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Good Riddance to Macklemore
(New York Post) Liel Leibovitz - The rapper Macklemore has now been booted as Ed Sheeran's opening act. At New Jersey's MetLife Stadium, Macklemore devoted most of his set to prattling about Gaza, ululating about Palestine, and praising the terrorist sympathizers on American college campuses. It's tempting to laugh off the whole kerfuffle as yet another case of a very minor artist suffering from very major delusions of self-importance. But l'affaire Macklemore teaches us important lessons. Macklemore has spent the last several years repeatedly and shrilly calling on artists to boycott Israel. He even wrote a song dedicated to championing the BDS movement, which promotes sanctions against the Jewish state. Now that he's received a taste of his own medicine, he's crying foul and claiming to be a victim. He's anything but. If the culture you help create calls for canceling those whose opinions you don't like, don't be surprised if you too are canceled one day. Once upon a time, the performers we hailed were the ones who could actually do something: sing, dance, act and move us with their art. Like other preening pro-Palestine provocateurs, Macklemore's true art is stirring up cheap controversy by trying to cower others into submission. It's a very good strategy for mediocre entertainers, who can get famous quick by pretending to be great moral crusaders and plugging into hot-button political issues they barely understand. But it's terrible for everyone else because it hijacks truth and beauty and turns every aspect of life into an ugly, muddy political battlefield. The writer is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.