If Hurricane Irene were not real, the grocer and bottled-water lobbies would have had to invent it. Store shelves in my neck of Manhattan were cleared last night, and long lines snaked through the aisles. One guy loaded up with 27 gallon-sized bottles of water. Bars were hopping too, many with "Irene" parties.
A thought: What if the surge in Irene-related buying turns out to be what tips the economy from near-recession to respectable growth? One consequence: The Right will have a whole new argument in defense of global warming.