Michael “Mikey” Weinstein made headlines last month when he accused Wreaths Across America, the non-profit that places wreaths in national cemeteries each year, of “carpet bombing” cemeteries with “Christian gang signs.” (That the wreaths are a “Christian gang sign” will come as a surprise to Christians, who for millenia have used several symbols of their faith — but not a wreath.) His initial acerbic press release occurred in November, though it wasn’t until well into December that it hit the major news cycles.

One of the most obvious questions to ask when Weinstein goes after a long-running tradition like the annual Wreaths Across America event is, “why now?” If something is so egregious, why has he waited years to say anything about it? It appears Mikey himself tried to stave off this criticism by claiming he’s “tried to handle each client outreach on a case-by-case basis.” Maybe, but that’s not really Mikey’s style. He’s been known to make public demands and issue scathing press releases mere hours, if not minutes, after receiving a single complaint.

It seems more likely that Weinstein didn’t even really care about WAA. For years, Mikey has stayed silent as volunteers placed these wreaths — “gang signs” — across the country and around the world, even at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier:

Notably, in 2016 Weinstein’s MRFF went on the attack against US Army Chaplain (LtCol) Grace Hollis – then the senior Army chaplain at Arlington National Cemetery – after she gave an invocation at the annual WAA wreath laying event. Weinstein accused the chaplain of violating military regulations by praying at the event in uniform:

On the official DoD website, there is an image of Lt. Colonel Hollis giving an invocation at the annual *Wreaths Across America event at Arlington. Wreaths Across America is a private organization that places Christmas wreaths on all the graves at Arlington and other cemeteries every year… Wreaths Across America is a private organization, or non-federal entity as the military calls it.

(That photo is still there, because, as is generally the case, Weinstein’s ravings were justifiably judged to be idiotic.) The asterisk in that quote is original. At the end of the statement, Weinstein included this italicized footnote:

*The issue at hand has nothing to do with the particular organization Wreaths Across America, other than it’s being an example of Lt. Col. Hollis endorsing a private organization in uniform…

Clearly, Weinstein now claims that WAA is virulently defacing cemeteries across the country with the imprimatur of the federal government. But five years ago, even given the opportunity, he went out of his way to avoid pointing a finger at them. If they were “carpet bombing” national cemeteries with wreaths even at that every moment, why was he so careful to avoid accusing them of impropriety? Where was his indignation then?

Further, in the initial fusillade this year, the MRFF made a point of saying the Wreaths Across America attack on American cemeteries was “personal” to Mikey Weinstein because his father is buried in a national cemetery. Yet, despite claiming WAA desecrates Jewish headstones across America each year, Weinstein has never claimed anyone has ever placed a wreath on his father’s gravesite in the Santa Fe National Cemetery – even though WAA places wreaths there each year and did so this past Christmas.

So, only in 2021 did this suddenly become an issue. What changed? It seems some foolish person managed to convince Weinstein that the wreaths could be portrayed as inherently Christian – Christian “gang signs.” Then again, as a wise man once said, who’s more foolish: The fool, or the fool who follows him?

As the ACLJ pointed out, Weinstein is actively taking a “secular activity and turning it into a religious one” for the sole purpose of attacking men and women of faith — who have nothing to do with that secular activity. Apparently, absent a genuine scandal, Mikey Weinstein just makes one up.

Suddenly armed with the idea the wreaths were Christian, Weinstein launched a full-frontal assault in November – that mostly went unnoticed until December. Following a FoxNews story, Weinstein’s accusations and penchant for pithy labels made the rounds of the press. A few members of Congress wrote a letter to the VA to ensure Weinstein’s attacks didn’t make any headway.

In another awkwardly ironic effort to attack WAA, Mikey’s research assistant Chris Rodda insinuated financial malfeasance with Wreaths Across America, which purchases the wreaths from the same family that started the non-profit. Laughably, this scandalous exposé comes from a “non-profit” founded by a single person whose own salary and other compensation is, suspiciously, the single largest expense of his own charity. It almost sounds like Weinstein created the MRFF for his personal financial benefit, or inurement — which led to Weinstein’s salary (and the claim that he’s worked 105 hours a week, nonstop, for decades) becoming the subject of public discussion — again. He’s kind of sensitive about that.

Something about stones and glass houses, Christine.

In the end, it seems nothing happened. The wreaths were placed, the solemn event marked, and Weinstein’s tirades fell on deaf ears. If Weinstein really wanted to do something, he should volunteer the MRFF as the clean-up crew for the annual WAA removal of the wreaths, which occurs this Saturday. It’s unlikely he’ll do so, though, because he only cares about those “Christian gang signs” if he can get publicity from talking about them. To that point, while his attacks failed, Weinstein’s wallet may be a little more padded after his repeated fundraising efforts connected to the Wreaths Across America faux-scandal.

To review: Re-define a secular activity as “religious”, attack that activity for being “religious”, and then profit off the publicity from the “scandal” that you created.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, may have been his intent all along.

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