Brownback apologizes for overreacting to student’s tweet

[LeighAnn]

Source: LJ World (Lawrence, Kansas)

Gov. Sam Brownback on Monday issued an apology, saying his staff over-reacted to a disparaging tweet about him written by a high school student.

Last week, Brownback's staff, which monitors social media, saw a tweet by 18-year-old Shawnee Mission East senior Emma Sullivan, who wrote an insulting tweet about the governor while she attended a speech by Brownback at the Youth in Government program in Topeka.

<snip>

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

"I enjoyed speaking to the more than 100 students who participated in the Youth in Government Program at the Kansas Capitol. They are our future.



Read more: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/nov/28/brownback-apologies-over-reacting-students-tweet/

[Enrique]

1. not enough

he has to acknowledge that he sucks. :-)

[ClassWarrior]

2. They're YOUR future, Brownbottom.

NGU.

[msongs]

3. since when are truth and insulting synonyms? nt

[ashling]

7. What are you talking about?

I don't see anything in the original post, the article, or the other posts that mention anything about truth.

[Demeter]

32. Had someone try that same meme on me recently

Gonna see that he gets unelected...fundie whacko that he is.

[bluestateguy]

4. One has to ask why he has a full cadre of paid staffers wasting taxpayer money on this

nt

[LeighAnn]

8. I suspect this has a lot to do with the apology

http://twitter.com/#!/search/realtime/heblowsalot

A new one comes in every couple of seconds

[RKP5637]

5. If it hadn't made national headlines IMO he wouldn't done a damn thing. Public

opinion forced this out of him, nothing else IMO.

[_eh]

6. Too late, Sam!

Your name's already down the toilet.

[rocktivity]

9. CUE THE VONAGE THEME!

And you can bet it wouldn't have happened if the student hadn't announced she had changed her mind about apologizing. Which is fine by me because it isn't as though she actually stood up in the middle of Brownback's speech to her class and said what she'd tweeted. Besides, I think she pretty much JUST PROVED that he's an asshole!

DON'T BACK DOWN! AGGRESSIVE PROGRESSIVISM WORKS!!!

:woohoo:
rocktivity

[tpsbmam]

10. Mwwwaaaahhhhaaaa.....LOVE the turn of events....the one doing the apologizing is Brownback, not Emma

Delicious!

:evilgrin:

[Me.]

11. 1st Amendment Anyone?

[MayHamm]

12. Did Gov B also say his staff would stop monitoring Tweets?

There lies the problem. Because this whole thing stinks.

[LeighAnn]

35. They don't have time anymore

I've finally seen the exception to "No such thing as bad publicity"

[tcaudilllg]

13. This is dictator talk.

[TlalocW]

14. The student's official response to Brownback's apology should be

"Okay. Just don't let it happen again, Sammy."

TlalocW

[LadyHawkAZ]

15. This gave me my smile of the day

I'm glad the proper person had to apologize.

[99th_Monkey]

16. So Brownback's STAFF suck too!! nt

[Warren Stupidity]

17. Emma Sullivan should graciously accept this apology

and apologize in turn for any pain her comments to her friends may have caused the governor, while expressing hope that a dialog about the first amendment rights of real people, not corporations, might develop from this unfortunate incident.

[tularetom]

18. Well, it's better than the standard non apology apology

"I'm sorry if anyone was offended...", but he still isn't really taking responsibility.

"My staff over reacted"? C'mon. How about "I failed to properly supervise my staff and consequently they spent their time monitoring tweets instead of working to improve the lives of the citizens of this state. I'll try to do better in the future".

[russspeakeasy]

20. Mr. B. is not required to apologize, or even recognize the

teenagers existence. He is after all an elected politician.

[kestrel91316]

19. Too little, too late. YOU SUCK, Brownback.

[JNelson6563]

21. Ah, so it was Brownback's brown-shirts. Got it.

No surprise here an asshole like Brownback would have a staff of fellow assholes.

Julie

[JJW]

22. He sucks and is a war criminal

He should be tried at the Hague from crimes against humanity in his support of Bush & Cheney war crimes, secret prisons of torture, etc. How the "h" did he become governor? Is something seriously amiss in Kansas?

[Richardo]

23. Kansas governor apologizes for 'overreaction' to teen's disparaging tweet

Source: cnn.com

CNN) -- Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback apologized Monday for what he called his staff's "overreaction" to a disparaging tweet directed at him by a high school senior during a state Capitol visit.

Emma Sullivan, 18, said late Sunday that a Brownback staffer had notified her school's principal about the tweet, and the principal told her she had to write an apology to the governor. On Monday -- the deadline for the letter, according to the teen -- the Shawnee Mission School District issued a statement stating that "she is not required to write a letter of apology to the governor."



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/28/us/kansas-high-schooler-tweet/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

---

Baaahahahahahaha!!! :rofl:

WTG, Emma :patriot: :party: :applause:

...and now that putz principal is hung out to dry. :thumbsup:

[dtexdem]

24. And has the school principal apologized?

jus askin

[Richardo]

25. Looks like Brownback left Principal Karl Krawitz hanging out to dry...

[ChairmanAgnostic]

26. Brownback's seriously misnamed.

Gov. ThinSkin is much more appropriate.

[tblue37]

30. Gov. Brownshirt. nt

[ChairmanAgnostic]

34. that, too

[Bozita]

27. Every student in that school is gonna be laughing at that principal. Humiliation at its best!

Might be a good time to return to coaching.

[JJW]

28. Brownback sucks and should be tried

for crimes against humanity. He claims he is a religious man but refused to stand against war crimes committed by Bush & Cheney. Crimes of illegal wars of aggression, and secret prisons of torture.

We need to know what is wrong with Kansas in electing this criminal to be their Governor?

[Dont call me Shirley]

29. Brownnose is doing some backpedaling while flogging himself for the fauxpas.

[SME parent]

41. Sullivan and her high school principal

Emma Sullivan's right to free speech is worth protecting. However, her choice of venue to tweet her opinion is questionable: she was on a school sponsored trip and made up a story to impress her friends, tweets it and, assuming the KS governor's office has media alerts whenever his name appears, Sullivan gets caught up in the quagmire. On a personal level, she can say or tweet what she wants. As a representative of her school on a youth for government trip, she made a poor impression. It wasn't the brightest decision on Ms. Sullivan's part, and the governor's office only made it more ridiculous.
We know teens are not always nice, and the Shawnee Mission school district has rules (as do most school districts in the US)- there is zero tolerance in the school district for fighting, bullying, demeaning or insulting language that hurts other students' feelings. It's difficult at times to maintain a good learning environment - but Dr. Krawitz does a great job. He's helped our community deal with a myriad of issues. Classmates are murdered, die from accidental deaths, and we've had protests against one of our students by the Westboro Baptist Church. And Dr. K is always there to support the students, faculty, parents and the community at large.
Before calling someone a putz, consider whether you have fully researched the issue. Or are you simply going off of sound bites from the news wire? (Rhetorical question - but you knew that).

[Demeter]

31. Eat It, Brownback

pretend it's chocolate pudding.

[beac]

33. "I'm very sorry that...

a lot more people than before now know that I blow a lot."

[sarcasmo]

36. Little late for that #2

It's easier to type #2 than Brownback.

[guitar man]

37. Awesome!!!

That's what happens when you stand up to a bully. Way to go!!!

:applause: :applause: :applause:

[riderinthestorm]

38. I hope Emma Sullivan feels about 10 feet tall, and very, very proud of herself

I'm proud of her. She knew in her heart that she was right, and she stood up for the truth.

Brownback is exposed as the petty thug we all knew he was. Doesn't get any better than this.

[_eh]

39. Coming soon to a theater near you...

Brownback Mountain, in which the people of Kansas scream at their governor, "WE WISH YOU WOULD QUIT US!"

:evilgrin:

[totodeinhere]

40. He only apologized because of the uproar that this caused. I doubt very seriously

if his so-called apology was heart felt.

[mulsh]

42. cute, he takes it back. what are we, in grammar school?

Actions have consequences, like what he and his minions pulled. no matter how hard he tries he can't take back the fact that "heblowsalot" Thanks for confirming this in spades Gov. Brownstain.

[Quantess]

43. Good move!

[freshwest]

44. How about apologizing for using the data base of every state agency to protect his own ego?