You can guess what this means…..
Karen Handel has resigned. Here’s her letter. It truly is a bunch of crap, in which she admits that the entire board of Komen and all involved in developing the mean spirited anti-woman and classist strategy were fully behind the decision to remove support for poor and underprivileged women. The entire leadership of Komen was fully on board with letting poor and underprivileged women die of cancer rather than receiving needed screening. Or, perhaps she’s just trying to take the rest of them down with her.
February 7, 2012
The Honorable Nancy Brinker
CEO, Susan G. Komen for the Cure VIA EMAIL
5005 LBJ Freeway, Suite 250
Dallas, Texas 75244
Dear Ambassador Brinker:
Susan G. Komen for the Cure has been the recognized leader for more 30 years in the fight against breast cancer here in the US – and increasingly around the world.
As you know, I have always kept Komen’s mission and the women we serve as my highest priority – as they have been for the entire organization, the Komen Affiliates, our many supporters and donors, and the entire community of breast cancer survivors. I have carried out my responsibilities faithfully and in line with the Board’s objectives and the direction provided by you and Liz.
We can all agree that this is a challenging and deeply unsettling situation for all involved in the fight against breast cancer. However, Komen’s decision to change its granting strategy and exit the controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood and its grants was fully vetted by every appropriate level within the organization. At the November Board meeting, the Board received a detailed review of the new model and related criteria. As you will recall, the Board specifically discussed various issues, including the need to protect our mission by ensuring we were not distracted or negatively affected by any other organization’s real or perceived challenges. No objections were made to moving forward.
I am deeply disappointed by the gross mischaracterizations of the strategy, its rationale, and my involvement in it. I openly acknowledge my role in the matter and continue to believe our decision was the best one for Komen’s future and the women we serve. However, the decision to update our granting model was made before I joined Komen, and the controversy related to Planned Parenthood has long been a concern to the organization. Neither the decision nor the changes themselves were based on anyone’s political beliefs or ideology. Rather, both were based on Komen’s mission and how to better serve women, as well as a realization of the need to distance Komen from controversy. I believe that Komen, like any other nonprofit organization, has the right and the responsibility to set criteria and highest standards for how and to whom it grants.
What was a thoughtful and thoroughly reviewed decision – one that would have indeed enabled Komen to deliver even greater community impact – has unfortunately been turned into something about politics. This is entirely untrue. This development should sadden us all greatly.
Just as Komen’s best interests and the fight against breast cancer have always been foremost in every aspect of my work, so too are these my priorities in coming to the decision to resign effective immediately. While I appreciate your raising a possible severance package, I respectfully decline. It is my most sincere hope that Komen is allowed to now refocus its attention and energies on its mission.
Sincerely,
from Forbes
Hat Tip Aseem
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In other words: “You can’t fire me, I quit!”
The bit about the severance package most likely means that she refused to sign the non-disclosure agreement and the “I promise not to sue you for anything” agreement that usually goes with the severance check.
Trebuchet said:
Not only that, but it also lets Handel claim martyrdom status and possibly talk smack about, or even sue, SGKC later.
How dare she even close that letter with “sincerely”? The whole passive-agressive diatribe is a grave insult to the mere concept of sincerity. And perfectly in line with the fly-by-night scheme that preceded it.
And she would have pulled it off, too, if it weren’t
for those meddling kids.social media. In the age of the newspaper, when news moved slowly, the whole pretense about ongoing investigations would probably have sufficed to fritter away the opposition.But I’m positively surprised by the speed of Handel’s departure. The tide might really begin to turn…right-wing Christians are no longer the only ones capable of organizing and mobilizing on short notice and their disproportionate influence seems to be waning in consequence. I think I could live with a world where people of Handel’s ilk are seen as a liability rather than an asset for public outreach.
The decision to defund Planned Parenthood was based on ‘how to better serve women”?!?
I really can’t wrap my brain around that one. At best, you might think it’s better for some women to die of cancer than for other women to get abortions (and even that’s hard to believe). But could anyone claim this would be ‘better for women’?
Good riddance Handel. And good luck to Komen getting your reputation back.
It’s a cookbook, KathyO.
Give it a few days and she will be seen on the 700 Club auditioning for the role as resident martyr who ‘paid the price for taking God-enlightened anti-abortion stance against the Godless liberals and their pro-death policies’.
Not taking the severance package, and no-sue pledge allows her to sue for wrongful termination (I stood up for God and paid the price) and brings her holier-than-thou credentials up to a high polish because she didn’t take the money. Never mind that the can look forward to a couple of decades of speaking engagements that will pay more than any severance package and, with a bit of luck, she will get hired on by one of the well funded anti-choice groups as a spokesperson.
LOL, randomfactor wins the thread!