Susan G. Komen for the Cure founder and CEO Nancy Brinker moments ago issued a statement in an attempt to spin the just-announced news of Karen Handel‘s resignation. Handel had been Komen’s Senior Vice President for Public Policy since April, 2011, and was the focus of a nation’s anger after the media placed blame on her for the defunding of Planned Parenthood by Komen’s Board of Directors.
“We have made mistakes in how we have handled recent decisions and take full accountability for what has resulted, but we cannot take our eye off the ball when it comes to our mission,” Brinker say today in a statement. But just like the Komen announcement that seemed to say it was restoring finding and a proper place to Planned Parenthood, words can be deceiving. And it’s no wonder, since former Bush operative Ari Fleicher was refined by Komen months ago to work directly with Handel on a strategy to kick Planned Parenthood to the curb.
In fact, the entire statement, below, merely is a half-hearted apology that amounts to nothing more than regret that her decision to place politics over the health of thousands of poor women just didn’t go quite as planned, and, “we cannot take our eye off the ball when it comes to our mission,” means they are merely going to find another way to divest themselves of Planned Parenthood.
“Today I accepted the resignation of Karen Handel… I have known Karen for many years, and we both share a common commitment to our organization’s lifelong mission,” Brinker adds. Did you catch the “our organization’s lifelong mission”? If Handel is gone, how is it still “our organization’s lifelong mission?” Note, too, that Brinker doesn’t bother to name that mission, which has changed — at least internally — into one not of protecting women, but of politics.
This cannot stand.
Note, too, that Handel’s departure does not resolve the issue. For Komen to be clean, Brinker and the Board must go.
Read Nancy Brinker’s entire statement below:
“Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s mission is the same today as it was the day of its founding: to find a cure and eradicate breast cancer.
“We owe no less to our partners, supporters and, above all, the millions of people who have been and continue to be impacted by this life-threatening disease. We have made mistakes in how we have handled recent decisions and take full accountability for what has resulted, but we cannot take our eye off the ball when it comes to our mission. To do this effectively, we must learn from what we’ve done right, what we’ve done wrong and achieve our goal for the millions of women who rely on us. The stakes are simply too high and providing hope for a cure must drive our efforts.
“Today I accepted the resignation of Karen Handel, who has served as Senior Vice President for Policy since April 2011. I have known Karen for many years, and we both share a common commitment to our organization’s lifelong mission, which must always remain our sole focus. I wish her the best in future endeavors.”
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Now you know what duplicity looks like. It looks like Susan G. Komen for the cure, Karen Handel, Nancy Brinker, and Ari Fleischer.
Any questions.