The Week

■ President Clinton recently sent cigars to Senators Lott and Byrd. Our advice to the would-be smokers: Skip the surgeon general’s warning and go straight to the Starr report.

■ Congress made it official U.S. policy to deploy a missile- defense system as soon as the technology is ready. A similar attempt had failed last year because of stiff opposition from Secretary of Defense William Cohen and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Hugh Shelton. This time the Pentagon stayed silent, knowing that the Rumsfeld Commission and North Korean missile tests had made the case for SDI more compelling than ever. Indeed, the White House even endorsed the bill after winning two face-saving amendments. The debate was notable for the hysteria of the bill’s media critics, who seemed unable to accept that Ronald Reagan might have been right all along. Among working politicians, the liberal position on missile defense is now indefensible.

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Physician-Assisted Suicide

■ President Clinton recently sent cigars to Senators Lott and Byrd. Our advice to the would-be smokers: Skip the surgeon general’s warning and go straight to the Starr report.

■ Congress made it official U.S. policy to deploy a missile- defense system as soon as the technology is ready. A similar attempt had failed last year because of stiff opposition from Secretary of Defense William Cohen and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Hugh Shelton. This time the Pentagon stayed silent, knowing that the Rumsfeld Commission and North Korean missile tests had made the case for SDI more compelling than ever. Indeed, the White House even endorsed the bill after winning two face-saving amendments. The debate was notable for the hysteria of the bill’s media critics, who seemed unable to accept that Ronald Reagan might have been right all along. Among working politicians, the liberal position on missile defense is now indefensible.