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This is a hard diary for me to post, because I grew up worshiping Nancy Keenan. Back before she worked for NARAL, back before she worked for People for the American Way, she was the Superintendent of Public Education in Montana. She took office when I was in the fifth grade and was still there by the time I became the lobbyist for the Associated Students of the University of Montana.
She was an inspiration. Thanks to her leadership, I was able to learn how to research, write, and present using the first editions of photoshop and pagemaker. When I became active in the College Democrats, she was the one who inspired us to organize efficiently enough to not need to give up ground. She used the example of the Anaconda Company in her home town to teach us wild-eyed college kids about Solidarity. She was an inspiration.
When I was lobbying for the college students during a session where Republicans held the governor's mansion and almost a 2:1 majority over Democrats in the legislature, it was Nancy Keenan's job to fight for K-12 funding. But in the final days of the legislative session, she showed up in person to testify before a conference committee and offered money from her own budget to prevent another huge increase in college tuition. Her bluff worked, and she kept her funding while helping many students afford a solid education.
So now, seeing the problems with NARAL, I am hurt, because Nancy Keenan taught me better than this. But I am not worried about the future of Choice, because despite NARAL's ineptitude as of late, there are thousands upon thousands of people like me who have learned the tools to fight for what we believe in. I don't think I would still be in politics were it not for Nancy Keenan, but I am and I am going to fight and I would like to have NARAL fighting with me. Because a long time ago I learned about solidarity from somebody I still love and respect.
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Hello, all
Arianna!!! (on Scarborough)
Men have no business injecting themselves into the abortion issue. Last time I checked, men do not give birth.
“John McCain is simply grandstanding.”
(about sending more troops to Iraq)
Again, Arianna is a genius! : )
Arianna is beating the s’t out of McCain and Buchanan on Scarborough.
“Let them fight their own civil war…
Let the Saudis go in and fight their regional war…
We’re making it worse.”
Arianna just bitchslapped Buchanan.
Arianna. Big… no … huge brain.
“Maliki is a fiction of the Bush administration. You know it, I know it, quit pretending that there is someone in charge.” -
Oklahoma kiddo @ 7
If I were straight, I’d have a huge crush on her! : )
Just because you take a job in DC doesn’t mean you need to (figuratively) trade in your black hoodie for a pin stripe suit. We all need to stay true to the reality based community, work as a team, and stop giving cover to the conservatives.
I think that is how we can stop playing defense and begin progress.
Ok, so, what does this nice letter have to do with her recent failures to stand up against the wing nuts while looking like a Lieberman for the members of her organization?
Come on, Joe! Let Arianna speak!
Precisely, Arianna!
Arianna takes on Hillary in few, on Scarborough.
Should we at least greet our guest poster before prattling on about Arianna?
When I dream, it is a dream of NARAL and the blogs being BFF.
Reading your post, Bob, I’m even more confused about why Nancy Keenan is leading NARAL in such wrong directions.
I’ve quit sending them any money.
Hi Bob—welcome to the Lake.
Posted elsewhere, but: Why not require doctors to inform everyone that medical treatment is a direct result of science and is therefore a repudiation of fundamentalist belief?
Bob Brigham @
10
Thanks for the post, Bob. I also think it’s important that we keep our criticisms in context; she may be absolutely great at some things, and it’s nice of you to give an account of that.
I agree with you, one act does not make a lifetime of good works go away. There is a lot of good in everyone, and if they stray there is a chance they can be brought back. Still, feed back is important. I reserve the right to complain to or about anyone when they offend me. Hell, Feingold thinks Bush should get his appointments through.
RBG @ 15
“Prattling”?
Eureka Springs, AR @ 11
Good question. I don’t know, but I wonder if it has anything to do with the emergence of nuance and angles of the discussion taking on a new dimension that previously was more easily dealt with using simple terms and contrast. It’s almost like the wingnut assault has morphed into something that outdates a previously effective way of thinking on Keenen’s part. In that sense, it’s not an indictment of her character.
I’m happy that Nancy Keenan had an inspiring effect on some one years ago.
But, as we used to say in the old days, what does that have to do with price of tea in China?
I don’t follow the point of this post.
Don’t know much about NARAL- but I read that there has been some commitment on the part of some groups to not stand in the way of DISCLOSURE legislation..
Of course in this case it may be MISclosure.
Oops.
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. Welcome, Bob!
Now, please tell us. What should be done?
Hi, Bob! : )
(I’m so sorry… Please excuse my early gushing over Arianna.)
I’m glad to hear your take on Keenan.
She sounds like a great woman…
Which makes me wonder why she’s staying mum on the BS “fetal pain” bill.
OhioTex @
17
I wouldn’t be waging online politics were it not for her. She was blogger aggressive before blogs. We want her as an ally.
Thanks for offering these thoughts for us, Bob. It’s so gut wrenching to see people you admire go in a bad direction. Tough to explain or reconcile.
Everyone, please welcome Bob and thank him. Maybe ask him questions about his experiences with Nancy Keenan.
Mrs. K8 @ 26
Remind Keenan of why we want her on our side.
Do you still stay in contact with Ms. Keenan?
If so, why was it unimportant to her that Joe Lieberman undermined having Plan B contraceptives available to all rape victims at all hospitals in Connecticut?
People change over the years (although I’m not saying I know what the story is with Ms. Keenan).
Do you know how she thinks today?
Bob wrote:
I wouldn’t be waging online politics were it not for her. She was blogger aggressive before blogs. We want her as an ally.
My concern is that she’s taking positions that I can’t ally with.
Please say more about what you think would be useful/helpful in this situation.
Oklahoma kiddo @
22
Bad choice of words. Sorry.
Mrs. K8 @ 24
The point is that disaffection with Nancy Keenan, and those like her who pursue failed strategies on behalf of organizations that should be part of the progressive coalition, is spreading. That’s a legitimate story.
The failure of the single issue groups must be addressed as we go forward in building our new progressive majority. We can no longer afford or countenance defections from the coalition when there’s so much at stake, so much to do. NARAL is the most high profile offender at the moment, but they are by no means alone.
I hope that clarifies things. We’re trying to make the point that disaffection with these sellout choices is spreading even to those who consider themselves personally connected to people like Nancy Keenan.
Bob Brigham @ 30
Of course. Many, many people here wrote to Keenan earlier this year to ask her to explain her positions, and to encourage her to be on our side.
If I’m remembering correctly, she never really responded to the folks imploring her.
Do you know what she is thinking these days?
My only goal in asking Jane to let me have some time is because I want the blogs and NARAL to form a natural alliance. I think Keenan can do that, if we support her. I don’t want to compromise on Choice, I want to unite bloggers and activists to win on the issue, and most of all I want NARAL to watch bloggers’ backs.
Bob- Good idea- you might be able to speak with NARAL and get some information that would help in that goal which you could share here.
Mrs. K8 @ 35
I don’t know, but I do know that when going into battle she is somebody I want on my side.
Bob Brigham @ 36
Well put, Bob. Thanks.
We have a lot of coalition building across the progressive roots to do over the next two years, online and off. That’s our next big frontier as a movement. But to do that coalition building, we must appeal to both conscience and a sense of unity. Liberals undercutting liberals just won’t cut it anymore.
Arianna is doing the heavy lifting. On Hillary and other Demos. She tells us Democratic leaders should “tell us what they believe”. With respect to Iraq.
NARAL may have good reasons for taking the positions they do- but no one here knows what they are- Do you Bob?
Bob Brigham @ 36
Please, could you tell us? Have you been in contact with Ms. Keenan in recent years?
If so, do you know why she hasn’t responded to many folks who have written about their alarm at NARAL’s positions? (I should mention that I haven’t personally written to her, but I’m remembering what others have said.)
Pachacutec @ 34
Indeed. That is the point of this series. I want to have NARAL on my side, but how can we fight for NARAL’s ends when we are undermined? But I can imagine the power of the blogs and NARAL united and I would like to see that happen.
Yep, Pachacutec…
That’s the 800-pound gorilla that we’re having a hard time with…
Why did the pro-choice groups endorse Lieberman?
Why did environmental groups endorse Chafee?
Why are we playing defense so messily, when we could consolidate our efforts and achieve the one, common goal of a progressive majority that implements all our progressive goals?
Bob, excellent post and thank you for bringing that point of view to firedoglake.
One cannot read Ms. Keenan’s personal history on NARAL’s webswite without being impressed, and your personal witness lends considerable weight to that. But the concerns, as I understand them, do not go to Ms. Keenan’s personal integrity so much as the seeming inconsistency between positions NARAL has taken and the avowed aims of the organization.
The failure to push hard against the Alito nomination — via the cloture vote and the endorsement of Lieberman were strong red flags that something didn’t seem right at NARAL. And the explanations we’ve gotten have hardly been satisfactory. The result has been that many prior supporters of NARAL are so upset as to withdraw further support and funding. That should be a redflag for the organization’s Board of Directors.
Those who care about these issues, and would like to look to NARAL leadership on these issues, need a better explanation than they’ve been given. Just my opinion.
Bob Brigham @ 38
Not to be snarky at all, but — why?
If she’s not fighting these battles anymore, that is. It appears to many that she is not.
Pachacutec @ 34
Hi Bob.
Patch,
Am I to understand the Nancy Keenan IS the NARAL? Is it necessary that Nancy, herself, be re-converted to a belief system that she may not share. Isn’t the NARAL an autonomous organization, capable of changing direction without the requisite aid of a single member, regardless of that member’s position?
I’ve read many of the posts recently covering the NARAL situation, and I do agree that it is important. However, many have made the case that Ms Keenan’s personal view might make it difficult for her to embrace the more directed requirements of the pro-choice movement. If she does not see that as the direction for NARAL, then isn’t it more important to focus on the institution which is NARAL rather than a misguided figurehead (apologies for harsh words concerning an erstwhile mentor, Bob).
Mrs. K8 @ 42
I can’t defend Keenan on this no matter how much I wish I could. I put a call in yesterday when I wrote this piece, but it hasn’t been returned. I’m writing this because I know bloggers and NARAL should be friends and because I hope that Keenan could show the netroots why she so inspired me a long time ago.
Bob Brigham @ 36
Frankly Bob NARAL screwed us big time with LIEberman. So they endorsed him for the primary thinking that he was still their ally and perhaps weren’t aware of the rape-gurney short ride and the “pro-life” license plates that he endorsed. We tried to tell NARAL and the state affiliate got it and tried to appeal to Natl.
THEN, Ned won the primary and NARAL never moved, never did anything to endorse someone who really is pro-choice.
Sorry, I can’t trust Keenan to get my back. She turned hers on me last summer. (actually as scarecrow pointed out, during the Alito nomination. They had a huge war chest that they sat on rather than fight his nomination.)
Men and women, who are against choice, should stay clear of individual women’s prerogative to have, or not to have an abortion. This is not a difficult concept. It’s quite libertarian, conservative and liberal.
As for coalition building, the budding and very conscious collaborations between labor and the netroots are a huge, huge step in the right direction. But we also need the environmental groups, women’s groups, the GLBT groups etc. all to be rowing in the same direction.
If we do that, we cannot, cannot be beaten. It is in our power to capture the future, if we care enough about our principles to embrace solidarity.
johnSwifty @ 47
RevDeb @ 49
And with NARAl’s refusal to not to challenge Brownback’s fetal anesthesia bill, there’s even less reason to trust her.
Thank you, Bob, for attempting to reach Keenan. It is a very good thing for you to attempt to bridge the divide here.
I believe that honesty and forthrightness on the part of NARAL would be very well received by blog activists. I also understand why many folks who have been donating to the cause for years would feel unappreciated, at best, and taken for granted or even deceived, at worst.
Thank you for reporting to us on your efforts. I hope Nancy honors the prior relationship she had with you by responding to your call.
Mrs. K8 @
26
Find a way for the orgs and blogs to fight for Choice.
I will not support anyone who is anti-choice. There is for me, no wiggle room.
Pachacutec @ 51
Wouldn’t that be a breath of fresh air?
Progressive groups work with other progressive groups for a common progressive goals…
Is that too hard for us?
Bob Brigham @ 30
You mean remind her of what her job/ mission is? We have a failed President with that problem. When a person is at the top position and needs clarification of this nature it’s time to step down, do something else or get fired.
The pro choice movement is suffering entirely to many setbacks in our times. We need folks who will keep the gloves off. period.
Mr. Brigham, I am happy to hear how much this person may have inspired you and others in the past.
This is about fundamental civil liberties, where our hard earned money is spent and someone standing up after grabbing the cash and telling us it’s not what we donated for! Sorry no dice.
Fire this woman (at least six months ago) and let her help where her heart is in the right place.
Joe Solomonese at the Human Rights Campaign is no better, and that’s an organization with which I am more familiar. But it’s not just Joe, it’s the organization. It’s compromised through and through with Republican board members and funders. Is NARAL in the same situation, Bob?
RevDeb @
49
I am with you on this, I started writing stuff against Lieberman on SSP almost 2 years ago and Tagaris is one of my favorite people in the entire world.
But Choice and the Blogs are meant to go together, if they won’t come our way then we will fill the gaps. But we need to work as a team.
atdnext @ 57
Not at all, but a very intelligent young man asked some very directed questions at 6:30 #44; and I think he deserves to be answered before we entertain your kum-bye-ah considerations :)
SSP = Swing State Project, by the way, which is Bob’s habitual home.
What exactly is the Democratic front runner for president in ‘08 views on ‘choice’. Anyone.
Well, now I have whiplash.
Is anyone suggesting we’re suddenly not confrontational enough at FDL?
:)
Bob –
I hope everyone can work as ONE team. That’s the ideal goal.
However, one can only work with a good faith partner. The problem now is for Nancy Keenan to show that she is a good faith partner. Personally, I have my doubts, although I am open to learning what happens when you call on her in memory of your past working relationship with her.
Will she respond openly? That’s not something any of us can do for her. It’s not like we are asking for the moon. Just good faith.
It seems to me that the underlying point of this contrast is that Keenan is probably in the wrong job. She’s in a place where her personal ambitions are at least partially in conflict with the chartered aims of the organization she leads.
So, maybe she belongs with an educational association working at what she was apparently very good at in the past?
Bob Brigham @ 60
I couldn’t agree more; but you are conflating that with the proposition that they necessarily need to work with Nancy and, logically, that is simply not the case.
Mrs. K8 @ 65
I like it.
montag @ 66
Yes, does anyone remember when Keenan became head of NARAL? Why was she selected?
No disrepect or anything…
She sounds like a great education advocate…
But choice?
johnswifty:
What I hear Bob doing is imploring Nancy to wake up. He’s not saying, from what I can tell, that loyalty to Nancy trumps adherence to progressive principle. What I hear, in fact, is the opposite.
I consider Bob’s message a kind of intervention from a friend.
Bob@60 you said:
Tell that to your friend at NARAL. We are solidly pro-choice around here. I’m involved with RCRC and have been for years. I don’t equivocate on this issue. NARAL is the one that has been selling out. Until they reverse that course, I have no use for them. I have said so to their phone solicitors and in their written pleas for money. Should they ask me again, I will say the same thing yet again.
For now, I continue to volunteer for RCRC, give my money to them and to NNAF and PP (at least they provide a service). And I will encourage my friends and parishioners to do the same.
I worry that NARAL really doesn’t want to win the battle because it would put them out of business. They are way to cozy with the Liebermans and Chafees to understand that strategically none the R’s will never help their agenda no matter how pro-choice they may claim to be. The party has become a wholly owned subsidiary of the religious right. That is just the way it is and will be for the foreseeable future.
I need to run, but I’m glad we have pushed this discussion. Because the blogs and NARAL need to form the natural alliance and as a supporter of Choice I want to see that happen.
The last few years have been ugly, but I think everyone involved knows we can do better.
I think that we can work together so that compromising on Choice becomes part of history. Thank you to everyone who is pushing this debate.
Bob, it seems that I like many here are missing some mystifying and esoteric point.
What specifically is it that you are asking of us?
Is it any of these things below?
1. Support NARAL? – Not after Joe4Joe primary support. Not after Alito cloture vote surrender. Not after NARAL refuses to explain itself to our satisfaction on these issues. The ball is in NARAL’s court, not ours!
2. Support Nancy Keenan? – Not after Joe4Joe primary support. Not after Alito cloture vote surrender. Not after Nancy refuses to explain herself to our satisfaction on these issues. The ball is in Nancy’s court, not ours!
Nancy may have been a “hell on wheels” politico back in the day in the Montana Legislature, but so what?
Politicos who are “hell on wheels” are a dime a dozen. I tend to want one that supports my beliefs and values.
I definitely do not want one who undercuts or even opposes those things I believe in.
Back to my original question. Just what is it that you want from us?
Bob Brigham @ 48
You’ve got a tough mission. It’s sad to see someone with the qualities you describe apparently sell so completely out.
I would echo what Mrs. K8 (@54) says.
Sorry to paraphrase James Stockdale, but who are you, Bob, and why are you here? Lucky for you, you can’t get pregnant! But hey if you want to get all misty-eyed over Nancy Keenan and the beltway cocktail weenie crowd, knock yourself out. Here’s a hankie.
P.S. Keenan knows better, that is what I wrote in my post. We know we want to work with NARAL. Let’s get her to the table and make it happen.
Bob Brigham @ 72
Thanks for coming, Bob.
Sorry if I was rude anytime during the post.
You helped give Nancy Keenan a human face here…
Now let’s hope that she can understand why we’ve had issues with her.
Pachacutec @ 70
We are right. She has been wrong. But if she goes back to her roots, the together we can kick ass.
Pachacutec @ 70
Yes. And that message is being delivered from this platform, which makes it even stronger. I missed that on first read through.
Pach 64 — now I’m worried.
Where’s Biden?
atdnext @ 77
So late, but… We have been carrying the torch, but when it comes to the battles we will face, I want NARAL on our side.
jane hamsher @ 80
Hopefully, ol’ Teefs and Tufts is polishing his shoes and getting Presidential-campaign advice from Joe Lieberman….
xjt:
I appreciate your dedication to choice. I think if you poke around a bit, you’ll find Bob’s work over at the Swing Sate Project, one of the blogs that promoted the “Netroots” ActBlue page last cycle that raised about one and a half million for Dems (with MyDD and DKos). Bob’s commitment to choice is actually genuine.
I’m walking a fine line here. I want to keep the environment free for all points of view, but also try to clarify for the community who our guest blogger is for this post. Please don not construe anything I’m writing now or have written above to reflect any desire or attempt to dissuade anyone from voicing alternate points of view!
Mad Dogs @ 73
All I’m trying to do is help enable the natural bridge between bloggers and NARAL.
Mr Brigham,
Sorry to say, but you’re sounding alot like LeiberME’s supporters this past year…you know: “Trust us, his Liberal credentials are true. He marched back in the 60s, man.”
I don’t know how a Liberal can argue that NARAL’s and Ms. Keenan’s actions of late are anything but inexcusable. These are dire times for many of the bedrock issues of the DemocratIC Party. Even your frequent points about “working as a team,” sound very similiar to J. Low Lieberman’s “reaching across the aisle” drivel. What has that attitude gotten us over the last 20 years? Oh yea – a Constitutional Crisis.
I’m glad you’re out there doin your thing and glad for your post here, but we gotta start cleaning house of these enablers. Are we just supposed to trust our Liberal “leaders” and get triangulated out of existance?!?
Thank god for the Internets. We’re now able to call out the “capitulation-ists.” If I want to improve my Photoshop skills or want to bring in a motivational speaker, maybe I can give Ms. Keenan a call. Otherwise, she should get out of the way and let true leaders fight for the women of this country.
Pachacutec @ 70
I hear that too, and I understand the nature of a friendship like that. It is admirable, but it can also be blinding in light of some simple truths. If Ms Keenan is not inclined to acquiesce to the ‘intervention’ then the chances of it changing her life view are slim; and that is true with all forms of intervention.
For my part, my perspective mirrors many who have addressed issues here. With OK Kiddo, I agree to some extent that as a man, I have a significantly less vested interest in organizations which act as proponents for or against what I can do with my body.
But, as a member of the public, I can witness the joke that is Joe LIEberman and recognize that he will be one of the single greatest stumbling blocks in the path of healing what this administration has done to the country; and NARAL supported that man.
Nothing happens in a vacuum. If the intervention is accepted in ‘good faith,’ and good faith is returned on Ms Keenan’s part to those for whom pro-choice concerns are a very vital issue, then that is a good thing.
However, if it is simply time for Nancy to align herself with a pursuit that is more in keeping with her personal values; then, the ‘intervention’ will be an affront and the ‘cure’ won’t take.
If that is the case, she is one person. It is still important to find common ground with the institution of NARAL, itself, because that is where the progressive principles will ultimately derive from. If the organization cannot embrace the progressive requirements that the blog community has, then it is wasted effort and a shame for both parties concerned.
Jane:
Have we lambs lost our rabies and venom already?
:>
Bob Brigham @ 81
I agree… I want NARAL as our friend again!
I want NARAL to work with us to protect a woman’s right to choose!
Thanks again, Bob, for providing us with some enlightenment regarding Keenan and NARAL. : )
Bush says, “I do understand that we have not succeeded as quickly as I wanted us to succeed.”
He doesn’t get it. He’s not “succeeding” too slowly; he’s failing.
Then you might want to invite your friend to come here and explain to us why NARAL has taken the positions it has over the past year.
neurophius @ 89
No wonder. He thought he succeeded in May, 2003. The intervening years of death, destruction and general mayhem have been, to him, just details, just “a comma.”
I want Democrats, liberals and progressives to take strong positions on candidates and the issues. I do not like wishy-washiness.
I really need to run, but I hope people will realize that my point in this was to get NARAL to fight as hard as the blogs for Choice.
I want to thank everyone for chiming in and I want to thank my Mom for raising me to try and push an idea despite the fact I knew it would catch as much crap as this.
I love you all and I can’t wait until we are all fighting together alongside NARAL — even if it is only in my dreams.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 92
So do I…
Are you listening, Dem Candidates?
Bob Brigham @ 93
Then you might want to take your energy and express this to NARAL, not to us. They’re the ones who have dropped the ball.
One more thing. This diary had an intended audience of one and I hope she is reading.
Bob Brigham @ 93
Thanks, Bob, and yes, I got the idea ;). Whatever she might have done recently, Keenan also helped inspire many folks like you. That’s important, too.
Bob Brigham @ 93
Love you too, and love your dreams. Bye, Bob.
Bob Brigham @ 96
So do I… So do all of us.
Thanks, Bob. : )
Bob Brigham @ 96
Hillary?
Bob Brigham @ 36
Fine. Ask Keenan to renounce Rape Gurney Joe.
johnSwifty @ 100
Maybe her, too.
Oh, wait… That makes two. ; )
Bob Brigham @ 96
any way to slip a transcript to the board?
The Repubs have for years accused Democrats of not standing for anything. For the first time in my Demo memory I agree. At least in this instance. Just what in the hell does Hillary Clinton stand for?
Hey RevDeb – You need to quit beating around the bush and tell us how you really feel.
in such fights as preserving a woman’s right to choose there is little room for sentimentality. If keenan has become the enemy, she must be treated as such regardless of what she may have once been or meant.
.
Wasn’t Jane/FDL heading up a blog NARAL intervention a long time ago? How many opportunities should a person in Mrs Keenan position and the board of directors have? I never heard a response from her here or on any other blog except, I think, a letter on the NARAL site. I am less impressed knowing she understands the use of blogs and has ignored them completely.
I disagree with Bob about Mrs Keenans professional standing. It’s an important job. If a file clerk doesn’t understand their duties I would fire them as well. Of course we need to work together. Isn’t that the point of our disappointment with NARAL for quite sometime now. The ball is in NARALs court and I am leaving the stadium for a new team. Will gladly work with her on issues we agree on.
(((Rev Deb)))
“Just what in the hell does Hillary Clinton stand for?”
that’s easy as pie: Hillary stands for Hillary.
.
I’m gonna go way, way, way out on a limb here and speak “as if” I had Bob’s best intentions in mind.
Remembering Christy’s “Conservative Framing” post this morning, it behooves all of us to carefully consider what has and is taking place with NARAL.
There is no doubt that NARAL has undercut our values and beliefs in the “Right of Choice”.
And yes, we should not tolerate this!
So the question is whether we turn our backs on NARAL (and Nancy Keenan).
Let’s say we do turn our backs on NARAL. Have we not “helped” our enemies finish off the premier “Right of Choice” organization? Perhaps that was in fact the bigger objective of our foes.
And we can piously take the position that we put it out of it’s misery for its own good.
In the meantime, what do we use to replace that organization? It takes lots of money, dedicated people, and many, many years to build an effective organization.
After NARAL is consigned to the rubbish bin, just how long are we willing to wait until a new replacement organization is rebuilt from the ground-floor up?
So in summary, perhaps Bob’s point is we need to fight for our organizations, to cleanse them of their mistakes, to fight hard to keep what is ours, not dance around the bonfire as we help to burn our own homes down.
Does this make any sense?
The question for me is: does one support or not support a woman’s right to choose? I see no gray area.
Bob 96 — thank you. I liked this post because it came at the problem from another angle. I don’t think anything is served by demonizing her without qualification. If it’s possible to appeal to her positive qualities, that’s a good thing.
Now let us all hold hands and sing Kumbayah. Pach will you lead us?
Mad Dogs – Didn’t a post last night list other organizations where we can find mutual suport?
How do we fight for NARAL besides whats been done with former FDL campaigns, massive letter writing and withholding financial support?
If Mrs. Keenan and the board are in such positions without internal accountability then what other choice do we have?
Perhaps we should examine the board members in more detail. Perhaps when the money slows enough they will wake up and rekindling NARALs mission will be less costly than starting anew.
Mad Dogs calls NARAL “the premier “Right of Choice” organization.”
If that is the case, perhaps the netroots should be thinking in terms of executing a course correction for NARAL.
What would happen if a coalition of left bloggers and blog readers were to join NARAL as members, and begin to seek leadership roles in the organization?
Is NARAL democratic enough that we could make a difference?
These are not rhetorical questions. I hope others have sufficient knowledge of the organization’s structure and culture to evaluate the likelihood for success of such an effort.
(I’d be singing, Lord, but I can’t carry a tune in a bucket even when it’s frozen)
It sounds to me like Keenan needs to decide whether she wants to go with the beliefs of her religion or with those of the group she’s supposed to be leading, and those views are not easily reconcilable at this time. I think she’d be better of taking a year off to sort it out without the pressure … just sayin’.
Am I dreaming this? Did NARAL support Lieberman?
Kum-bay-YAH, my Lord, kum-bay YAH!
Kum-bay-YAH, my Lord, kum-bay-yah.
Kum-bay-YAH, my Lord, kum-bay YAH!
Oh, Lo-ord, kum-bay-yah.
Demonization or no, the recent actions of NARAL are profoundly troubling, and it should be up to Keenan to explain them, not a surrogate who wants to test the waters for her in advance. Justice Kennedy may well decide to uphold the late abortion ban, and it will be very difficult to put that cork back in the bottle, should that happen. This is a critical juncture, and I’m less interested to know that Nancy Keenan is a nice person than I am to know she’s capable of bringing effective policy to fruition. Let’s please just deal with the elephant in the room, shall we, and dispense with the ego massaging.
jane hamsher @ 111
Not ready to sing anything. I want to hear Nancy sing.
BTW to what degree is she personally responsible for the bad decisions that NARAL has made this past year? That is a question that I do not think has been asked or answered. We can’t all assume that one person in that org. had that much power. There is a Board of Directors, there’s probably a board consisting of reps from the state affiliates too.
Pachacutec @ 116
*shakes tambourine in time*
Pachacutec @ 116
Suddenly, I think there might still be some good in Joe Lieberman.
While I prepare to roast my marshmellows in song.
Good idea neurophius.
My contempt for Joe Lieberman will never subside.
Is anybody here right now a current member of NARAL? Or is it a membership organization?
johnSwifty @ 61
Pachacutec at 116:
So we can entertain my “kum-bye-ah” considerations now? ; )
TRex @ 122
Oh, yeah, well I was using satire!!!
My contempt for Joe Lieberman increases daily!
As a male whose wife has always donated to Planned Parenthood and never trusted Naral (”not very effective use of their money..”), all I can say about this thread is –
RevDeb rocks!
Blogs for Choice
A cool beans concept —
I wholeheartedly agree that we need to partner with NARAL, and bring Nancy Keegan to the table — if only to get her to see the light, that the times have changed and that there is a need for more militant leadership.
The days of cocktail weenie DC disease are OVER.
atdnext @ 124
Shoot. Whatchoo got kiddo?
TRex @ 122
To me, he will always be Nomentum Loserman.
Now am I cruel, or am I cruel? ; )
Oklahoma kiddo @
115
Hopefully this will help you understand the emotion behind my earlier poor choice of words. Again, my apologies.
TRex @ 122
My contempt for Joe Lieberman knows no bounds.
“Someone’s meeting with the President, Lord, someone’s meeting with the President”
(repeat two times)
“Oh Lord, kum-bay-ah”
Someone’s selling out the Democrats, Lord, someone’s selling out the Democrats”
(repeat two times)
“Oh Lord, kum-bay-ah”
“His name is Lieberman, Lord, his name is Lieberman”
(repeat two times)
“Oh Lord, kum-bay-ah”
“NARAL’s enabling him, Lord, NARAL’s enabling him”
(repeat two times)
“Oh Lord, kum-bay-ah”
(shake your tambourine)
neurophius @ 123
Comments are screwed up again.
You give money, you are a member.
The problem really lies with Natl. NARAL. The state affiliates do a lot of the important work. They are the ones following the the state laws that are constantly being pushed by the Catholic church or the right wing fundies. They do the local lobbying they wave the red flags when something bad is about to happen.
The CT. NARAL went crazy when Natl. stuck with Joe to no avail.
TRex @ 122
I have a feeling my contempt for this man will grow. Joe is lying low. But it won’t last.
Well, very late to the thread and have read thru it and appreciate Bob’s post and ultimate wishes for a working relationship between obvious partners that have parted ways because of obvious reasons. I have had some friends who have changed views over time to my horror because of all kinds of “reasons” and that needs to be explained by NARAL and Nancy and it needs to be loud and clear. I hope that Mr. Brigham’s entreaty and efforts will accomplish that.
The ball is in NARAL’s court, where it has been lying dormant from a pro- choice and civil liberties perspective since Alito.
johnSwifty @ 128
OK, back to what I was talking about earlier:
NARAL endorses Loserman…
Sierra Club endorses Chafee…
HRC endorses all the CT GOPers (and Loserman, then not, then?)…
And yet, all these GOPers (and Loserman) throw these groups under the bus when Bush needs them to…
These single-interest groups are having a hard time recognizing that a strong Democratic majority will support all of their respective goals, and more! Now what do we do about this? How can we get all the single-issue groups to get with the Dems on the same page, or are the single-issue groups just obstacles to us?
RBG @ 130
Not to worry. You’re OK.
Thank you E.T.
(she blushes)
This is a cause that I have given lots of time, energy and money to. I got on a plane and went to Wichita and stood out in front of a clinic in 106 deg. heat and blew bubbles at the fetus-mobiles that drove around the block. The ATF, US Marshalls, local cops and I think FBI were all there watching us mixed in with the wing nuts (the local cops didn’t separate us, I think they wanted a fight to break out). Army of God folks were there too. They’re the ones who like to shoot doctors and blow up clinics. It was fun!
I learned after the fact that the feds were taking pictures of US from the rooftops, not the wing nuts.
So when NARAL sells us out, I am pissed. We’re all supposed to be in this together. There is no room for their stupidity. THEY need to get with the program. That’s why people send them money, to PROTECT CHOICE. Period.
atdnext @
135
If you can solve that one, run for congress. I’ll caution, though; a certain gubnor from Arkansas played well with all types, spoke to all concerns, felt all pain (and a few other things); and, ultimately, ended up compromising on so many of those very issues he ‘felt pain’ for in an attempt to please everyone. Sometimes you have to draw some lines in the sand. Just make sure they’re straight, true, and deep.
TRex is upstairs!
I still am not sure what WE can do to help the course of NARAL if Nancy Keenan and the Board of Directors will not honestly and forthrightly answer questions.
We can’t MAKE them answer our questions, can we? We can’t MAKE Ms. Keenan answer Bob’s phone call, can we?
It’s up to her / them to answer questions asked in good faith by supporters.
However, after a certain period of time, I suppose “no answer” is an answer, isn’t it?
johnSwifty @ 138
Ok, my bad on the straight part…true and deep is plenty good :)
Mrs. K8 @ 140
true.
Look, we have a mad president on our hands, WWIII starting up in the ME, rigged voting machines, a domestic spy network that feels hard done by that they can’t tap into our brains at will and a large number of internment camps just waiting for residents. I submit that we really, really have enough on our plate. Women’s freedom to choose is one small aspect. I do not see that I have a duty here other than to let as many people as I can know that NARAL supported Joe Lieberman and the reasons she gave were inadequate and dishonest.
As to blogs and NARAL having some Grand Destiny to work together, WTF? If so, there are thousands upon thousands of us, we do what we do, and one of MS Keenan. Presumably she does what NARAL wants, after all, they chose her ‘from a field of over 300′, they pay her salary and they do her performance reviews.
If Ms Keenan is having a problem with conflicts of conscience or is using her position for personal gain rather than promoting the aims of of the organization which hires her to run it, I think perhaps its members might want to have a dialogue with her. NARAL does, after all, have a blog.
If Mr Brigham is concerned for his friend and mentor, perhaps he should communicate with her directly. I believe that he is a persistent man and I wish him well. Again, NARALhas a blog where this might usefully be discussed.
And Ms Keenan, I hope the thousands of FireDog hours that have been spent on this project of Mr. Brigham’s this evening are not wasted.
Bob Brigham @
93
And furthermore,
1.) We are fighting for choice. We are identifying and electing pro-choice candidates at every level of government nation-wide. In case you hadn’t noticed. BTW, NARAL should be doing this, pro-choice advocacy is after all their stated and *only* activity; NARAL US has given no satisfactory explanation for this.
2.) You are are not ‘catching crap’. Everyone here is being incredibly patient with you, I have no idea why. You have no clue what kind of crap you would have caught around here if you’d just popped in with that as a comment instead of being introduced by Miss Jane.
neurophius @ 131
Would it improve the, uh, “modified” lyrics to change the refrain to, “Oh, Lord, Evan Bay-ah?” :)
One last remark: I have been digging around on NARAL’s website and also over at Sourcewatch. Neither mentions NARAL’s donors. In view of the NSTA’s recent refusal to accept 50,000 copies of An Inconvenient Truth as it might compromise fundraising (eg, Exxon), I would like to know who NARAL’s national donors are.
Just checked Charitywatch, American Institute of Philanthropists – NARAL Pro-choice did not respond to their questionaire.
HotFlash @ 145
As I’ve suggested in the distant past, I would bet that many of them are also significant contributors to Joe Lieberman’s campaigns. The influence of money spreads out in more than just one direction….
Still no info on donors, but NARAL has a low efficienty rating compared to peers according to Charity Navigator.
I don’t think these folks need a minute of our time past warning people off them.
HotFlash @
147
That’s a great link.
Perhaps Ms. Keenan would be happier at Catholics for a Free Choice. The salary’s about the same but they have a 4 star rating.
THANK YOU! to HotFlash, Rev Deb, OK Kiddo, Mrs. K8, and others I may have missed. Well said Ladies! And thanks to the men here do who get it.
Keenan has to go. Period. No ifs, ands, or buts. She’s failed at her current important position. Buh Bye.
NARAL itself is off point, off base, off mission, off policy, and off their rockers. They put themselves into this unfortunate mess and completely ignored our valid concerns. They need to be reaching out to the blogs and to every single woman in America to repair the huge damage, not the other way around as insinuated.
Anybody still here? I was looking at the Charity Navigator site and don’t quite understand what they are saying about Nancy Keenan’s salary. Does it say she gets 58k from NARAL and another 121K from ‘affiliates”, who would be, well, who? Any NARAL members out there know? Shez?
HotFlash @ 150
My first guess on that would be that the state chapters are required to kick in for her salary, and separately for the national’s operating expenses….
Hmm.. yeah, seems reasonable. Unions and stuff work like that, although the second $ person seems to be all national-paid.
That’s on NARAL’s website, too, under Meet our New Pres. That mean that they’ve brainwashed Alito and one of these days somebody’s going to say ‘Rosebud” to him and he comes over all liberal?
I was one of those who wrote to Nancy Keenan asking her to explain her–and NARAL’s–position. She never bothered to respond to my request. I also placed many phone calls to her, still nary a response.
Bob, you many want the blogs and NARAL to form a coalition, but I don’t see any cooperation whatsoever from Keenan or NARAL. NARAL carries out major campaigns, asking for money for their cause, and then keep the money, doing very little about their cause. This is not only troubling, but inexcusable.
My concern is now with trying to put a bit of money aside every month so I can help women afford abortions.
I’m not interested in Ms. Keenan, and she’s not interested in women of child-bearing age, evidently.
I’m glad she was inspirational years ago. But her job is to help women. She’s not doing it.
Bob, are you kidding? Seriously! You only wrote this entry for an intended audience of one? If that’s the case, try emailing Keenan.
I’m amazed. The guest blogger posted nothing of substance through this entire thread and merely repeated tepid cheerleading talking points ad naseum. To what end? Hardly something to get Keenan to rethink her position, as if she would even be reading this in the first place.
NARAL clearly needs a revolution from within. How that can happen, I don’t know. I suspect that those who have compromised its mission are firmly entrenched.
Not to make excuses for Keenan, but it may be that her strategic thinking has its roots in the years 2000-2005, when Democrats were getting their ass kicked every which way and had almost no power in Congress. In that political environment, having an ally in a moderate Republican like Lincoln Chaffee probably seemed like a pretty good thing. At least he voted the right way on abortion issues most of the time.
But then Howard Dean came along and shook up the Democratic establishment and lit a spark under the progressive movement, and now we have a whole new political dynamic to work with. Maybe Keenan has been slow to adjust to the fact that Democrats now control the Congress, and we no longer have to make nice with the wimpy ass moderate Republicans.
If the Intended Audience of One stops by to read through this, she might also want to find the link on the right side up above for the category “Pro-Choice” and read through some of the other threads here at FDL about NARAL, NARAL-CT, “short ride Joe,” and the Alito hearings.
Just a suggestion, to bring her up to speed. Obviously, that’s something that’s desperately needed.
yoo- hoo, Nancy and Naral!
Are you there?
well, g’nite– hope to hear from you real soon not for a donation plea, but with an explanation!
What a strange post!
It reeks of Concern Troll, offers no insight nor solutions, is danced around by Lakers like an elephant that may or may not be dead.
I say off with her head.
What Digby said.
Coming very late here. But the post seemed to assume that NARAL doesn’t know what it is doing. To think that, you have to assume that the people who run it are simply too stupid to know that they are doing. Therefore, your simply pointing it out will certainly show them!
They are not dumb people they have simply sold out and the sooner you recognize that and write them off the more effective you’ll be.
A pro choice organization having a Catholic who believes the church’s policy on abortion run NARAL is bizaar in the extreme. A believing Quaker as secratary of Defense?
You are not going to convince the board of NARAL with sweet reason, the only way is to take their money from them and force the current crop of leaders out.
Thanks, Mr. Brigham, for reminding folks of Nancy Keenan’s progressive roots here in Montana. She has truly fought the good fight. As others have noted, it comes down to trust. Nancy has earned your (and my) trust in the past, so we want to give her the benefit of the doubt. But we need some communication from NARAL to try to understand these mis-steps of late. As a scientist, I especially abhor acceptance of non-science like the “Fetal pain bill”. I hope Ms. Keenan and NARAL will reach out to those who should be their strongest supporters. Thank you, Bob, for your efforts to bring that about.
Bob, Thanks for contributing, but I’m not interested in building any bridges where Keenan is on the other side. I want her gone. I cut off funding to NARAL during the Alito betrayal. No doubt, Keenan has had an impressive career, but right now she is in the wrong place at the wrong time. She is a serious danger to the choice movement.
“I agree with you, one act does not make a lifetime of good works go away.”
But it’s NOT one act. It’s a whole series of acts, from not speaking out about Alito and Roberts, to supporting Lieberman, and now this cave-in on the bullshit “fetal pain”.
I had the same experience as Bob. I grew up in Montana too and Nancy Keenan was my mentor as well. She took a lot of young people under her wing and taught us how to be strategic and fight for your values effectively.
That’s why it is so difficult for me, and Bob, to watch the choices she has made at NARAL. It goes against everything she ever taught us.
I have not been in communication with her since right after she took the job with NARAL — which is something I should probably change.
I do know that the problems with NARAL run deep. I have a good friend who was on the board of NARAL right before Keenan was hired. She said is was the most disfunctional and most gutless board she had ever been on. She only lasted six months before resigned from the board in frustration and disgust.
Her conclusion at the time was that if we want to revive NARAL into an effective organization, it needs a completely new board. When Keenan was hired, I told my friend that I was confident Keenan would clean house at NARAL and fix the organization. She told me she didn’t think that was possible with the existing board.
Maybe my friend was right, or maybe Keenan is part of the problem as well. I can’t say how many of the bad decisions are being made by Keenan and how many are being forced by the board. All I know is that the decisions that Keenan has made in this position go completely against her type.
My suggestion to anyone who wants to communicate with NARAL is to write the board in addition to Keenan.
“A pro choice organization having a Catholic who believes the church’s policy on abortion run NARAL is bizaar in the extreme.”
If I were pro-life and thought that abortion was equivalent to murder and believed in a “silent holocaust” then instead of bombing a clinic or shooting a doctor I might choose a different tactic. I just might decide to infiltrate and subvert a pro-choice organization from the inside or else found one on vaguely worded principles and then work to undermine abortion rights. That seems to me to be at least one explanation for NARAL’s behavior.
For a right that thinks nothing of using the government to spy on a handful of Quakers I think this would be a no brainer.
I do know one thing, Nancy Keenan is 100% Pro-Choice. She is most definitely not an anti-choice Catholic trying to destroy NARAL.
Whether she is making bad choices as the organization’s leader is a different story.
Her quote from when she was running for office is exactly the position that candidates running in conservative places were told to say. And it is a CHOICE position, i.e. abortion would not be her choice for herself as a Catholic, but she will protect the rights on others to make their own choice.
That’s why our side has worked to frame the debate as choice instead of abortion rights. Because talking about it in that way draws more supporters for upholding abortion rights.
Should she have said “I support abortion on demand” the way the right likes to talk about it?
If anyone is wavering on the question of whether to try to drag NARAL along for the ride or leave it by the wayside as dead weight (or worse), I can tell you as someone who has been on the inside: Dump it. The people here who are big-time negative on NARAL are pretty spot-on.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 3
That’s an idiotic and non-productive comment, not to mention a ridiculous strawman.
First, from the anti-choice side, if you genuinely believe that abortion is murder, because every fetus has a soul, then of course you have business injecting yourself into the debate. It would be immoral not to. This is elementary; frankly I believe that anyone incapable of processing this hypothetical is an irrational idealogue.
On the pro-choice side, if a man really believes that it’s a woman’s body to do with as she believes, then he ought to defend the civil and human rights of the women he loves, and women in general.