In what appears to be a reversal of Susan G. Komen For the Cure's funding cuts to Planned Parenthood, the founder and CEO of the nation's largest breast-cancer advocacy agency said Friday that the group would amend the criteria that sparked a firestorm.Color me: "Unimpressed." I doubt if there is a person out there who will be convinced that this was nothing other than a massive cave by the Komenies. They first kowtowed to the Christian Taliban on stem-cell research and on Planned Parenthood. Now they have again folded before a more powerful backlash.
"We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants," Nancy G. Brinker, the agency's ambassador, said in a statement.
The Komenies knew exactly what they were doing when they did it. So now they have the worst of both worlds. They have now pissed all over the shoes of the Christian Taliban, which will regard this reversal as a betrayal. And those who reacted with fury and who have supported Planned Parenthood will not be so forgetful as the news cycle will be.
In the culture wars, the Komenies have turned out to be as reliable an ally as the Italians were during the Second World War.
Or, if you like, they are channeling Capt. Renault:
But I think it is more than that. This is just a tactical retreat. The Komenies will try again. Next time around, they'll just cut a grant here, a grant there. So in a few years, the Komenies will not be giving a dime to Planned Parenthood. And I will bet that the Komenies are privately relaying that exact strategy to the Christian Taliban. Remember, what the Komenies told Planned Parenthood was this: "Don't bother applying for any more grants, because we're going to reject them". All they did was now tell Planned Parenthood that they could continue to apply. Big fucking whoop.
The more I think on this, the more I believe that this so-called reversal is designed to appease the Komenies' corporate sponsors. Corporations do not want to receive bad publicity or blowback from donating to charities. All of the companies carrying Komenie-pink merchandise probably got an earful over the last two days.
Worse for the Komanies: They are no longer above the fray. They are no longer critically untouchable. They've muddied their own reputation and that kind of mud isn't washable. People will be taking shots at Brinker's half-million dollar salary. They will be paying attention to how (in)efficiently the Komen Foundation is, how much they spend on administrative expenses and where that money goes (other than Brinker's ginormous salary).
In essence, they have exchanged a bulletproof vest for a large target.
The Komenies are weasels. They cannot be trusted. I hope PP blows the whistle on them whenever the Komenies decline to renew a grant.
Defund Komen!
9 comments:
As a lawyer, I'm sure you can read the press release and parse the words to find there's no "we were wrong and we'll fix it" or "we've restored the relationship with PP to its previous status". All they've done is add a handful of words to their policy which, while it might continue PP funding for the current grant, may very well require a future application for a grant which will almost assuredly be denied.
One of the Front Pagers at Daily Kos just put this up a few minutes ago:
Lazy media reports Komen Foundation decision as 'reversal.' It isn't. Worth a read.
They're doing a serious Nixon non-apology apology here.
LRod
ZJX, ORD, ZAU retired
Their reputation is shredded and too many people now know too much for the new policy to do them any good.
The Komenies jumped into a war and then were simply outraged that they were taking lots of fire.
Weasels and cowards, the lot of them.
I was getting tired of running in all those marathons, anyway. ;-)
I was likewise unimpressed. But for extra amusement? Did you know that the Seattle branch has teamed up to sell you a commemorative GUN with a pink slide to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness month? The Walther P-22 Hope Edition ! Yeah, so if you can't get scans and tests to find your cancer, you can blow your brains out with a pink-decorated gun!
Ironic that the thing Ms. Handel thought would take down Planned Parenthood now has the potential to take down the Komen Foundation, which would do well to fire Karen Handel and replace her with the woman who resigned in protest. For Ms. Handel's part, she would do well to learn that unintended consequences apply to all things in all situations.
First the US Supreme Court and now Komen. Where does it stop.
Spot on.
Good riddance to the Pink Mafia, I say. (So said because of their habit of spending donor money to sue other female-oriented charities that dare use the color pink to represent women's causes). They were a scam to enrich their executives anyhow, less than 25% of donations go to breast cancer research, the rest goes to vague "awareness" stuff.
- Badtux the Practical Penguin
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