Of Course They Did

After Macklemore was kicked off Ed Sheeran’s tour following his Gaza stunt—bringing partisan politics and what critics called antisemitic imagery onto the stage—he was out.

His past antics probably didn’t help either, including a performance in which he appeared to give a Nazi-style salute while dressed as a stereotypical caricature of an Orthodox Jewish man.

Off the tour he went.

And now the predictable outrage has arrived: the Left claims his removal somehow violated his free-speech rights.

So, of course, Dearborn’s Progressive Muslim mayor has invited Macklemore to perform a free concert in Dearborn—sponsored by the city and, therefore, supported by taxpayers.

Of course.

The Detroit Free Press: Dearborn mayor invites rapper Macklemore to perform free concert

Then there’s Hamtramck, another Detroit-area city with a large Muslim population.

Its former police chief, according to reports, advised officers that wife-beating should not be treated as a formal crime because it isn’t prohibited under Sharia law.

That claim takes on an especially ugly dimension given allegations that the former chief himself repeatedly beat his wife. Those allegations are just that—allegations—but they make his reported position on domestic violence all the more disturbing.

 Law Enforcement Today: Michigan: Muslim Police Department Chief Advised Officers to Follow Sharia Law 

The chief is now out of the job amid allegations involving this conduct and other corruption issues. He was also the founder of the NYPD Muslim Officers Society and the Yemeni American Law Enforcement Officers Association, and I'm sure there's no possible issues with either of those organizations.

The larger point is difficult to miss.

A movement that presents itself as progressive and tolerant can still make plenty of room for people and ideas that are deeply hostile to liberal democratic values.

And the history is hardly new. Islamist movements have, at various times, found common cause with fascist and Nazi movements, including the infamous alliance between Nazi Germany and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem beginning in the 1930s.

How very progressive.