So after eleven months of hearing about the perjury, the taping, the gifts and the dress, it was time for Independent Council Kenneth Starr to take his turn in the hot seat.

The siege of press coverage during Monicagate does not mean much to the average American. But Thursday was the day to see Starr in all his glory, justify the millions of dollars he has spent investigating the most publicized affair in modern history.

It was a chance for Americans to see the man, whose approval ratings are only slightly higher than Linda Tripp’s, explain why his office interrogated a 24-year-old woman without her lawyer present for hours on end.

We’ve all heard Bill’s side, via transcripts and four hour-long videotaped depositions. And since Wednesday, we’ve heard Linda and Monica gab about everything from “The Big Creep” to what jackets make Monica look “fab.”

It was the opportunity, possibly the only one, for Starr to totally present his side of the story, without the pundits’ posturing and Joe Lockhart’s spinning.

Whether Americans viewed Thursday’s hearing as a nuisance or something as fascinating as a favorite soap opera, there is no getting around it — it was history in the making.

It was largely disappointing to see the “bipartisan” House Judicial Committee Chairman Henry Hyde smile and laugh approvingly at Starr’s snide rebuttals to counsel’s pertinent questions.

It also was upsetting to realize that the one chance we might have to see Starr, who says he “reveres the law,” defend the way he practiced it.

Instead, we saw crappy network television or — even worse, Starr making a mockery of himself in his own chamber.

Sure Kenneth Starr smiles and says a word or two to the rabid press core as he takes out the garbage, but the hearing was the first time the majority of this country saw him justify a case most citizens wanted to see end months ago.

It was an important moment — the hearing was the beginning of the process that may send William Jefferson Clinton packing. Americans may not have a different Commander in Chief by New Year’s, but Kenneth Starr would be credited with his departure.

So, it was not an appropriate time for Hyde’s winks, the giggling press core or Starr’s smug smirk.

Despite the quips from Bill Maher and Jay Leno, and no matter whether you feel that Clinton’s philandering is a serious issue, this is not a humorous time for our country.