"Anthony Lewis," Mr. Buckley begins, "hasn't had so happy a time of it since

Watergate ... Every time Mr. Reagan or one of his principal colleagues takes a position, Mr. Lewis is there to deplore the decadence of the spirit, the decline in public morality, and the disintegration of democracy. President Reagan is fighting a three-front war: against Communist imperialism, against domestic inflation, and against Tony Lewis." (As the participants learned after the taping, this was the very day that he faced yet another antagonist, John Hinckley.) Though host and guest are poles apart, the exchanges--as in previous appearances by Mr. Lewis--are civil and often unpredictable. AL: "We are entitled--indeed, obligated--as the power we are to be concerned about national aggression or aggressive militarism in our hemisphere or elsewhere against our interests. That's one subject. The subject of human rights ... may involve the same

countries but it may not. And I think we have to do our best to maintain our moral

concern. It's our own soul we're saving. If we as Americans say, 'Well, we don't care about someone being tortured to death because it's being done in a country that's friendly to us,' we are the losers."