The federal government had chartered their transport, locals were saying—an effort to cripple the welfare state of this small Alabama town as punishment for voting red. “Follow the money,” one suggested. The city council had known that they were coming; actually, it was the mayor who’d taken the bribe money from Washington, who’d quietly transformed Sylacauga into a sanctuary city while praying that his constituents wouldn’t notice.

The shit these people believe should be enough to get them placed on a psychiatric hold. They are unwell, yet they continue to vote, own guns, and walk among us. Right-wingers are fucking lunatics these days. Not all, I’ll concede, but a lot of them. I don’t see us going back to normalcy. This is what we have to live with.