Madonna Uses Nazi Imagery in Israel Show

Madonna has always been shorter on talent than her reputation would suggest – and she’s always made up for that shortage with shock value. As her skills diminish, then, you’d expect her act to get more and more shocking.

It has. It’s also become more and more tired.

Last week, Madonna performed in Israel, where she showed an image of Marine Le Pen, the popular right-wing French politician and daughter of noted racialist Jean-Marie Le Pen, with a swastika between her eyes. “We understand how old singers who need to get people talking about them go to such extremes,” Le Pen told the Daily Mail. She threatened legal action if Madonna tried the same tactic at her performance in Paris in July.

Marine Le Pen wasn’t Madonna’s only target. She showed images of Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, Osama Bin Laden, Occupy Wall Street, and Westboro Baptist Church. “The world is not so kind, people trap your mind,” she warbled. “It’s so hard to find someone to admire.”

Madonna should be free to target whatever political figures she wants. But exploiting Holocaust imagery in Israel is tacky, even by her standards.