Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? What on earth possessed the Kansas governor, a Republican, to make an issue out of a high-school girl’s post on Twitter?
Emma Sullivan, a high school senior, tweeted “Just made mean comments at gov. brownback and told him he sucked, in person” after listening to the Republican governor speak.
She did not actually make any comments to him – but after his office received word of the tweet, they alerted Sullivan’s high school. She was quickly summoned to the principal, who told her she must write a letter of apology – which is due on Monday.
Ms. Sullivan isn’t going to write that letter, and she most definitely shouldn’t under coercion. This is America; we believe in freedoms of religion and speech, not that elected officials can be blasphemed. Furthermore, the governor shows a ridiculous sensitivity in being that demonstrably hurt by words from a high-school girl.
Brownback’s director of communications, Sherriene Jones-Sontag, told the school’s newspaper that Sullivan’s comment “wasn’t respectful” and that, “in order to really have a constructive dialogue, there has to be mutual respect.”
Of course, nothing in Sullivan’s post suggested the girl was seeking “constructive dialogue.” She made a mildly rude comment; big deal. It would have vanished from virtual memory in minutes had the governor ignored it. Since he and his staff couldn’t, however, he’s now nationally known as the governor who comically overreacted to a stupid post on Twitter.