[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PE5V4Uzobc[/youtube]

Dear Commons Community,

During the half-time show at the Super Bowl on Sunday, a commercial (play video above) was aired featuring Clint Eastwood giving a plea for America to come together in this time of economic woe.  The commercial paid for by Chrysler lauds the comeback that the Detroit automaker has made.  Republicans have criticized it as it as a political commercial for President Barack Obama.  In a Huffington Post piece, Eastwood, a Republican voter and Libertarian, denies this.   To quote:

“l am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama. It was meant to be a message about job growth and the spirit of America,” Eastwood said Monday evening on Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor” about the ad, which features him extolling the virtues of a revitalized Detroit. Chrysler was one of the companies saved in President Obama’s 2009 auto bailout, which Eastwood has publicly opposed. “I think all politicians will agree with it,” he continued. “I thought the spirit was OK.”

Eastwood, who said he was “not supporting any politician at this time,” also gave his blessing for either party to reference the spot, or at least its message.

“If Obama or any other politician wants to run with the spirit of that ad, go for it,” he said.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Colin Chellman of  CUNY Office of Policy Research has forwarded to me the speakers, dates and times of his Office’s Higher Education Policy Series for Spring 2012.   If you are interested in current issues in American higher education, you might find these speakers interesting.  I have attended most of the sessions in this series over the last few years and have found them helpful in keeping me current with what’s going in policy.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

As a follow-up to the Komen story, the Huffington Post is reporting  that Karen Handel, staunchly anti-abortion vice president for public policy, was the main force behind the decision to defund Planned Parenthood. Furthermore, an attempt was made to make the decision look nonpolitical. Specifically,

“Karen Handel was the prime instigator of this effort, and she herself personally came up with investigation criteria,” the source, who requested anonymity for professional reasons, told HuffPost. “She said, ‘If we just say it’s about investigations, we can defund Planned Parenthood and no one can blame us for being political.’”

Tony

CONGRATULATIONS GIANTS

Dear Commons Community,

Mitt Romney won the Nevada caucuses easily.  With about half of the results tabulated,  Romney had 43% of the vote to Newt Gingrich’s 26%.  Ron Paul had 18% and Rick Santorum 13%.  As the New York Times indicated, Romney was expected to do well in Nevada:

“Nevada is considered almost home turf for Mr. Romney, who is Mormon. Roughly one-quarter of Republican caucus goers were Mormon, according to entrance polls, and the state shares a border with Utah, where Mr. Romney won credit for saving the troubled 2002 Winter Olympics. But Nevada’s results may say little about the political terrain nationally, since far fewer caucus goers appeared to have turned out than the number of Republicans who did so at the Iowa caucuses last month.”

The Republican presidential primaries move on to Colorado, Minnesota and Maine next week.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

The New York Times has a sad article on children freezing to death in Afghanistan.   At least twenty-two children have  died from the cold in the past month in informal settlements in and around Kabul.   These  settlements are in reality make-shift camps for displaced persons or war refugees. The Afghan government insists that the residents should and could return to their original homes; the residents say it is too dangerous for them to do so.    Here are brief descriptions of some of the victims:

“Mirwais, son of Hayatullah Haideri. He was 1 ½ years old and had just started to learn how to walk, holding unsteadily to the poles of the family tent before flopping onto the frozen razorbacks of the muddy floor.

Abdul Hadi, son of Abdul Ghani. He was not even a year old and was already trying to stand, although his father said that during those last few days he seemed more shaky than normal.

Naghma and Nazia, the twin daughters of Musa Jan. They were only 3 months old and just starting to roll over.

Ismail, the son of Juma Gul. “He was never warm in his entire life,” Mr. Gul said. “Not once.”

It was a short life, 30 days long.”

While an extremely cold winter in Kabul is partially to blame, a good deal of the tragedy stems from poor coordination of relief services in Afghanistan, a government unable to protect its people, and ten years of war.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Following  a furor over its decision to pull funding for breast cancer screenings from Planned Parenthood, Susan G. Komen for the Cure founder Nancy Brinker apologized to the family planning organization on Friday and said Komen will preserve its eligibility for future grants.  Below is the full text of  Brinker’s statement.

Tony

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We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives.

The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.

Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation. We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair.

Our only goal for our granting process is to support women and families in the fight against breast cancer. Amending our criteria will ensure that politics has no place in our grant process. 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.

It is our hope and we believe it is time for everyone involved to pause, slow down and reflect on how grants can most effectively and directly be administered without controversies that hurt the cause of women. We urge everyone who has participated in this conversation across the country over the last few days to help us move past this issue. We do not want our mission marred or affected by politics – anyone’s politics.

Starting this afternoon, we will have calls with our network and key supporters to refocus our attention on our mission and get back to doing our work. We ask for the public’s understanding and patience as we gather our Komen affiliates from around the country to determine how to move forward in the best interests of the women and people we serve.

We extend our deepest thanks for the outpouring of support we have received from so many in the past few days and we sincerely hope that these changes will be welcomed by those who have expressed their concern.

Dear Commons Community,

On Tuesday, the Komen Foundation, the nation’s leading breast-cancer charity, halted its grants to Planned Parenthood affiliates. Planned Parenthood said the grants totaled $680,000 last year and $580,000 the year before for breast-cancer screening and other related services.  The rationale for the change in policy has been sketchy but The Huffington Post’s Laura Bassett reported that the move came less than a year after the Komen Foundation hired a new vice president, Karen Handel, who publicly stated her opposition to Planned Parenthood in her 2010 campaign for governor of Georgia. The Foundation said that the cutoff comes as the result of new rules adopted by the organization barring grants to organizations under investigation by local, state or federal authorities. Planned Parenthood is the focus of an inquiry by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) over its handling of federal funding.

The Huffington Post is also reporting that there is a growing backlash if not furor against the Komen Foundation over its decision.

“Dr. Kathy Plesser, a Manhattan radiologist on the medical advisory board of Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s New York chapter, said she plans to resign from her position unless Komen reverses its decision to pull grant money from Planned Parenthood.

“I’m a physician and my interest is women’s health, and I am disturbed by Komen’s decision because I am a very strong advocate for serving under-served women,” Plesser told The Huffington Post. “Eliminating this funding will mean there’s no place for these women to go. Where are these women to go to have a mammography? Do they not deserve to have mammography?”

With her decision, Plesser joins Komen’s top public health official, Mollie Williams, and the executive director of Komen’s Los Angeles County chapter, Deb Anthony, both of whom also resigned in protest.”

In addition, Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) said that he personally called Komen founder Nancy Brinker to complain when he heard the news on Tuesday, and he and 22 other members of the House of Representatives have signed onto a letter asking her to reverse her decision.

A similar letter was signed by two dozen senators.

Since the Komen Foundation cut ties, Planned Parenthood has seen a huge influx in donations, including an announcement Thursday that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg would be donating $250,000.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

One day after the biggest primary win of his presidential campaign,  in an interview with CNN, Mr. Romney said, “I’m not concerned about the very poor,”   The comment captivated the media, news shows, and political blogs.  Gail Collins, for instance, devotes her entire column today to Romney’s comment.

The quote taken out of context sounds like he is out of touch with everyday people and unable to relate to struggling Americans.

However, taken in the full context, his statement seems tamer “I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs a repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich; they’re doing just fine.”

Still not a good choice of words for someone running for president.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Mitt Romney was the overwhelming winner on Tuesday in the Florida primary.   It was probably the biggest moment so far for him and has fully restored him to frontrunner status.  It has also dealt a major blow to Newt Gingrich’s candidacy.  Romney won convincingly, with 46.4 percent to Gingrich’s 31.9 percent.  Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) trailed behind, with 13.4 and 7.0 percent, respectively.

The Huffington Post described Romney’s win as

“ capping a week of “gutter politics,” as Santorum put it, with Romney and Gingrich trading blows that seemed only to grow more vicious and personal by the day. It marked a new chapter for Romney, who showed a willingness to throw verbal punches on the trail that he had up until now allowed his campaign to deliver for him…

Gingrich’s anger was evident after his loss. While Santorum and Paul called Romney to congratulate him on his win, Gingrich did not, a Romney source told CNN’s Candy Crowley.  If you listened carefully to Newt Gingrich’s concession speech tonight, you heard the first strains of what could be an independent, third-party run for the White House if he doesn’t get the Republican nomination.

Gingrich vowed that he would not henceforth run a “Republican campaign but a people’s campaign” — raising the specter, at least rhetorically, that his vision of his role in American history is too large and personal to be contained by a mere political party.”

Tony