BOYCOTT SUSAN B. KOMEN FOR THE CURE…GO TO CHARITY NAVIGATOR TO DETERMINE WHERE YOUR MONEY CAN DO THE MOST GOOD…OR YOU CAN GO HERE TO DONATE DIRECTLY TO PLANNED PARENTHOOD
Komen for the Cure is still trying to recover from last week’s credibility-killing fiasco involving Planned Parenthood grants, and to that end, there’s been a major shake-up within the organization…. As part of her departure, [Karen] Handel “openly acknowledge[d]” her role in the Planned Parenthood decision, which is curious given her comments to NBC’s Andrea Mitchell last week, when she said she wasn’t involved in the decision. It’s unclear exactly how voluntary Handel’s resignation is, but it’s likely that Komen officials hold her directly responsible for what transpired. As The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg reported last week, Handel, a former Republican gubernatorial candidate from Georgia and staunch opponent of abortion rights and Planned Parenthood, drove the controversial decision within the organization.
Ah, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive….
Ever since Komen backed off their decision to defund Planned Parenthood, it seemed just a matter of time before someone was sacrificed in a vain effort to save face. In this case it was Karen Handel, the Right-wing ideologue who by all indications was the driving force behind the decision to cut off PP. Handel’s fate is an example of karma coming back to wreak havoc on someone who felt that she could inject her narrow, anti-women political world view on what had previously been perceived as a apolitical organization dedicated solely to women’s health.
And then the lies began, each one seemingly crafted to cover the one that came before….
Handel’s falling on her sword is a curious development in that when the $#!& first hit the metaphorical fan, both Handel and Komen CEO Nancy Brinker vigorously denied that Handel had ANY part in the decision. So, the lesson to be drawn from this is that not only is Komen a financially profligate organization run by Right-wing ideologues, but also that those ideologues are lousy liars who are disturbingly tone-deaf when it comes to the role of politics in the war against breast cancer.
The short version, of course, is that politics has no place in the war against breast cancer.
It’s hard to sort Komen’s truth from the lies they’ve already wrapped themselves in, but it’s clear that Handel played a pivotal role in the decision to defund Planned Parenthood. And Handel’s choosing to fall on her sword (if she wasn’t pushed to do so) shouldn’t be taken as proof that Komen “gets it.”
WASHINGTON — Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the nation’s leading anti-breast-cancer charity, has insisted that its since-reversed decision to pull funding from Planned Parenthood arose from a routine change in criteria for grant eligibility that had nothing to do with abortion politics.
But a Komen insider told HuffPost on Sunday that Karen Handel, Komen’s staunchly anti-abortion vice president for public policy, was the main force behind the decision to defund Planned Parenthood and the attempt to make that decision look nonpolitical.
“Karen Handel was the prime instigator of this effort, and she herself personally came up with investigation criteria,” the source, who requested anonymity for professional reasons, told HuffPost. “She said, ‘If we just say it’s about investigations, we can defund Planned Parenthood and no one can blame us for being political.’”
Despite the spin from Handel and Nancy Brinker, there are emails confirming that Handel was not only involved in the decision, she was the primary instigator. Handel devised the criteria, sold it to the board, and made certain that the new policy would meet with the approval of fellow Conservatives. Handel was the reason events transpired as they did. Once events spiraled out of control, she was politically tone-deaf enough to insist that Komen stick to its guns. Brinker, to her discredit, played along with the ruse. When the blowback began, Brinker was the first to go on national television and lie through her teeth. If Nancy Brinker isn’t ashamed of her role in this fiasco, then I can only surmise that she’s incapable of the emotion.
Handel’s resignation, couched as it may have been in victimology, is but the first step in what I feel must happen in order for Komen to retain any credibility and hope for survival. Nancy Brinker, who’s every bit as responsible as Handel, should- nay, must- also do the right thing by Komen and resign. Brinker has allowed her politics and ideology to cloud her judgment to the detriment of Komen’s mission and its future. She’s turned Komen into a bloated, inefficient organization that funnels only 81.5% of donor money to programs. A well-run, efficient non-profit will generally come in at 90-93%.
Komen isn’t a charitable non-profit organization with a cause. It sees itself as a Fortune 500 company. Breast cancer is its business…and business is GOOD.
The “good” thing about this fiasco is that Komen now finds itself in the spotlight, and not a welcoming one. Komen can spend their remaining time justifying and spinning their colossal misjudgment…or they can do the hard work and make the tough decisions necessary in order to win donors back. This must begin with Brinker and the rest of Komen’s board of directors resigning en masse. A new board must then re-commit Komen to their mission and to remaining apolitical in pursuit of that mission. Next, the new board must evaluate every aspect of Komen’s structure, beginning with their bloated administrative structure. Susan G. Komen for the cure is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that deserves to lose its tax-exempt status. If they’re to have any hope of maintaining that tax-exempt status, they MUST prove they Komen is and will remain apolitical. It must demonstrate that it can streamline its operation so that more donor money will be devoted to programming.
Without wholesale changes on Komen’s board, I have absolutely no faith that anything will change. Nancy Brinker is corrupt, dishonest, and seemingly incapable of dispassionately doing, in a nonpartisan fashion, what needs to be done in order for Komen to survive. As currently constituted, Komen is incapable of carrying out its mission, and thus deserves to be dissolved and sold for parts. This is why I urge anyone reading this to direct your charitable donations elsewhere. You can go to Charity Navigator to determine where your money will do the most good. Or you can go here and donate directly to Planned Parenthood.
If you continue donating your money to Komen, I’d submit that you’re wasting your money on a corrupt organization that’s taken their eye off the ball. It’s your money and your choice, of course, but for my money, I’d want to donate to a charity where more of my money is actually used for the causes and purposes I’m choosing to support…not buying first class airplane tickets for Nancy Brinker.
