Abraham Lincoln, in a speech he once made, predicted that if America would ever fall, it would be from an enemy within. What he actually said was, “ … if (peril) ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher,” but you still get the idea.

That quote is all I have thought of this week as the much-beloved “Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure” Foundation has come dangerously close to committing a shameful suicide. Of all the fundraising arms in the United States, the Susan G. Komen was the one I thought was pure and good and true but a snake, slithering in the form of the very political wrangle that much of America has come to scorn, has still severely damaged all that the pink ribbon has meant to me.

Susan Goodman, after she was married to a guy named Komen, died tragically of breast cancer in 1980 and her younger sister, Nancy Goodman Brinker, founded the organization two years later to do more for the half-million women in the world who die from insidious disease every year. Two years ago they raised $400 million in revenues, the great majority coming from donations like yours and mine, and have wonderfully fulfilled a dream that has surely gilded Susan’s angel wings in gold.

But Mrs. Brinker, who became the CEO in 2009, and her zany board of directors somehow allowed the hot potato of abortion – which we all know has absolutely zero to do with breast cancer - to get tangled up in the foundation’s goal of getting breast exams and diagnostic to as many American women as possible. Better put, among the organizations that receive grants from the Komen is Planned Parenthood, a pro-abortion group that reportedly received $700,000 in 2011.Planned Parenthood is currently being investigated on allegations they have used government monies for abortion and the pro-life crowd, fueled by misguided Bible thumpers and the keening political right, apparently weaseled its way into the pristine Komen camp and stoutly “reminded” its board that Komen didn’t give grants to groups “currently under investigation.” The result was that earlier this week Komen suspended giving to Planned Parenthood and the uproar was so huge, mean-spirited and vicious that by yesterday Komen completely reversed its field, said they were sorry, and – with the professional “spin doctors” heavily in tow – fed us all sorts of other baloney that was hard to chew and even worse to swallow.

In short, the Susan G. Komen Run For The Cure now sports a huge black eye as thousands upon thousands of females continue to struggle and suffer from breast cancer. By allowing the political snake in the garden, where 35 daffy Democratic Senators even wrote letters, one of America’s greatest fundraising efforts has terribly diluted itself. Whether or not you support abortion has nothing to do with the fact your kid sister has breast cancer but, very stupidly, the long-lasting effects of the colossal blunder will be painfully felt this summer all across America when we walk or run in the hopes that top researchers, early diagnostics, and a loving public will speed us towards a permanent cure of the catastrophic disease. Actually, the whole rhubarb would be small if it weren’t for the constant and loathsome way the liberals and conservatives alike are using any controversy they can find to gain footing in the slime of the political arena. Both crowds will stop at nothing and the Susan G. Komen Foundation is a perfect platform for either to cry havoc because, heretofore, The Race for the Cure had so wonderfully captured the public’s trust and admiration.

The most troubling aspect of the issue is that the Christian Right has been targeting Komen in a relentless way for a couple of years, its blatant hatred of abortion and the Planned Parenthood endeavor is far greater than its concern for a few women with breast cancer. What? Say that again! Christians hate abortion worse than breast cancer? You bet. That’s why they are trying to ruin the Komen Foundation.Call me a liar on that one and we’ll go to Nashville where – right now - a warehouse has thousands of unsellable pink-bound Bibles, all gathering dust because after the publisher revealed Komen would get a portion of proceeds, the zealots in the Christian community immediately branded the pink Bibles as “The Abortion Bible” – simply because Komen had been using Planned Parenthood to get to women it couldn’t contact in any other way. That’s the truth, I’m telling you.

And that’s also the undeniable tragedy. Abortion has nothing to do with breast cancer. Breast cancer has no favorite among pro-lifers or abortion advocates, any more than it has racial or socio-economic ties. It kills 500,000 women every year. All the Susan G. Komen Run For The Cure should be worried about is breast cancer but the enemy, unforeseen and the last you would ever suspect, has now come – very much from within, mind you - to darn near ruin what was once one of America’s favorite and most worthwhile organizations.

I hope everybody involved is real proud of what everybody involved has done because I’m just sick over the whole thing. And the true enemy is us.

royexum@aol.com