Teen defends tweet to governor of Kansas

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http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/kan ... 18154.html

What are your thoughts on this?

Whatever happened to Freedom of Speech? I think it's safe to say this is Brownback's last term as Governor of Kansas.

I saw this story earlier today....WOW, are we living in 1984 or what? WHY does it matter WHAT some teenager tweeted? It wasn't a threat of ANY kind & obviously just her opinion. But the thought police are out there, monitoring all social media (at least in Kansas...so ya' better watch-out, Toto!)

I think the governor was kinda reasonable. Regardless of her opinion on him, he's still the governor, and being the governor you're granted respect by society. As far as "scouring social media sites" that's not the issue, she posted directly to the governor's page, and as such, she gets to take the rap for her comments. The governor notifying the school is a bit weird I guess, but still. She seems completely rude and disrespectful, like most kids of my generation, and as such, I don't have sympathy for her.

From what I heard, she was upset about the state cutting public funding for the arts. On the other hand, most of the rest of the country is cutting at least some non-essential funding.

I think Gov. Brownback's reason for going on the social media sites is to see what people think of him, so that he can assess state policies to see which issues are more important, not to stifle dissent. He himself said, when he admitted that his staff overreacted, that freedom of speech is one of the most treasured freedoms.

I think the issue was with the disrespctful and unprofessional nature of Emma Sullivan's tweet.

The Freedom of Speech Clause in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution says nothing about being respectful or professional.

All the governor did was use her public info she posted up using her free speech, then the governor used his free speech to tell her school that he didn't like it. Then the school, embarrassed by her actions, told her to write an apology letter. I mean, the governor does seem pretty thin skinned, but still.

Then by that rationale, the school should be sued for violating her civil rights.

She was exercising a given right, not abusing it. They don't need to be constantly scanning social media on the Governor to know that not everyone agrees with what he says. All she said was "you suck."

I think Emma needs to give Brokeback (pardon me, Bareback -- I mean, Brownback, rather) this cake as an apology:

How can the truth be "disrespectful"? She has a right to her own opinion, whether the Governor or his staff agree or not.

I support the teenager. She has a right to complain and say what he wants, without being harassed for it by scumbags.

The real villain is the staffer, who clearly has issues with kids and enjoys legally bullying them. I have no doubt his career as a staffer will be over soon, and by this time next year he'll be making kids miserable in some other position (like a high school vice-principal, or maybe a guard at a prison for teens).

I've noticed one trait that makes people like them easy to spot when they post online: they can't help capitalizing every use and citation of THE LAW and using it as a weapon to beat people up. These are the same people who'll argue with a perfectly straight face that military-grade cayenne pepper spray is a food product, and say that people sprayed with it should thank their overlords for giving them a free lunch.

I assume the governor never heard the phrase "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me" before?

I was focusing on the replies on Yahoo. They were mostly things like "Woo-Hoo, a Republican got trashed!", rather than about the incident itself.

How can someone respect a child-like imbecile such as Brownback? He is not granted anything but a position of power. Respect is earned. And he hasn't earned anything yet. And I will say this:

Governor Brownback has such low self-esteem that he is frightened of what some teenage girl has to say about him. Instead of doing his job or turning it into a learning experience by asking why the girl thought this about him, he decided to throw a hissy fit like the crybaby he really is. Brownback needs to grow up.

That teenager has every right to tweet what she tweeted. She has every right to say what she wants to say without having to apologize. That's called freedom of speech. And shame on the school for forcing her to apologize.

I take protecting the 1st amendment rights over protecting the ego of a man-child.