I am not going to go on at length, here. But I want to say that I was proud to have called Adrienne a friend. She was one of the earliest supporters of both Jewish Voice for Peace and my own work as an analyst and writer on Middle East matters.

Adrienne supported JVP financially, and me personally. Her thinking, her support and her criticism meant a lot to JVP’s and my early growth.

All that is aside from her brilliant work as a feminist and political thinker.

She was a woman of bravery, frankness, grace and warmth. I am a better person for having known her, and feel privileged to have not only read her work but to have called her a friend. She will be missed.

I know this week I’ve stepped a bit outside of my usual space, and there is much to say about what is going on right now with Israel, Iran, Palestine, the US, the neoconservatives, and all the other cheery subjects I usually write about.

Well, I’ll be taking a couple of days off to enjoy the weekend and hopefully watch my beloved New York Giants pound the  stuffing out of the New England Patriots this Sunday. And then, I’ll be back to Middle East writing. Unless something just grabs my attention again.

That was an example of one way media distortion happens. Today, we saw another, this time from the left side of the political spectrum.

Nancy Brinker, founder of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation

As I’m sure everyone out there is aware, the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Foundation had passed new regulations governing its grant process that would have ended its funding for Planned Parenthood. The ensuing outcry made them reverse their decision.

A great victory right? Well, yes, it was, but you would not know it if you read this Huffington Post article by Laura Basset. The headline reads: “Susan G. Komen Reverses Planned Parenthood Decision, Does Not Promise To Renew Grants.”

Sounds like not much of a victory at all, right? It certainly led some friends of mine to question the big win, and it led The Daily Kos to just about toss the whole thing out the window and call it a defeat.

Nonsense. This was every bit the victory it seems to be.

The issue for the HuffPo and Kos (really Greg Sargent at the Washington Post, whose article was mostly just echoed at Kos), is that there is no guarantee that Planned Parenthood will get its funding renewed at the next funding cycle.

Well, yeah. There isn’t. Guess what? There wasn’t such a guarantee before.

Grants are made, renewed, discontinued for all sorts of reasons. No grant is simply assumed to be renewed. If a foundation commits in writing to funding a program or organization till the end of time, fine. Otherwise, everyone has to go through the renewal process.

Sometimes there are political reasons that a foundation does not renew a grant. More often, there is simply a decision to use the limited resources at hand elsewhere, perhaps to start up a new organization or help one that is in more dire need than the one it had been funding.

That’s all there is here. That’s all there ever was. The status quo ante has been restored which is all Planned Parenthood ever wanted.

I don’t know if this is simply an example of lazy reporting by Basset and Sargent or if one or both of them wanted to make sure people didn’t get complacent about this issue. But in either case, they are misinforming their readers.

Planned Parenthood is under ongoing siege. Anti-choice members of Congress are leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to find an excuse to cut off federal funding for PP. And foundations like Komen may receive lots of money from people and organizations that are pro-choice, but they receive funding from anti-choice people too (being against abortion but wishing to support breast cancer research are obviously not mutually exclusive).

So, Komen, like every other (with a handful of exceptions) foundation and non-profit organization wants to keep getting funded from as broad a base that supports its mission as it can. And that means the politics over this are going to continue, both inside and outside of Komen.

I can’t say I’m too upset if the shaded reporting on this motivates people to stay alert and on their guard about funding for Planned Parenthood and the protection of a woman’s right to decide what happens with her own body.

Nonetheless, I think that can be accomplished without misleading readers and distorting the actual events. Komen completely reversed itself here. They went back to where they had been, and expecting them to promise to renew Planned Parenthood’s grants in perpetuity, or even for the next cycle, outside of whatever approval process the

Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood

foundation has is simply ridiculous.

That’s why it was really a great victory. As Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood said: “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 are proud to be a leading source for women seeking preventive care.”

Richards has been around the block, both in politics and the non-profit world, a few times. She is not being fooled by an insincere apology meant to save the face of the Komen Foundation. She is also aware that the long term battle to keep, and hopefully expand, Planned Parenthood’s funding is far from over, and that this was nothing more than a defensive victory.

But a victory it was. Basset and Sargent need to recognize that, and certainly need to avoid misleading their readers about that important fact. Motivate them to redouble their efforts, which must indeed happen, in a more helpful way, please.

For a more reality-based report that addresses the serious questions that remain about Komen and its ongoing relationship with Planned Parenthood, check out this piece from Think Progress.

I just received an e-mail news alert from the Washington Post. The headline reads: “News Alert: U.S. deficit to top $1 trillion for 4th year in a row.”

Sounds like that bungling president is not handling our economy very well, doesn’t it?

But then, I read the story.

It starts off by echoing the headline, but then comes to the relevant facts:

The federal budget deficit will top $1 trillion for a fourth straight year, congressional budget analysts said Tuesday in a report that predicts a nearly $1.1 trillion gap between government spending and tax collections for 2012.

That figure is the smallest – both in nominal terms and as a percentage of the economy – since the Great Recession began taking a heavy toll on the federal budget in 2009.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected that the deficit would continue to fall, dropping sharply in 2013 and throughout the remainder of the decade if policymakers follow through with major changes in both tax policy and government spending now on the books.

So, actually, Obama has been reducing the deficit despite the need for a massive amount of funds to bail out the many “too big to fail” financial institutions and for job creation. But to discover that rather pertinent fact, one has to read past both the headline and the first paragraph, something most readers don’t do.

The Washington Post has been steadily moving to the right for years, so this comes as no surprise. But as an object lesson in how mainstream media manages to report the facts, without lying, while at the same time completely misinforming its readers, I don’t think you’d find a starker example.

UPDATE: Turns out, the Post actually changed the lede in the article. It was reported on at the bsom blog here.

But I don’t forget the origin of this holiday, or any other I may share in, from a variety of sources. And we do well to remember it collectively. It’s not as if the United States is the only country in the world that would not have what it does without a horrifying history of brutality, cruelty and murder. Most nation-states can say the same. Still, too often we do seem to forget it, perhaps because the people we wiped out are so completely invisible to almost all of us almost all of the time.

Rev. Will McGarvey, a friend and colleague and man of deep conscience posted this picture on his Facebook page. I think it’s worth spreading around on Thanksgiving.

If you want to see the President of the United States take a stand for a just Israeli-Palestinian peace and (not for nothing) long-stated American

Emily L. Hauser

policy goals — let him know.

Make a phone call – the White House phone number is: 202-456-1111 (And if you’re Jewish or Israeli-American, make sure you mention it). Send an email – the White House contact pageis here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact (you’ll find a sample email after the jump).

And yes — I want you to do both.

But more importantly, it’s possible that the President does, too.

To quote Auden: “All I have is a voice/to undo the folded lie.” It’s time to use your voice.

**************************

Sample email to the White House (but this is just to give you ideas. Your own words are always best!):

Dear President Obama,

I’m an American Jew/Israeli-American Jew/American for whom Israel’s future and well-being are very important. As change sweeps across the Middle East, I deeply and sincerely hope that you are planning on addressing the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I honestly believe that the only way that you can serve American, Israeli, and Palestinian interests is to make a real break with the past, and take leadership in presenting an American peace plan. Not only do the Israeli and Palestinian peoples deserve an end to bloodshed and real security, but I think that American interests throughout the Middle East demand that the US act to mediate a final peace agreement. Please use the opportunity of your upcoming speech and your appearance before AIPAC to do what’s best for Israelis, Palestinians, and Americans.

Sincerely,

Name, etc, etc.