This is how extreme things are right now: I was excited to meet Mitt Romney. So to do the endangered species math, apparently buffalo now outnumber moderate Republicans seven to one. The last time I came to Promontory Summit was in 1995, not long after Timothy McVeigh — wearing a T-shirt printed with words shrieked by John Wilkes Booth as he assassinated President Lincoln — bombed our fellow citizens in Oklahoma City. Visiting Promontory Summit is always relevant and accusatory because the United States is always about to come undone. The Civil War is not only the defining event in American history, it’s the central metaphor of our public life.

Source: New York Times May 22, 2019 15:02 UTC