That Blew up REAL Good!

Sheesh. What a day for my Intertoobz connection to go wonky. It was actually worse than having none. I could read the bloody headlines on Google News but the linkies wouldn't work. I could get into Twitter intermittently, but again the links didn't work.

So. First. WOO-HOO!

For a good parsing of Komen's apparent cave and apology, go read Dr Dawg, who concludes, as we do, that Komen still bears close watching.

That said, let's celebrate while we can. (This is so rare an event, I betcha many of us are wondering which end of those roll-out party noisemaker thingies to blow on.)

Like many commenters, I don't think this reversal was so much a demonstration of the MASSIVE power of social media -- while it was a big factor -- as it was a perfect text-book case for how to blow up a brand 30 years in the making over a period of three days.

To the intense irritation of the Fetus Lobby, the Komen Foundation has always been careful not to link breast cancer and abortion (scroll down here to 'Factors that do not increase breast cancer risk, listed alphabetically', not as in the column beside it, which list factors that do affect risk, listed 'according to level of evidence and strength of association').

In fact, because it wouldn't lie about the science no matter how hard fetus fetishists stamped their widdle feet, there was a Komen boycott spear-headed by the American Life League.

So, while some Komen board members might have thought they were just cutting off a grant, what they actually did, as Raven Brooks at RH Reality Check argues:

But the biggest issue is they completely changed their mission without even realizing it.

There has been plenty of controversy from Komen to date ranging from accusations they are denying links to cancer because of donations they receive to suing smaller organizations for using "for the cure" in their marketing. But they've weathered it because they've remained focused on what is and should be a completely non-partisan cause -- preventing, treating and curing breast cancer. They've attracted women and men of all political stripes and backgrounds to their cause. It was a safe place for corporations to support the cause. Komen's board thought they were simply cutting off a grant, for what many believe to be ideological reasons driven by Karen Handel, but what they were really doing is changing their entire mission. By taking a side in the abortion debate they essentially decided: we only want to work with men and women on the anti-abortion side of the debate, cutting off at least 50% if not more of their support.

Brooks also says Komen had no fucking clue how the Intertoobz work, a point taken up in an excellent analysis of the whole schmozzle by a non-profit marketing and PR expert.

For me, the most fun is in watching the Fetus Lobby squirm, twitch, and SHRIEEK!!!!!!

Here's a round-up of reactions from their own point of view, which doesn't yet seem to geddit that they lost. Big Time.

Here's another round-up from Right Wing Watch, who notes the deliciousness of their wailing about 'gangsterism', 'mafia shakedown', and 'bullying'.

Mona Charen of the National Review Online lamented that “it’s extremely disappointing that Komen has caved” but “it’s hardly surprising given the onslaught they’ve endured over the course of the last few days,” and NRO’s Daniel Foster charged Planned Parenthood with “gangsterism.” Of course, just days prior Kathryn Jean Lopez on NRO hailed Komen’s initial decision as a major victory, noting “this Komen-Planned Parenthood relationship has long been a target of pro-life activists.”

Catholic Family and Human Rights Initiative (C-Fam) president Austin Ruse told LifeSiteNews called potentially successful effort to have the Komen foundation reverse their decision defunding Planned Parenthood a “mafia shakedown”.

It gets even better. In an update RWW adds:

UPDATE: Liberty Counsel Action is now urging its members to cancel any donations they made to Komen, with Matt Barber arguing that the group should change their name to “Susan G. Komen for the Cause,” pushing the discredited charge that abortion is linked to breast cancer.

Upshot: Komen has MASSIVELY pissed off BOTH sides.

The question flying around is: Can Komen recover? I don't think so. I think they're pooched. (But still bear watching.)

Now that we've got the taste of winning, how about we sane people keep up the pressure on Komen for nixing $12 million for stem-cell research?

Also, with the taste of winning still strong, let's consider what we won: the politicization of millions of formerly disengaged Americans who just had their eyes jerked open to the depravity of the Fetus Lobby.

As JJ said here:

It has never been more obvious to me that they hate us so much, they want us to die.
Want. Us. To. Die.

Signed,
a breast cancer survivor who at this moment feels two emotions: disgust and fear.

Yes. It should be clear to everyone now. Conservatives hate us and want us to die.