Tag Archives: tjag

Mikey Weinstein Accuses Air Force JAG of Being a Christian

In a recent interview with an obscure website, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein spontaneously began a religious assessment of Air Force leadership.  He first noted that Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen David Goldfein is “ethnically Jewish.” It appears that being Jewish let Gen Goldfein off the hook, though, because Weinstein then laid into The JAG of the Air Force, LtGen Chris Burne, and his (alleged) religion:

But the Judge Advocate General of the Air Force is a three-star General named Christopher Burne who is either an Evangelical Fundamentalist Christian himself or a sympathizer. He’s the worst…TJAG that we’ve ever had, and he has a tremendous amount of sway over what happens there.

Weinstein had plenty of time to say something about the merits (or lack thereof) of these men, but chose instead to make their religion his qualification — and the target of his derision.

And Mikey Weinstein has the gall to accuse other people of being bigots.

To his credit, Read more

Harassed by Mikey Weinstein, Part 1: Quoting the Bible

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s lawyers once claimed ChristianFighterPilot.com was “obsessive” about Weinstein and his MRFF. Naturally, ChristianFighterPilot.com is about military religious freedom — and it is surely relevant when Mikey Weinstein, a public figure, makes a living by publicly attacking religious liberty, as he so frequently does.

Instead, it is Mikey Weinstein who is “obsessive” with a few individual US troops, veterans, and even a couple of civilians — most of whom are private citizens unknown to any outside their circle of friends. The actions by Weinstein and those associated with his MRFF have attacked and threatened them, their employers, their families — sometimes even their children — in ongoing campaigns of harassment that have sometimes spanned years.

This series will document Mikey Weinstein’s history of harassment — in his own words, with his own formatting, filled with his own invective.

Harassed by Mikey Weinstein, Part 1: Quoting the Bible

In early 2014 a post entitled “There is but One Way” went up at ChristianFighterPilot.com saying one simple thing: John 14:6.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

– John 14:6

Duly offended that a Bible verse would appear on the internet, Mikey Read more

President Obama Nominates New JAG of the Air Force

President Obama has nominated BGen Chris Burne to be the next The JAG of the Air Force (TJAG):

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced today that the president has made the following nominations:

Air Force Brig. Gen. Christopher F. Burne has been nominated for appointment to the rank of lieutenant general and for assignment as the judge advocate general, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C. Burne is currently serving as the staff judge advocate, Headquarters Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va.

Like the retiring LtGen Richard Harding, whom he will replace, BrigGen Burne will skip his second star and go directly to his third.

General Harding is one of the last senior officers from the tenure of former Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz — and one of the last to have a long running, if tenuous, relationship with military religious freedom critic Michael “Mikey” Weinstein. (General Read more

Mikey Weinstein’s Friends and Allies in Military High Places, Part 4

As noted previously, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein claims the US military is overrun by Christians trying to take over the world, and he is sacrificing himself as a martyr in a one-man crusade to save us all.  Except…

It seems Weinstein is fast friends with the top leaders of the very military services he claims he’s fighting — contrary to his frequent claims he is but a lowly David fighting an institutional Goliath.

In two examples, Weinstein’s “close personal…relationship” with an Air Force base’s commanding general has already been discussed, as has his unusual access to an Air Force Colonel’s non-releasable records.  In a more significant example, The JAG of the Air Force for nearly 6 years, LtGen Jack Rives, was the legal face of the Air Force as it (presumably) fended off Weinstein’s attacks.  After he retired, though, former TJAG LtGen Rives turned ardent cheerleader for Weinstein’s crusade against religious freedom in the US military.

Now, Weinstein has publicly announced that very recently retired LtGen William Lord has “long” been an ally for Weinstein’s cause.  At his retirement just a year ago, LtGen William Lord was the AF Chief Information Officer — in the office of the Secretary of the Air Force.  Recalling his recent visit to the “well-appointed” office of the Superintendent of West Point, Weinstein said [emphasis added]:  Read more

Air Force to Review Commanders’ Decisions on Religious Liberty

A coalition of Christian leaders met with Air Force leadership and received assurances that they would investigate issues of religious liberty which do not “reflect Air Force policy:”

We appreciate [the Pentagon’s] offer to review decisions that do not reflect Air Force policy made by commanders at various bases.  At their request, we will report future events and concerns directly to Air Force leadership.

Retired LtGen Jerry Boykin, retired Chaplain (Col) Ron Crews, Kellie Fiedorek of the ADF, and talk radio host Sandy Rios met with LtGen Richard Harding, Read more

MRFF Member Goes Anonymous for Mikey — and Harms his Cause

Michael Weinstein has been working hard to recover from his self-inflicted public relations debacle that began with the Sally Quinn article praising his ‘heroic’ and substantial influence over the US Air Force.  As part of that effort, Weinstein got a high-ranking supporter to write a letter defending him — anonymously, of course.

Mikey ~
 
…As a retired, multiple-star, senior officer (General or Admiral) you know that I was asked by the Chief of Staff…to be my Service’s direct day-to-day interface with you. During those three years, and specifically because of that relationship, my Service avoided countless…breaches of religious civil rights…

As a direct result of this relationship, we had military Service-wide policies written/documented for our entire Service to follow!!

Once again, though, Weinstein’s ego may have undone his own attempts at obfuscation.

The supportive letter refers to “policies” written for the “entire Service” as a “direct result” of Weinstein.  The only service that has done that, which Weinstein has claimed influence over, no less, is the Air Force.  Based on the timeline, the Chief of Staff is certainly Read more

Admiral: A Storm is Coming for Religious Liberty in US Military

Update: Listen to Admiral Lee’s message to the 2013 National Day of Prayer.  Noted at Baptist Press and Fox News.

As has now been widely reported, US Coast Guard Rear Admiral William Lee spoke “from the heart” — rather than his prepared remarks — at the 2013 national observance of the National Day of Prayer:

He recounted a recent meeting with a 24-year-old soldier who had attempted suicide but survived…Lee said when he heard the man’s story, he knew the rules said he should send the man to a chaplain, but his heart said to give him a Bible.

“The lawyers tell me that if I do that, I’m crossing the line,” Lee said. “I’m so glad I’ve crossed that line so many times…”

Lee pledged not to back down from “my right under the Constitution to tell a young man that there is hope…”

“As one general so aptly put it – they expect us to check our religion in at the door – don’t bring that here,” Rear Admiral William Lee told a National Day of Prayer gathering. “Leaders like myself are feeling the constraints of rules and regulations and guidance issued by lawyers that put us in a tighter and tighter box regarding our constitutional right to express our religious faith.”

Funny that he’d mention lawyers.  Didn’t the Air Force’s highest ranking lawyer, the JAG of the Air Force LtGen Richard Harding, just Read more

The US Military, Religion, and Hypersensitivity

An innocent and heartwarming story was recently published on the official Air Force website about an effort to help an 8-year-old boy get a letter closer to his dad — in heaven:

MacAidan “Mac” Gallegos was only 5 when his father, Army Sgt. Justin Gallegos, was killed in Afghanistan in 2009. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t think about him…”I wanted to write my dad a letter and get it as close to heaven as possible,” said Mac.

A reserve F-22 pilot volunteered to carry the letter on a flight:  Read more

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