Asked who was worse, Voltaire or Rousseau, Dr. Johnson is said to have replied: “Sir, it is not for me to apportion the degree of iniquity between a louse and a flea.” In addition to prompting the melancholy reflections outlined above, the impeachment proceedings frequently reminded us of Johnson’s remark. The spectacle emanating from Washington presented many unpalatable choices. Perhaps the most unpalatable—though paradoxically also among the most satisfying—concerned the clash between the left-wing British journalist Christopher Hitchens and his (now former) friend, the left-wing Clinton factotum Sidney Blumenthal.

Like many on the far Left, Mr. Hitchens loathes Bill Clinton with a passion most Republicans can only admire from afar. Nevertheless, he had long been friends with Mr. Blumenthal, who bears the faintly Orwellian title of “senior White House communications aide.” Mr. Blumen ...

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