A road trip through America reveals a pensive nation on edge
On the evening after Donald Trump’s second impeachment by the U.S. House of Representatives, this hotel snack area in Columbia City is nearly deserted—Covid precautions limit access. The front desk’s newspaper stack leaves no uncertainty about the biggest story of the week.
Pushing east past Edison, through the small city of Mount Vernon, where someone has set out a cross and an empty message board.
A flagpole abuts buildings near Frederickstown.
A small outbreak of cheerful graffiti on one family’s backyard sheds.
Urgently deployed National Guard troops days ahead of the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration, behind U.S. Capitol building security fencing. Young Choi, who says she often walks her dog or bikes along the streets beside the U.S. Capitol, captures a surreal 2021 moment: small dog, hulking combat vehicle, the heart of the nation’s democratic governance fenced off to protect against attack. “The sad thing,” she says, “is we don’t know whether it will ever be normal again.”