Gail: We’re in an unnerving amount of accord. Think Congressional Republicans feel the same way? It really looked as if there was going to be an agreement on the border — until Trump made it clear he didn’t want anybody agreeing to any progress on anything while Biden was in office.

Do you think the Republicans will have the spine to march on through?

Bret: Neither the spine nor the brains. The former, because Trump has signaled his opposition, on the cynical view that a continued migration crisis helps his election chances, and Republicans are nothing but invertebrates in the face of their master’s wrath. The latter, because they don’t seem to realize that failing to get an immigration deal when they could have had one for the asking gives Biden the advantage in the immigration debate, because he can rightly put the blame on Republicans for walking away from border security.

Gail: I do love the idea of a campaign in which Biden’s the border security guy.

Bret: If I were Mitch McConnell, I’d push forward with a deal anyway: He doesn’t have a political future so he may as well try to acquire a political legacy. But that still leaves the hopeless, hapless House Republican caucus, where Speaker Mike Johnson says the bill is “dead on arrival.” So consider that another reason I’m rooting for a big Biden win in the fall: It isn’t that I like the Democrats; I just detest the Republicans so much more.

Gail: You haven’t mentioned the Democrats much — anything in particular you’d like to vent about?

Bret: In another age, I’d have plenty to complain about when it comes to Democrats, or at least this administration. Doing it now feels like bemoaning a hemorrhoid when you’ve just been diagnosed with colon cancer.

Brett Stephens and Gail Collins