New in PJ Media:

For politicians, one would think it would have been an open-and-shut case, and in earlier, saner ages in our national life, it would have been. If a group of people in America get together and scream “Death to America,” officials ought to be lining up to condemn them, and there should be investigations and, if non-citizens are involved, deportations. We live, however, in Old Joe Biden’s America, in which the America-hating left is the dominant cultural force, and so some high-profile politicians have been notably wary about condemning calls for the destruction of the nation they have vowed to protect and defend.

The ugly scene unfolded last Friday, at the International Al Quds Day rally in Dearborn. Al Quds Day is an annual event that Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini started in support of the Palestinians; even at its most peaceful, its rallies frequently features calls for the destruction of Israel and a new genocide of the Jews.

In Dearborn, however, as a pro-Hamas activist named Tarek Bazzi denounced the United States as “one of the rottenest countries that has ever existed on this earth,” some of the people in the crowd screamed “al-mawt li Amrika,” that is, “Death to America.” As they did so, Bazzi stood with head bowed, waiting for them to go silent so that he could resume speaking. He gave no hint of disapproval of the chants.

When asked to condemn the chants, some Michigan politicians acted the same way. The Daily Caller reported Wednesday that it had contacted several Democrat elected officials in Michigan and asked them to condemn the chants, and not all of them were eager to jump on any patriotic bandwagon.

Some members of Michigan’s Congressional delegation had no problem doing so. Rep. Hillary Scholten declared: “I fully condemn this dangerous and disturbing rhetoric and will stand strong against hatred, bigotry, and anti-Semitism wherever it exists.”

Rep. Dan Kildee chimed in with this: “I unequivocally condemn such extreme and dangerous speech. Calling for violence, including the destruction of America, is wrong and should be denounced.”

Rep. Elissa Slotkin agreed: “Violent, hateful language has no place in our communities, no matter the cause. I’m grateful to the Dearborn leaders and others for making clear that these statements do not reflect the views of Michigan’s communities.”

All this was pro forma, standard-issue stuff: violence, hate, and bigotry have no place in our diverse blah blah blah. Modern-day politicians can rattle off this tired rhetoric in their sleep, and anyway, condemnations are easy: it is unlikely that Scholten, Kildee or Slotkin will take any action to try to address anti-American sentiment among Muslims in Dearborn.

There is more. Read the rest here.