The Bush-Armstrong bike-fest scheduled for this Saturday has been bothering me. As an avid cyclist and cyclist fundraiser, I have felt some affinity for Lance, not only for his personal athletic accomplishments but for his dedication to helping fund cancer research through his foundation. I have been having some difficulty reconciling the admiration I feel for Lance with the utter contempt I feel for our pResident. So,I sent off an email this morning to the Lance Armstrong Foundation expressing my disapproval of Lances plans to ride with our vacationing pResident. My email was as follows:
It's clear that Lance and George W. Bush share some things; Fame (notoriety), Texas, bikes. But there are very big differences between the two, which will seriously detract from the good work of the LAF. Lance has survived cancer and gone on to make meaningful efforts to help others through LAF.
Bush, on the other hand, has only survived a rich boy's political career built on connections to the rich and powerful. Bush's world is built on lies, corruption, and his sociopathic narcissism. His "concern for others" is a sham. He has led our country into an illegal, ill advised and unjust war which has cost the lives of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of innocent lives.
Perhaps Lance feels his good work with the LAF will benefit from the publicity of a ride with the pResident. It will not. And if, God forbid, Lance actually admires Mr. Bush and is looking forward to his association with our home grown "Texan" war criminal, then he is as deluded and misguided as our pResident.
Unless Lance is planning to use his time with Mr. Bush to publicly dress him down and take him to task, the ride should be canceled. George W. Bush is poison. Lance and the LAF will suffer from any link to George W. Bush. Don't do it, please!
While I expected no more than a a mass response reply, I was still a bit taken aback by the nature of the response. Apparently there is a rather strange disconnect and denial of the obvious political statement that will be made by Lance currying favor with Bush, especially during this particular Crawford Presidential Vacation. The response I received was:
Hello,
Thank you for contacting the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) and for sharing your concerns with us. Please know that I read and evaluate every email I receive. Your feedback and views are very important. We are encouraged by the very supportive emails and mindful of your expectations and wishes regarding Lance's upcoming appointment with President Bush.
Please forgive my mass response. We prefer to respond to each person individually. However, I have received a very high number of emails about this topic and I wanted to respond to your concerns as soon as possible.
The most important thing to know about Lance and his relationship with government leaders is that he feels an enormous responsibility to the cancer community. He has an opportunity later this week to discuss cancer with someone who has the ability to affect positive change for the millions of people with cancer. He feels that whether it is with a Democrat or Republican, in Washington DC or Texas, on a bike or at a desk - it is critical that he engage in these conversations.
It is also important to know that the LAF adheres to Federal regulation and is a strictly non-partisan organization.
I have included some information here about the LAF and Lance and our relationship with government leaders and politics. There is a lot of information here, but I encourage you to review these facts and details. I hope this information will be helpful to you.
About the LAF
The LAF as an organization believes that cancer has no political allegiance - in fact, it is bigger than politics and requires dedicated, broad support.
The LAF is not a political organization and is neither affiliated with any political party or a donor to any political campaign. Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. The LAF is a 501(c)(3) organization.
We are focused on helping people living with cancer and their families and caretakers. In this endeavor, we are grateful to have the support of many members of Congress and government leaders across the U.S. In fact, you can read about the cancer experiences of Democratic Senators Harkin and Kerry and Republican Senator McCain on our Web site now. For more information about the LAF, visit www.livestrong.org.
About Lance
Lance has not endorsed any candidates or parties and has no plans to. We received a similarly high number of emails from the public when Senator Kerry attended the Tour de France. Senator Kerry is a cancer survivor and a cycling fan and also a friend.
Lance is also a member of the President's Cancer Panel - which monitors the progress of the National Cancer Program of the National Cancer Institute.
Lance is not an advocate for the Bush Administration's Iraq policy. Lance was quoted in USA Today on July 25th about his wish that cancer be a national priority instead. Further, he also said on PBS' Charlie Rose Show that while he strongly believes this, it is not intended at all as a criticism of our troops, just an indication of how he would spend the money.
In a Dallas Morning News article from Saturday, August 6th, Lance said that he was neither a Republican or a Democrat.
I have also noted the high number of requests for Lance to meet Cindy Sheehan. Please note that I have read all of these requests and directed them to Lance's management agency and scheduler. Thank you for the suggestion.
Please let me know if you have additional questions.
I appreciate hearing from you.
Warm regards,
Michelle Milford
michelle.milford@laf.org
Michelle L. Milford
Associate Director of Public Relations
Lance Armstrong Foundation
p 512.236.8820 ext. 178
f 512.236.8482
http://www.laf.org
What do you think? Am I being too harsh and too critical, or is Lance and his foundation about to head off down down a very bumpy road this Saturday?