Merged Brownback cries about teen tweet

[Brainster]

I see that she lied in her tweet:

During a Kansas Youth in Government field trip to the state Capitol on November 21, Sullivan wrote: "Just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot."

The Shawnee Mission East senior said she did not actually talk to Brownback, and the post referenced a joke she had with a student on the trip.

Seems to me that her twitter followers are owed the apology.

 

[Upchurch]

Also, I don't see how the principal's demand for an apology, in and of itself, is a violation of the student's rights if there was no threatened punishment for not complying.

Well, you could make a case for intimidation, I suppose.

 

[Upchurch]

I see that she lied in her tweet:

Seems to me that her twitter followers are owed the apology.

Because the twitter stream of high school girls are a bastion of journalistic integrity? It was a private joke among her friends.

Seems to me that you are stretching for a way to blame the victim.

 

[cwalner]

I'll write it for her:

Dear Gov. Brownback.
I am so very sorry that you suck.
Yours truly,
Emma

If it were me, I would write as long of a letter as possible explaining in excruciating detail how how Gov Brownback's sucking makes me sorry.

'... and lastly, your combined cuts in education and support of creationism resulting in being taught that evolution is false by a teacher football coach that proves it true by having more in common with chimpanzees than the rest of humanity makes me truly and utterly sorry'

 

[stokes234]

I see that she lied in her tweet:



Seems to me that her twitter followers are owed the apology.

It was quite clearly a joke. Have a word with yourself.

 

[sarge]

Because the twitter stream of high school girls are a bastion of journalistic integrity? It was a private joke among her friends.

Seems to me that you are stretching for a way to blame the victim.

Seems to me that calling her a victim is a bit of a stretch as well.

She made a choice and exercised her right of expression - and learned that while the right is guaranteed, there is no guarantee that exercising the right is without consequence. She acted like a twit (perfectly acceptable), and might exercise better judgment next time - or maybe not (also perfectly acceptable).

No victims in this case. The young tweeter said what she said, an administration official complained, the school principle expressed his opinion. That's all as it should be.

 

[leftysergeant]

I still think that disciplinary action needs to be taken against the principle. At the very minimum, the drooling moron needs a remedial course in civil rights and the constitution.

 

[Joey McGee]

My principal told me he needed to do damage control

Ugh, yeah this man needs a lesson in modern society for sure

 

[Spindrift]

Seems to me that calling her a victim is a bit of a stretch as well.

She made a choice and exercised her right of expression - and learned that while the right is guaranteed, there is no guarantee that exercising the right is without consequence. She acted like a twit (perfectly acceptable), and might exercise better judgment next time - or maybe not (also perfectly acceptable).

No victims in this case. The young tweeter said what she said, an administration official complained, the school principle expressed his opinion. That's all as it should be.

The school principal (Krawitz) tried to punish her by making her write an apology. That's a bit more than expressing his opinion.

Krawitz “laid into me about how this was unacceptable and an embarrassment,” Sullivan told The Wichita Eagle. “He said I had created this huge controversy and everyone was up in arms about it … and now he had to do damage control.”

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politic...en-wont-apologize-to-gov-her-following-soars/

ETA: Here's some irony:

The spat has made Emma Sullivan a twitter star. She’s received an overwhelming amount of support, says sister Olivia, and her twitter followers have jumped to 6,221 in the past week, nearly double that of Brownback’s. She had only 60 followers last Monday.

 

[Upchurch]

No victims in this case. The young tweeter said what she said, an administration official complained, the school principle expressed his opinion.

"Potential victim", then. A representative of the state government put pressure on the school to compel this girl to apologize. If she had not stood up for herself, she would, indeed, have been a victim of First Amendment violation.

The key component that makes this a Freedom Of Speech issue, imho, is that it was a government official who attempted to control the speech of a US citizen. How does that not make her a victim? Or potential victim?

eta: and back to Brainster's post, what does it matter if she lied or not? Does that, in any way, detract from the severity of Brownback attempted to do in response? Does that mean that Brownback is any less responsible for his actions (or the actions of his staff, as the case may be)?

 

[Ladewig]

I still think that disciplinary action needs to be taken against the principle. At the very minimum, the drooling moron needs a remedial course in civil rights and the constitution.

When calling someone a drooling moron, it is best not to misspell words.

[ Mnemonic: The prinicpal is your pal. ]

The exception, of course, is deliberately misspelled words.

Disclaimer: I am merely pointing out the irony. I am not trying to be the spelling Gazpacho. <--thusly. <--and that too

 

[Travis]

The bigger story here is that this has brought out in the open that we actually have a governor named Brownback. Which, to me, sounds like some sort of kinky sex act you'd look up at the urban dictionary.

In fact if you do a search there for the term you get these three gems:

Brownback

A governor of a state who soils himself like a baby pandering to teabaggers.

When a person smears fecal matter all over another person's back for sexual enjoyment. Named for Kansas Governor Sam Brownback who cut all funding for the arts in his state

A teabagging legislator who is covered in santorum
​

 

[eeyore1954]

The bigger story here is that this has brought out in the open that we actually have a governor named Brownback. Which, to me, sounds like some sort of kinky sex act you'd look up at the urban dictionary.

In fact if you do a search there for the term you get these three gems:

Brownback

A governor of a state who soils himself like a baby pandering to teabaggers.

When a person smears fecal matter all over another person's back for sexual enjoyment. Named for Kansas Governor Sam Brownback who cut all funding for the arts in his state

A teabagging legislator who is covered in santorum
​

I hope the principal does not see this. You will be apologizing even though you probably graduated in another state and years ago.

 

[Bri]

Brownback apologized to the student in a written statement:

My staff over-reacted to this tweet and for that I apologize. Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms.​

-Bri

 

[Travis]

Sherienne Jones-Sontag is in trouble now. Way to get overzealous with your job.

 

[hgc]

Brownback apologized to the student in a written statement:

My staff over-reacted to this tweet and for that I apologize. Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms.​

-Bri

Noted and appreciated. It's the right thing to do.

 

[tyr_13]

Noted and appreciated. It's the right thing to do.

Indeed. Let's hope this thing gets let go with equal grace.

 

[Brainster]

Because the twitter stream of high school girls are a bastion of journalistic integrity? It was a private joke among her friends.

According to the article, "the post referenced a joke she had with a student on the trip."

Not "friends" but a single student. According to others here she had 60 followers, so arguably she lied to only 59 of them.

I wouldn't see anything wrong with it if she had said mean comments "at" the governor. That's free speech and she's apparently 18 so there's no issue of embarrassing adults responsible for her behavior. But lying is lying, whether it's on a tweet or an email or a blog post.

Seems to me that you are stretching for a way to blame the victim.

LOL! So now she's the "victim"? Victim of what?

 

[thaiboxerken]

Noted and appreciated. It's the right thing to do.

I have to wonder if he would have apologized if the press did not get a hold of this story. Either way, I don't see this as a big deal. Brownback has already proven himself an idiot in other aspects.

 

[tyr_13]

According to the article, "the post referenced a joke she had with a student on the trip."

Not "friends" but a single student. According to others here she had 60 followers, so arguably she lied to only 59 of them.

I wouldn't see anything wrong with it if she had said mean comments "at" the governor. That's free speech and she's apparently 18 so there's no issue of embarrassing adults responsible for her behavior. But lying is lying, whether it's on a tweet or an email or a blog post.


LOL! So now she's the "victim"? Victim of what?

That is, of course, unless the joke is that she didn't actually do that.

Yes, people lie when joking. It's perfectly acceptable to do so as long as people understand that you aren't be literal.