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You are here: Home / Where Nothing is Ever Put Straight

Where Nothing is Ever Put Straight

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You’d think our dozen or so Komen posts from yesterday would have captured all of the Komen news, but there’s more. This morning’s Times reports that Nancy Brinker was lying when she said that it was “stewardship”, not politics, that drove the decision to dump Planned Parenthood:

Her comments directly contradicted those of John D. Raffaelli, a Komen board member and Washington lobbyist, who told The New York Times on Wednesday that Komen made the changes to its grant-making process specifically to end its relationship with Planned Parenthood. Mr. Raffaelli said that Komen had become increasingly worried that an investigation of Planned Parenthood by Representative Cliff Stearns, Republican of Florida, would damage Komen’s credibility with donors.

Dissention in the Komen ranks continues, with this statement from all seven California Komen affiliates:

The seven California Affiliates of Susan G. Komen for the Cure are strongly opposed to Komen National’s new grant making policy. This policy prevents Komen Affiliates from funding organizations under investigation at the regional, state or federal level. Planned Parenthood is currently the subject of an “inquiry” in Congress.

Love those scare quotes.

Update: Komen’s Oregon affiliate is against the decision, too. (And Komen Puget Sound, thanks MikeJ).

Update 2: I forgot this little gem: a re-tweet by Karen Handel, who’s been identified by sources at Komen as the driving force behind this fail parade. Handel took it down but screenshots are forever:

Reader Interactions

56Comments

  1. 1.

    kdaug

    You’d think our dozen or so Komen posts from yesterday…

    Does that count as an investigation?

  2. 2.

    c u n d gulag

    After this bullshit Conservative move, I hope that Komen is going, going, gone!

    They can keep trying to market their color “pink” campaign, but I think their future is far from rosy.

  6. 6.

    MattF

    Wingers attack Planned Parenthood all the time– but apparently have never taken a moment to reflect on the fact that the organization has survived all the attacks and is doing OK, thank you very much. So now, Komen’s unguarded reaction is “They’re not supposed to be fighting back.” Well, tough titties, as we say.

  7. 7.

    kay

    I love it because she’s going to piss off both sides:

    “We are not defunding Planned Parenthood,” Brinker told Mitchell, “We have three grants that will go on this year, and they will probably be eligible for the next grant cycle.”

    That’s not enough! They require total and complete victory! Planned Parenthood must vanish from the earth. She thinks she’s going to negotiate with them? Hah. Fat chance. They own her now.

    She gained nothing from this. Nothing.

  8. 8.

    Anya

    What happened to all the ivestigative reporters? Someone needs to investigate Susan G. Komen for the Cure. What do they do with their donation, and are they actually preventing vital research because progress in this area will be bad for their bottom line.

  13. 13.

    RossInDetroit

    I woke up this morning pissed enough to send a donation to PP because of this SGK outrage. According to Facebook my wife got up even earlier and had the same idea, donating a healthy sum.
    We wouldn’t have done it otherwise. Planned Parenthood wasn’t really on our radar screen like the local food banks and shelters are. But thanks to SGK we won’t forget them now.

  14. 14.

    beltane

    Remember that Karen Handel is a Sarah Palin acolyte so the fail flows naturally from this one.

  15. 15.

    The Other Bob

    Coming in this morning I noticed a 60-something white dude wearing a pink cure hat. I am guessing the right-wing support of Komen has begun.

    I wonder this: What would Susan G. Komen have wanted and what does her family think?

  16. 16.

    Cheap Jim

    You know, up until now I had thought of twitter as being completely pointless. But I guess it does have the one use of allowing hateful idiots to accidentally reveal themselves and be recorded doing so.

    Gave PP $100 in Handel’s name. So there, Karen.

  17. 17.

    Elizabelle

    Link to Andrea Mitchell interview with Nancy Brinker, with transcript appended.
    http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/02/10303379-andrea-mitchell-interviews-susan-g-komens-nancy-brinker

    Brinker is doubling and tripling down.

    And this pushback too:

    Brinker to Andrea Mitchell:
    “People who have bothered to read the material, who have bothered to understand the issues …”

    So now SKF’s critics are lazy too? Maybe just stupid?

    Or they won’t get taken in by Brinker’s Potemkin Village of new funding guidelines?

  19. 19.

    beltane

    @The Other Bob: I don’t know if Susan G. Komen herself was a wingnut but her sister, the CEO of SGK certainly is. Exploiting the dead for cheap points is nothing new to right-wingers so none of this surprises me really.

  20. 20.

    Elizabelle

    From an LA Times story:

    “Planned Parenthood affiliates will be free to apply for future grants once the organization is no longer under investigation, Brinker said. But in any case, she said, its breast health programs may not be the best use of Komen funds.

    Although women can receive clinical breast exams at Planned Parenthood clinics, patients are referred to other medical facilities for mammograms, biopsies and cancer treatment, she noted, referring to this model as “pass-through” services.

    “We look at the quality of the grants,” Brinker said. “We don’t like to do pass-through grants anymore.”

    Planned Parenthood responded that patients referred out for mammograms or biopsies were still managed by the affiliate’s doctors.
    __
    “We offer the same kinds of services a patient would be offered going to her private OB-GYN,” said Shawn Rhea, a Planned Parenthood spokeswoman.”

    http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-komen-backlash-20120203,0,693195.story

  21. 21.

    beltane

    @Elizabelle: All breast-cancer screeings are pass-through services unless you are fabulously wealthy like Nancy Brinker. It’s not like normal women with normal health insurance can just show up at the hospital without a referral and demand to have a mammogram.

    I’d love to see how our health care system works for the upper .01% because I’m sure their experiences with the system bear no resemblance to anyone else’s.

  22. 22.

    shortstop

    I must have listened to that song 1,000 times and never got the “put.” For me, it’s always been “nothing is ever mrwf straight.”

  27. 27.

    jibeaux

    You know what would be awesome is if all the Congresscritters who are always demonizing PP and acting like they could balance the budget if it weren’t for that damn PP held a meeting and said, “so, maybe a hiatus on that this year? I just didn’t know the chicks were so pissed!” or however the sexist asshats talk.
    There are other favorite punching bags of the right wing, but pretty much every woman in America has been to a PP or has a friend or family member who has. They’re nationwide and they’re 95 years old. Komen kicked a sleeping giant.

  28. 28.

    MattF

    @MikeJ: An interesting band. They’re connected musically with Gillian Welch, which puts them right on my ‘listen to this’ list.

  29. 29.

    rumpole

    What still amazes me about this is that for a senior VP of public policy (e.g., a lobbyist/pr professional), she’s -still- opening her mouth in a way that kills the company’s brand. If there ought to be one rule in place right now it ought to be: radio silence except for our other spin, and that doesn’t include bashing pro-choice types. Any doubts that this is anything other than a right-wing freak show should by now be resolved.

    IMO, there may be a brief surge of giving to SK from the pro life movenment. But that movement does not, in general, care about women’s health. The people who have left Komen (my wife is a perfect example) are gone for good. The folks that gave to SDK because of this are one-offs. Planned Parenthood (and ACS, and Livestrong) have an enormous fundraising opportunity here. And this says nothing about the backlash from corporate sponsors, which is coming. (Can you see the NFL now stepping into the middle of abortion? )

    I’m curious to see how many people do the ‘race for the cure’ in the coming months.

  33. 33.

    kay

    @beltane:

    Remember that Karen Handel is a Sarah Palin acolyte so the fail flows naturally from this one.

    She’s pathetic. I was reading about her career yesterday. She was fairly moderate (for a GA Republican) and the extreme Right went after her. She ended up denying and lying constantly, most notably, she denied ever having been a member of the Log Cabin Republicans, and she was once a member.

    Her insane renunciation of PP was driven by ambition. Anti-choicers had accused her of being in favor of “gay adoption” (whatever the hell that is) and Georgia Right to Life said she wasn’t pure enough. She responded by attacking PP. She’s been capitulating a long time.

  34. 34.

    Southern Beale

    @rumpole:

    And this says nothing about the backlash from corporate sponsors, which is coming. (Can you see the NFL now stepping into the middle of abortion? )

    Exactly. All a corporation has to say is, “it was never our intent or desire to wade into a divisive issue like abortion. Our intent was raise funds and awareness for cancer. With that in mind we are forced to withdraw our support from Komen and begin new relationships with organizations staying true to that mission.”

    Etc. etc. Yeah I used to do this for a living.

  37. 37.

    RossInDetroit

    Clipped from a NYT article from this morning:

    Mr. Raffaelli disputed assertions that were widely circulated on the Web on Wednesday that the decision was made or influenced by Karen Handel, Komen’s new senior vice president for public policy, a Republican who ran for governor of Georgia in 2010. During that campaign, Ms. Handel wrote, “Since I am pro-life, I do not support the mission of Planned Parenthood.” Ms. Handel was hired to urge state governments to spend money on breast cancer screening, and having a Republican deliver that message could help in many states, Mr. Raffaelli said.

    (emphasis added)

    The whole article is pretty good.

  38. 38.

    JasperL

    The one positive about the way Komen handled this is the gutless, insulting, self serving lies about the decision reveal their core, and it’s rotten.

    A lot of people could forgive them giving in to the blackmail of the far right, weighing that decision against all they continue to do for breast cancer. But we don’t forgive being lied to or treated like stupid children.

  41. 41.

    beltane

    @pk: They would gladly sacrifice their lives so that a frozen blastocyst may live to spend another day in deep-freeze.

    Probably not, but what’s a little hypocrisy between friends.

  42. 42.

    RossInDetroit

    @pk:

    I think they have also cut of funding for research into breast cancer using embryonic stem cells.

    I also read that from a reputable source. The question is, if not for political reasons then why?

  43. 43.

    PurpleGirl

    It appears that Mayor Bloomberg has started his own fundraising for PP with a one-to-one challenge grant of up to $250,000.

    From the NY Times: Mr. Bloomberg, a billionaire with a long-term interest in public health, said he would give Planned Parenthood Federation of America a $250,000 matching gift — he will donate $1 for every new dollar Planned Parenthood raises up to $250,000.

    (I don’t like much of what he does but I have to give him credit for his personal philanthropy.)

  46. 46.

    handsmile

    As of 9:36am Times/Free Press poll: “Should Komen cut grants to Planned Parenthood?”

    58% No (106 votes)
    41% Yes (76 votes)
    1% Elvis [OK I’m making that part up]

    Good on you Southern Beale for helping to turn the tide!

  48. 48.

    Jay C

    Heh – So the New York Times’ reporters finally got the point that there’s been a nationwide firestorm bit of criticism of the Susan G. Komen Foundation over its Planned Parenthood cutoff? Better late than never, I suppose: their first article yesterday was pretty bland: may someone at Gray Lady Acres actually surfs the Internet once in a while?

    But I agree that SGKF have stepped in the shit bigtime with this: however much spin they try to put on it, they’ve lost the PR battle going in (and Nancy Brinker’s snooty BS-mongering on YouTube can’t help: “Oh, no harm – They’ve made more money now!”. Srsly, Nancy?) – from now on, the narrative has been fixed, and anything the Komen Foundation can do will only be seen through the lens of “bowing to extremist pressure” and “playing politics with womens’ health issues”.

    Good job, Nancy, Karen and the SGKF Board! In an attempt to “avoid controversy” you have:

    1. Generated a gigantic amount of negative publicity for your organization.
    2. Damaged your own “brand” by making it look like the tool of right-wing cranks.
    3. Caused a massive national outpouring of sympathy and donations for your “victim” (PP)
    4. Exposed the right-wing crusade against PP for the misogynistic crankery that it is
    5. Probably reduced your own potential fundraising capabilities.

    Is there some sort of Corporate Darwin Award they qualify for??

  49. 49.

    jjcomet

    The gutless tools who run Komen have changed their story on this again. This morning on NPR, I heard a Komen spokesperson say that they decided to cut funding to PP as part of a program to direct funds to organizations “more directly involved in breast health.” In other words, either the story about shunning PP because it is under investigation is complete BS, or this latest explanation is complete BS. Either way, Komen is more than willing to lie to cover their asses with the political right. Which means the folks who run Komen not only don’t give a damn about the health of women, they are cowards as well.

  50. 50.

    Sparkatus

    So, when are the Komen affiliates like those in CA and WA that have expressed their disagreement going to pull out and recreate a new organization, change the ribbon to the original salmon color and give Brinker and Handel a giant FU?

    Seems it would be super easy, and Komen can’t have the rights to sponsored walks…Why reform an organization that pulls crap like this, just pull out and put your local group under a different umbrella? Perhaps PP in fact.

  51. 51.

    iceblue

    The vote is now 260 votes. 38% yes (99 votes) 61% no (161 votes)
    I would say you’ve caused a turnaround.

  52. 52.

    maya

    @Jay C:

    Damaged your own “brand” by making it look like the tool of right-wing cranks.

    Yup, any fool can wear pink. Happens often when they don’t sort their laundry.

  53. 53.

    Mouse Tolliver

    Also too. Karen Handel is a homophobic bigot. I’m sure everyone is shocked — SHOCKED! — to hear that. Why in the world would a supposedly apolitical organization put a rightwing ideologue in such a powerful position?

  54. 54.

    Interrobang

    Hey Karen Handel — at least our side only throws political bombs. Your side has got some ‘splainin’ to do about those literal bombs, bitch. You’re a Christian, isn’t there something about removing the beam from your own eye before you attend to the mote in someone else’s?

  55. 55.

    Citizen Alan

    Meanwhile … Jade Morey?!? Really? The tweet was originally from some Republican woman going by the name of Jade Morey?!? That sounds like an evil lesbian assassin who’s been sent to kill James Bond!

  56. 56.

    replicnt6

    @Davis X. Machina:

    Fail, like equality, and inequality, displays the transitive property…

    Equality, yes. Inequality, no.

    1 ne 2, 2 ne 1, but this does not imply that 1 ne 1.

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