Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

No one could have predicted…

Americans barely caring about Afghanistan is so last month.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Infrastructure week. at last.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Eh, that’s media spin. biden’s health is fine and he’s doing a good job.

Let there be snark.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

I really should read my own blog.

Everybody saw this coming.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / I love a good train wreck

Reader Interactions

119Comments

  1. 1.

    schrodinger's cat

    What is on Brinker’s head? Also Handel looks like a sister wife. I guess my claws are out now. Meow.

  4. 4.

    BerkeleyMom

    Ms. Brinker keeps talking about the mission of the Komen Foundation. How can you kill funding for Planned Parenthood, one of the most far-reaching organizations for low income women’s health and not be violating your mission? I am actually thankful that this scandal has blow the Komen Foundation’s cover as a partisan group. Over the last 24 hours, I’ve read an article about their bullying tactics if any small charity uses the word “Cure” in their title, heard of the huge salaries for the administrators (over $400K for this woman + expenses I’m sure) and the pink washing that they do. Thanks for flipping over your own rock, Komen Foundation and trashing your brand in less than 48 hours.

  5. 5.

    JPL

    It’s hard to fire the founder of the foundation. Just saying.
    My guess is she called Paula Deen for media advice.

  7. 7.

    Cat Lady

    Is it in the winger handbook somewhere that the bigger the wingnut the bigger the hair helmet?

  8. 8.

    Comrade Luke

    I doubt anyone actually knew Susan Komen enough to speak on the topic, but I wonder if she’d approve of this behavior. Because they’re doing it in her name, just like they’ve been raking in the cash in her name.

  11. 11.

    Danny

    I want some of Brinker’s botox. That’s supposed to be a 65 yo woman? Impressive. Also, she’s full of shit.

  12. 12.

    Mnemosyne

    @Comrade Luke:

    IIRC, Komen was Brinker’s sister. But I think we all know from the Terri Schiavo fiasco that people who claim to be acting in their deceased relative’s name aren’t necessarily doing what that relative would have wanted.

  13. 13.

    blackfrancis789

    “The responses we are getting are very. very favorable.”

    That’s why you are on MSNBC, trying to save face.

    “people who have bothered to understand the issues.”

    fuck you, ignorant plebes, you just don’t get it!

    what an ugly interview, didn’t seem to help at all. Shit show is right.

  14. 14.

    Jennifer

    No kidding, that was a full-blown shit-show.

    She kept talking about a direct service provider model. How many mammogram centers can you get into without a referral? My guess is: none. Planned Parenthood serves as the referrer for poor women who are uninsured and can’t afford to go to a doctor. So how are they planning to provide “direct service” to these women?

    I want to see someone ask her about Penn State.

  16. 16.

    Captain Haddock

    I lost interest once Andrea went on about some fictional person at the gym. What are the odds that woman at the gym also drives a cab?

  17. 17.

    satby

    Yep: grant excellence is what I look for when I donate money. So full of corporate BS; she never addresses the lack of access that PP serves. And the walk back: we still have 3 grants that are out to PP (see, we didn’t really stop funding them).

  18. 18.

    JPL

    @Comrade Luke: My memory is foggy after thirty years but I knew someone at the time that spoke of Brinker’s dedication to her sister. That part is for real.

  19. 19.

    Comrade Luke

    I wish PP would start stalking Komen in order to raise money.

    During the baseball season when they use the pink bats, or the NFL season when they use pink shoes. have PP people outside the stadiums asking for donations. Don’t protest, just set up a donation site.

    When there’s a Komen run in a city, organize an identical run, at the same time, along the same route, and set up PP donation sites along the route.

    Make Komen do the heavy lifting, and just show up and get donations. Hell, hawk pink crap at these events, so Komen people think they’re supporting Komen but are really supporting PP.

    There’s room for some creativity here imo.

  20. 20.

    gelfling545

    @Jennifer: Oddly enough, I just had my screening today. Three times before the appointment they reminded me to have the referral with me and it was the first thing they asked for when I got there. They kept saying “We can’t do it without a referral.”

  22. 22.

    Comrade Luke

    @JPL: I’m sure it is, and I would never question that part of it.

    It’s the execution I wonder about. At this point, the name behind the movement is secondary to the movement itself.

  24. 24.

    General Stuck

    Lemme git this right. It’s not an issue that any of this money is going for abortions, but was cut off because of ‘other’ investigations into PP abortion services. You getting all this down Mcarrrdle?

  26. 26.

    General Stuck

    Mitt Romney is both for and against whatever the fuck is going on. Newt wants to drone PP, it’s the only way to be sure. I swear, I don’t think republicans and their footservants too, could fuck up a week of messaging any more if they tried.

    This is all good news………

  27. 27.

    shortstop

    @Jennifer: I said the same thing in the previous thread — it’s ignoring how our healthcare delivery system works AND, to add insult to injury, pretending that it doesn’t work differently for the uninsured. I think they are counting heavily — and who can blame them? — on most of their audience being completely clueless (and uninterested in becoming less so) about how poor people get healthcare.

  28. 28.

    Southern Beale

    @Jennifer:

    How many mammogram centers can you get into without a referral? My guess is: none.

    Eggggzackly!!! This is our fucked up healthcare system in a nutshell. You just don’t decide, “Oh why I’ll get my mammogram today, I felt a weird lump.” No. You have to go to a primary first. They make the referral. You can’t just get a walk in appointment. She fucking KNOWS that.

    Our heathcare system is SO FUCKED UP but people who don’t really use it don’t understand it. Nancy Brinker doesn’t have to worry about where she’ll get her mammogram. She just gets it, easy peasy.

    Fucking assholes I want them to be poor for 36 hours and see what it feels like.

  29. 29.

    FormerSwingVoter

    Seems like a good time to remind everyone about this link:

    http://ww5.komen.org/contact.aspx

    It’s the ‘Contact Us’ web form, phone number, and mailing address for Komen. Tell them how you feel. In no uncertain terms – right-wingers feel no need to hide their constant rage about everything. Don’t tell them that you’re disappointed; tell them that you’re fucking angry.

  33. 33.

    shortstop

    This ought to clear up any lingering misconceptions about whether the whole organization’s corrupt. Handel’s not a lone bad actor who wormed in. She was joyously recruited.

  35. 35.

    kay

    @satby:

    And the walk back: we still have 3 grants that are out to PP (see, we didn’t really stop funding them).

    Why would she start with that?

    While technically, narrowly true, It immediately made her sound dishonest and shifty.

    Also. “Frankly, we have been very private about it” is not a plus. I don’t think she should be running around bragging that no one would have known had those big mouths at PP not told them.

  36. 36.

    gogol's wife

    As someone said on another thread, I’ve always had a queasy feeling about the whole pink ribbon thing — it’s so infantilizing — and have usually given to American Cancer Society and/or PP. Guess that won’t change.

  39. 39.

    different-church-lady

    @kay:

    It immediately made her sound dishonest and shifty.

    Don’t forget: dishonest and shifty plays well with the base today.

  41. 41.

    phoebes-in-santa fe

    Brinker is a long-time Texas Republican supporter. She was ambassador to somewhere good under George W and has given tons of her own money to Republican causes. She’s also Jewish and a complete sell-out – as are most Jewish Republicans.

  42. 42.

    Mnemosyne

    @Comrade Luke:

    Most teams do a fund sharing — a quick Google showed me that the Oakland A’s Breast Cancer Awareness night split the money between the American Cancer Society, Cancer Prevention Institute of California and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

    So what we want to do is not to pressure MLB to drop Breast Cancer Awareness Night, but for them to drop Komen from the list of recipients. No need to punish the American Cancer Society for Komen’s sins — heck, they’ll probably get a bigger cut if just Komen is dropped.

    This should be a surgical operation — cut out Komen, not all cancer charities.

    ETA: Also, too, right-wingers have been targeting the American Cancer Society because of the ACS’s support for stem cell research, so it would be doubly sweet to have them get Komen’s share of the take rather than getting the event canceled altogether. Just sayin’.

  43. 43.

    shortstop

    OT, the ad below warns sternly that Obama IS WATCHING ME! Secret camera and all. Oooh, baby. Ima do a little number with pillows and fans I’ve been working on.

  45. 45.

    hamletta

    @Captain Haddock: Why do you say it’s fictional? The outpouring of rage from women all over the country is such that it’s quite likely she ran into a former SKG supporter at the gym.

  48. 48.

    Calouste

    @shortstop:

    I have pointed that out a few threads back. They recruited Handel, even though she had openly stated that she would cut federal funds for cancer screening from Planned Parenthood if she was elected governor of Georgia. SKG hired Handel because they wanted to cut funding for PP. There’s absolutely no such thing as SKG “caving” to right wing pressure, they did it all on purpose.

    And btw, why does the director of a charity who can afford to give more than $200,000 to the GOP get a $400,000/year salary? (More than half of what SKG gives to PP.)

  51. 51.

    shortstop

    @schrodinger’s cat: It’s not even a tasteful salmon pink. It’s that gross Pepto Bismol pink with too much blue in it.

    @Calouste: Yes, several of us mentioned it, but there were others commenters who felt the evidence was slim that this was a coming out (rather than a sharp shift in direction) for Komen. If it was the latter, old Nancy’s a thoroughgoing convert now.

  52. 52.

    Louise

    Patty Murray and Barbara Boxer kicked Nancy Brinker’s ass. Very proud of the both of them. (Go to YouTube or msnbc to see the whole clip.)

    And also this: Barbara Boxer deliberately referring to Nancy as “Ambassador Brinker” so that viewers could say “Ambassador of What?” and then find out that she focused on her Very Important And Sole Mission To Save Vulnerable Women’s Lives…by becoming Ambassador to Hungary.

  58. 58.

    Southern Beale

    @FormerSwingVoter:

    “The responses we are getting are very. very favorable.”

    HILARIOUS. In what alternate universe? They’re deleting unfavorable responses from their Facebook page. Sponsors are rethinking their support. This is a MAJOR fuck-up. No, responses are NOT favorable. They’ve created a shit-storm. And yes, let’s keep it up. E-mail them and post on their wall. Make them hire extra stuff to expunge the negative PR. Fuck it. Over this shit.

  62. 62.

    Comrade Mary

    HOLY FUCKING SHIT THE DIAPER COMMERCIAL THAT STARTS THAT CLIP.

    If you aren’t seeing it, you are missing — something.

  64. 64.

    West of the Cascades

    Also, when did Andrea Mitchell turn into a legitimate journalist? Maybe more people with turned-inside-out t-shirts should approach her at the gym. Maybe someone with an “irrational exuberance” t-shirt turned inside out.

  65. 65.

    Calouste

    @shortstop:

    I don’t think it really matters if it was a sharp turn of direction or a coming out. It’s clear it was a deliberate move on the part of SKG when they hired Handel as VP of Public Policy. Unless of course SKG is so f’ed up then when they interview someone for VP of Public Policy who as been a candidate for governor that they don’t look at their campaign literature. Then again, the CEO of SKG is a Republican, they’re not known for vetting their hires besides checking that they are current on the party donations.

  66. 66.

    Barbara

    Susan Komen was Nancy Brinker’s sister. Brinker founded the organization in her sister’s name after Komen died of breast cancer.

    The reality is, Komen is really just a feel good, “awareness” type organization. It doesn’t even rise to the level of the March of Dimes in funding or providing services. Sure, it funds some research and services, but out of its $400 MILLION in revenue, it’s really not a lot. I have never really supported Komen because of this — and also, its aggressive legal tactics against smaller cancer organizations. The truth is, there are many much better organizations that are truer to their missions to fund research, and of course, there are organizations like PP that really do provide frontline services.

    I wonder what the impact of this will be in their “glory” regions — you know, Westchester, NY or Montgomery County, MD, where well-heeled women raise thousands and even millions of dollars in annual walks. They are already advertising on the radio around here, even though the walk isn’t until October.

  67. 67.

    JPL

    What a clusterfuck. One thing that Brinker said is that’s it’s time to donate more funds for treatment and less for education and marketing. If she follows through that will be a good thing. I was surprised that they advertise race for the cure and yet very little goes towards research.

  70. 70.

    General Stuck

    @Barbara:

    Maybe they’ll just turn the whole thing into a GOP anti abortion superpak. You gotta think they want to in the worst way, and be done with all the bullshit double speak with the lame stream media.

  71. 71.

    Watusie

    The staff of this show – specifically the hair stylist, the cameraman, and the editor who chose the angle for shooting the guest – are clearly very pissed off. And they have exacted their revenge.

  72. 72.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @dexwood: Someone on an earlier thread suggested that people return pink ribbon merchandise to the store. In any event, Komen should become a toxic brand.

  73. 73.

    Mark S.

    @Comrade Mary:

    HOLY FUCKING SHIT THE DIAPER COMMERCIAL THAT STARTS THAT CLIP.

    I didn’t have the sound on for it but man was that disturbing. I’d rather watch those bears frolicking with their Charmin toilet paper.

  76. 76.

    The Other Chuck

    @Comrade Mary:

    I’ve long held that advertising channels other than just website banners are matching their ads to keywords in the summary of the tv clip. Whoda thunk that they’d have picked out “shit show” in real time?

  77. 77.

    j

    Have some Democrat Senator start an investigation of the SGK $41,000,000.00 industry. Since they will be under senate “investigation” they themselves will be unable to collect any money (according to their new wingnut rules).

    Then pull their tax free status. Let’s see this clueless bitch howl about that. Like she has “her tits in a wringer” (to quote John Mitchell’s threat to Katherine Graham during Watergate), so to speak.

  78. 78.

    Mark S.

    So the new line is that PP doesn’t actually cure you if they find a lump.

    I wonder what bullshit excuse they’ll come up with tomorrow.

  79. 79.

    pseudonymous in nc

    @Barbara:

    I wonder what the impact of this will be in their “glory” regions—you know, Westchester, NY or Montgomery County, MD, where well-heeled women raise thousands and even millions of dollars in annual walks.

    This, I think, is the key point, and goes back to tbogg’s smart point about the demographic overlap: I bet the median Komen supporter (and especially the median volunteer/donor) trends very much in that direction. The fundamental misconception here seems to be that upscale professional women don’t give a shit about Planned Parenthood, because that’s all for The Poors, when my guess is that a fuckload of upscale professional women availed themselves of PP’s non-judgmental healthcare services when they were younger and less well off, or have had to wrangle with health insurers to get referrals and coverage for treatment.

    Whatever Karen Handel brought to the table as a lobbyist, brought in after the midterms, and whatever role she had in the decisions on grant-making, this is a monumental self-inflicted fuckup. The brand is the cause is the brand, and that’s just gone down the shitter.

  81. 81.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @j: 22 Dem Senators have signed a letter to SKG, Inc protesting the decision. Less than half.

    @ornery_curmudgeon: Charlie Pierce has a piece on her fawning interview with Mitch Daniels, from which the words “labor” and “union” were conspicuous by their absence. I missed that, but did manage to catch her congratulating the governor of MI on how he’s turned the state’s economy around. I had to turn it off before I heard austerity get a blow job.

  82. 82.

    Cap'n Magic

    Sully’s cricket act over l’affiare Komen eerily reminds me of what was said during the AIDS crises of the 1980’s–“Silence = Death”. And his silence is deafening. I’ll give his slient treatment another 24 hours before I consider his silence as proof that he’s actually in league with the Christianists.

  83. 83.

    Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn

    @Comrade Luke at 19:

    Whether Komen meant to or not, they’ve utterly politicized what their Pink Ribbon™ stands for. I suspect it’s become too hot of a potato for MLB or the NFL to want to hold on to.

  84. 84.

    waratah

    I had a telephone call half way through and did not want to start over.
    My question is did she at any time show any compassion for the women that use PP? Did she suggest where they were going to use the money that those women could go to get the same help?
    The little observed this women has no clue about the women that have supported her foundation.

  85. 85.

    j

    @Comrade Luke: Screw that. Most baseball stadia are built with taxpayer money. Every time this money grabbing bitch holds one of her fun run / race for the purse it costs cities all over the country money for cops and rerouting bus lines and other expenses.

    Make that tax free (for now) dollar vacuum pay for their own shit. And stop bathing cities in pink lights whenever that bitch demands it. The same goes for Niagara falls and those ugly pink lights. Who does she think she is? GOD made those falls, and he didn’t make them pink. She can’t co-opt them just to keep her wingnut half a million buck salary.

    Pull the tax exemption from that money grubbing GOP action committee.

  86. 86.

    TaMara (BHF)

    @FormerSwingVoter: It probably won’t mean a thing, but it made me feel a bit better. Now to get the checkbook out – Planned Parenthood it only a few blocks away, think I’ll deliver it in person.

    Dear SGK and Corporate Sponsors: Glad to know your despicable behavior in regards to Planned Parenthood has turned over the rock to expose what your organization does – pay big salaries to your executives with very little money going to actual cancer research or screening. $600,000 to Planned Parenthood for screenings when your CEO gets $400,000? As little as 39% of the funds you raise go to anything regarding actual cancer research or screening? Now everyone knows. And every time I see a race for the cure TM or that ugly pink ribbon, I’ll remember to donate to actual cancer screening services and cancer research. You’ll get not a dime. I’ll gather my friends and acquaintances every time I am reminded and we’ll let your corporate sponsors know how we feel and how it’s in their best interest to drop your organization. It may take some time to dismantle the great pink beast, but I will do what I can to assist in the demolition. I’d say you should be ashamed, but I just watched your CEO on MSNBC and it is clear you have no shame.

  87. 87.

    EmanG

    I don’t mean to distract from her incredible dickishness, but how can we be sure she’s legitimately concerned? Her forehead does not move!!! Is botox covered in their medical plan?

  89. 89.

    MikeJ

    @The Other Chuck: Oh, it won’t be just because it will piss off people. You shouldn’t discount the fact that he seems to not be a fan of women having control of their own bodies, or hell, just women in general.

  90. 90.

    Judge Crater

    Talk about cutting off your boob to spite your face. Komen has committed ritual suicide.

    When ideology trumps common sense, disaster awaits. Why can’t the right-wing, corporatist shills, who comprise the growing heart of darkness of our society, ever realize that.

    They keep taking us over the brink – yet their answer is always that we need to do the same thing, only harder.

  92. 92.

    BethanyAnne

    @schrodinger’s cat: He said that Douthat’s response to Klein’s rebuttal of McMegan’s rejoinder to Yglesias’ observation was worthy merely on the ground of raising awareness of both sides of the issue. Whereas Chait’s riposte to Goldberg’s analysis was evidence that living in the bubble of epistimological closure requires consideration of a Moore Award. Meep, Meep, Motherfucker.

  95. 95.

    schrodinger's cat

    @BethanyAnne: I was just kidding around, since DougJ and John Cole have elebenty posts on what Sullivan thinks about any particular issue.

  96. 96.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    My wife and I watched this early this morning and we were laughing at the bullshit she was dishing out. My wife said ‘she seems to think that just because she says something then people will think it fact’. All that interview did was to solidify my wife’s position to boycott everything SGK related. She’s already contacted a few manufacturers of products she uses to let them know that she will not be buying their products until they drop support for SGK. She also notified SGK that her and our daughter will no longer participate in the Run for the Cure.

    Mrs. Greenspan did a pretty good job in questioning her but being a breast cancer survivor herself makes that understandable. The followup with Boxer and Murray was great too. SGK needs to hear how badly they fucked up and it looks like the message is getting out. Now lets see if their ears are working. Regardless, SGK screwed the pooch here and there will be no going back to ‘the way it was’.

    This mess has already cost them more than they are ‘saving’ and they will never get that back. All they can do now is dig in or admit their mistake and try to mitigate the damages.

  98. 98.

    opie jeanne

    @Southern Beale: I have a pink stand mixer, $50 of the regular price went to a cancer organization, maybe it was SGK but I do not know. I have had it for more than ten years and will not be getting rid of it because I like it and can’t afford a new one.

    However, I will never sponsor another walker (my older daughter did it a couple of years ago and felt very depressed about the huge amount of donor money necessary) and will never buy another product with the stupid pink ribbon.

    I am in the midst of writing an angry letter to MLB (the corporation) regarding their future support of SGK. I loved the pink bats and gloves, especially one player who continued to use a pink glove to honor his mom who had died of cancer, but I intend to let them know what I think. I may start a letter writing campaign on one of the big baseball blogs; MLB may have a lot of right-wingers on the board but the fans outnumber them and they may get a shock if a bunch of us send them letters.

  101. 101.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Watusie:

    Agreed. She looked very pale, severe and tightly wrapped (and not in a good way) on MSNBC. She thinks she was doing damage control when all she did was more damage and her appearance didn’t help a bit.

    The artists at MSNBC did a fine job making her look ‘good’.

  103. 103.

    Mnemosyne

    @opie jeanne:

    Like shortstop said, we’re aiming for a lumpectomy here. Tell MLB that you will not support the game this year if Komen is one of the organizations that receives a donation. As I’ve been saying in all of the threads, corporations HATE controversy with a passion. If MLB gets enough letters asking them to drop Komen, they will, because they don’t want to piss off their customers.

  105. 105.

    henrythefifth

    I hope PP plans a walk the same day as the Susan G. walk in the DC region.

    If you visit PP’s website, they are way out in front of this. Good on them.

    @Cacti–do you know how much Botox costs nowadays? Not to mention the annual upkeep of that tower of hair must reach epic proportions.

  106. 106.

    amk

    Mrs greenspan, to my surprise, did a good job of putting this woman on a spot. All the ‘let me’s from her were a preface for her lying/dodging.

  107. 107.

    farmette

    As the phrase goes……..
    You’re a republican until it happens to you.

    Guarantee that if those opposed to PP breast cancer screening needed it, they would start marching toward the caring and all welcoming drummer.

  108. 108.

    iceskatingschnauzer

    All SGK merchandise (socks, shoes, race t-shirts, etc.) have been tucked into a bag to be dropped off at the local homeless shelter. Can’t quite bring myself to throw them in the trash since others are in need no matter how repugnant the organization.

  110. 110.

    Sebastian Dangerfield

    @Cap’n Magic:

    Sully’s cricket act over l’affiare Komen …

    is easily explained. Sully thinks women are icky and does not give a shit about women’s issues.

  114. 114.

    BethanyAnne

    @BethanyAnne: Well, actually the worst part is either a: so do I, b: I hesitated because there are 2 Kleins, or c: it’s so twue, so vewwy vewwy twue.

  117. 117.

    Cap'n Magic

    Let’s Get down to brass tacks. What is the ideal solution to this breach of the public trust by SGK? Resignation of the board? Repeal of the decision? The dissolution of SGK? Decide.

  119. 119.

    JR

    Now that they have disclosed that they are a Republican activist group, how long will it take for them to lose their tax-free status?

    I don’t watch MSNBC, but I’m sure their technical folks took proper care of Nancy!

    I dropped them a line to thank them for turning their rock over and showing everyone what was crawling underneath, and told them goodbye. ;-)

Comments are closed.