Tonight’s insanity break is a spectacular showcase for the capabilities of the video camera in the iPhone 4S.

The ideological bent of Komen Foundation public policy VP Karen Handel really becomes clear in this 2010 interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the topic of gay marriage and adoption, in which she says she favors outlawing gay adoptions: Handel Says Gay Parents Not as ‘Legitimate’ as Hetero Ones.

Q: Do you view committed gay relationships as being less legitimate than committed heterosexual relationships?

A: As a Christian, I view relationships and marriage as being between a man and a woman.

Q: But what about the legitimacy of the relationship? Do you have any gay friends? Do you know gay couples?

A: Of course I do. Are we going to spend our whole day talking on this issue?

Q: I want to know how you feel about this.

A: I’ve been very clear. And you know, as a Christian, marriage is between a man and a woman. I do not think that gay relationships are — they are not what God intended. And that’s just my viewpoint on it. Others might disagree with that. But I would also hope that if you look at what is happening in our state, we’ve got issues we need to be focused on in Georgia . We have a constitutional amendment against gay marriage. And it’s something that I supported wholeheartedly. We have that, and let’s get dealing with the other issues that we also need to deal with in Georgia. And the press can help with that. (Laughs).

Q: Frequently, folks in the Legislature kind of threaten to — there are always rumblings in the Legislature that they may outlaw gay adoptions. You’re against gay adoption.

A: I am against gay adoption. But remember — I mean, if there is legislation on that, certainly I will follow that and look at it. But in the end, ultimately courts are going to be the ones to have to make the decision on that and it’s always in the best interests of the child. Do I think that gay parents is in the best interest of the child? No. But we do have our court system that deals with many and most of those issues.

Q: Would you favor outlawing gay adoptions?

A: Yeah, I would consider that, absolutely.

Q: Do you know any gay couples with children?

A: Not that I’m aware of.

Q: So you think gay couples are less qualified to function as parents than straight couples?

A: I think that for a child to be in a household — in a family in a household with a situation where the parents are not married, as in one man and one woman, is not the best household for a child.

Q: Is it better or worse than a single parent household?

A: Doug, I’m really trying to be straightforward with you but I’m not going to debate all the nuances. I’ve made it abundantly clear that I think that marriage is between a man and a woman. And that’s what I believe, and I don’t know what more you would like me to add to that.

Q: I guess I want to know why you think gay parents aren’t as legitimate as heterosexual parents.

A: Because I don’t.

(h/t: Alan Colmes.)

Komen Foundation CEO Karen Brinker may have denied that their decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood had anything to do with politics, but the religious right activists who’ve been waging a campaign against Planned Parenthood certainly think otherwise — and today they’re freaking over the Komen Foundation’s apparent reversal: Religious Right Reacts to Komen’s Latest Statement With Confusion, Anger and Warnings of God’s Wrath.

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”:

Pro-life leaders say that the exact import of the statement is not yet clear, and that Komen seems to be asking for breathing room, possibly with the intention of caving in definitively to pro-abortion pressure.

Austin Ruse of C-Fam told LifeSiteNews.com Friday morning that, “The mafia shakedown tactics may have worked, but we’re not sure.”

Ruse advised that pro-lifers should “take a wait and see attitude” to discern whether the pro-abortion pushback against Komen would succeed.

Kristen Walker of Live Action called it a “terrible shame that Komen has caved in to political pressure from pro-abortion fanatics who demand obeisance to Planned Parenthood” and wondered what will happen to all the money people gave to Komen to reward them for dropping Planned Parenthood:

If raising money to cure breast cancer were their primary concern, they would not have reversed this decision. Their donations went up 100% in the short time since they announced the halting of grants to PP as pro-lifers who have refused to donate to Komen opened their wallets to thank them for their decision, happy to finally be able to give to their good work of fighting breast cancer with a clear conscience. I wonder if Komen has given any thought to the fact that those people gave money in good faith believing it wouldn’t be used to fund abortions. Will they refund that money? I guess we’ll see.

…

It is a terrible shame that Komen has caved in to political pressure from pro-abortion fanatics who demand obeisance to Planned Parenthood. It is a terrible shame they’re allowing PP and its followers to compromise their mission to cure breast cancer.

Evangelist Bill Keller warned that the latest move by the Komen foundation may well lead to “the wrath and punishment of God unleashed on this wicked nation at any moment”:

Keller said, “It only shows the level of spiritual decay in this nation when a private foundation who made a decision to stop giving money to the world’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, causes the media, politicians, and the supporters of killing babies to go into a wild frenzy. The Catholic Church has always stood for the sanctity of life, yet Catholics like Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, Joe Biden, and MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, were livid that the Komen Foundation decided to stop giving a $250,000 annual grant to Planned Parenthood.”

…

Keller concluded, “You don’t have to be a Biblical scholar to know that we are on the verge of seeing the wrath and punishment of God unleashed on this wicked nation at any moment. Every 24 hours we slaughter approximately 4,000 innocent babies. Where is the outrage about that in the media, in the halls of Congress? Sadly, society doesn’t even give it a second thought and has fully embraced this ‘culture of death’ which hangs over this nation like a black cloud.”

Judging from the statement they released, Planned Parenthood seems to believe the Komen Foundation will restore their funding for breast cancer screening.

But is the Komen Foundation just spinning some more?

I just got off the phone with a Komen board member, and he confirmed that the announcement does not mean that Planned Parenthood is guaranteed future grants — a demand he said would be “unfair” to impose on Komen. He also said the job of the group’s controversial director, Nancy Brinker, is safe, as far as the board is concerned.

As some were quick to point out, the statement put out by Komen doesn’t really clarify whether Planned Parenthood will actually continue to get money from the group. The original rationale for barring Planned Parenthood was that it was under investigation (a witch-hunt probe undertaken by GOP Rep Cliff Stearns). Komen said today that the group would “amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political.”

Does that mean Planned Parenthood will get Komen grants in the future?

I asked Komen board member John Raffaelli to respond to those who are now saying that the announcement doesn’t necessarily constitute a reversal until Planned Parenthood actually sees more funding. He insisted it would be unfair to expect the group to commit to future grants.

“It would be highly unfair to ask us to commit to any organization that doesn’t go through a grant process that shows that the money we raise is used to carry out our mission,” Raffaelli told me. “We’re a humaniatrian organization. We have a mission. Tell me you can help carry out our mission and we will sit down at the table.”

Pushed on whether this means the new announcement wasn’t really a reversal, Raffaelli pushed back, arguing that Komen, in response to all the criticism, had removed politics from the grant-making process. “Is it really unclear that we’re changing the policy to address criticism?” he said.

Notice: Komen board member John Raffaelli is explicitly admitting that the decision to cut off Planned Parenthood was politically driven.

Also see:
Komen Founder Admitted in 2010 Memoir That Dropping PP Funding Would Be ‘Turning Our Backs’ on Poor Women

Apparently, the people in charge of merchandising at the Susan G. Komen Foundation had a little talk with their anti-abortion executives, and today the Komen Foundation is reinstating their Planned Parenthood funding, and apologizing to Planned Parenthood and the American public.

Planned Parenthood has released the following statement in response:

“The outpouring of support for women in need of lifesaving breast cancer screening this week has been astonishing and is a testament to our nation’s compassion and sincerity.

“During the last week, millions spontaneously joined a national conversation about lifesaving breast cancer prevention care and reinforced shared values about access to health care for all.  This compassionate outcry in support of those most in need rose above political, ideological, and cultural divides, and will surely be recognized as one of our nation’s better moments during a contentious political time.  Planned Parenthood thanks each and every person who has contributed to elevating the importance of breast cancer prevention for so many women in need.

“In recent weeks, the treasured relationship between the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation and Planned Parenthood has been challenged, and we are now heartened that we can continue to work in partnership toward our shared commitment to breast health for the most underserved women.  We are enormously grateful that the Komen Foundation has clarified its grantmaking criteria, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with Komen partners, leaders and volunteers.  What these past few days have demonstrated is the deep resolve all Americans share in the fight against cancer, and we honor those who are at the helm of this battle.

“Planned Parenthood has been a trusted partner with the Komen Foundation in early cancer detection and prevention services.  In particular, Planned Parenthood helps the Komen Foundation reach vulnerable populations — low-income women, African-American women, and Latinas — especially in rural areas and underserved communities where Planned Parenthood health centers are their only source of health care.  With Komen Foundation grants, over the past five years, Planned Parenthood health centers provided nearly 170,000 clinical breast exams and more than 6,400 mammogram referrals.  With the outpouring of support over the past week, even more women in need will receive lifesaving breast cancer care.”

But the Komen Foundation has done enormous damage to their reputation, and it’s going to be difficult for them to gain back the trust they’ve lost — especially since they still have not acknowledged that anti-Planned Parenthood politics played a large part in their decision to cut off funding in the first place.

As you might expect, this news has driven right wing bloggers into a state of apoplectic rage. A look at the crazed wingnut reactions:

Komen Caves to Feminazis | Jammie Wearing Fools
Nets Rush to Defend Planned Parenthood, Ignore Catholic Dispute With Obama | NewsBusters.org
KOMEN FOUNDATION COLLAPSES: Will Fund Abortion Group Planned Parenthood | the Gateway Pundit

The Komen Foundation continues to deny that anti-abortion politics was responsible for their original decision to defund Planned Parenthood, but the right wing blogs and media seem to have no doubt that it was.

Today at the far right fever swamp known as Free Republic, somebody posted a link to our latest article about Ron Paul’s connections to the white supremacist subculture, which led to an amusing and revealing sequence of comments.

First, the wingnuts tried to argue that associating with neo-Nazis might not be so bad, and might even be necessary to “turn this country around.”

So what. Obama publicly talks to La Raza, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the NAACP.

February 2, 2012 1:48:07 PM PST by Bryanw92 (The solution to fix Congress: Nuke em from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure!)

[…]

“anti-fascist” wing

They gonna hack obozo’s websites next?

February 2, 2012 1:48:17 PM PST by dynachrome (“Our forefathers didn’t bury their guns. They buried those that tried to take them.”)

[…]

I don’t require hackers to reveal to me that Ron Paul is associated with neo-nazis or neo-fascists. This has been pretty common knowledge around Texas for years and those are the kind of people in his district that keep electing him and supporting him. But what the hell? Maybe we will need that to turn this country around.

February 2, 2012 1:57:31 PM PST by Jukeman (God help us for we are deep in trouble.)

Then, when it finally sank in that they were talking about an article at Little Green Footballs, they dropped this uncomfortable line of discussion and united to attack their common enemy instead:

Let’s keep this an LGF-free site.
No conservative goes there anymore.

February 2, 2012 1:59:55 PM PST by Doulos1 (Bitter Clinger Forever!)

[…]

LGF! My goodness I would rather be Hillary’s towel boy than see Freepers linking LGF!!

February 2, 2012 2:05:11 PM PST by kreitzer

[…]

Little Green Footballs? lol

12 posted on February 2, 2012 2:09:47 PM PST by jpsb

[…]

I’ll put more credence in this when it’s reported somewhere other than LGF.

February 2, 2012 2:16:23 PM PST by Keith in Iowa (Willard Romney, purveyor of the world’s finest bullmitt. | FR Class of 1998 |)

[…]

Why are you posting stuff from LGF? You might as well post from Daily Kos or DU.

February 2, 2012 2:28:59 PM PST by Cymbaline (“Allahu Akbar”: Arabic for “Nothing To See Here” - Mark Steyn)

[…]

LGF? I hear “Socialist Worker’s Daily” has some interesting pieces, too.

February 2, 2012 3:57:32 PM PST by BfloGuy (The final outcome of the credit expansion is general impoverishment.)

Looks like Nevada Republicans are starting to get used to the idea of holding their noses and taking their Mitt Romney medicine: Romney Poised to Roll, Poll Shows.

A new poll shows Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney headed for a blowout victory Saturday in Nevada’s GOP caucuses.

Romney wins support from 45 percent of Nevada Republicans who said they plan to participate in the caucuses, the survey commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and 8NewsNow said.

Those who self-identify as “Tea Party” pod people are hanging tough with Newt, against the odds, fighting the good fight like our founding fathers would have, tricorne hats and all.

Newt Gingrich is Romney’s closest threat with 25 percent backing, thanks in large part to Republicans who say they “strongly support” the tea party movement.

This video is titled “Straight Talk from Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker, Founder and CEO of Susan G. Komen,” the official response to the outrage that followed the Komen Foundation’s defunding of Planned Parenthood breast cancer screening programs.

Brinker says their grants to Planned Parenthood were canceled because they have “new standards,” which for unstated reasons excluded Planned Parenthood.

Notice: she says all this without once mentioning the words, “Planned Parenthood.” And she never explains how Planned Parenthood failed to meet their “new standards.”

In the Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg has a piece on the controversy, citing three sources within the Komen Foundation who say the “new standards” were adopted specifically to give their anti-abortion VP for public policy, Karen Handel, an excuse to cut off Planned Parenthood: Top Susan G. Komen Official Resigned in Protest Over Planned Parenthood Cave-In.

An entirely avoidable, and deeply regrettable, controversy has been raging this week over the decision by the (formerly highly esteemed) Susan G. Komen For the Cure foundation, the world’s leading breast-cancer research advocacy group, to cut its support for Planned Parenthood, which used Komen dollars (about $600,000 annually) to pay for breast-screening exams for poor people. (The Atlantic’s Nicholas Jackson has an excellent summary of the controversy so far.)

Komen, the marketing juggernaut that brought the world the ubiquitous pink ribbon campaign, says it cut-off Planned Parenthood because of a newly adopted foundation rule prohibiting it from funding any group that is under formal investigation by a government body. (Planned Parenthood is being investigated by Rep. Cliff Stearns, an anti-abortion Florida Republican, who says he is trying to learn if the group spent public money to provide abortions.)

But three sources with direct knowledge of the Komen decision-making process told me that the rule was adopted in order to create an excuse to cut-off Planned Parenthood. (Komen gives out grants to roughly 2,000 organizations, and the new “no-investigations” rule applies to only one so far.) The decision to create a rule that would cut funding to Planned Parenthood, according to these sources, was driven by the organization’s new senior vice-president for public policy, Karen Handel, a former gubernatorial candidate from Georgia who is staunchly anti-abortion and who has said that since she is “pro-life, I do not support the mission of Planned Parenthood.” (The Komen grants to Planned Parenthood did not pay for abortion or contraception services, only cancer detection, according to all parties involved.) I’ve tried to reach Handel for comment, and will update this post if I speak with her.

Three sources told me the organization’s top public health official, Mollie Williams, resigned in protest immediately following the Komen board’s decision to cut off Planned Parenthood.

Related:
The Koch Brothers - Susan G. Komen Connection

For some reason, it’s supposed to mean something that Birther moron Donald Trump has decided to endorse Mitt Romney instead of Newt Gingrich. TIME has an all-caps BREAKING! headline to announce the earth-shaking news: BREAKING: Trump to Back Romney.

I’m sure Mitt Romney’s relieved to know he can count on the Birther vote — a significant segment of the right wing base.