Opinion | History Can Close In on Us Awfully Fast – The New York Times
Gail: Well, I’m looking on the bright side. The value of labor rises when there are more jobs available, and people are going to be wanting them once the fear of the pandemic subsides a bit more and services like child care come back.
Bret: That is, if the pandemic subsides. I fear it never will, since after Delta comes lambda, and then mu, and then maybe another 12 variants before we exhaust the Greek alphabet. We might be living with this thing the way our grandparents lived with polio or tuberculosis or the way so many people today live with malaria. Sorry. I’m being … morbid.
Gail: Think positive. New York’s economy was hit particularly hard because it depends so much on tourism. But when I was out over the weekend, there were tons of people out shopping, and it felt like — maybe — the hoped-for rebirth.
Bret: From your mouth to God’s ear.
Gail: Of course, it was partly the good weather, which was particularly wondrous for us, after an unending heat wave followed by tornadoes.
Bret: Which was awful. The horror of people drowning in flooded basement apartments is something I can’t get out of my mind. This is me going on record to say that, for the first and probably last time, I applaud Bill de Blasio — for taking steps to prevent these kinds of tragedies.
Gail: A heavenly stenographer takes note …
Bret: Meantime, Joe Manchin, your favorite Democrat, just wrote an op-ed saying that he won’t be voting for the $3.5 trillion social spending package, partly out of his concerns for inflation and deficit spending. Which gives me the feeling that, between this and the Afghanistan debacle, Joe Biden’s presidency may be running out of gas already. He needs a new start.
Gail: I refuse to have a conversation about Biden’s future that begins with Manchin. Right now Congress is celebrating its Labor Day weekend, which for the Senate lasts until Sept. 13. Let’s see how things stack up when everybody’s back.