November 28, 2011 3:49 PM

Brownback apologizes after Twitter dust-up

By
Lucy Madison
Topics
Domestic Issues
Emma Sullivan

Emma Sullivan

(Credit: Emma Sullivan via Twitter)

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback apologized on Monday for having "over-reacted" to 18-year-old Emma Sullivan, a high school student who had earlier been asked to apologize for making a disparaging remark about the conservative politician over Twitter.

"My staff over-reacted to this tweet and for that I apologize," Brownback said in a written statement, "freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms."

Sullivan, who was present at a Brownback speech for a Youth in Government event, wrote on Twitter last week that she "just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person." (In her Tweet, Sullivan used the hashtag #heblowsalot.)

After she posted the comment, Brownback's office, which monitors Tweets that mention the governor, contacted Youth in Government about the comment. School administrators sided with the governor and asked her to write the governor a letter of apology, Sullivan said, according to the Associated Press.

The high school senior, who has said that the Tweet was a joke and that she did not actually make the comment referenced on her Twitter account, refused to apologize.

"I've decided not to write the letter but I hope this opens the door for average citizens to voice their opinion & to be heard!" she wrote on Twitter Sunday.

The school district denied it tried to curb the teen's right to free speech and said that she didn't have to apologize.

"The district acknowledges a student's right to freedom of speech and expression is constitutionally protected," the Shawnee Mission School District said in a written statement sent to CBS News Political Hotsheet. "The district has not censored Miss Sullivan nor infringed upon her freedom of speech. She is not required to write a letter of apology to the Governor. Whether and to whom any apologies are issued will be left to the individuals involved."

The district added that the issue had resulted in "many teachable moments concerning the use of social media."

Sullivan's Twitter following has grown exponentially since her older sister went to the press with the story of the social media dust-up - she now has more than 10,000 followers - and according to the AP, she thinks the incident has helped to "open up dialogue" about free speech.

"I would do it again," she told the AP.


Add a Comment See all 34 Comments
by GordonBombay November 29, 2011 6:53 AM EST
wow slow down brownback, you keep back pedaling that fast your chain will fall off.
Reply to this comment
by longtree-2009 November 29, 2011 3:49 AM EST
18 y/o. isn't that legally an adult even in kansas? that aside, she broke no laws although she could have used other words to communicate her feelings, her thoughts. there is no rude police, no ethics police, no morals police, no pc police, no policing of anything unless it goes against standing law.
Reply to this comment
by cockroachcrusher November 29, 2011 2:47 AM EST
Republican/Conservative/madhatter Brownback wuz Browbeaten by an 18-year-old. Gotta' love it.
Reply to this comment
by cockroachcrusher November 29, 2011 2:46 AM EST
"My staff over-reacted to this tweet and for that I apologize," Brownback said in a written statement...

Just like a Republican/Conservative/madhatter, the Blame Game. Don't Repub/Cons ever take responsibility for anything (like the economic mess we're in today)?
Reply to this comment
by ddal10 November 29, 2011 2:39 AM EST
Today s Republicans would like nothing more then to silence dissent and to also do away with the Democratic Party.

"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another, We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men - not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular"
- Edward R. Murrow
Reply to this comment
by Truth_Tracker November 28, 2011 10:56 PM EST
What this girl tweeted is vile, despicable, unconscionable, reprehensible, insufferable, dastardly, appalling, dreadful, contemptible, wicked, shameful, loathsome, disgraceful . . . and PROBABLY TRUE.

In fact, the truth of it is what makes it so vile, despicable, unconscionable . . .

Sometimes, like this time, 'civility and decorum' means toning down the rhetoric until the statement is no longer TRUE, is no longer 'visible' and its author no longer agrees with it. With all this lopsided focus on the 'civility and decorum' issue, maybe someone in the media or at CNN could expend a little investigative shoeleather and try to find out WHY this Republican governor sucks so badly that a polite, intelligent high school senior would feel the need to apprise him of this fact which he is obviously unaware of. It's called prioritizing "substance over form."
Reply to this comment
by gadfly65 November 28, 2011 10:08 PM EST
It's okay Sam - your party is determined to tear down the institution of government; they'll get around to throwing away its foundational document eventually.
Reply to this comment
by kansas1946 November 28, 2011 9:03 PM EST
You know what is sad. If this girl had tweeted this about President Obama and it hit the national media like this has, then the Republicans would want to run her for president. Of course, other that the little problem of age which the Republicans would immediately try to get changed in the constitution, she would probably be better that anyone they are looking at. And she would certainly be better that that other media sensation, Joe The Plummer. LOL I know that the idiots her in Kansas will probably re-elect this goofball. Sigh.
Reply to this comment
by notyrants November 28, 2011 7:37 PM EST
Now that the corporate capitalist oligarchs see the economy tanked, the media that is controlled by them is taking a different tack than it would have a few years ago. The changing of public opinion. Most are sheep.
Reply to this comment
by bradoxn November 28, 2011 7:37 PM EST
Too many Governors being TWITTERPATED these days!!!!!
Reply to this comment
See all 34 Comments
.

Follow Political Hotsheet

Scroll Left
Scroll Right More »
CBS News on Facebook
  • Building You a Better Morning

  • CBS This Morning

    "CBS This Morning," anchored by Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Erica Hill, airs weekdays from 7 to 9 a.m. ET and at the same time in other time zones.
    Learn more...