A few weeks ago, WallBuilders launched its own radio program and though it has only been on the air a short time, it has already had three members of Congress on as guests.
For most of its existence, WallBuilders has tended to operate under-the-radar, primarily though its founder David Barton’s non-stop travel around the country where he delivers misleading lectures designed to convince right-wing audiences that the Founding Fathers were evangelical Christians just like them who intended to create a nation of, by, and for Christians.
Despite the fact that Barton’s academic credentials are limited to a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oral Roberts University and an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Pensacola Christian College, and the fact that scholars have dismissed his work as “convincing to an uninitiated audience … a lot of what he presents is a distortion of the truth,” his books, videos, and lectures have been heartily embraced by the Right as well as right-wing members of Congress.
So far, Rep. Todd Akin, Rep. Bobby Jindal, and Sen. Sam Brownback have all appeared on Barton’s program and were effusive in their praise and flattery for Barton and his work.
For instance, Sen. Brownback, appearing on October 17th
Dave Barton is one of my big heroes. When I first got into the United States Senate, I was watching some of his videos and it made me mad that we walk over so much of the beautiful heritage that makes our history come to life and he’s done a great job of that , so I’m honored to be on with … one of my heroes, Dave Barton.
The following day, Rep. Bobby Jindal appeared on the program and went on at length about the importance of Barton’s work, which is not too surprising considering that earlier this month, Barton traveled Louisiana with Jindal where the two made several joint appearances
It’s a great honor and privilege to be on the air with you! Let me tell you, Dave did a fantastic job, went to three churches with us, just reminding us of our nation’s history, our nation’s heritage. You know, I listen to him, I learn something new on every Capitol tour and every presentation. The response was tremendous. People just tell me that every single stop, every single church, they said they learned so much. The only complaint I got was from some people who couldn’t make it … they were so disappointed they missed hearing him speak in person. But he did a phenomenal job for us.
…
What makes him so powerful and so effective is that he has studied the original documents, the founding fathers, the history of our country and he is able to point out in such detail their faith, their intention that this should be a country that’s unafraid to embrace faith. His ability to show you through fact, after fact … it is so overwhelming, it is so powerful. He’s got more than enough data to prove his argument and I think that is so important because in today’s history classes, so often our students, our children, are not learning the real history of our country, too often because of political correctness.
As we have chronicled in our recent report on Barton, his work has been plagued by inaccuracies, unconfirmed quotes, and intentionally misleading interpretation and analysis, so much so that it can only be described as propaganda. Even Republican Senator Arlen Specter has blasted his work, saying Barton’s “pseudoscholarship would hardly be worth discussing, let alone disproving, were it not for the fact that it is taken so very seriously by so many people. “
Of course, among those who take is seriously are those on the Right, which explains why the Republican National Committee hires Barton every election cycle to travel the country and present his propaganda to select audiences – and is doing so again this year.
Earlier this year WallBuilders released a DVD designed to misleadingly give African Americans the impression that the Democratic Party of today has been responsible for everything from slavery to the Ku Klux Klan – a tactic that groups like the National Black Republican Association and America’s PAC are exploiting this election season.
Barton’s ties to the Right and to the Republican Party are deep – to learn more about him, read our report: “David Barton - Propaganda Masquerading as History.”
