Staples Apologizes to Wallbuilder's Live Host Rick Green for Refusing Print Job

This is an interesting story.
The office supply company Staples today issued an apology to David Barton associate and Wallbuilders Live co-host Rick Green in response to the refusal by a Sandusky, OH Staples to print 500 copies of a Wallbuilders brochure.
In mid-April, Green asked the Sandusky Staples to print 500 brochures advertising Wallbuilders high school government course.  Then via email on April 18, a store representative said the job was being held up because the store had concerns that the brochure might violate “production guidelines” by being “obscene, pornographic or dangerous.” According to Green, the refusal related to the Christian nationalism aspect of the brochure. The email from Green’s website is below:
Staples Green Email
While I suspect the content might contain multiple errors, the brochure wasn’t obscene, pornographic or dangerous (at least in the way Staples defined that term above). Thus, I reached out to Staples to check out Green’s story and to ask if they stood by the Sandusky Staples. To me, the action seemed blatantly discriminatory and I doubted Staples would endorse what the local store did.

Staples’ Response

As it turns out, Staples does not stand behind the local store. Mark Cautela, Director of Corporate Communications, responded quickly with the following note.

After reviewing Mr. Green’s complaint, Staples agrees that the materials requested to be copied were not obscene, pornographic or offensive in any way.  Our associate made a mistake in sending an email labeling the materials this way and we sincerely apologize to Mr. Green for this experience at Staples. Unfortunately by the time we discovered our mistake, Mr. Green had understandably chosen not to continue with the order.
We regret his refund took longer than typical and appreciate Mr. Green bringing this matter to our attention.  Although we believe this was an isolated incident, we continually strive to improve our customer experience and will further evaluate our training and policies to prevent similar incidents in the future. At Staples, we respect all viewpoints and are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused Mr. Green and his business.

Green’s response to this religious discrimination was to congratulate Staples. On his website, Green wrote:

Bravo Staples!! Free enterprise, and also the First Amendment, requires that private businesses “have the right to refuse service” (Jonathon’s exact words) and I applaud your exercise of those freedoms and your support of your employees exercising those freedoms. I trust you also support the exact same rights and freedoms for the baker down the street, or photographer, or venue owner who would not want to bake a cake for my event, or take my picture at my constitution classes, or rent their facility to me for a Constitution Class. And then, of course, I’m sure you would protect the exact same rights for all of those private businesses to also not participate in something that violates their conscience, whether that be a Constitution Class or homosexual wedding.

Once upon a time, Christians would decry such discrimination. Now, in this case, Green is using it to say discrimination is fine if Christians get to discriminate against gays. What a switch on the Golden Rule. Instead of treating others the way I want to be treated, Green is saying treat me bad so I can treat you bad.
As it turns out, Staples doesn’t have a policy to discriminate based on viewpoint (exceptions given in the email – obscenity, danger and racism). According to Mr. Cautela, Staples has reached out to Green with the apology and clarification of policy. I am curious to see if Green updates his post to provide the rest of the story.

David Barton: Treasury Department Will Be Denigrated by Addition of Woman to $10 Bill

The boys at Wallbuilders (David Barton and Rick Green) are all in a tizzy over the replacement of Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill by a woman (unnamed as yet). Right Wing Watch was listening in to the Wallbuilders Live show yesterday and heard the guys lamenting the travesty it will be. From RWW:

Last month, the Treasury Department announced that a woman would be featured on the $10 bill when it is redesigned in 2020 and David Barton was so outraged that he brought the National Review’s Quin Hillyer onto his “WallBuilders Live” radio program today to explain why this decision is so “outrageous and ignorant.”

The audio is at RWW so go on over and listen to the good ol’ boys talk about the denigration of our nation’s history and economic system.
Probably Barton and the fellas don’t know that the women folk like economic systems too. In fact, there have been quite a few women at the Treasury Department over the years.

Earlier this month, Treasury Notes highlighted the start of Women’s History Month with a blog post on the 2013 Girl Scouts of the USA Centennial Silver Dollar. As we near the end of the month, Treasury Notes is proud to feature photographs displayed in a gallery on the second-floor hallway of the Treasury building showcasing women in Treasury history. The historical photographs date between 1874 and 1926, honoring the role and contributions that women have made to the Department. Today Treasury has the most women in senior positions ever including Treasurer Rosie Rios, Under Secretary for International Affairs Lael Brainard, Under Secretary for Domestic Finance Mary Miller, Assistant Secretary for Management Nani Coloretti, Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy Janice Eberly, Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis S. Leslie Ireland, and Assistant Secretary for International Markets, Development Marisa Lago, and Acting Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs​ Natalie Wyeth Earnest.

The gents shouldn’t be too upset since Hamilton will most likely still be on the $10 bill but a woman will be added to the new design. I doubt that Maria Reynolds will be chosen to share the bill with Alexander.

David Barton Hosts Kent Hovind on Wallbuilders Live

Today, David Barton’s Wallbuilders Live broadcast their interview with Kent Hovind.
There is a vigorous group of folks who have taken positions on Hovind’s crimes and I will be interested to read their comments about the interview.
Barton began by saying that people who do what Hovind did spend an average of 18 months in prison, if they spend any time there at all. Barton and Green think the length of his sentence is a red flag.
Hovind said he didn’t know any better, and he said the structuring law is stupid. He said he has paid every tax he owes. On this video, he says he hasn’t paid taxes in 28 years.
Barton links to freekenthovind.com; I encourage readers to also examine hovindology.com.

Rick Green: 5,000 Likes On Facebook Could Trigger A Senate Run For David Barton (UPDATED)

Rick Green works for David Barton’s organization, Wallbuilders, and is his co-host on Barton’s radio show, Wallbuilders Live. He also really wants his boss to be a U.S. Senator. On Facebook today, Green wrote:

There is a lot of talk out there about people wanting David Barton to run for the U.S. Senate. Let’s find out how true that is. If you want to see it happen, then take 2 seconds to like the page below, or 30 seconds to leave a post about why you think he’d be a good U.S. Senator alongside Ted Cruz fighting to restore our constitutional republic.
Just imagine what that would be like. Imagine the progress we could make towards saving our nation.
If the draft page gets 5K likes in just a few days, then we’ll know people want him to run. So if you’d like to see it happen, click like, click share, and start spreading the word. Don’t just like my post, go to the Draft David Barton for Senate page and like it. https://www.facebook.com/DavidBartonforAmerica.

In this post, Green links to another page on Facebook — Draft David Barton for Senate — which will apparently serve as a kind of fleece to know whether or not Barton should run. Currently, the page has 558 likes (in about 11 hours) with the goal being 5,000 within “a few days.”
Out of 1.11 billion monthly active Facebook users, 5,000 likes will trigger a challenge to conservative GOP Senator John Cornyn.
Green’s page is a new one; the original draft Barton group is up to 1700 members.
Just imagine.
UPDATE: Glenn Beck is imagining and apparently he likes the idea.
Related posts:
David Barton For Senate? (Oct. 28)
Could David Barton Win The Texas GOP Senate Race? (Oct. 30)

Scott Lively on Wallbuilders Live

You read that right. Scott Lively, author of The Pink Swastika, was on David Barton’s radio show today complaining about me. If you want to listen, go to the August 21 show and click on the link.

Barton, Green and Lively would love to make the controversy over The Jefferson Lies about me. Lively’s presence on the show can only serve as an attempt to change the subject from Barton’s work to something, anything else. Green and Lively doubled down on the accusation that Christian scholars are using tactics of Alinsky to attack Barton. The Chuck Colson Center is using Alinsky tactics? Jay Richards of the Discovery Center is channeling Alinsky?

For those who want to examine the historical issues relating to The Pink Swastika, see this link.

In any case, the issues being raised now by numerous Christian scholars and observers are not about me or my views on unrelated matters. I call on Mr. Barton and Green to stick to the historical issues and cease the ad hominem attacks.

Wallbuilders #2 Man Compares David Barton’s Critics to Hitler and Alinsky

Rick Green, David Barton’s right hand man at Wallbuilders, uses some creative and colorful language to address those who have examined David Barton’s claims about Thomas Jefferson.

Question: What do elitist professors have in common with Adolf Hitler & Saul Alinsky?

Answer: They masterfully use the powerful art of innuendo to falsely defame those with which they disagree.

Definition of Innuendo: A derogatory hint or reference to a person or thing.

The internet is abuzz today with leftwing bloggers, elitist professors, and downright jealous peers licking their chops and rubbing their hands in excitement as they repeat the juicy quotes about David Barton books being full of “embarrassing factual errors, suspiciously selective quotes, and highly misleading claims.”

Yet not a single article can point to a single factual error, quote out of context, or misleading claim.

How ‘bout that.

It is one thing to defend your boss or friend, it is another thing to accuse someone of using the tactics of Hitler. I thought everybody knew the first rule of arguing: the first one to invoke Hitler loses the argument. Since he did it first, he loses.

More seriously, this is an outrageously irresponsible reaction. Those looking to Wallbuilders for thoughtful reactions to their recent crisis should be more than disappointed. They should be astonished and shocked that someone who claims to run a pro-family ministry would respond in this manner. Many conservative Christian scholars have raised substantial, documented issues with The Jefferson Lies in various places.  Instead of taking these matters seriously, Wallbuilders resorts to hyperbolic name calling.

It is beyond belief that Green claims that “not a single article can point to a single factual error, quote out of context, or misleading claim.” Just go search for hot-pressed Bible, Kaskaskia Indians, Gnadenhutten, Jefferson Bible, manumission and/or Thomas Jefferson on this blog to get numerous posts outlining in detail factual errors, out of context quotes and misleading claims.  Anyone doing 5 minutes worth of searching will find many more elsewhere.

This is a classic example of trying to change the subject. However, the truth is that the critics are bringing the specifics. Right now, it is Wallbuilders that is using the innuendo and defamation as their chief argument.

The American College of Pediatricians versus the American Academy of Pediatrics: Who leads and who follows?

Just for fun, let’s compare the American College of Pediatricians with the American Academy of Pediatrics.
In August, David Barton and Rick Green at Wallbuilders said the ACP is the leading association of pediatricians in the nation. Even after their error was pointed out by the AAP and a reader of this blog, Rick Green said yesterday on air that the AAP “has more members and has been around a little longer” but both Barton and Green stuck by the story that the ACP was the leading group. However, ACP’s own comparison demonstrates significant differences between the two organizations. The following chart comes from the ACP website:

Note that the ACP does not provide Continuing Medical Education or a professional journal. Access to other professional programs (Red Book, Prep program) is offered via higher fees, but the AAP or affiliated groups actually provide the services. In other words, if there was no AAP, there would be no continuing education or professional publications.
A hallmark of a profession is the provision of training, certification, and continuing education. The ACP does not none of this independently. The ACP has been around since 2002 and the AAP since 1937. Annually, the AAP spends millions on professional publications and continuing education; the ACP receipts in 2008 were less than $60,000.  The AAP has over 60,000 members, the ACP about 200.
Specialty groups have a long history in the professions and they can have a place, but it is not in the lead. If the ACP disappeared, members of the group would probably miss it, but nothing would change about pediatrics as a medical specialty. The ACP relies on the AAP for the CMEs and research information required to stay in practice.
Who is leading and who is following?
Additional information about gender identity issues and ACPed:
ACPed leaves out crucial information on gender dysphoria
Interview with Kenneth Zucker on gender identity issues
Common sense on gender identity dysphoria
Interview with mother of child with gender dysphoria
ACPed removes member who called for gender disorder treatment

Wallbuilders Tells Audience One Thing and Pediatricians Another Thing

Yesterday, I posted a note from Wallbuilder’s Caroline Henry to the American Academy of Pediatrics. The note addressed a previous Wallbuilder’s show during which David Barton claimed that the leading association of pediatricians in America warned schools to stop indoctrinating students into homosexuality. See the original post for details; in short the real leading association (the American Academy of Pediatrics) did not issue any such warning. The American College of Pediatricians a small group of socially conservative pediatricians and related professionals did so over a year ago. They are not a leading group of pediatricians.
The AAP wrote to Barton in order correct him and and via Caroline Henry, he wrote back to the AAP with the following message:

Hi Debora (sic),
Thank you for your email to WallBuilders Live, I apologize for the delay in response but I hope I can address your concerns!
After airing the episode about ACP David and Rick were informed that the news source they quoted during the episode was mistaken. David and Rick sent a letter to the news source addressing the mistaken information in the story. We apologize for the mix up and appreciate your notification as well.
If you have any further question or concerns please feel free to contact us. Many blessings!
Caroline Henry
wallbuilderslive.com

However, today, David Barton and co-host Rick Green addressed their earlier error but did not blame a faulty news source. Instead, they did not admit the error and declined to retract their earlier statements. You can hear the entire segment at the Wallbuilder’s site here; listen between 10:00 and 12:35. Right Wing Watch has most of the audio segment transcribed which I reproduce here:

Green: Actually David I got a—actually it’s not a retraction at all actually—we got a letter that wanted a retraction. Remember when we did the show? There was a great paper that was put out by the American Academy—I mean the American College of Pediatricians, and they were saying look some of this stuff you’re doing on homosexuality in schools is dangerous for kids, this homosexual agenda is not a good idea and bringing it into the classroom and that sort of thing. We did a whole program on this. In the program we talked about hey this is one of the leading pediatric associations in the nation, and we got a letter from one of the other pediatric associations, let’s see the American Academy of Pediatrics, which has more members and has been around a little longer and they I guess took offense to that so they sent us a letter and they said they wanted to make sure we knew that the ACP was not the leading pediatric association in America and they put some of their papers in here and there position is a little different I would say—
Barton: Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Green: Much more liberal on this. As we pointed out to them directly and we’ll put it out here on the show: leading does not mean largest, leading means, sometimes it takes a newer, leaner more responsive organization—
Barton: And they are one of the leading organizations. Now the fact that this other organization may not like them and may disagree with them doesn’t mean they’re not a leading organization. They are a credentialed organization made up of credentialed people and the fact that they don’t agree with them doesn’t make them less than leading. And if they’re expecting a retraction, sorry, ain’t happening!

Then, at 11:56, Barton says, “We didn’t get this one wrong.”
The closest thing to the sentiment expressed in the email to the AAP was this statement at 12:19, from Rick Green:

No, we do apologize if the American Academy of Pediatrics was offended by us calling the American College of Pediatricians a leading pediatrics association, but uh, sorry that you were offended, but we still think they’re leading and love the good work they are doing.

In their note to the AAP, Wallbuilder’s Caroline Henry called the earlier broadcast an error based on a faulty news source. On their broadcast to listeners, however, Barton and Green said there was no error. Which is it?
If Barton and Green were referring to the ACP all along, then they needs to issue a retraction to the ACP. About the ACP, they said:

Barton: What’s interesting is, you know medical groups do not tend to be very conservative. Any professional medical group, the American Psychiatric Association, the association of psychologists, even the American Medical Association is a particularly friendly conservative group, they’re not a pro-life group and what’s really interesting is the American College of Pediatricians; now think about that, is that a conservative group?
Green: You’d think they would be, looking out for the kids, right?
Barton: But yeah, don’t spank your kid, don’t touch your kid, you know, and think of the way pediatric stuff has gone, and you don’t want to help shape these kids, let ‘em be what they want to be. And so, all that anti-parental influence, and it’s remarkable that you have the American College of Pediatricians, who has just, they sent a letter to all 14,800 school superintendents in the United States and it’s a letter warning about what’s happening in the schools and the American College of Pediatricians is cautioning educators about what they do with same-sex attraction or symptoms of gender identity confusion in schools.
Green: You’re kidding, this is the pediatric association?
Barton: The American College of Pediatricians is cautioning educators about what they do with same-sex attraction or symptoms of gender identity or gender confusion in schools.
Green: You’re kidding, this is the Pediatric Association?
Barton: Got it, get this. The letter reminds school superintends that it is ‘not uncommon for adolescents to experience transient,’ that’s a big word, ‘transient confusion about their sexual orientation,’ and is telling 14,800 superintendents that ‘most students will ultimately adopt a heterosexual orientation if not otherwise encouraged.’ And they’re saying, guys, back off. This indoctrination you’re doing—
Green: You plant that stuff in their minds, your leading them down that path.
Barton: If you’ll just let this develop naturally, they’ll end up being heterosexual unless you force them to be homosexual. Well that’s a remarkable letter coming from the leading pediatric association in America. And this is what it says, ‘for this reason schools should avoid developing policies that encourage non-heterosexual attractions among students who may be experimenting or experiencing temporary sexual confusion.’ The discouraging program, so all this bullying stuff–

(emphasis mine)
A visit to the ACP website will make it clear that they are pro-life and not anything like the picture painted by Barton about medical groups. Since the ACP had been taking the same position on homosexuality from the beginning of the group, the letter to superintendents was not at all remarkable. It was just par for their course. It is also clear that Barton referred to the ACP as the leading group not just one of several groups.

Wallbuilders blames unnamed news source for error about pediatricians

Remember when David Barton and Rick Green told their audience that the leading pediatricians association in the nation urged school staff to stop indoctrinating kids into homosexuality? The initial response from Rick Green to a listener was to claim that there was nothing wrong in what they said on the broadcast when they referred to the American College of Pediatricians as the leading group. Of course, the real leading group, the American Academy of Pediatrics, denied giving any such advice.
Today, I received an email from the American Academy of Pediatrics, alerting me that Wallbuiders had retreated from their earlier position. Here is the email forwarded by the AAP and reproduced with permission:

Hi Debora (sic),
Thank you for your email to WallBuilders Live, I apologize for the delay in response but I hope I can address your concerns!
After airing the episode about ACP David and Rick were informed that the news source they quoted during the episode was mistaken. David and Rick sent a letter to the news source addressing the mistaken information in the story. We apologize for the mix up and appreciate your notification as well.
If you have any further question or concerns please feel free to contact us. Many blessings!
Caroline Henry
wallbuilderslive.com

I took a quick look through Google for anyone else who might have called the American College of Pediatricians the leading association of pediatricians. Can’t find it. If anyone sees something to that effect, let me know.
I wonder if this news will make it on WallbuildersLive.

Wallbuilder's Rick Green defends comments about pediatrics associations

Early last week, I pointed out that David Barton and Rick Green identified the American College of Pediatricians as “the leading pediatric association in America.” In fact, ACP is a group of around 200 members which, in 2003, split off from the real leading group, the American Academy of Pediatrics. The AAP commented briefly later in the week.
I also mentioned that a reader, Bernie, wrote to Wallbuilders to ask why Barton and Green identified the ACP as the leading group. Rick Green responded and defended their characterization of ACP as the leading pediatric association. Reader and commenter Bernie, included this part of the conversation and asked why they described ACP in the way they did.

David: “The American College of Pediatricians is cautioning educators about what they do with same-sex attraction or symptoms of gender identity or gender confusion in schools.”
Rick: “You’re kidding, this is the Pediatric Association?”
Later, David: “Well that’s a remarkable letter coming from the leading pediatric association in America.”

Bernie pointed out that the ACP is a tiny group compared the AAP. Mr. Green replied with this explanation.

I am not aware of anything from our broadcast that was inaccurate. Nothing in the transcript you sent is wrong or false. We may disagree on what constitutes “leading,” but neither David or I said the ACP was the largest. As often happens, the larger associations become either stagnant or politically correct and lose the leadership qualities that make an organization “leading” in their profession. Meanwhile, a perhaps smaller, but more professional and cutting edge organization begins to lead by stating facts and putting forth truthful research the older organization is afraid to release due to political correctness.

Green said they may revisit the issue in a future broadcast.
None of what Green has to say about the ACP and the AAP is relevant to what it means to lead a profession. The ACP is hardly more cutting edge than the AAP but that even misses the point. A leading group in a profession speaks for the profession to the public and government. The leading group in a profession sets standards for training new members of the profession. The leading group in a profession provides continuing medical education for practicing members of the profession. The ACP does none of that.
While I have not checked this out, I would be willing to bet that no medical school uses any of the standards or materials from the ACP. I strongly suspect that no training programs seek approval or recognition from the ACP. The ACP is not a player in the profession. 
Green’s narrative makes no sense when one considers the way David Barton led into the segment. Here is the lead:

Barton: What’s interesting is, you know medical groups do not tend to be very conservative. Any professional medical group, the American Psychiatric Association, the association of psychologists, even the American Medical Association is a particularly friendly conservative group, they’re not a pro-life group and what’s really interesting is the American College of Pediatricians; now think about that, is that a conservative group?
Green: You’d think they would be, looking out for the kids, right?
Barton: But yeah, don’t spank your kid, don’t touch your kid, you know, and think of the way pediatric stuff has gone, and you don’t want to help shape these kids, let ‘em be what they want to be. And so, all that anti-parental influence, and it’s remarkable that you have the American College of Pediatricians, who has just, they sent a letter to all 14,800 school superintendents in the United States and it’s a letter warning about what’s happening in the schools and the American College of Pediatricians is cautioning educators about what they do with same-sex attraction or symptoms of gender identity confusion in schools.

Barton leads his listeners to think that he is about to tell them some news about physicians who are not conservative, not pro-life, say “don’t spank your kid,” and are “anti-parental influence.” He names the ACP as that group, asking:

…what’s really interesting is the American College of Pediatricians; now think about that, is that a conservative group?

Yes, actually, it is a very conservative group.
The ACP is pro-life, advocates spanking as an option and is pro-parents’ rights. Go check out their policy pages (parenting issues, abortion, and sexuality) and it is clear that the ACP is a conservative, but not leading, group.