Michael Weinstein, the sole paid officer of the “charity” he founded and runs, revels in having people perceive him as a martyr for his cause.  He recently said this about what his fight against religious freedom has cost him:

Someone asked my wife how much do you owe? What did you have to give up, probably a lot huh? She was crying when she made the statement, “No, we didn’t have to give up a lot, we had to give up everything.” There is no retirement fund. There is no retirement home. There is no sense of security…

There are two possibilities. First, that Weinstein is grossly exaggerating.  He and his organization play “fun with numbers” often, so this might be just another example.  (Ever wonder why he constantly cites his “10 years as an Air Force JAG” but never gives dates for that service…?  Do the math.)  Remember, too, Weinstein has paid himself nearly a million dollars out of the money his charity has raised.  His charity’s budget covers travel expenses and, since he appears to work from home, probably an extensive amount of his home “office.”  In other words, he’s paying himself a quarter million dollars a year and he likely has no substantial personal expenses.

Still, maybe it was a sacrifice to give up the Dodge Viper in 2006 and settle on an exotic Lotus instead.  To borrow a political comparison, that kind of sacrifice could be hard on the 1%.

The second possibility is Weinstein is in serious need of a financial planner.  Some of his “clients” probably make less in a year than he pays himself in a single month.

Actually, there is a third possibility.  Weinstein may be out of touch with reality.  Says he:

Whenever I see unconstitutional religious tyranny of any type from any client, I don’t care if I live or die, someone is going to get a f—ing beating, and I’m going to be the one to do it.

And he wonders why no one takes him seriously.