None of the contributors - either bloggers or commenters - to Evolving Excellence, and no serious lean student anywhere would condone an organization that rationalizes its defects, explains them away, kills the messenger who reports the defect, or otherwise seeks to avoid responsibility for error.
The Shingo folks should take their own medicine, walk their own talk, and acknowledge that something is wrong with a process that grants recognition to Calloway. Kevin accurately pointed out that they are just another direct labor cost driven, old school manufacturer, and somehow they were able to mask that clearly proven reality from the Shingo examiners. The correct response based on the Shingo Prize' own criteria is to accept that feedback and thank Kevin for it, look to the root cause in their process, identify where it failed, and take corrective action.
Excusing Shingo for such an obvious hole in their prize evaluation process does not facilitate their continuous improvement.