Tag Archives: robert caslen

West Point Cadets in Sombreros OK. They Just Can’t Pray.

westpointhatA US Military Academy Facebook photo from their University of Texas at El Paso football victory raised the ire of activists, as it showed the cadets wearing sombreros while being hosted by the largely Hispanic community [emphasis added]:

The school should apologize for the image and take it down, said Lisa Navarrete, an official with the National Council of La Raza, a nonprofit group in Washington that focuses on immigration and other Latino issues. The use of sombreros to represent Latino people is an “old-school and dated stereotype” that offends many people, Navarrete said.

“I am a huge sports fan, so I understand that trashing your opponents in silly and not-so-silly ways is part of the game,” she said. “But I am also old enough to remember when banana peels were thrown at Georgetown University basketball players. Ugly bigotry is still ugly and offensive, even in the context of entertainment.”

With regard to the public Read more

LtGen Caslen: West Point Prayer ‘Crossed the Line’

The video below is a Washington Post interview in which LtGen Robert Caslen, US Military Academy Superintendent, addressed his response to Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s complaint about the team prayer requested by West Point football Coach Jeff Monken. The 4 minute response is worth watching, as he speaks with nuance that is often lost when he is subsequently quoted.

That said, nuance isn’t everything:

LtGen Caslen said they removed the original video that included the prayer because it was “offensive” — a seemingly illogical explanation. PETA finds the use of live mules as Army mascots offensive, but the Army continues to do it. The practice of liberty ensures that someone will be offended, and since Read more

General Vincent Brooks to Command US Forces Korea

US Army General Vincent Brooks was recently nominated by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to command US Forces-Korea:

U.S. Forces Korea “is part of U.S. Pacific Command, but is a major political military command, a place where we need our very best, and Vince is that, and also an officer with tremendous operational and managerial experience,” Carter said.

Carter said the Asia-Pacific is “the single most consequential region of the world for America’s future.”

More notable to most people was the simultaneous nomination of Gen Lori Robinson to lead NORTHCOM, which would make her the first woman to command a combatant command.

brooksGen Brooks’ nomination is notable mostly because Michael “Mikey” Weinstein previously demanded the General’s court-martial — not just once, but twice.

In 2007, Gen Brooks Read more

Mikey Weinstein Attacks Air Force, Ignores “Putrid” Prayers at Navy, Army

usafapray2Michael “Mikey” Weinstein is trying to make significant waves over the continued practice of US Air Force Academy football players taking a knee in the end zone prior to the start of their games. He has famously called the practice “putrid” and a

monstrous travesty and brutal breach of federal constitutional law…

Weinstein’s group has even categorically said these football players are Christians (how he knows that, no one knows) — and that they sound “like the Taliban…or worse.”

Oddly, even though West Point and Read more

Mikey Weinstein has Lunch with Pam Zubeck. Film at 11.

Pam Zubeck has written for The Colorado Springs Independent, a small, left-leaning local paper, for a few years. Some time ago she became a veritable public affairs officer for Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, taking on his mantle and acting as his outlet for just about anything he had to say. (For the record, that’s a characterization she really dislikes.)

Last Wednesday, Zubeck had lunch with Weinstein…and that was apparently newsworthy for a small paper in town. She asked him about his next big thing:

Mikey Weinstein, the crusader against religious bias in the armed forces, will ask the Air Force Academy to remove the words “in the year of our Lord” from diplomas for the class of 2016, which Read more

Mikey Weinstein to Sue after General Endorses MRFF?

Actually, this time, Weinstein didn’t threaten a lawsuit or demand a court-martial when a senior military leader seemed to endorse a non-Federal entity — because this time the non-Federal entity was his own MRFF.

In a letter thanking Michael “Mikey” Weinstein for providing a briefing to the “senior leadership of the New Mexico National Guard,” New Mexico Adjutant General BGen Andrew Salas gave what could be interpreted as an endorsement of Weinstein’s MRFF [emphasis added]:

When it comes to the special and deeply personal freedom of religious faith, leaders should consider the MRFF as a key resource in helping them guarantee the religious freedom all service-members [sic] are entitled to [sic]…

This [religious freedom] right is worth carefully considering, treasuring, safeguarding, and the MRFF is a tool that should be counted upon to help along the way.

Weinstein proudly publicized the letter, saying the BGen “prais[ed] the MRFF.”

Would that make Mikey Weinstein a hypocrite?

In 2007, Weinstein railed against several General officers who appeared Read more

Weinstein Praises General’s “Metamorphosis”

As previously noted, Michael Weinstein had suddenly softened his tone on LtGen Robert Caslen when he found out Caslen was slated to lead the US Military Academy at West Point.

During Gen Caslen’s involvement in the Christian Embassy controversy in 2006, Weinstein said those involved in the scandal were equivalent to al Qaida, Iraqi militant Muqtada al Sadr, and deserved to be court-martialed.  Two years later, Weinstein essentially accused Gen Caslen of fomenting insurrection at the hands of a Christian army, and said the Army was promoting “fundamentalist Christianity” by promoting Gen Caslen.

Weinstein’s self-serving “about face” has already been discussed.  What is interesting this time is Weinstein’s continuation of the faux praise for the General’s “metamorphosis” — while he cites absolutely no reason for or characteristic of LtGen Caslen’s alleged ‘reversal.’

After first reminding people the MRFF once accused General Caslen of “sedition” — a criminal accusation for which he does not apologize — Weinstein then says:  Read more

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