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News & ArtsThursday, February 2, 2012
News Elisabeth James, Seattle Westin Manager, Calls Back About Komen
Posted by Jen Graves on Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 11:49 AM
I am grateful that Elisabeth James, the manager of the Westin in Seattle and one of the trustees of Komen's upcoming local gala, called me back just now. (I called her yesterday.)
But when I asked her what she thought of Komen's decision to defund Planned Parenthood...she blamed the problems on the media.*
Do you disagree with the decision to defund Planned Parenthood? I asked her.
"I don’t disagree with it based on if there’s an investigation and that’s the standard, and holding to your standards is the only way you can avoid being political," she said. "Personally, do I support Planned Parenthood? Absolutely. I just separate those things."
Why doesn't the local chapter reject the defunding mandate, like Denver's has done? James doesn't know, and isn't really asking.
I think my job is to support Komen to give those [defunded] women additional funding so they can have screenings. I haven’t had this conversation with the local group lately. I’m a trustee with the gala… I have personal support for Komen. To me, what I’m supporting and raising money for is breast cancer research, and whether I do that through Komen, or I write a check to Planned Parenthood, those are individual choices that people will make.
...All of the grants that I saw from the local chapter in my time on the grant committee were related to small, local outreach programs that served women and communities that either weren’t getting enough information, weren’t getting enough service, or had already been diagnosed and weren’t getting enough support.
No word yet from Joni Earl, but I'm still hoping to hear from her.
*I asked James how she gets her information, but then realized she didn't have any.
1
"I just separate those things" means "I'm just pretending this isn't happening".
Does James know that Komen has stopped funding stem cell research too?
Does James know that Komen has stopped funding stem cell research too?
2
Wasn't this standard JUST adopted? And doesn't it only currently apply to one entity Komen was funding? I could be wrong, of course, but that's how I understand the situation.
3
Bullshit. Call her back and ask this question:
If Komen is required to sever all relationships with any institution that's under investigation, why haven't they severed their ties to Bank Of America?
If Komen is required to sever all relationships with any institution that's under investigation, why haven't they severed their ties to Bank Of America?
5
@2, you are correct from all the information I've seen. She's either uninformed about the true nature of the rules making, or lying, or just sticking her fingers in her ears and screaming la-la-la.
6
PP isn't the only place needy women can get help.
Komen can channel its support through another provider.
Komen can channel its support through another provider.
7
It's not just the media. It's not just PP. SGK lobbies against womens' health on a national level.
Over and over, people just don't get this.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/01…
"Upon calling my GOP senator and speaking with his aide, I was shocked to hear her tell me "Sen.__ can't sign on as a co-sponsor to the bill because all the breast cancer groups aren't in agreement on it." Shocked, I asked her who was opposing it. She told me that Komen opposed the bill. When I asked her why, she explained that Komen felt that treatment for uninsured breast cancer patients should be funded through private donations, like the pink ribbon race. I was speechless, in shock. A phone call to another activist confirmed it was true - Komen was lobbying behind the scenes to kill the bill. A moment later, Sen.__'s aide called me back and begged me not to repeat our conversation to anyone, that she had given me the information by mistake.
Thus my lesson about Komen began in 2000. They spend a lot of money lobbying for a very different agenda.
The bill passed anyway and Bill Clinton, who pushed hard in Congress for its passage, was happy to sign it. Unfortunately, it wasn't the end of Komen (and its founder, Nancy Brinker's) political maneuvering to stall or kill legislation in Congress and in state legislatures that was supported by other breast cancer advocacy groups.
They fought behind the scenes in my state to prevent the governor from adopting the Treatment Program. They worked for several years to stall or kill the Breast Cancer & Environmental Research Act. In the end, they eviscerated it by removing new funding for environmental research and substituting a panel to review all research on breast cancer & environment. Using private funds, they recently collaborated with the Institute of Medicine to develop said report. Released last December, it sadly detailed the same old arguments that there's no evidence of links between environmental toxins and that no further research should be done on the subject since everyone has those toxins in their bodies already. Instead they chose to blame breast cancer patients for getting the disease (more here).
In 2009, Komen lobbied behind the scenes to weaken the health care bill (ACA) as it was being debated in Congress. They hired Hadassah Lieberman, wife of Joe, in an effort to convince Joementum to vote against the Public Option. Komen spent over $1 million in 2008 & 2009, on behind the scenes lobbying related to the health care reform bill, so who knows what else was on their agenda.
Nancy Brinker, the founder of Komen and sister of the famed, now deceased Susan G. Komen, has always thought of herself as a heavy hitting player in politics. As you've seen in other diaries, she raised millions for Bush's election, as well as other GOP lawmakers. She was appointed by Bush to high positions in his administration. She has a very large ego and likes to play the role of political kingmaker, using her corporate backed non-profit organization to further her agenda."
More...
Over and over, people just don't get this.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/01…
"Upon calling my GOP senator and speaking with his aide, I was shocked to hear her tell me "Sen.__ can't sign on as a co-sponsor to the bill because all the breast cancer groups aren't in agreement on it." Shocked, I asked her who was opposing it. She told me that Komen opposed the bill. When I asked her why, she explained that Komen felt that treatment for uninsured breast cancer patients should be funded through private donations, like the pink ribbon race. I was speechless, in shock. A phone call to another activist confirmed it was true - Komen was lobbying behind the scenes to kill the bill. A moment later, Sen.__'s aide called me back and begged me not to repeat our conversation to anyone, that she had given me the information by mistake.
Thus my lesson about Komen began in 2000. They spend a lot of money lobbying for a very different agenda.
The bill passed anyway and Bill Clinton, who pushed hard in Congress for its passage, was happy to sign it. Unfortunately, it wasn't the end of Komen (and its founder, Nancy Brinker's) political maneuvering to stall or kill legislation in Congress and in state legislatures that was supported by other breast cancer advocacy groups.
They fought behind the scenes in my state to prevent the governor from adopting the Treatment Program. They worked for several years to stall or kill the Breast Cancer & Environmental Research Act. In the end, they eviscerated it by removing new funding for environmental research and substituting a panel to review all research on breast cancer & environment. Using private funds, they recently collaborated with the Institute of Medicine to develop said report. Released last December, it sadly detailed the same old arguments that there's no evidence of links between environmental toxins and that no further research should be done on the subject since everyone has those toxins in their bodies already. Instead they chose to blame breast cancer patients for getting the disease (more here).
In 2009, Komen lobbied behind the scenes to weaken the health care bill (ACA) as it was being debated in Congress. They hired Hadassah Lieberman, wife of Joe, in an effort to convince Joementum to vote against the Public Option. Komen spent over $1 million in 2008 & 2009, on behind the scenes lobbying related to the health care reform bill, so who knows what else was on their agenda.
Nancy Brinker, the founder of Komen and sister of the famed, now deceased Susan G. Komen, has always thought of herself as a heavy hitting player in politics. As you've seen in other diaries, she raised millions for Bush's election, as well as other GOP lawmakers. She was appointed by Bush to high positions in his administration. She has a very large ego and likes to play the role of political kingmaker, using her corporate backed non-profit organization to further her agenda."
8
@2: "Wasn't this standard JUST adopted?"
Yup. And it's based on the ratfucking "investigation" stemming from Breitbart's pimp costumed daterapey employee.
Yup. And it's based on the ratfucking "investigation" stemming from Breitbart's pimp costumed daterapey employee.
14
@ 11, 13, I think that particular shade of pink IS trademarked by Komen, and probably the way they use the color may legally preclude others from using pink in the same prominent fashion, even if it's a different shade.
16
Why not cut through the oily crap of responses like this and just demand that these individuals take a public yea or nay stand on abortion? You are pro-abortion or not.
18
@1,
Actually, I found it, but you do know that Komen claims to have never funded embryonic stem cell testing, right?
Actually, I found it, but you do know that Komen claims to have never funded embryonic stem cell testing, right?
19
Here's the best article I could find on how Komen reached this decision. Everything points to (surprise!) right-wing politics.
20
@6 "PP isn't the only place needy women can get help."
Technically, that is true enough. However, Planned Parenthood is the only reasonable service option for a significant number of needy women.
Technically, that is true enough. However, Planned Parenthood is the only reasonable service option for a significant number of needy women.
22
@18, hell if I know. The right-wing kooks claim they did, and claim credit for stopping it.
Of course, this whole kerfuffle is being presented backwards. PP wasn't dropped because of the new policy not to grant to orgs under investigation; the new policy was implemented as the first step in a plan to get rid of PP. It was done in coordination with Rep. Stearns's decision to investigate them, which in turn was coordinated with the bogus Breitbart "stings". The whole thing is a put-up job by the right, using their women's health arm, Komen.
And all these happy liberals have pinned their pink ribbons on and forked over their millions to sit down and eat salmon medallions and dig the entertainment at the big Gala, neither knowing or caring that they're furthering a right-wing agenda top to bottom.
Oh, and Komen has a grant to Penn State, which is under investigation, so their "rule" actually means "fuck you, Planned Parenthood" and nothing else.
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/02/kome…
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/02/fall…
Of course, this whole kerfuffle is being presented backwards. PP wasn't dropped because of the new policy not to grant to orgs under investigation; the new policy was implemented as the first step in a plan to get rid of PP. It was done in coordination with Rep. Stearns's decision to investigate them, which in turn was coordinated with the bogus Breitbart "stings". The whole thing is a put-up job by the right, using their women's health arm, Komen.
And all these happy liberals have pinned their pink ribbons on and forked over their millions to sit down and eat salmon medallions and dig the entertainment at the big Gala, neither knowing or caring that they're furthering a right-wing agenda top to bottom.
Oh, and Komen has a grant to Penn State, which is under investigation, so their "rule" actually means "fuck you, Planned Parenthood" and nothing else.
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/02/kome…
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/02/fall…
23
My aunt had breast cancer, and had to undergo a double mastectomy, but she survived. I honestly don't know if she's pro-choice, and neither did research Komen helped to fund that saved her life.
If I may make a suggestion: we can all support Planned Parenthood by giving our next ten or twenty condom dollars to them instead of Wal-Mart.
Also, what @21 said.
If I may make a suggestion: we can all support Planned Parenthood by giving our next ten or twenty condom dollars to them instead of Wal-Mart.
Also, what @21 said.
24
Komen trustees' Sgt. Schultz poster won't hold up long.
And any future "race for the cure" can expect counter-demonstrations aplenty.
What's the diametrically opposite color to Komen Pink?
And any future "race for the cure" can expect counter-demonstrations aplenty.
What's the diametrically opposite color to Komen Pink?
26
Jen -- more ammunition for you: NYC mayor gives a quarter million bucks to Planned Parenthood. Would Seattle pols care to comment?
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/0…
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/0…
30
And @16: It shouldn't matter. And theoretically didn't seem to matter until recently, when they doubled down and decided to come out of the closet to their antichoice brethren at the same time lying to the rest of us. Now, the rest of us are more than aware about their other Koch-ian pro-corporate anti-health lobbying activities that have nothing to do with PP.
31
Why is a hotel manager trustee having the event at a far more expensive hotel, with much smaller banquet space? They could pay far less at the Westin, have many more in attendance, and charge the same ticket price.
This gala sounds pretty rinky-dink to me - and if there's one thing I know, it's galas.
This gala sounds pretty rinky-dink to me - and if there's one thing I know, it's galas.
32
What about a pink "=" sign? "Equals" as in equal funding for breast cancer screening regardless of your political views.
33
Penn State's a grant recipient and is under Federal investigation:
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/02/kome…
no grants pulled there, so what's this about again?
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/02/kome…
no grants pulled there, so what's this about again?
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