Our regular readers should be all too familiar with Mikey Weinstein and his band of Anti-Dominion loons who seem to find Religious Crusaders forcing their beliefs on military members everywhere. I am not a religious man but Mikey and his ilk do not care much for me either. They published claims on their site that I am Anti-Semitic, based completely on the things I post on this blog.
I kinda believe it could be the fact that I point out things like the vast majority of the money Mikey Weinstein was collecting through his so-called “Military Religious Freedom Foundation” was going straight to Mikey’s own bank account. Billing your own Charity for doing legal work that you yourself created seems…smarmy to me. I learned in kindergarten about the “Sticks and Stones” thing and it seems to be all I need to quell the predictably juvenile antics of Mikey’s MRFF Storm Troopers.
I guess drumming up funding for what I see as vexatious litigation was their primary mission after all. There must be a shortage of rampaging Dominionists forcing Jesus upon unsaved souls these days. Or, being the opportunistic sleaze that Mikey appears to be, he figures jumping on the current windfall of Law Enforcement Outrage is just more profitable. It’s not just the military now.
Now “Milk It Mikey” is going after a law enforcement officer that happens to be a veteran and has a tattoo dedicated to his KIA brother. That being what it may, it is a hard tattoo to defend on its face value. But, as is often the case when corporeal beings capable of free thought engage in a little skeptical research… it’s really not that hard to defend after all. I doubt that will stop “Milk It Mikey” from fundraising over it.
Here is an article about the situation:
A national civil rights organization says it will file a suit against the city of Walla Walla if a local police officer’s double lightning bolt “SS” tattoo isn’t removed or altered or the officer isn’t removed from the Walla Walla Police Department.
In an emailed letter sent to Walla Walla Police Chief Scott Bieber and Walla Walla Mayor Tom Scribner, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation called for Bieber to “do the right thing.”
City officials said this morning they are unaware of or had not read the letter from Michael Weinstein, founder and president of the organization.
Weinstein said his civil rights advocacy group had been in contact with board members of the Beth Israel Congregation in Walla Walla regarding the tattoo worn by police officer Nat Small.
In a letter to the Union-Bulletin published Wednesday, Beth Israel representatives said the synagogue’s board is concerned about the police department’s defensive and reactionary response to community criticism about Small’s tattoo and the lack of police department transparency on the issue.
Not only does that concern Jews, but Bieber’s response reflects “a greater concern about the treatment of Black, Latinx, and LGBTQ people by police forces across this county,” the letter said. Board members hope a door will open the for dialogue between the police force and the Walla Walla community on national issues.
Police Chief Scott Bieber did not respond to Weinstein’s missive this morning.
“I have yet to see the letter so I have no comment on it,” Bieber said.
City attorney Tim Donaldson said he was also unaware of the letter and would not comment until he could review it.
After a picture of the tattoo on Small’s forearm was posted on Facebook and then widely circulated last week, the tattoo and Small’s role in the police department became a source of controversy.
The police department and Small have said the double lightning bolt “SS” tattoo is related to the officer’s scout sniper service in the U.S. Marine Corps, despite its historic symbolism for Nazi white supremacy.
The image has been denounced by the Marine Corps, in part due to efforts from Weinstein’s organization.
In 2012 a group of Marines posed with their sniper rifles in front of a blue flag with white Nazi “SS” runes.
The picture had been taken in 2010 in Afghanistan and the photo’s description says the “SS” flag had been “adopted and used by the Marines in reference to scout sniper.”
Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation called for Marine Corps Commandant General James Amos to order an investigation of the photo’s origins, according to Reuters news organization.
Weinstein said his foundation is dedicated to fighting for the constitutionally guaranteed separation of church and state for military service men and women, representing more than 68,000 active duty U.S. service people, “about 95% of whom self-identify as practicing Christians,” he said.
“We did take on this issue in 2012 when members of the U.S. Marines were infuriated about the use of the ‘SS’ Nazi symbol for the scout snipers that were in Afghanistan,” he said. “It took the Marine Corps about 24 hours to ban the use of the symbol.”
In his communication to Bieber and Scribner, Weinstein called Small’s depiction of the “schutzstaffel” or Nazi “SS,” disgusting and despicable, saying use of the imagery is inexcusable under any circumstance.
Weinstein’s letter said as national and global outcry over “blatant police abuses of people of color and other minorities,” it is disingenuous and dishonest for the department to argue Small’s tattoo is fine since the officer covers it with a long sleeve police uniform while on duty.
“Police officers are supposed to be inextricably intertwined into the very fabric of their communities, especially in a small town such as Walla Walla. When Officer Nat Small is ‘off duty’ and blatantly displaying that Nazi SS tattoo for the whole community to see and absorb, it sends a distinct message of indescribable fear and loathing especially to your Jewish and other minority communities which you are sworn to serve and protect,” Weinstein said in his letter.
“While we respect Officer Small for what he did, which was very gallant and very brave in Afghanistan, it is inconceivable to us that he is unaware of the connection to the Nazi’s,” he said this morning.
The people who have come forward to the organization for help do not feel like an apology from the police department would be enough, Weinstein said.
“Our job is to be the voice for those in Walla Walla that feel they have no voice without revenge or political retaliation. And so I am speaking for the members of the LGBTQ community, the Jewish community, people of color and of Christians and everyone who has reached out,” he said.
His organization calls for an alteration of the tattoo to remove the “SS” symbol “so it will no longer display the Nazi iconography, the iconography of genocide,” or removal of the tattoo.
If neither of those is selected, the organization seeks the departure of Small from the force, either through firing or resignation.
If none of those options are selected, the organization will file a suit.
“Our litigators are preparing a federal lawsuit. The plaintiff will be citizens of Walla Walla, and we will go in with an aggressive federal lawsuit against the city of Walla Walla, the police department and the mayor,” Weinstein said. “We hope that that doesn’t happen.”
Weinstein said he has received no responses from the mayor or police chief
He said it is a nonpartisan issue.
“You don’t have to be Jewish to understand this or be a person of color or LBGTQ at all,” he said. “You should be able to look at this and understand how hurtful this is.”
“It is not about him. He is paid by the people to be a public servant and in a democracy … we rule by persuasion,” he said. “And this is a democracy, we are a representative democracy, we rule by persuasion, lawsuits persuade.”
An anonymous letter Weinstein received said, “The Police Department claims they have him cover it while on duty. This isn’t good enough. What if I see this officer and his tattoo at the grocery store and the next day in a police capacity. I would fear for my safety and my fellow citizens as well.”
I always take exception to these so-called “anonymous letter” claims. It does not take the creative imagination of a Fellini to conjure up images of MRFF miscreants passing around a note to one another and then claiming it was suddenly anonymous. But, then again… they do seem to be easily confused.
The name in the tattoo on Officer Small’s arm is that of Cpl Claudio Patino, KIA June 22, 2010 To Cpl Patino and Officer Small the SS stands for Scout Sniper. I will not attempt to describe the kind of Marine Cpl Patino was… I would rather let someone who loved him and was there when he was killed tell the story.
Broken Understanding: A Marine Scout Sniper Reflects by Nate Coffey
My concept of grace has, like most things in my life, been shaped by experiences in combat.
In June of 2010, I had the honor of serving as a team leader for a Marine Corps Scout Sniper team in Musah Quelah, Afghanistan. Our company was to clear the town of its Taliban presence, and when things got really hairy, the whole battalion came to join the fight. Cpl Claudio Patino IV was a Marine on my team, and he was the living pulse of it.
My eight man team, Shadow 2, was a very effective unit, and we got hard results. I’ll leave the details out of it, but we were very good at our jobs. Quite a bit of our actions against the enemy was due to the insane courage and tactical proficiency of this one man.
He was not a “good” man in the sense that most of us see goodness, but he was very good at being a man. He was a rough individual with a sharp tongue, and he had no patience for weakness. His language wasn’t clean. He wasn’t in Afghanistan out of some poster boy sense of duty per se, and I don’t know that he was there because he saw himself fighting for the freedoms of Americans.
The Shadow 2 team standing in a giant marijuana field after getting bombed by our own guys. Long story.
Most of our country didn’t want us over there, and fewer still had any concept of the men and women sent to fight in that foreign soil. I believe that, like most of us, he was somewhat disgusted with the state of our nation and its citizens who couldn’t care less about a 20-something year old man duking it out with third world insurgents. He was there for the fight. There was a war going on, and he wanted in on it.
His main passion in life was fighting. He was skilled in hand-to-hand combat, so much so that I designated him our team instructor. Every night we had free was spent in the “gym,” which was really a tent with a pull-up bar, a small wrestling mat, and a punching bag made out of bricks or something, learning from him how to punch each other in the face.
He was an excellent marksman, even amongst a team of Scout Snipers. He could engage the enemy with his hands, a blade, a pistol, or with a rifle from 1,000 yards away. Which he did. A lot.
When someone dies, it is custom for us to never say anything negative about him or her. We choose to remember only the good things, and forget any negative aspects of that person. Not so with Claudio Patino IV. There was no pretending that he was a good Marine, and we weren’t forced to forget bad things about him. All of those good things you say about someone after they’re dead, we would say about him while he was alive. Those that knew him could often react to him just by shaking our heads in wonder. Amongst the Marine Corps infantry, and amongst a group of skilled snipers, he stood out as a paragon of skill, ferocity, strength, speed, and bravery.
Cpl Claudio Patino IV
Why tell you all of this? I want you to know that this man was the best we had to offer. I want you to get a sense of how we all idolized him, even while he was living. I looked up to him, and I was his TEAM LEADER, and I was about ten years older than him. There were actual times when I would give an order, and the guys in my team would automatically look at him to see what he thought about it. We idolized him in life, and in death.
I remember his death well. Patino had seen some movement on a hilltop in the distance. He wanted to go check it out, and he took three other teammates with him. I remember him getting to that hilltop and collapsing, and I heard the automatic gunfire a half second later. I remember seeing the rest of the team unleash hell in the distance, and the strained voices on the radio. As the rest of us bounded up to their position and I asked for an update, one of the guys calmly said over the radio, “Patino’s dead.”
The next two hours was a blur of gunfire and radio traffic, as each of us took turns performing CPR on the body of our brother, while our corpsman attempted every life-saving intervention he could. The mangled bodies of the Taliban fighters who shot him lay crumpled close by. Aircraft flew overhead, bombs were dropped, shots were fired, and more injuries were sustained.
Scout Sniper Platoon with the Patino family
Only a matter of weeks passed before I stood before his parents with two of my brothers, giving an account of the death of their son. I had to stand in front of them with a fellow teammate, and explain to them how this had happened. How do you apologize to a man’s family after he dies while you’re in charge of him?
His family was more than gracious to us. They met the battalion when they came back from Afghanistan, and they did is with pride knowing that these were the men next to their son and brother when he fell in battle.
Most of you will not remember his name after reading this. I wouldn’t expect you to. You didn’t know him. You didn’t fight battles with him. But I did.
I have his name carved into the flesh over my heart, and I named my son after him. His death had such a profound impact on me and how I live my life. I look at his parents and siblings and wonder if they would see my life as worthy of his death. I look at my wife and children and wonder if my life will have the same impact on them.
A year later, I was in Baghdad, Iraq as a Private Military Contractor.
There were two realities of that job;
1. I was always armed, and
2. I spent much of my free time alone in my room.
The guilt of watching him die every single day never left me. Almost daily, it seemed I would find myself in tears, on my knees on the floor, begging God for forgiveness for my failures as a leader, a Marine, and as a man. More than once, the desire to end it all became so strong that I would have to unload my pistol and leave it in my room. I couldn’t face my former teammates, and just getting and sending emails to them was an excruciating experience. The only thing that kept me from killing myself was the thought of the pretty woman and four children I had waiting for me at home.
I can never earn his sacrifice, but I can honor his life and death with mine. I can tell his story. I can tell my kids about the greatest warrior I’ve ever met. I can live my life, not as a feeble attempt to
repay him, but as a reflection of the love I have for him.
I hope I earned it.
In the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” there is a scene where a dying Tom Hanks is speaking to Matt Damon’s character. Private James Francis Ryan just witnessed a group of men come to save him specifically, and then die in the process.
After the battle, Ryan hears Tom Hanks’ character, Caption John H. Miller’s last words, “James…earn this. Earn it.” We see years later, an aged James Francis Ryan standing at the grave of Captian Miller. He collapses in tears, asking his wife if he’s been a good man. He’s apparently spent his entire life trying to be worthy of the sacrifice made for him, and in old age, he knows he couldn’t.
Cpl. Claudio Patino IV wasn’t a perfect man. The fictitious Capt. John H. Miller wasn’t either. Jesus was. “…but while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He died specifically for each of us, and it would be an unbearable burden if we allowed it to be. The difference is that His last words weren’t “Earn this,” they were “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.”
None of you know Claudio Patino like I did, but you do, or can know Jesus. I struggled for years to earn the grace Christ gave to me, just as I struggled for years asking why my brother died on an unnamed hilltop in Afghanistan while I survived. The answer lies in knowing we can’t earn it. We can be grateful for the sacrifice, accept what it has done for us, and live our lives in honor of it.
Marine Cpl. Claudio Patiño IV, 22, was on his third overseas deployment when he was killed while stationed in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan.
It is a shame that some people will jump to condemn Officer Small. Those same clowns would be just as vocal about Cpl Patino being a law enforcement officer. I am sure the Nazi tag will be flailed about in faux outrage by opportunists who are probably using his tattoo to honor Cpl Patino as a fundraiser. I hope Officer Small does as his good conscience directs him to do. Keep it, alter it, or remove it.
I will gladly support whatever he decides to do…so long as it was his choice and not because it was demanded by a man I believe to be little more than a situational parasite that is looking for a cause to feed upon. Where is Small’s civil right to Free Expression? Should an employer fire someone because they have a tattoo? A tattoo that is not visible while on duty?
What my fellow citizens in in Walla Walla, WA should be afraid of is “Milk It Mikey” and his Storm Troopers goose-stepping down the streets. Cover up any of your monuments if they even so much as mention… dare I say it… God. They will come to town in a Blitzkrieg of their own design using threat and intimidation to bully their way through town.
I will close by sharing something with the Marines of Shadow 2 that will always be beyond the comprehension of “Milk It Mikey” Weinstein… Semper Fidelis my brothers.
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thebesig
4 years ago
The people that have to “force Jesus” on the unsaved souls are usually the ones that haven’t read scripture. They’re the ones that Jesus talked about with regards to taking the bigger object out of their own eyes before they tell someone to take the smaller object out of theirs.
I enjoy hammering folks like this online and making them realize that as much as they want people to believe them as knowledgeable about all things related to being saved, they know very little about what they’re talking about.
26Limabeans
4 years ago
I don’t see what any of this has to do with queers
other than Mikey wanting to bring everyone into
the big circus tent to fill the seats and up the gate.
I think if that Jesus fellow was to go into that tent with mikey and his minions, Jesus would go into that whole “whips, turning over tables, and driving them out thing.” IIRC that fellow could cop an attitude over dickheads, ne’er do wells, sinners and such. He didn’t have much use for bankers either.
BZ/SF and Rest in Peace to Cpl Claudio Patino IV. We Salute your Service and pay Honors to your Sacrifice. May God’s Peace continue to bring Comfort to his Family.
He needs as many flavors of grievance mongers as possible; the only deviants he seems to have left out were the furries. I was shocked to see photos of a couple of them in their fuzzy animal onesy getups walking around in CHOPistan last week.
steeleyI
4 years ago
As the article points out, Marine Scout Snipers have used the SS runes for years. Marines in Iraq have also used a version of the Afrika Corps insignia, substituting an EGA for the swastika, since at least Desert Shield/Storm. Knowing how Marines and Soldiers in line units think, my guess is these insignia were popular for two reasons: The guys in the unit, facing death on a daily basis, have a dark sense of humor that most people outside their unit will never, ever, understand. The irony of the combat soldier is that in a very real way they identify just as much if not more with enemy combat soldiers than the people back home. They came across the runes and the Afrika Corps insignia, identified with a previous generation of young men stuck in a desert at the pointy end of the spear, and didn’t think much more about it. More importantly, it looks cool. So, it is completely plausible to me that Officer Small sees those runes as a symbol of his team, and it evokes in him the love, brotherhood, and self-sacrifice that he probably hasn’t been able to find in the civilian world. Quite the opposite of what most people would think when they see it. The Gen Z and Millenial generations did not get the same view of history as previous generations. Teachers and professors that want to paint America as evil will gloss over America’s efforts to defeat the actual evil in the world, so many of these young men don’t know the real story. On top of that, as the Greatest Generation grows smaller, few of them have ever met a World War II veteran, much less discussed the war with them. Those wars are fading from our nation’s living memory. However, this is why we have senior NCOs and Officers, and it boggles my mind that no one in the Scout Sniper community thought to intervene and guide these Marines in the right direction. I was at Ft Bragg during the ‘Nazis in the Barracks’ episode. I was on battalion staff waiting… Read more »
Me and my Jewish Spousal Unit applaud your stance while a Army officer and your historically reasoned conclusion which leaves “no room for Nazi symbology” in the military or law enforcement ranks.
There is no room, no matter what the individual feels about the symbol. Here’s why:
Our nation is currently facing what could accurately be described as an insurgency. Insurgencies do involve actual violence and combat, but at their core they are wars of ideas. There are people who are knowingly and deliberately trying to discredit our national values so they can be replaced with a set of Neo-Marxist/Maoist values.
The overt militant wing of this insurgency is Antifa. Here’s the thing, though: Your typical militant pipe swinging insurgent has a very superficial understanding of the doctrine of the cause. They are typically angry young men who don’t have a productive or constructive outlet for their energy- in other words, they have very malleable minds, and all they need is a cause to lend what they perceive as legitimacy to their desire to break stuff.
The cause they have been fed is fascism- it’s in their name. They have been taught that the system is racist and cops are fascists. They believe it because they have a very superficial understanding of what fascism actually is (same with communism, by the way), and they are presented with a cherry picked set of facts that reinforces that understanding.
I doubt this officer was thinking about fascism or Nazis when he got his tattoo, but it doesn’t matter. The enemies of this country are going to seize on this and use it to tremendous effect. Here you have a police officer with a tattoo of not just a Nazi tattoo, but also brass knuckles. This will easily be spun into a fascist/police brutality narrative, and it will be used as further evidence that the entire system should be dismantled.
“The cause they have been fed is fascism- it’s in their name. They have been taught that the system is racist and cops are fascists. They believe it because they have a very superficial understanding of what fascism actually is (same with communism, by the way), and they are presented with a cherry picked set of facts that reinforces that understanding.”
SteeleyI, this is precisely what we’ve been trying forever to make a certain bozo out in Berkeley understand. The problem is that he’s one of them: a know-nothing who constantly tells us we know nothing.
I was stationed at Schofield Barracks during the Nazi paratrooper saga. We went through pretty much the same thing with the tattoos so I think that was Army wide.
In my younger years my cousin did a school art project. On it he painted a swastika just because he thought it looked cool. At the time he was living with our Grandmother who painted over it and sat him down and explained how our late Grandfather had landed in the second wave on D-Day and fought the Nazis and how horrible their ideology was.
That is eerily reminiscent of my discussions with paratroopers.
Another interesting aspect of this is that we also uncovered a lot of street gang tattoos and symbology. Crips, Bloods, MS13, Latin Kings, etc.
There was a deliberate effort on the part of these gangs to send members into the military for the training and spread the word. In fact, my company supply clerk, a kid from Kansas City, was held up in the Repo Depo pending a background investigation into his tattoos. If you aren’t familiar, it is really hard to get support Soldiers to go to jump school, so many units are short supply, truck drivers, NBC, and other similar MOSs.
He was eventually cleared and came to the unit. He lasted about 6 months, long enough to go to armorer’s school and become the assistant armorer. Then he went AWOL. Also missing was a few thousand dollars worth of gear (no coincidence, I’m sure).
One of the guys heard from him about a year later, and he was back in K.C., back in the gang.
Growing up everyone I knew over the age of 40 was WW2 vet which meant pretty much everyone of my friends’ dads.
Your story is shocking to me on a number of levels both from the US Military side of the equation due to all those vets I knew, but also because my Uncle was one of those poor Polish souls who somehow managed to survive in the camps until liberated.
I guess it’s true when we stop teaching kids to think and simply teach them to answer questions on a test the unintended consequences manifest themselves in ways we would not have considered.
If you’re not careful, you may just get this former 2d Bde, 82d Abn staff NCO (S-3/CBR) from a far earlier era, to start paying more attention to you. For future reference, like most NCO’s and officers, serving and former, I respond much more positively when I don’t feel that I (as well as the rest of the TAH crowd) am being lectured, berated or patronized.
All the way!
Ex-PH2
4 years ago
Has anyone told Mikey to just “Vergeh, frevelnder Gauch”?
Maybe we’ll get lucky and Mikey will get countersued.
What? I can dream, can’t I?
Alberto S
4 years ago
Can you explain why Cpl.Platiño had an “SS” tatoo and why Small chose this symbol to remember him? And why are you so concerned that the MRFF is reminding all of us that Nazi mindsets still bubble at the bottom?
I believe you can find the backstory on why those tattoos were chosen posted in many places. It had nothing to do with Nazi anything.
I am not concerned about anyone reminding us about anything. I encourage people to remind us of significant issues. I applaud it.
I reject those who endorse and legitimize threats or intimidation. That includes Legal Intimidation. Using jurisprudence to bully others is smarmy…at best.
If Officer Small asked my opinion, I would encourage him to alter that tattoo in a manner that still honors his friend without that type of SS.
When did Milk It Mikey send a letter of concern asking that Officer Small consider removing it? I bet it was about the same time the media was contacted to create a kerfuffle. Little to no opportunity was given to even respond. No, this is all about Mikey getting attention and nothing more in my opinion.
The point to my article is Milk It Mikey seems to be more concerned with drawing attention to himself than anything else. This will be just another feather in his little cap.
I believe Michael Weinstein is a bottom-feeding opportunist.
David
4 years ago
I was once TDY in Bavaria working with a young Air Force sergeant. On a day off, we went to Berchtesgarten. While standing at the site of one of the houses (Goering’s? Goebbels’?) he said “maybe these guys weren’t so bad after all if they wanted houses in a spot this beautiful?” Within about two hours I had him inside the Dachau camp. Doubt he ever said that again.
aGrimm
4 years ago
“James…earn this. Earn it.” That scene from Saving Private Ryan and subsequently where Ryan asks his wife if he has been a good man epitomizes the same philosophy I took with me from combat. Human nature has some strange paradoxes. Most soldiers will kill (kill or be killed) in combat, but will often come away with a deep sense of guilt for killing or seeing comrades killed. As a result of my combat experience, I came to understand why the greatest generation did so much in terms of building our nation; they had the emotional need and drive to “earn it”.
A Proud Infidel®™
4 years ago
I just offer a perpetual KUTOMBA WEWE to Mikey WHINEstein.
Marshalldoc
4 years ago
Not surprising to find people defending the Nazi insignias & regalia with which the adorn themselves considering they also venerate the U.S. invasion of Iraq which was an exact parallel to Hitler’s invasion of Poland: A fake claim of a national threat by a nation unable to execute & not planning any such action (Poland, Iraq), by demagogues claiming to represent white, Christian values (Hitler, the Cheney-Bush two headed abomination) both of which created the greatest catastrophes of their respective centuries and are both crimes against humanity.
Oh, and as to Mikey’s having created a foundation to pay his salary for defending the rights of people under assault by people like you, are you also as critical of the lawyers who founded the ACLJ (American Center for Law & Justice) or does your critique only apply to those attacking fascism & it’s appendages? Oh, and by Jews, of course.
Who exactly is defending Nazi insignia and regalia or the decision to invade Iraq? I’m certainly not.
That said, your comparison of the Coalition invasion of Iraq to the German invasion of Poland is more than a bit of a stretch.
The international coalition’s invasion of Iraq was designed to topple the oppressive Ba’athist regime of Sadam Hussein and return control of the country to its people. It was based on multiple UN resolutions, endorsed by the democratic legislatures of both the UK, US, and was supported by 47 other nations (including Poland, by the way, which provided GROM SOF forces for the invasion).
Whether or not it was a good foreign policy decision is a different question.
None of the rhetoric used by the US or UK had anything to do with white Christian values. You just made that up.
Arguably, the greatest catastrophe of the 21st century was the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, which has been responsible for far more deaths in the Middle East than the coalition. More Iraqis and Syrians were killed by Sunni terrorists or jihadis than the US. I think the only group responsible for more muslim deaths would be Iranian supported Shia terrorists, but of course no one knows the true numbers.
On the other hand, Germany’s unilateral invasion of Poland (I guess it was bilateral if you consider the pact with Stalin and the subsequent Soviet invasion of Poland) was driven by a pact between two dictators who fully intended to annex the territory they were invading.
Of course, the Allies (to include the Soviets), righted this wrong, toppled the Nazi regime, and the US rebuilt Europe and Japan to create the strongest economy and allow for an era of unprecedented prosperity and, yes, peace.
Mikey gives not a single fuck about righting wrongs, real or perceived. Mikey only cares about Mikey. He’s a fraud and opportunist iof the worst stripe.
I hope the aclu stands up for the LEOS !St A’s rights. Most of the TAHers know my faith/religion and I really don’t care what kind of tat the man has. I have 5 tats on my arms. So the SS Panzers had tanks, And the US Mil. have tanks so maybe our tanks should go because the SS Panzers had tanks along with our almost German looking helmets. Maybe our small arms should also should go. Maybe I should get rid of my Mil/Navy tats because the demoRat liberal also hates this country and what it stands for.
Twist
4 years ago
It didn’t take long for the bottom feeder Mikey’s minions to show up.
For the Marines to adopt the SS runes (regardless of how “cool” they look) is just stupid. For an LEO to defend having his tattoo is also foolish, regardless of his subjective intent.
If you want to know what the SS was all about, read about the Malmedy massacre. That’s the SS in a nutshell, right there. And that wasn’t even the worst thing they did, not by a long shot.
I’m sure to some 18 year old private, the SS runes can seem “edgy” and “cool”, but in terms of its current cultural meaning, it’s no different from the swastika.
18 year old privates are stupid as a general rule (and as a former 18 year old private, I can confirm that I certainly was.) But that’s exactly why 18 year old privates need level headed NCOs to keep their stupidity from becoming something that will damage not only that individual, but tarnish his entire unit.
I have no love for Weinstein or his anti-crusade. Weinstein seems to be like a lot of lawyers who seem intent on creating conflict where none existed before.
But if I was a resident of Walla Walla and saw an officer with a Nazi tattoo (and yes, it’s a Nazi symbol. The fact that it was “adopted” by a lot of foolish Marines who should have known better doesn’t change where it came from) I’d be pissed off too.
Poetrooper
4 years ago
Why doesn’t Weinstein go after all the outlaw bikers who brazenly display all sorts of Nazi symbols on their clothing, themselves, their machines and their environs?
Or might that prove personally problematic for Mikey?
I’m guessing because outlaw bikers are not part of the military nor are they part of law enforcement.
I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t be happy if my local sheriff’s dept decided they were going to outsource their patrol division to the Mongols or the Sons of Silence MC.
Hondo: Another reason Weinstein doesn’t go after bikers sporting Nazi regalia is that he’d first have to build a time machine to take him back to 1965.
Bikers quit wearing swastikas around the time of the Tet Offensive. As someone who’s been riding a motorcycle since 1982 I can tell you that I’ve never, EVER seen a swastika on a vest or helmet.
Are there racist biker groups? Absolutely. But they’re smart enough not to flash the swastika in public.
It may be different in the South, but around here (Colorado and the inter-mountain West) the biggest and most active “outlaw” clubs are largely or mostly Hispanic anyway (Mongols and Bandidos.)
You’re not going to see them flashing swastikas for pretty obvious reasons. 😉
Can’t say whether it’s different anywhere, amigo. I don’t hang around much where 1% groups are likely to show up; I value my health and safety too much.
Still, you might want to review the document linked below. Apparently LE was still finding Nazi symbology used by some 1% groups as late as 1991.
This article from about 5 years ago also indicates the use of “SS” symbology by some 1% clubs – though the article does also indicate it’s often used for “shock value” vice as an indicator of Nazi sympathies or beliefs.
Or Mikey could go after some Muslim groups that adore Hitler and the Nazi party. Every one these atheist protest/grievance groups seems to give the Muslims a pass for some reason. I note BLM wants to burn churches and/or smash stained glass windows depicting Christ, but they won’t touch a mosque or an Koran.
LOL! rgr769, is it painful to be this clueless? It should.
NavyNuke
4 years ago
I’m from Walla Walla, and a veteran myself. If you served, you know we give up some
of our constitutional rights so we can protect the freedoms of others.
Same should apply for the boys in blue. Don’t be obtuse, a spade is a spade and a lightning bolt is a lightning bolt. Nazi’s picked what those meant for us, like it or not.
26Limabeans
4 years ago
Mikey should go after Bikers wearing Nazi Helmets.
As I said above, he’d also need a time machine to take him back to the 1960’s. Bikers quit sporting that shit decades ago, even before I started riding in 1982.
Before someone posts a link, yes, there are companies out there that sell the “german-style” motorcycle helmets but I’ve never seen anybody wear one at any kind of motorcycle event. My guess is that those that are worn are worn ironically as in “look at this corny old thing I found!”
Actual “One percenters” generally eschew helmets if they are in states where they can do so, and if they are in helmet law states they normally wear non-DOT approved “protest” helmets, also called “beanies” (which offer every bit as much protection as their name implies.) “Protest helmets” are called that because they are usually covered with stickers that decry the helmet law (“this helmet is being worn under protest” and “Helmet laws suck” being the most common.)
ninja
4 years ago
Has Weinstein and crew gone after the Rock Band KISS?
The people that have to “force Jesus” on the unsaved souls are usually the ones that haven’t read scripture. They’re the ones that Jesus talked about with regards to taking the bigger object out of their own eyes before they tell someone to take the smaller object out of theirs.
I enjoy hammering folks like this online and making them realize that as much as they want people to believe them as knowledgeable about all things related to being saved, they know very little about what they’re talking about.
I don’t see what any of this has to do with queers
other than Mikey wanting to bring everyone into
the big circus tent to fill the seats and up the gate.
I think if that Jesus fellow was to go into that tent with mikey and his minions, Jesus would go into that whole “whips, turning over tables, and driving them out thing.” IIRC that fellow could cop an attitude over dickheads, ne’er do wells, sinners and such. He didn’t have much use for bankers either.
BZ/SF and Rest in Peace to Cpl Claudio Patino IV. We Salute your Service and pay Honors to your Sacrifice. May God’s Peace continue to bring Comfort to his Family.
As far as Mikey is concerned? FOAD MOFO!
He needs as many flavors of grievance mongers as possible; the only deviants he seems to have left out were the furries. I was shocked to see photos of a couple of them in their fuzzy animal onesy getups walking around in CHOPistan last week.
As the article points out, Marine Scout Snipers have used the SS runes for years. Marines in Iraq have also used a version of the Afrika Corps insignia, substituting an EGA for the swastika, since at least Desert Shield/Storm. Knowing how Marines and Soldiers in line units think, my guess is these insignia were popular for two reasons: The guys in the unit, facing death on a daily basis, have a dark sense of humor that most people outside their unit will never, ever, understand. The irony of the combat soldier is that in a very real way they identify just as much if not more with enemy combat soldiers than the people back home. They came across the runes and the Afrika Corps insignia, identified with a previous generation of young men stuck in a desert at the pointy end of the spear, and didn’t think much more about it. More importantly, it looks cool. So, it is completely plausible to me that Officer Small sees those runes as a symbol of his team, and it evokes in him the love, brotherhood, and self-sacrifice that he probably hasn’t been able to find in the civilian world. Quite the opposite of what most people would think when they see it. The Gen Z and Millenial generations did not get the same view of history as previous generations. Teachers and professors that want to paint America as evil will gloss over America’s efforts to defeat the actual evil in the world, so many of these young men don’t know the real story. On top of that, as the Greatest Generation grows smaller, few of them have ever met a World War II veteran, much less discussed the war with them. Those wars are fading from our nation’s living memory. However, this is why we have senior NCOs and Officers, and it boggles my mind that no one in the Scout Sniper community thought to intervene and guide these Marines in the right direction. I was at Ft Bragg during the ‘Nazis in the Barracks’ episode. I was on battalion staff waiting… Read more »
Me and my Jewish Spousal Unit applaud your stance while a Army officer and your historically reasoned conclusion which leaves “no room for Nazi symbology” in the military or law enforcement ranks.
ALL THE WAY!
There is no room, no matter what the individual feels about the symbol. Here’s why:
Our nation is currently facing what could accurately be described as an insurgency. Insurgencies do involve actual violence and combat, but at their core they are wars of ideas. There are people who are knowingly and deliberately trying to discredit our national values so they can be replaced with a set of Neo-Marxist/Maoist values.
The overt militant wing of this insurgency is Antifa. Here’s the thing, though: Your typical militant pipe swinging insurgent has a very superficial understanding of the doctrine of the cause. They are typically angry young men who don’t have a productive or constructive outlet for their energy- in other words, they have very malleable minds, and all they need is a cause to lend what they perceive as legitimacy to their desire to break stuff.
The cause they have been fed is fascism- it’s in their name. They have been taught that the system is racist and cops are fascists. They believe it because they have a very superficial understanding of what fascism actually is (same with communism, by the way), and they are presented with a cherry picked set of facts that reinforces that understanding.
I doubt this officer was thinking about fascism or Nazis when he got his tattoo, but it doesn’t matter. The enemies of this country are going to seize on this and use it to tremendous effect. Here you have a police officer with a tattoo of not just a Nazi tattoo, but also brass knuckles. This will easily be spun into a fascist/police brutality narrative, and it will be used as further evidence that the entire system should be dismantled.
“The cause they have been fed is fascism- it’s in their name. They have been taught that the system is racist and cops are fascists. They believe it because they have a very superficial understanding of what fascism actually is (same with communism, by the way), and they are presented with a cherry picked set of facts that reinforces that understanding.”
SteeleyI, this is precisely what we’ve been trying forever to make a certain bozo out in Berkeley understand. The problem is that he’s one of them: a know-nothing who constantly tells us we know nothing.
I hope he reads your comment.
He’ll read it and blame Trump.
I was stationed at Schofield Barracks during the Nazi paratrooper saga. We went through pretty much the same thing with the tattoos so I think that was Army wide.
In my younger years my cousin did a school art project. On it he painted a swastika just because he thought it looked cool. At the time he was living with our Grandmother who painted over it and sat him down and explained how our late Grandfather had landed in the second wave on D-Day and fought the Nazis and how horrible their ideology was.
Here is some ‘back story’ to the adoption of the SS runes. Written by a former USMC Scout Sniper Instructor:
https://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/2012/02/guest-voice-kent-gooch-retired-usmc-scout-sniper-instructor-on-the-white-supremacist-neo-nazi-roots-of-ss-sig-runes-in-the-u-s-marine-corps/?fbclid=IwAR3WtT9XRd2rFiNq-cDlrGAfeU0AJaafzvG-mTaF4Z2CfnyLj2OerXOHdek
That is eerily reminiscent of my discussions with paratroopers.
Another interesting aspect of this is that we also uncovered a lot of street gang tattoos and symbology. Crips, Bloods, MS13, Latin Kings, etc.
There was a deliberate effort on the part of these gangs to send members into the military for the training and spread the word. In fact, my company supply clerk, a kid from Kansas City, was held up in the Repo Depo pending a background investigation into his tattoos. If you aren’t familiar, it is really hard to get support Soldiers to go to jump school, so many units are short supply, truck drivers, NBC, and other similar MOSs.
He was eventually cleared and came to the unit. He lasted about 6 months, long enough to go to armorer’s school and become the assistant armorer. Then he went AWOL. Also missing was a few thousand dollars worth of gear (no coincidence, I’m sure).
One of the guys heard from him about a year later, and he was back in K.C., back in the gang.
Growing up everyone I knew over the age of 40 was WW2 vet which meant pretty much everyone of my friends’ dads.
Your story is shocking to me on a number of levels both from the US Military side of the equation due to all those vets I knew, but also because my Uncle was one of those poor Polish souls who somehow managed to survive in the camps until liberated.
I guess it’s true when we stop teaching kids to think and simply teach them to answer questions on a test the unintended consequences manifest themselves in ways we would not have considered.
“Teachers and professors that want to paint America as evil will gloss over America’s efforts to defeat the actual evil in the world”
There’s your tap root of the problem right there.
Damn, SteeleyI, well said.
If you’re not careful, you may just get this former 2d Bde, 82d Abn staff NCO (S-3/CBR) from a far earlier era, to start paying more attention to you. For future reference, like most NCO’s and officers, serving and former, I respond much more positively when I don’t feel that I (as well as the rest of the TAH crowd) am being lectured, berated or patronized.
All the way!
Has anyone told Mikey to just “Vergeh, frevelnder Gauch”?
Maybe we’ll get lucky and Mikey will get countersued.
What? I can dream, can’t I?
Can you explain why Cpl.Platiño had an “SS” tatoo and why Small chose this symbol to remember him? And why are you so concerned that the MRFF is reminding all of us that Nazi mindsets still bubble at the bottom?
Name edited to protect PII.
AW1
I believe you can find the backstory on why those tattoos were chosen posted in many places. It had nothing to do with Nazi anything.
I am not concerned about anyone reminding us about anything. I encourage people to remind us of significant issues. I applaud it.
I reject those who endorse and legitimize threats or intimidation. That includes Legal Intimidation. Using jurisprudence to bully others is smarmy…at best.
If Officer Small asked my opinion, I would encourage him to alter that tattoo in a manner that still honors his friend without that type of SS.
When did Milk It Mikey send a letter of concern asking that Officer Small consider removing it? I bet it was about the same time the media was contacted to create a kerfuffle. Little to no opportunity was given to even respond. No, this is all about Mikey getting attention and nothing more in my opinion.
The point to my article is Milk It Mikey seems to be more concerned with drawing attention to himself than anything else. This will be just another feather in his little cap.
I believe Michael Weinstein is a bottom-feeding opportunist.
I was once TDY in Bavaria working with a young Air Force sergeant. On a day off, we went to Berchtesgarten. While standing at the site of one of the houses (Goering’s? Goebbels’?) he said “maybe these guys weren’t so bad after all if they wanted houses in a spot this beautiful?” Within about two hours I had him inside the Dachau camp. Doubt he ever said that again.
“James…earn this. Earn it.” That scene from Saving Private Ryan and subsequently where Ryan asks his wife if he has been a good man epitomizes the same philosophy I took with me from combat. Human nature has some strange paradoxes. Most soldiers will kill (kill or be killed) in combat, but will often come away with a deep sense of guilt for killing or seeing comrades killed. As a result of my combat experience, I came to understand why the greatest generation did so much in terms of building our nation; they had the emotional need and drive to “earn it”.
I just offer a perpetual KUTOMBA WEWE to Mikey WHINEstein.
Not surprising to find people defending the Nazi insignias & regalia with which the adorn themselves considering they also venerate the U.S. invasion of Iraq which was an exact parallel to Hitler’s invasion of Poland: A fake claim of a national threat by a nation unable to execute & not planning any such action (Poland, Iraq), by demagogues claiming to represent white, Christian values (Hitler, the Cheney-Bush two headed abomination) both of which created the greatest catastrophes of their respective centuries and are both crimes against humanity.
Oh, and as to Mikey’s having created a foundation to pay his salary for defending the rights of people under assault by people like you, are you also as critical of the lawyers who founded the ACLJ (American Center for Law & Justice) or does your critique only apply to those attacking fascism & it’s appendages? Oh, and by Jews, of course.
Who exactly is defending Nazi insignia and regalia or the decision to invade Iraq? I’m certainly not.
That said, your comparison of the Coalition invasion of Iraq to the German invasion of Poland is more than a bit of a stretch.
The international coalition’s invasion of Iraq was designed to topple the oppressive Ba’athist regime of Sadam Hussein and return control of the country to its people. It was based on multiple UN resolutions, endorsed by the democratic legislatures of both the UK, US, and was supported by 47 other nations (including Poland, by the way, which provided GROM SOF forces for the invasion).
Whether or not it was a good foreign policy decision is a different question.
None of the rhetoric used by the US or UK had anything to do with white Christian values. You just made that up.
Arguably, the greatest catastrophe of the 21st century was the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, which has been responsible for far more deaths in the Middle East than the coalition. More Iraqis and Syrians were killed by Sunni terrorists or jihadis than the US. I think the only group responsible for more muslim deaths would be Iranian supported Shia terrorists, but of course no one knows the true numbers.
On the other hand, Germany’s unilateral invasion of Poland (I guess it was bilateral if you consider the pact with Stalin and the subsequent Soviet invasion of Poland) was driven by a pact between two dictators who fully intended to annex the territory they were invading.
Of course, the Allies (to include the Soviets), righted this wrong, toppled the Nazi regime, and the US rebuilt Europe and Japan to create the strongest economy and allow for an era of unprecedented prosperity and, yes, peace.
Mikey gives not a single fuck about righting wrongs, real or perceived. Mikey only cares about Mikey. He’s a fraud and opportunist iof the worst stripe.
So, one “attacks fascism” by saying “You can’t say that!”
Sounds Fascist.
Hi, Mikey. Nice sock puppet ya got there.
Mike Weinstein does not know me.
I hope the aclu stands up for the LEOS !St A’s rights. Most of the TAHers know my faith/religion and I really don’t care what kind of tat the man has. I have 5 tats on my arms. So the SS Panzers had tanks, And the US Mil. have tanks so maybe our tanks should go because the SS Panzers had tanks along with our almost German looking helmets. Maybe our small arms should also should go. Maybe I should get rid of my Mil/Navy tats because the demoRat liberal also hates this country and what it stands for.
It didn’t take long for the bottom feeder Mikey’s minions to show up.
Holy sonic booms, MoonBatMan!
They’re so cute when their little panties get all bunched up.
Always nice to see new faces.
For the Marines to adopt the SS runes (regardless of how “cool” they look) is just stupid. For an LEO to defend having his tattoo is also foolish, regardless of his subjective intent.
If you want to know what the SS was all about, read about the Malmedy massacre. That’s the SS in a nutshell, right there. And that wasn’t even the worst thing they did, not by a long shot.
I’m sure to some 18 year old private, the SS runes can seem “edgy” and “cool”, but in terms of its current cultural meaning, it’s no different from the swastika.
18 year old privates are stupid as a general rule (and as a former 18 year old private, I can confirm that I certainly was.) But that’s exactly why 18 year old privates need level headed NCOs to keep their stupidity from becoming something that will damage not only that individual, but tarnish his entire unit.
I have no love for Weinstein or his anti-crusade. Weinstein seems to be like a lot of lawyers who seem intent on creating conflict where none existed before.
But if I was a resident of Walla Walla and saw an officer with a Nazi tattoo (and yes, it’s a Nazi symbol. The fact that it was “adopted” by a lot of foolish Marines who should have known better doesn’t change where it came from) I’d be pissed off too.
Why doesn’t Weinstein go after all the outlaw bikers who brazenly display all sorts of Nazi symbols on their clothing, themselves, their machines and their environs?
Or might that prove personally problematic for Mikey?
I’m guessing because outlaw bikers are not part of the military nor are they part of law enforcement.
I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t be happy if my local sheriff’s dept decided they were going to outsource their patrol division to the Mongols or the Sons of Silence MC.
I’m guessing a big part of the reason is that Mikey doesn’t want a bunch of outlaw bikers mad at him. But I could be wrong.
I have really got to finish that look into MRFF’s finances since day one.
Hondo: Another reason Weinstein doesn’t go after bikers sporting Nazi regalia is that he’d first have to build a time machine to take him back to 1965.
Bikers quit wearing swastikas around the time of the Tet Offensive. As someone who’s been riding a motorcycle since 1982 I can tell you that I’ve never, EVER seen a swastika on a vest or helmet.
Are there racist biker groups? Absolutely. But they’re smart enough not to flash the swastika in public.
It may be different in the South, but around here (Colorado and the inter-mountain West) the biggest and most active “outlaw” clubs are largely or mostly Hispanic anyway (Mongols and Bandidos.)
You’re not going to see them flashing swastikas for pretty obvious reasons. 😉
Can’t say whether it’s different anywhere, amigo. I don’t hang around much where 1% groups are likely to show up; I value my health and safety too much.
Still, you might want to review the document linked below. Apparently LE was still finding Nazi symbology used by some 1% groups as late as 1991.
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/147691NCJRS.pdf
This article from about 5 years ago also indicates the use of “SS” symbology by some 1% clubs – though the article does also indicate it’s often used for “shock value” vice as an indicator of Nazi sympathies or beliefs.
https://www.vox.com/2015/5/19/8625981/outlaw-motorcycle-gangs-biker
“I’m guessing because outlaw bikers are not part of the military nor are they part of law enforcement.”
The Hell’s Angels as well as other MC’s have bylaws prohibiting current or former LE and/or Corrections Officers from joining.
Or Mikey could go after some Muslim groups that adore Hitler and the Nazi party. Every one these atheist protest/grievance groups seems to give the Muslims a pass for some reason. I note BLM wants to burn churches and/or smash stained glass windows depicting Christ, but they won’t touch a mosque or an Koran.
LOL! rgr769, is it painful to be this clueless? It should.
I’m from Walla Walla, and a veteran myself. If you served, you know we give up some
of our constitutional rights so we can protect the freedoms of others.
Same should apply for the boys in blue. Don’t be obtuse, a spade is a spade and a lightning bolt is a lightning bolt. Nazi’s picked what those meant for us, like it or not.
Mikey should go after Bikers wearing Nazi Helmets.
As I said above, he’d also need a time machine to take him back to the 1960’s. Bikers quit sporting that shit decades ago, even before I started riding in 1982.
Before someone posts a link, yes, there are companies out there that sell the “german-style” motorcycle helmets but I’ve never seen anybody wear one at any kind of motorcycle event. My guess is that those that are worn are worn ironically as in “look at this corny old thing I found!”
Actual “One percenters” generally eschew helmets if they are in states where they can do so, and if they are in helmet law states they normally wear non-DOT approved “protest” helmets, also called “beanies” (which offer every bit as much protection as their name implies.) “Protest helmets” are called that because they are usually covered with stickers that decry the helmet law (“this helmet is being worn under protest” and “Helmet laws suck” being the most common.)
Has Weinstein and crew gone after the Rock Band KISS?
Check out their Logo.
Gene Simmons. Born in Isreal.
Paul Stanley. Raised in a Jewish Home.
What about Louis Farrankan?
Has Weinstein gone after him?
What am I missing?
Asking For A Friend.
KISS? You mean “Knights In Satan’s Service”? 70’s moms weren’t fans lol.