I've got to hand it to you . . . for a woman who single-handedly destroyed the most prestigious organization fighting breast cancer in America, you've got, as former President Bill Clinton so eloquently put it, some brass.
Let's see if I've got this right, according to your new book Planned Bullyhood, Susan G. Komen was not only justified in cutting off funding for Planned Parenthood, which your gullible friend, Komen founder, Nancy Brinker did on your advice, they never should have caved in and restored the funding after public outrage reached fever pitch.
A fever pitch, you contend, that was fanned by Planned Parenthood and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who you claim threatened and bullied poor Nancy in an unpleasant phone call when she learned that Komen, using the flimsiest of excuses, intended to cut off Planned Parenthood's funding for cancer screenings. Being that the Congresswoman is a breast cancer survivor who is committed to stamping out the disease, this decision probably seemed a tad ill-conceived to her and I have no doubt that she expressed her views in a very forceful way.
Be that as it may, the good Congresswoman had no time to act on whatever threats she may have made and had nothing to do with the nearly universal reaction of anger, disgust and betrayal that blew back on Susan G Komen once the decision was announced. That, my dear Ms. Handel falls entirely on you. Sponsors defected, supporters withdrew their contributions, Komen executives quit their jobs in protest, you and Brinker were forced to resign in disgrace and the foundation's once sterling reputation was now in tatters.
What hubris, what megalomaniacal delusions convinced you that you should impose your self-righteous, evangelical, anti-abortion agenda on a thirty year old foundation that had become the national face of the fight against breast cancer? You knew perfectly well that the funding Komen earmarked for Planned Parenthood went strictly to cancer screenings, which along with examinations and education make up 97% of the services Planned Parenthood provides. You also knew that the justification you used for cutting the funding, a trumped up congressional investigation by a right-wing anti-abortion Republican nut job was a total sham. Unfortunately, that didn't stop you from convincing your fellow conservative, Nancy Brinker to break with a thirty year tradition of non-partisanship and allow politics to interfere with Komen's policy.
And now instead of taking responsibility for the destruction you caused you're blaming it all on Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Planned Parenthood. Well, it isn't Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz who is influencing me to throw away the solicitations from Susan G Komen without opening them and it isn't Planned Parenthood that's stopping me from signing up for the Walk for the Cure. That, once again, falls on you.
Ironically, your ham-handed attempt to destroy Planned Parenthood only ended up making it stronger. It raised millions of dollars in donations to the beleaguered organization and brought much needed attention to the fact that there is a concerted effort by Republicans across the country and in congress to defund it out of existence. More importantly, it's made women realize how much they have at stake in protecting Planned Parenthood and ensuring that it's there for our daughters, granddaughters and beyond.