NOT SO FAST-READ THE FINE PRINT

POST NUMBER TWO FOR FEBRUARY 3, 2011...

BREAKING NEWS FROM KOMEN.... OR IS IT????

Hold the champagne and let's not cue the confetti JUST YET.

A statement was released.  I have questions.  Lots and lots of questions......  Primarily because I did watch an interview conducted by Andrea Mitchell with Nancy Brinker and it began to sound like what a Crisis PR person might call, "The first step in rehabilitating the brand."

Transparency?  Not too sure.

Some twisted version of the truth made to sound like the message is different now than it was two hours ago?  PerHAPS.

Waiting for some smart ass to ask the right follow up question?  Definitely.

Who is the smart ass?  Not me, I'm a smart ass, I'm just not smart ENOUGH......

And the big question?  A statement was made.  Will a Q&A interview even be granted.... Jury in my head is still deliberating.

The interview is here and there is a written transcript..... THANK YOU for that... saves me having to pull out my own soundbites.... I'm turning into the person I despise.  The soundbiter.

Here's my sticking point.....

The statement specifically says "existing grants."

Here are the lines in the interview BEFORE the "reversal" that makes me question if this "reversal" actually means ANYTHING at all.  The emphasis is mine.

NANCY BRINKER, FOUNDER AND CEO, SUSAN G. KOMEN FOUNDATION:  Well, Andrea, I frankly think, I don't know, it's a mischaracterization, of certainly, of our goals, our mission, and everything that we do.  In fact, we haven't defunded Planned Parenthood.  We still have three grants that we've committed to, at least for another year, through the end of the grant cycle, and we’re going to –

MITCHELL:  But that's just through the end of the grant cycle.  Let me just put out there first of all, that I have been very identified, an outspoken supporter and participant in the races over the years long before I, myself, ended up being diagnosed with breast cancer.  So I want to just put that out there.  We've known each other a long time as well, both when you were a diplomat at the State Department.

And the interview continued:

BRINKER:  The investigation isn't the only issue, Andrea.  In 2010, we set about creating excellence in our grants.  Not just in our community grants, but in our science grants.  Putting metrics, outcomes, and measures to them so that we can translate all of the science we funded over 30 years. 

Now, part of that includes taking these grants into communities and being excellent grant givers. Many of the grants we were doing with Planned Parenthood do not meet new standards of criteria for how we can measure our results and effectiveness in communities.  That is not to say that if they did meet those criteria, they would not be --

And continued:

BRINKER:  The issue -- that's not the issue.  Because that's not our issue.  Our issue is grant excellence.  They do pass-through grants with their screening grants.  They send people to other facilities.  We want to do more direct-service grants.  You know, we contacted them in the fall, because we've been a longtime partner of Planned Parenthood, almost 20 years. 

THAT CONCLUDES YESTERDAY’S INTERVIEW POINTS.

AND NOW FOR THE “WHOOPS, WE REALLY F’D THIS ONE UP!” STATEMENT.  AKA: DAMAGE CONTROL 101.

"We will continue to

fund existing grants 

including those of Planned Parenthood and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants,

while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities."

And My Take Away from this????

Well, herein lies MY problem...... The interview with Andrea Mitchell already laid foundation about the Planned Parenthood grants NOT MEETING their standards of excellence because of this "pass through" mammography process.  In other words, from, once again, MY CHEAP SEATS... nothing is changed.... They only found a Plan B to explain how they will continue the DeFunding of Planned Parenthood.  They just backed off "the under investigation" part of the program.  I'm a skeptic.  I read words carefully and..... I want a Q&A.  I want someone to ask for FULL clarification.

Or, conversely, I have taken up residence on the grassy knoll.  #OccupyTheTRUTH please... Without bullshit, without carefully crafted Madison Avenue handlers whose sole goal is to rehabilitate The Brand.

And again, I say, I am NOT a For Proft Commodity.  I am a woman with a breast cancer diagnosis, still living with some of the long term fallout in the name of survival.

Too Little, Too Late and You Can't Unring The Bell.

Shout out to whomever turned into the @SusanKomenGhost on Twitter.  Brilliant.  Brilliant.  I hope to see you in one of those pixelated interviews with a weird voice.  You are a genius, whoever you are, wherever you are....

PS-Apologies for the messy fonts and all that jazz....this is all about the message and NOT the appearance.....  In the case of this announcement.... I'm thinking it's more about the "appearance of the message" and not its true content....