Sam Brownback..(this is why I'm embarrassed of Kansas) (McDonald: buy, tax)

[MOKAN]

Come to think of it tweeting/texting at the event in Topeka was probably not proper, particularly in the governor's presence.

[rock_chalk]

Originally Posted by Hueffenhardt

No, the person that needs to be and has been made an example of in all the national press is Brownback and his staff for harassing a school girl over a tweet she made on her personal account. Brownback is now the laughing stock of the country. It got so bad that he had to publicly apologize to her.

He and his staff set the bad example, not her. The school had to withdraw their demand that she write an apology. It seems everyone else can see who the bad actors were in this whole scenario - hint: it was the adults who over-reacted. Brownback said so himself in his apology that his staff overreacted.

The girl behaved herself properly at the school function, and did not bring any dishonor to her group or the school. What the governor's staff took objection to was a tweet they found the next day in which she was kidding with her friends. No one would even know she sent it if someone on Brownback's staff weren't constantly looking out for anything publicly posted about Brownback.

The powerful should be shamed when they pull stunts like this. We must have the ability to criticize politicians in speak and in online publications and otherwise. The girl did not waive her first amendment rights when she joined that Youth in Government program. She showed respect while she was in attendance, but outside of that she can say what she wants. And the Governor should be ashamed for trying to silence her and the others that might contemplate doing the same thing after her.

Her criticism does not have to be well-thought out. No one made us the thought police.

She reportedly wrote the message from the back row while Brownback was speaking.

[Hueffenhardt]

Originally Posted by rock_chalk

She reportedly wrote the message from the back row while Brownback was speaking.

The office of the governor never cited this behavior in their complaint to the Youth in Government people or her school. They might not have even known she did that. The point is nobody had a problem with her behavior in the meeting.

It was the next day when Brownback's office staff was reviewing posts on Facebook and Twitter that they saw that she had exercised her free speech as a citizen and posted something critical of the governor on her Twitter account to a few friends. It was that post that caused the involvement of Brownback's staff, not any potentially observed misbehavior in the room.

If her post had been complimentary of the governor, the governor's office never would have reported her to the organization or the school. Why? Because they never cited "not paying attention" during the meeting or engaging in "distracting behavior" as one of her offenses. I don't even think anyone knew where she was sitting when she sent that tweet until she told her story after she got in trouble.

[rock_chalk]

Originally Posted by Hueffenhardt

The office of the governor never cited this behavior in their complaint to the Youth in Government people or her school. They might not have even known she did that. The point is nobody had a problem with her behavior in the meeting.

It was the next day when Brownback's office staff was reviewing posts on Facebook and Twitter that they saw that she had exercised her free speech as a citizen and posted something critical of the governor on her Twitter account to a few friends. It was that post that caused the involvement of Brownback's staff, not any potentially observed misbehavior in the room.

If her post had been complimentary of the governor, the governor's office never would have reported her to the organization or the school. Why? Because they never cited "not paying attention" during the meeting or engaging in "distracting behavior" as one of her offenses.

I don't disagree with any of that.

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by jbtornado

Clamor Erupts Over PV Teen's Tweet About Gov. - Kansas City News Story - KMBC Kansas City (http://www.kmbc.com/news/29852499/detail.html - broken link)

More or less got an 18 year old in trouble with her school because she posted that "Brownback sucks" on her twitter..

I am not in school, do you think Brownback will get me in trouble if I tweet he SUCKS?

[A2DAC1985]

Originally Posted by CrownVic95

All this "outrage" over this incident is a measure of just how far our culture has slipped.

There is no "freedom of speech" issue here as no legal authority has made or will make any effort to stifle this poorly raised young lady's right to show the world how immature and ill-mannered she is.

An attempt was made to educate her....not about her political beliefs....but about how to conduct herself in a civil and respectable manner. I guess we're just way past the point where that is even remotely acceptable.

That is the real tragedy here....that there is zero tolerance today for any attempt to steer youth in the right direction and away from the cesspool that our current pop culture is.

So we know what is happening here? It's an issue of a group of people wanting to be treated POLITICALLY CORRECT, while giving none of it to anyone else.

That is: She said the governor sucks, but a group of people wanted her to be POLITICALLY CORRECT and say that the governor's policies are "insufficient/over-reaching/not suitable for the current political climate".

Instead, a teenager, was NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT, and simply expressed her politically incorrect beliefs by saying "sucks" and blows"

If you want people to be POLITE and RESPECTFUL of yourself, your friends, family, political beliefs, political figures, political policies, etc. then you have to show that same level of polite and respectful discourse to others.

For me, the options appear to be Free speech of "Brownback sucks, Obama sucks, Congress sucks, The House of Representatives suck, etc."

OR

Being politically correct, polite, and respectful and saying "Brownback is insufficient, Obama is insufficient, Congress is insufficient, The House of Representatives is insufficient, etc."

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by kanhawk

While it was Brownback's staff that made a fuss about this, Brownback should write the girl and apologize, then reprimand his staffer for tattling on the girl. That would go a long way towards diffusing the situation and make Brownback look less like a thin skinned heel.

II just read about this in todays paper. The governor of Kansas has proven himself to be a lot jacka$$. He should apologize, not the high schooler.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by MOKAN

Come to think of it tweeting/texting at the event in Topeka was probably not proper, particularly in the governor's presence.

What does not proper mean?

[cubssoxfan]

2 wrongs here. The governor's is certainly the bigger one. However, the language the student used is offensive to some. And with the way social media becomes living history for a person and can follow them their entire life, knowing what to post and say on a medium open to anyone is a valuable life lesson. Look at Michael Phelps and Miley Cyrus both getting "busted" for smoking pot because of camera phones and social media. Back 20 years ago, unless someone had an actual camera, this wouldn't have happened.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by thriftylefty

I don't think registered Republicans in Kansas make up the majority of registered voters. Too many Democrats in Kansas don't vote. I think this would be good fodder to bring up at the next election to get the unaffiliated voters to vote for a moderate Democrat.

A lot of Kansas Democrats, like me, have left the state for good! You couldn't pay me to live in a state where they'll elect someone that far to the right as governor.