Kerby Anderson

Perhaps you have heard the call for leftists to engage in “the long march through institutions.” The phrase was popularized by the radical German activist Herbert Marcuse who was quoting another activist. It came up in my radio interview with Stanley Ridgley on his book, Brutal Minds. In his book, America’s Cultural Revolution, Christopher Rufo not only quotes him, but devotes an entire chapter on Marcuse.

The plan was simple. Instead of encouraging students to protest the university and government, have them march into the institutions and take them over. By taking over faculty lounges, Hollywood studios, and government offices, they could bring about revolutionary change.

Rich Lowry writes about “Trump’s Countermarch Through the Institutions.” He says it is a new way of thinking for conservatives. It is such a strange reversal that many on the left and progressives in Congress don’t quite know what to do.

One example he cites was the Trump executive order that decreed that federal funding would be withdrawn from educational institutions that permit males to compete in females’ sports. “The NCAA instantly changed its policy to say that only athletes who were female at birth can compete against females.”

If this tactic sounds familiar, we saw it used by President Obama. He threatened to cut off federal funds to impose his views on college campus investigations and even school bathroom policies.

The Trump executive order on DEI had a similar effect. Funding was pulled, federal contractors changed their policies, and West Point disbanded its identity-based clubs.

You could say that Trump’s countermarch is a case of what is good for the liberal goose is also good for the conservative gander.