Comments on: In Which We Say “Fuck You, Komen”

By: Les Roberts

Les Roberts — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:41:15 +0000

Fortunately I’ve never had anyone close to me who suffered from breast cancer, so for years I admired the Susan G. Komen oganization from afar. writing them occasional checks. I’ve therefore been totally STUNNED by what they’ve tried to do, what they cowardly backed away from (for the time being), and how they out-and-out LIE about it. They’re no cancer prevention organization now—they are the vaginal version of the Mafia.
I’ve had 26 novels published, the 27th due out this year, and am about to begin writing the 28th. REST ASSURED that I will mention the Susan G. Komen gang in that one, and not in a creative way.

By: Mackey

Mackey — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:40:58 +0000

@Newt, I agree with your sentiments about the apology.. the “apology” that was given doesn’t even sound genuine.. also the way it was worded indicates that future funding has the potential to be withheld for other reasons than those about “investigation”..
I found this article interesting: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/02/03/an-apology-but-not-reversal-from-susan-g-komen-foundation

By: Nadine Lumley

Nadine Lumley — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:55:34 +0000

Actually, below is more like a corporate movement hiding behind “religion”….

“American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America”

Chris Hedges’s book examines how Christian dominionists are seeking absolute power and a Christian state. This movement bears a strong resemblance to the young fascist movements in Italy and Germany in the 1920s and ’30s.

http://www.democracynow.org/2007/2/19/chris_hedges_on_american_fascists_the

http://www.amazon.com/American-Fascists-Christian-Right-America/dp/0743284437

By: Ms. M

Ms. M — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:22:39 +0000

What an absolutely fabulous write up.
I’m heartened by the spotlight this has brought to Komen and PP. Apparently PP received $3 MILLION in donations this past week (mine among them). I think the right is going to tread more lightly after this massive backlash.

By: NefariousNewt

NefariousNewt — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:22:39 +0000

There are plenty of other organizations that work on breast cancer support and research, that I think SGK’s actions will mark a seismic shift toward these other groups. To be honest, no apology was ever going to be sufficient, without the simultaneous resignation of Brinker, Handel, and the Board of SGK, at least, to my mind.

This is just another in a series of moments — like Romney’s “I’m not worried about the very poor” “gaffe” — that point to the split that is now obvious in our nation. There are “haves,” who have power, or influence, or money, or connections, or “morality,” who seek to impose their will on all of us in order to gain more; then, there are the rest of us, conscientious Americans who, for reasons unfathomable, have allowed the “haves” to control the dialog. I think 2012 will go down as a watershed moment, when the Digital Information Age brings the bulk of Americans back together under a single, abiding idea: individual freedom and liberty are not for sale. To echo my favorite band, our mind is not for rent, to any god or government.

By: Melissa Steere

Melissa Steere — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:16:25 +0000

I would just like to add that 17 cents on the Komen dollar goes for funding programs. They have 11 top executives who make more than 500,000 a piece. I’m an oncology nurse and have never donated to them. The bigger these “non profits” get the less money actually goes to care and research. I’ll stick to local organizations that are run by volunteers and continue my donations to Planned parenthood of course.

By: Meryl Harwood

Meryl Harwood — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:40:55 +0000

If you still want to support breast cancer research everyone. Please donate to Play for Pink playforpink.org
they are a wonderful organization solely run by volunteers, no one gets paid.
100% goes to Breast Cancer Research
Komen pays its people!

By: Tara Schleifer

Tara Schleifer — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:27:23 +0000

holy $%^balls!

I had no idea. Not only have I “de-funded” Komen and pledged never ever ever to ever buy a pink ribbon thing again, I will also spread this news far and wide.

KOMEN GOP SUPERPAC

By: mischiefmanager

mischiefmanager — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:22:54 +0000

When our race started here, it was run by a group of women I knew and respected. Watching the event grow from 1500 people to 35,000+, seeing the strength the survivors took from each other, being part of the transition of BRCA from a shameful secret to a national topic of discussion and research-those have made every Mother’s Day for the past 19 years truly a joy.

I feel used and betrayed. It makes me incoherent with anger to think how the work and hopes and hard-earned donations of so many of us have been twisted and corrupted for purposes we find abhorrent. The people-the women-responsible for this deserve our deepest contempt, and that starts with Nancy Brinker. What a way to honor her dead sister-to turn an important and honorable endeavor on behalf of women into an attack on the most vulnerable among us.

I am undecided about my future participation in the race. What we have discovered this week about Komen tells me that this organization may be beyond repair. I will watch what they do in the coming days, keep writing and reading, keep the pressure up. But if I decide to cut ties with the race, I will wake up on race day and see in my mind the women in pink shirts whose strength and courage have inspired and encouraged me.

By: Corey Snelson

Corey Snelson — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:43:06 +0000

Thank you, thank you so much for this lovely, well researched and straightforward article. I want to add that my kind, generous absolutely wonderful mother was an RN at an ER outside of Washington DC in an underserved neighborhood when abortions were illegal. She can tell you stories that would make you cringe with anger at the same time as turning your heart inside out with empathy for those poor women with septicemia who came to the ER so that they wouldn’t die. People forget what it was like back then… when women ran away from the ER while hemorrhaging because they were afraid that they would be arrested. And my Mom is a breast cancer survivor, so all of the news from Komen has been particularly devastating this week. Keep up the good work! I look forward to reading the other essays (and if you ever want an angry female scientist I’d be happy to contribute…)