Michael “Mikey” Weinstein frequently publishes messages written in support of his organization, as he did last week when he published a letter from a supporter to Franklin Graham berating Graham for his defense of US Air Academy football players taking a knee in the end zone.  The supporter first summarized what he believed was Graham’s position:

You contended that young football players at the USAF Academy should be free to kneel down in a circle before a football game if they wished.

While it’s not too far off, that’s not actually what was happening. Football players were individually taking a knee in the end zone, and, yes, they should be free to do so if they wish.  Doesn’t sound that unreasonable, does it?

Weinstein’s supporter vehemently disagreed [emphasis added]:

I can tell that you have never been in the military, have you? If you had been in military service you would know that NOTHING in the military is entirely free will. I enlisted in the US Air Force Cadet Corps in November, 1954. That made me technically a Korean War vet, although the Armistice had already been signed. At the end of about 1.5 years of boot camp (the USAF calls it “pre-flight”), you get your Navigator Wings and a 2nd Lt. commission, and go fly for the minimum enlistment of 4 years.

The refrain “you’ve never been a…” can be a two-edged sword. After a few “successful” US Presidents who didn’t previously serve in the military (after decades of presidents who had), the “attack” has lost its political allure. Further, not having served in the US military does not make one a complete ignoramus with respect to the military, the rule of law, regulations, or the US Constitution. Likewise, having served in the military does not make one an expert on those same subjects.

Still, the author tries to tell Franklin Graham that Graham’s understanding of this current event is wrong, because of the author’s personal experience in the 1950s in which he was essentially hazed:

What you CLEARLY don’t understand is the social culture of that training organization… This was authorized personal intimidation.

Having established his own expertise and Graham’s ignorance, Weinstein’s supporter continues [emphasis added]:

For decades, the Fundamentalist Christian community has infiltrated the middle and upper regular officer ranks throughout the school. This includes…all levels of school staff, professors, etc. Many of those officers are so-called Dominionists, who see the Christian proselytizing of young people as their personal mission.

This acolyte has clearly imbibed the Weinstein kool-aid. While a fascinating story, the tale of alleged Christian domination is nothing more than the empty pablum peddled by Mikey Weinstein in his fundraising over the past decade. When ranked on a scale of fact versus fiction, the accusation that Christians (of any stripe) have surreptitiously usurped power at USAFA and are converting the unwashed masses sits right next to “9/11 was an inside job” and President Obama’s Kenyan birth certificate.

Weinstein’s supporter then summarizes [emphasis added]:

So, Reverend Graham, do you honestly think that all of those young men, kneeling at the goal end of the football field in prayer, are doing it because EVERY ONE wants to? If so, you are a fool, and have never been in the military social system.

This is ultimately a straw man. Graham didn’t assert everyone was doing anything. Graham’s position was that those who wanted to do so should be allowed to do so. Franklin supported the position of freedom, while Weinstein — and this supporter — support the position of denying liberty to avoid offense.

Despite the fact military service does not make one an expert on the military, some people still try to claim that mantle — as well as the “prestige” of being a veteran. Such appears to be the case here with author John Minck, the name of the man who wrote this message for Weinstein.

The 86-year old John Minck is a fairly prolific writer, both for causes he supports and for himself: He even published his life story online, in which he recounts much of the same hazing tale he re-tells in this letter. It’s in that full version that we discover Minck joined the Air Force in, as he said, 1954, to train as a US Air Force navigator in the aviation cadet program. But when Minck didn’t get the assignment he wanted when his training was done, he quit the Air Force instead.

After resigning (and acknowledging the cost he had incurred in the training he was now abandoning), Minck served out the remaining months of his enlistment working the x-ray machine at the hospital — ultimately only serving 21 of the 24 months he’d signed up for, and obtaining neither the commission nor “minimum enlistment of four years” he implied in his “technically a Korean War vet” tale that established his superiority over the “fool” Franklin Graham.

In that regard, he shares some traits with Mikey Weinstein, who proudly tells the story of quitting the Air Force — after threatening to sue when they threw up “bogus roadblocks” about his service commitment from law school. Just as Minck says he was “technically a Korean War vet” because of his navigator training and KP duty, Weinstein for years said he served “10 years as an Air Force JAG” — a mathematical impossibility based on his years of service. After withering criticism, Weinstein finally edited his biography to say he “served for more than 10 years with the JAG Corps,” which may more artfully convey that much of his service was actually in law school and in non-AF JAG positions, not as an actual Air Force lawyer.

Sometimes, it seems one’s true life story just isn’t good enough, and a little embellishment may be required.

Minck ended his message to Franklin Graham — in which he’d tried to school him on how the US military works — with an admonition:

You should remain silent in situations where you don’t know what you are talking about.

Might try following your own advice there, John.

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