Words can be such damning things, particularly when you are trying to lie and obfuscate your way past reality. That was the lesson learned by Richard Nixon with the Watergate Tapes. And the Enron Corporation, with its reconstructed shredded documents.
And then, throw on the bonfire the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Now, they say (in their fig leaf attempt to cover up their attempted political jihad against Planned Parenthood) that this is all about a rule on grants to institutions under investigation. (A rule just adopted, which then -- SURPRISE! -- only effects PP because of a politically motivated "investigation" by a Rethug Hack.) Then, when that didn't fly, they came out with their new, and less believable "we are just reordering our grants, and PP just didn't fit anymore, we don't want to give to duplicative services."
And before they got all political -- and one month before they hired right wing nutjob and avowed enemy of PP Karen Handel for the top policy job -- Komen sang a very different tune. PP was essential, because it saved lives that otherwise would have gone unserved.
Let's go to the videotape below the squiggle
The statement issued in March 2011 (one month before the hiring of Karen Handel) was unequivocal.
"Early screening through mammograms and education is critical to end the suffering from this disease: 98 percent of women treated for early stage breast cancer, before it spreads, are alive five years later. The widespread use of mammography and heightened public awareness of breast cancer both contribute to these favorable statistics.
And while Komen Affiliates provide funds to pay for screening, education and treatment programs in dozens of communities, in some areas, the only place that poor, uninsured or under-insured women can receive these services are through programs run by Planned Parenthood.
These facilities serve rural women, poor women, Native American women, women of color, and the un- and under-insured. As part of our financial arrangements, we monitor our grantees twice a year to be sure they are spending the money in line with our agreements, and we are assured that Planned Parenthood uses these funds only for breast health education, screening and treatment programs.
As long as there is a need for health care for these women, Komen Affiliates will continue to fund the facilities that meet that need.
Like with the Watergate tapes, this statement released in March (one month before the hiring of Karen Handel) raises enormous new questions for SGK. What organizations have you now found that provide the services you said the poor could not get anywhere else? Were you lying then, or have you knowingly decided to abandon, as your statement says, "poor, uninsured or under-insured women."
Tell us, precisely, which organizations you will now fund that are ALREADY established that are providing these services. And if you can't name them, doesn't that again mean that you are abandoning women in poverty to score political points?
The statement issued in March (one month before the hiring of Karen Handel) is awfully damning. I hope some reporters pick it up and have it available the next time they interview Ambassador Brinker (what kind of arrogant dumbass would attempt to deny any political motivations, while simultaneously dangling the "Ambassador" title, a reminder that she is a George W. Bush lackey.)
And did I mention that the statement was issued in March? One month before the hiring of Karen Handel.