Yale Prof: Origin of Campus Crazies’ Ideology

Students who shout down conservative speakers on campus aren’t Nazis or Stalinists, says Stephen L. Carter at Bloomberg. They’re worse. They’re Marcusians — followers, knowingly or unknowingly, of the ideology injected into mainstream leftist discourse by the German philosopher Herbert Marcuse in the 1960s. “For Marcuse, the fact that liberal democracies made tolerance an absolute virtue posed a problem,” Carter writes. “If society includes two groups, one powerful and one weak, then tolerating the ideas of both will mean that the voice and influence of the strong will always be greater.” Thus, viewpoint discrimination is the only way for the left to achieve its goal of equality. And that goes for colleges, too: “Marcuse is quite clear that the academy must also swallow the tough medicine he prescribes.”

From the Left: How ObamaCare Could Survive

There are three ways ObamaCare can die, writes Jeff Spross at The Week. First, Republicans can repeal and replace it. But the GOP bill so far has engendered dissent within the GOP ranks as well as vocal opposition across the aisle. Second, ObamaCare could die of natural causes: “Several insurance providers pulled out of the exchanges because they couldn’t find enough customers to make their business models work.” That could be the dreaded “death spiral” — or it could presage a market adjustment to the new conditions. Third, President Trump could sabotage ObamaCare. But aside from his executive order loosening enforcement of the individual mandate, there aren’t many bullets in that particular chamber. Which is why it may, after all, “join the ranks of politically unkillable entitlement programs.”

Foreign Desk: New Cold War With Russia Inevitable

At World Affairs, Michael Totten says that despite Trump’s desire for warmer relations with Russia, Vladimir Putin and his inner circle see themselves forever as competitors to the Western alliance, not junior partners in it. Meanwhile, “Many of the president’s pro-Putin aides and staff — Paul Manafort, Carter Page and Mike Flynn to a lesser extent — are out now while many of his current Cabinet members — in particular United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and Defense Secretary James Mattis — are . . . staunchly hawkish.” Plus, “A venomous anti-Russian consensus in America is already rising,” and “at some point Vladimir Putin will inevitably infuriate Trump.”

Political Reporter: Bernie’s Plan To Win Trump Voters

Democrats are still smarting over losing working-class voters in November, but Sen. Bernie Sanders has a plan. The Vermont socialist has, since January, “stopped in Mississippi, Kansas and Michigan,” writes Sam Stein at the Huffington Post. This week, he’s going to McDowell County, W.Va., “which Trump carried by a ratio of 3-to-1.” His pitch: “raising the minimum wage, making public universities tuition-free, the need to protect and expand health-care access and the encouragement of unionization efforts.” Sanders may not be a Democrat — but he’s still the party’s ambassador to these voters: “The crowds he’s drawing aren’t the stadium-sized ones of his primary campaign. But they are the same sets of voters: individuals who left the Democratic Party, may never have associated with it at all or were never politically active in the first place.”

From the Right: Truth About the Minimum Wage

As more states boost the minimum wage, some restaurants are opting for transparency, writes Ed Morrissey at Hot Air: “Rather than raise the prices of each dish on the menu, in some states diners now get an added labor surcharge tacked onto the bill.” Three years ago, restaurants did something similar with the cost of ObamaCare regulations. But that was anticipatory; “in this case the costs are being borne immediately. That leaves retailers in low-margin, highly competitive markets like the restaurant business with three basic options: reduce staff, raise prices, or do a little of both.” The ones who raise prices and let their customers know why are simply being honest, no matter how “political” the media makes them out to be.

Compiled by Seth Mandel