Most know by now, but for those who don’t, US Air Force BGen John Teichert has been cleared following Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s 22-page complaint about his religious beliefs.
It turns out the Inspector General didn’t even investigate. It did the required first step — analyze the complaint — and determined Weinstein’s complaint was so frivolous it didn’t even warrant an investigation.
Mikey Weinstein’s reaction was typical: Read more
Michael “Mikey” Weinstein discovered the power of the Inspector General complaint process way back in 2007. By using the IG, Weinstein is able to loudly file a complaint (a step necessary for fundraising, which pays his salary) and possibly get a reaction from the military — and whether he does or not, he can still claim victory.
The best part? It’s free.
Mikey Weinstein used to say “tell it to the judge,” but it seems even he realized how impotent that made him look, given how long its been since the MRFF has seen the inside of a courtroom and how ineffective his “charity” was when it was there. (Weinstein has zero wins and six losses in military/religion cases.) Plus, lawsuits can be expensive, even if the MRFF insisted on finding attorneys who would work pro bono. Now, Weinstein’s rallying cry has diminished to a weak “I’ll file a complaint……….!!!1!1”
Speaking for the MRFF, Weinstein’s research assistant Chris Rodda recently threatened to file an IG complaint against ChristianFighterPilot.com.
Care to know what happened another time the MRFF filed an IG complaint about Read more
By Sonny Hernandez
On Feb 3, 2017, the Air Force Times reported a “wing commander’s prayer breakfast invite spark[ed] [an] IG complaint,” which was a result of a third party complaint filed by Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) to the 42nd Air Base Wing (ABW) inspector general (IG).
The complaint was allegedly filed after several people at Maxwell Air Force Base contacted the MRFF after the 42nd ABW commander used his commander’s box to invite everyone in the wing to a National Prayer Breakfast. Weinstein claims the invite constituted a clear violation of Air Force Instruction (AFI) 1-1, paragraph 2.12 (Balance of Free Exercise of Religion and Establishment Clause).
The complaint filed against the 42nd ABW Commander does not Read more
Michael “Mikey” Weinstein filed a complaint with the Inspector General at Maxwell Air Force Base because the 42d Air Base wing commander, Col Erik Shafa, sent out an invitation to the National Prayer Breakfast. As reported by the Air Force Times:
Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, filed a third-party complaint…claiming the invite constituted a clear violation of Air Force Instruction 1-1, Section 2.12, Balance of Free Exercise of Religion and Establishment Clause.
Fortunately, Mikey Weinstein has been almost universally panned for the outlandish accusation.
As noted before, Weinstein assumes US troops are either cowards or sycophants — he thinks they either lack the intestinal fortitude to decline such an invitation, or they will attend solely to ingratiate themselves with their leadership.
Put another way, Tony Carr at John Q. Public wrote (in a cleverly titled “Why Weinstein is Right About Prayer Breakfast Invitation“) [emphasis added]: Read more
Michael “Mikey” Weinstein recently demanded the US Air Force “aggressively punish” LtGen Steven Kwast, Commander and President of the Air Force’s Air University, claiming he violated Air Force regulations by “discuss[ing]” his faith.
While typical and not unlike his rebuffed accusations against LtCol Michael Kersten, this Weinstein complaint is unique in its near-honesty.
First, Weinstein readily admitted he filed the complaint only because LtGen Kwast “openly discussed his (Christian) faith” (parentheses original) and, shockingly, quoted the Bible:
Lt. Gen. Steven L. Kwast openly discussed his (Christian) faith by, among other faith-based statements, quoting New Testament scripture from Matthew 25:21…
It would be more accurate to say LtGen Kwast mentioned his faith, but it’s Read more
UPDATE: While Weinstein’s original complaint was almost completely ignored, a wide variety of sites has picked up on USAFA’s decision to ignore Weinstein. One site pointed out Weinstein was violating his own organization’s mission statement — leading one to wonder if his Board of Directors should sanction him.
For his part, Mikey Weinstein is now awkwardly spinning this incident to claim it is an MRFF “victory,” despite the fact he previously called the USAFA response “bulls–t” when it didn’t bow — and still hasn’t bowed — to his demands. It would seem not doing what Weinstein wants is also an MRFF “victory,” meaning Weinstein can never lose…
As discussed last week, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein demanded an investigation of Air Force tight ends football coach Steed Lobotzke because he “tweeted” Bible verses.
The Air Force responded with a collective yawn [emphasis added]:
Air Force finds nothing wrong with football assistant spreading Bible verses via Twitter https://t.co/7jV18Bpa8X
— Steed Lobotzke (@CoachLobotzke) December 11, 2016
All athletic coaches’ social media accounts are personal and not maintained by the Air Force Academy Athletic Department. The views and comments within these accounts are personal and not the views of the Air Force Academy or Air Force. However, we appreciate that the accounts could appear official and have advised that an appropriate disclaimer be included to avoid confusion in this regard.
The Academy remains Read more
Michael “Mikey” Weinstein says he will call for an Inspector General investigation of US Air Force Academy football coach Steed Lobotzke, because Lobotzke quotes Bible verses on his Twitter account [emphasis added]:
Unchecked Christian extremism is worse than ever at the Academy…
Lobotzke’s official twitter feed is filled with illicit proselytizing in the name of Jesus Christ…Unconstitutional filth, thy name be Steed Lobotzke…
This [is the] latest disgrace to the Constitution of unlawful, fundamentalist Christian supremacy…
To be clear, Lobotzke’s “crime” was nothing more than Read more
Four years after Jason Torpy’s third-party atheist complaint brought an end to a children’s live nativity in Bahrain, the US Air Force Academy continues the same tradition this week:
The Christmas tree and Hanukah Menorah lighting ceremony begins at 5 p.m. with a Hanukah [sic] and Nativity story performed by children.
In 2012 Jason Torpy, vicariously offended that a Naval base in Bahrain would allow its children to re-enact the nativity scene, filed an IG complaint alleging the kids were violating the US Constitution. The local Read more