The message was couched in the cold, metallic language of the law: "You are commanded to appear and testify" before Kenneth Starr's grand jury on Tuesday, June 30, at 9:15 a.m. Not exactly a Hallmark hug, but to its recipient, Linda Tripp, the subpoena was a welcome invitation--one she in effect had been preparing for since August 1997, when she began secretly tape-recording her long, strange telephone conversations with Monica Lewinsky.
Through five grueling months of scandal, Tripp has been cast in at least three unflattering, even cartoonish roles. First, she was the Betrayer, who secretly taped the phone conversations of...