Posted on 11/28/2011 10:54:31 AM PST by ConservativeStatement
A Kansas teen who refused to apologize to Gov. Sam Brownback for an insulting tweet got an apology today from the governor himself for his staff’s “over-reaction.”
An unpleasant tweet by Emma Sullivan, 18, was flagged by Brownback’s staff last week. The teen was told by her principal at Shawnee Mission East High School to apologize, but she refused, and the national brouhaha has led to her Twitter following soar from 60 to more than 6,000.
“My staff over-reacted to this tweet, and for that I apologize. Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms,” Brownback said in a statement.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Not exactly..............
Why? A Dem Gov would have sent the police to visit the “teen”.
I see much cruder posts directed against politicians every day here on FR.
I went by an earlier column I read. This was a headline on Salon: “Teen to Sam Brownback: You suck”
Last week, during a Kansas Youth in Government field trip, Sullivan watched Gov. Sam Brownback speak. Unmoved, she cavalierly tweeted to her roughly 65 followers, “Just made mean comments at gov. brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot.” A teenager tweeting that her governor “sucks” and “blows” – “a lot”? Sounds like grounds for an incident of national proportions!
http://www.salon.com/2011/11/28/teen_to_sam_brownback_you_suck/
And what liberal arts major is this teen planning on failing in?
Oops, forgot, no one fails a liberal arts major.
For what?
You don’t think it’s disturbing?
She’s liberal. She hates the Governor. Told me to go suck it after seeing him in person at a tour of the Topeka capitol. And She is unhappy with him.
Yet Sam Brownback replaced the loser working with Obama. Kathleen Sibelius. Sam is the best Governor of this state in years.
Worse still this female came from my old high school. What a story.
She’s liberal. She hates the Governor. Told him, Gov. Sam Brownback, to go suck it after seeing him in person at a tour of the Topeka capitol. And She is unhappy with him.
Yet Sam Brownback replaced the loser working with Obama. Kathleen Sibelius. Sam is the best Governor of this state in years.
Worse still this female came from my old high school. What a story.
If she had made an actual overt threat, would Brownback’s staff had done the right thing?
If yes, then this was a degree of action, or rather over-reaction.
What would have been disturbing would have been my scenario with a Democrat governor and her rights would have been entirely subverted, and she wouldn’t have been reported as a “teen”.
It’s not disturbing when one understands how Twitter works.
From the article...
“The trouble for Sullivan began last Monday when she tweeted from a youth event at which Brownback gave a speech.
“Just made mean comments at gov. brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot,” she tweeted.
Sullivan neither met Brownback in person, nor did she tell him he sucked. The tweet was spurred by a discussion she was having with a friend, talking about what they would tell Brownback if they were to meet him.
“The tweet was for her audience at the time,” said Olivia Sullivan, 19. “It was a complete joke between her and her friends.”
If she seriously thinks that her comment was for “her audience at the time” she should have skipped the hashtag. When one puts a hashtag on a comment, that goes to everyone who chose to follow that #. I do expect followers to follow and it’s public. Also, ANY Tweet is public if one wants to reference a name. It’s public, all public.
Now if this woman (and I mean woman, she is 18) doesn’t know this, I would suggest she get off Twitter. It’s dangerous for her.
To me, it seems like an overreaction to something a teenager posted on Twitter.
Brownback’s people weren’t following #heblowsalot... they were following his name.
The thing to me that’s hinky is reporting it to the “youth in government” program...or whatever it is.
Nancy Pelosi sucks.
Barney Frank sucks.
Joe Biden sucks.
The entire democRat Party sucks.
Most of the reaction to this story comes from the fact that Brownback is a conservative Republican who is hated by the state media for replacing their beloved leftist Sebelius. The KS papers trash Brownback every day for trying to crack down on Planned Parenthood’s abortion mills, fighting voter fraud, and other conservative moves. He recently proposed eliminating the state income tax, which drove the leftie editors into a foaming frenzy.
Staffers shouldn't have reported a student for saying that he sucked. It hits close to censorship and free speech. Kudos to Brownback for taking the high road.
How many here told politicians they sucked? Granholm sucked. Obama sucks, probably in more ways than one.
>>Brownback’s people weren’t following #heblowsalot... they were following his name.<<
They were following his name.
I’m sure that every person in the public eye has someone doing the same.
And that’s why I’m not really bothered by it. You’re right, the reporting it to “Youth in Government” is the bizarre thing, but we don’t really know the whole context of the string of conversation. “Youth in Government” may have ask the Governors office to report any discontent, as well. This may have been in a whole report full of Tweets.
ABC will NEVER tell us the whole story.
Well, I'm a conservative I thinking Brownback "sucks" too, to quote the twitter teen's tweet. (of course I have different reasons than her but I reached the same conclusion). He supported the McCain/Kennedy amnesty bill and is weak on illegal immigration because he says his "Christian" values tell him to "welcome the stranger", he's soft on crime and opposes capital punishment (guess his "Christian" values tell him that too even though the bible supports the death penalty), and he ran for President patting himself on the back for being Mr. Pro-life leader, then turned around and confirmed one the most rabidly pro-abortion Governors in America to run the Health and Human Services Dept. where she'd be directly controlling abortion policy (and the "he did it to get her out of Kansas excuse" doesn't work since she was term limited and would have been gone anyway). Brownback has been in office too long and lost touch with the average voter. Todd Tiahrt should have probably run against Brownback for Governor instead of seeking his old Senate seat.
Well, I'm a conservative and I think Brownback "sucks" too, to quote the twitter teen's tweet. (of course I have different reasons than her but I reached the same conclusion). He supported the McCain/Kennedy amnesty bill and is weak on illegal immigration because he says his "Christian" values tell him to "welcome the stranger", he's soft on crime and opposes capital punishment (guess his "Christian" values tell him that too even though the bible supports the death penalty), and he ran for President patting himself on the back for being Mr. Pro-life leader, then turned around and confirmed one the most rabidly pro-abortion Governors in America to run the Health and Human Services Dept. where she'd be directly controlling abortion policy (and the "he did it to get her out of Kansas excuse" doesn't work since she was term limited and would have been gone anyway). Brownback has been in office too long and lost touch with the average voter. Todd Tiahrt should have probably run against Brownback for Governor instead of seeking his old Senate seat.
She's right. When one of a governor's toadies can phone a school principal and get them to discipline a student for disrespectin' the Guv, then the Governor has too much power.
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