Rahm Emmanuel: Christian Chick-fil-A bad, anti-semitic Nation of Islam good

It seems that in the mind of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, some religions are more equal and deserving of First Amendment protection than others.

After supporting a call to block Chick-fil-A over the religious views of its management, the Chicago mayor welcomed an army of men dispatched to his streets by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, the Chicago Sun Times reported Wednesday.

The Times said that while doing so, Emmanuel ignored “Farrakhan’s history of anti-Semitic remarks.”

Fran Spielman wrote:

Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th), an Orthodox Jew, has said it’s good that Farrakhan is “helping” in the fight against crime, “but it doesn’t eradicate the comments that he’s made about the Jewish community.”

Emanuel offered no such caveat. Although Farrakhan has a history of making anti-Semitic statements, Chicago’s first Jewish mayor has no interest in revisiting that controversy.

According to the Times, Emmanuel is concerned about the “40 percent surge in Chicago homicides.”

“People of faith have a role to play and community leaders have a role to play in helping to protect our neighborhoods and our citizens. You cannot get there on just one piece of an anti-crime strategy,” the mayor said.

But as Newsbusters’ Matthew Sheffield reported, the Chicago mayor had a different tune when it came to the religious views of Chick-fil-A.

“Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values,” he said. “They disrespect our fellow neighbors and residents. This would be a bad investment, since it would be empty.”

“Can there be any greater example of liberal hypocrisy than this? It’s tough to think of one, particularly considering that Farrakhan also has a history of making statements against homosexuals, the very group to which Emanuel and Moreno are trying to pander,” Sheffield added.

“Good thing Calypso Louie isn’t trying to open a Chick-Fil-A. He’d really be in a world of hurt,” commenter “otto2” wrote at the Sun-Times.

“So, let’s make sure we have this correct. A business owned by a devout Christian family that does not engage in any kind of discrimination has no place in Emanuel’s ‘Chicago values,’ but Emanuel rolls out the red carpet for perhaps the most well-known anti-Semite in the nation?” asked Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey.

“That’s the Chicago way,” he added.