Ari Fleischer — who once criticized Planned Parenthood as a “partisan, ideological organization that receives undeserved positive coverage in the press”– secretly helped Komen for the Cure figure out what to do with its pesky Planned Parenthood problem.
From Think Progress:
Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for George W. Bush and prominent right-wing pundit, secretly helped guide Komen Foundation’s disastrous strategy regarding Planned Parenthood. Fleischer personally interviewed candidates for the position of “Senior Vice President for Communications and External Relations” at Komen last December. According to a source with first-hand knowledge, Fleischer drilled prospective candidates during their interviews on how they would handle the controversy about Komen’s relationship with Planned Parenthood.
Fleischer’s relationship with Komen and the Planned Parenthood controversy was previously undisclosed.
~snip~
According to a source, during at least one interview, Planned Parenthood was a major topic of conversation. Fleischer indicated that he had discussed the Planned Parenthood issue with Komen’s CEO, Nancy Brinker, and that she was at her wits end about how to proceed. Fleischer described himself as a longtime friend of Brinker.
Did anyone actually believe Nancy Brinker when she said that Komen’s decision to defund Planned Parenthood was not political? I didn’t think so.
Republicans are doing everything in their power to strip women of their reproductive rights, even at the expense of women’s breast-health. The 3 million dollars raised to cover the Planned Parenthood funding gap, however, demonstrates to the GOP that men and women who believe in reproductive freedom have political power and are willing to wield it. And now that Komen has walked back its position, more women will benefit from Planned Parenthood’s breast-health services thanks to the generosity of Planned Parenthood supporters.
Not bad for a few days of netroots/social media organizing, eh?
We’ve shown the wingnuts what we can and will do to keep them from implementing Operation Tiny Vagina Governments and stripping women of their reproductive freedom.
They’ve been warned.
(h/t John Cole)
[via Think Progress; image]
Republicans have the self awareness of blowflies
This is far from over. The Foundation appears to have been doing lobbying which is illegal. It made no promise of funding for Planned Parenthood beyond this year. They have apparently removed $12 million in grants from Johns Hopkins because somewhere in that massive health care complex someone does stem cell research. They hired Hadassah Liebermann – Joe’s wife – to lobby against federal health care reform. It’s a stinky story that may have killed the Foundation’s squeaky clean rep permanently. Ari may have won a minor skirmish against the hated PP – but he may have driven the deciding nail into the Foundation’s coffin. Who will EVER trust them again? Believe in women? Want to end breast cancer? Or impose your political and religious morality on all of us. Hmmmm. The evidence points to the latter. So why donate to an organization that appears to have abandoned its mission and entered politics? No reason I can see.
“Fleischer drilled prospective candidates during their interviews on how they would handle the controversy about Komen’s relationship with Planned Parenthood.”
Wow. …He’s really shit at drilling people on how to handle controversies, isn’t he? I mean, it’s not like they actually managed to sound anything other than politically-motivated and angry.
Oh, the heads will roll for this fuckery.
You got the mouthpiece for the most dishonest administration in recent history to pick your people?
Thats it, your organization is dead, and good.
I thought they were crooks, and this bit of fuckery has brought all that shit to light.
Let this be a lesson, when you got right-wing nutters in your organization, expect that organization to fall apart shortly after
Wouldn’t it be a hell of a thing for people to start showing up at local Race for the Cure events holding up signs that just say 17%?
(That’s the reported amount of proceeds that actually make it to doing research.)
When Ari’s name showed up in the mix, he put the last nail in the coffin for
SGK! We need JOBS in this country, not vagina, breast, etc. wardens! You
can be certain all women are going to be very watchful of political candidates running from now on. There will be many females who will
be more than willing to question/ object to the absurdities being spread by the Republicans this year. How pitiful they must stoop to such lowness and deceit. Those of us who recall Ari in the Whitehouse recall his tactics…they have not improved.