The Komen Foundation Needs To Be Cured

From the NY Times:

With its roster of corporate sponsors and the pink ribbons that lend a halo to almost any kind of product you can think of, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation has a longstanding reputation as a staunch protector of women’s health. That reputation suffered a grievous, perhaps mortal, wound this week from the news that Komen, the world’s largest breast cancer organization, decided to betray that mission. It threw itself into the middle of one of America’s nastiest political battles, on the side of hard-right forces working to demonize Planned Parenthood and undermine women’s health and freedom.

In addition to harming women, the foundation has also tarnished, perhaps permanently, its brand, symbolized by the pink ribbon that adorns yogurt cups and running shoes and tote bags and Federal Premium Ammunition’s pink shotgun shells. Companies like Ford Motor, Dell and Yoplait may not find the same value in identifying themselves with the foundation after its sharp departure from political neutrality.

You know, someday conservatives are going to wake up and realize that demonizing the poor, pushing your ideology on others, and generally just being a-holes ain't a strategy that's going to propel them to widespread popularity with the American public. Oh, it will work with the 20% of the population who are a-holes and who blindly vote Republican each election cycle, but elections aren't won and ideologies aren't advanced with 20% of anything.

I hope that the Komen Foundation doesn't go away because of a few ideologues who decided to inject their worn-out dogma into what is a noble cause, that is, helping women battle cancer. But a few heads need to role before America is convinced that the cancer has been excised from that organization.



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