a nation of laws, and no man is above the law.

But when the issue is war crimes, well, let's just look the other way, because the ickiness of the truth is more important than adherence to the law.

[H/T Sully]