The People Have Spoken

The Internet has empowered the citizenry. All the rules have changed.

I wasn’t awake more than two minutes before I heard the stunning reversal from Susan G. Komen for the Cure. A few days ago Susan G. Komen changed their grant rules effectively cutting off Planned Parenthood from the funding they’d received through Komen. Many people (including me) felt this was a political move. Conservatives, many of whom oppose abortion as a matter of conscience on moral or religious grounds, having been fighting hard to cut off Planned Parenthood‘s cash!

Today Susan G. Komen for the Cure had a change of heart.

We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives. The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.

If you watched Susan G. Komen founder and Chief Executive Officer Nancy G. Brinker on TV yesterday there’s only one conclusion to be reached. She was lying yesterday or lying today. The statements issued Thursday and Friday are mutually exclusive.

Here’s the deal–no matter why the funds were cut off Komen is responding today to public pressure exerted through social media!

I wrote about this before in relation to legislation the MPAA and RIAA were steamrolling through Congress. As soon as the public spoke, or more succinctly yelled, the bill died a quick death!

This realization has led many countries to clamp down in the Internet. Sometimes it’s a temporary lid. In China and North Korea (among others) the control is a long lasting death grip.

Jon Stewart said poor people have shitty lobbyists! Who cares? The Internet has empowered the citizenry. All the rules have changed.

13 thoughts on “The People Have Spoken”

  1. Susan G. Komen has always been about Nancy G. Brinker first and foremost. She is more about raising awareness of her charity than breast cancer. Brinker has gotten very rich off this charity, and a high percentage of funds raised goes to overhead (regardless of her press releases – another lie). They spend over $1 million a year in donor funds to sue other CHARITIES for using the word “cure” or the color pink. They are a commercial venture (Yoplait, KFC, etc.) disguised as a charity.

  2. Geoff: She spoke with forked tongue. Future funding is still in jeopardy. When David Vitter (R) admitted that he had influenced the original decision, you know this was a political hatchet job. There is no way I would ever give money to Komen. It is a fraud. All my donations will go to Planned Parenthood, and other cancer organizations who remain non-political. Komen pays their executives waaaaaaay too much money and the pink ribbon junk is just that, junk to make profits for those organizations who sell them. Very little of that money goes to research. And isn’t that where all of us want our money to go?

  3. It’s nice that they’re interested in saving women’s lives. Wish they were as interested in saving babies’ lives…

  4. You better believe it she completely did an about face based on the backlash. Regardless of how you feel about the abortion issue, it is still legal. Personally, I’ve seen enough of of Komen and will now choose a different charity to give my money to. Breast cancer does not choose its victims based on political affiliation, beliefs or economic background. How dare the Susan Komen Foundation choose whom it helps using my money!!

  5. Regarding the victories of high-powered lobbyists vs. those of social media, the score hovers somewhere around 1,000,000 to 2, so I think Jon Stewart has a point, and will for some time to come.

  6. The internet has indeed changed the world forever. Back in high school I could never have imagined such a thing. And to be able to lobby and influence in *huge* numbers, and in just a matter of hours or days – WOW – “We the People” might actually be able to make a difference!

  7. Yah,

    The people have spoken.

    Spoken hysterically, and Susan Kamen caved in. They showed absolutely no backbone by flip-flopping.

    Regardless on how you feel about the issue of abortion, Susan Kamen should’ve stuck to their original decision of defunding Planned Parenthood.

    I have absolutely no respect for them, and not because they’re funding Planned Parenthood, but because they chose to cave into the masses of the ill-informed.

  8. Cancer is a KILLER we are all very sure of that(I lost my husband of 47 years to it)so what if Planned Parenthood is not EXACTLY what you want, it HELPS with cancer prevention!!! WHO in their right mind would be against that??? IF you do NOT believe in abortion,DO NOT have one BUT you do not know me OR my situation so DO NOT tell ME what I can and can’t do,PERIOD. It was NOT all that long ago women were told that we could NOT VOTE, want to stop paying for voter registration too? Til you have walked a mile in someone’s shoes do not try to tell them what they have to do.This fiasco with Komen is proof a small radical group can strong arm anyone if they exhurt enough pressure,so glad a larger group pushed right back and won.

    1. I’m in total agreement with “Bootsiebear” on pretty much all points. I was incensed with the first decision, and as far I’m concerned, Komen (the Corporation) is just that…no longer a charity but a BUSINESS. As such, they should be taxed on their income inasmuch as they claim copyright and “ownership” of the color pink. It is all about the money, not the original purpose of the organization. As for Planned Parenthood, they are not the “abortion mills” that pro-lifers claim, and I will support their efforts. I would never personally have an abortion, but I want the right to have a SAFE one. The very name, PLANNED Parenthood, explains its main purpose, including CONTRACEPTION and other women’s health issues. How dare anyone subvert MY rights to my own body over their political agenda. Don’t like abortion? Don’t have one. Nobody’s making you. The days of knitting needles and coat hangers chill me to my very soul.

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