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William Shakespeare knew a lot about palace intrigue. Wouldn’t it be great to have his take on Joe Biden’s expulsion of 10 Russian spies on Thursday? The diplomatic boot is just the latest in a skein going back decades and that will have little lasting effect and likely prompt the Kremlin to pull on its own valenki and respond in kind.

These periodic spats are full of sound and fury, to crib clumsily from the great bard, signifying pique but not much else. White House national security council official Jonathan Finer admitted as much about the action, which also sanctions 32 Russian companies and individuals linked to elections interference and the SolarWinds cyberhacking. Those will sting.

“Our view is that no single action that we will take or could take in and of itself could directly alter Russia’s malign behavior,” said Finer, principal deputy national security adviser. “But this is going to be a process that is going to take place over time, and it will involve a mix of signif…