From Florida to Texas to New York, from Arkansas to Iowa to South Carolina, all around this country an authoritarian energy is gathering force and gaining ground. In Florida they are banning books. In Texas they are arresting parents for trying to ensure that others won’t lose their children in mass shootings the way they did. In New York they are arresting peaceful protesters. In Arkansas and Iowa they are gutting child labor laws. In South Carolina 21 legislators signed on to a bill that would execute women who had abortions. My hope is that this is simply a fever that will pass, much like McCarthyism in the 1950s. But we can’t be sure of that. All people of goodwill - on the left and on the right - have a responsibility now. We need to respond to this moment with a rededication to what freedom means, and a willingness to stand strong for it in every way that we can.