The holidays are coming and so is the omicron wave. Well, that’s not great timing. Booster shots will help, and so many people have some immunity already from two doses of vaccine and/or prior infection. But we don’t have all the tools we might like to protect ourselves against a great deal of sickness and possible death. Josh Barro, Ross Douthat and Elizabeth Bruenig talk about living with the threat of illness and the different reactions at the extremes from right and left.

Then: Democrats’ spending plans have stalled and Senate Democrats are now saying they’re turning to voting rights, another legislative priority that’s also stalled. Are they just done with legislating for the year? Ross Douthat wrote a column this week on the New New Right: what they stand for, and whether voters will be attracted to their positions.