Kansas teen won't apologize to governor's office for Twitter post

[oh_gal]

Ms. Sullivan's sister contacted the media.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/27/emma-sullivan-apology-sam-brownback-tweet_n_1115382.html

The situation exploded after Sullivan's older sister contacted the media. Since then, Sullivan's following on Twitter has grown to about 3,000 people, up from about 65 before the tweet. She said she thinks the tweet has helped "open up dialogue" about free speech in social media..

From the link:
"I think it would be interesting to have a dialogue with him," she said. "I don't know if he would do it or not though. And I don't know that he would listen to what I have to say."

Probably not, if you talk to him the way you tweeted about him.

 

[LimeCola]

I'm trying to figure out why this particular news story has upset me so much. It is such a small thing (in the grande scheme of things), but it is really bothering me.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

BBM

:floorlaugh: :floorlaugh: :floorlaugh:

I noticed that! There seemed to be an implication or inference that you have sort of special knowlege of low class behavior! Question, it is a personal knowlege?

Just another example of how we (me included) can over analyze someone else's words.

That's what I thought too. But surely that would not be implied here would it?

 

[Kimberlyd125]

I thought that was odd as well. Suddenly 18 isn't an adult any more.

It's not very surprising that people are not satisfied. Some people just like to complain. :twocents:

Yeah, like the governor.

 

[Nova]

I don't either, I just think it's low class to walk around saying things "suck" and 'blow." Intellectually lazy is a good way to put it. Funny I had a friend of mine who also thought it was intellectually lazy to use the word "Stuff." He pointed out that people just said "stuff" because it was easier than coming up with an actual explanation. I guess that is how I see "sucks" and "blows."

You don't need to use a hundred words to explain things. There is a middle ground between one word grunting and using a few words.

Funny story about "stuff", Chewy. In grad school I had a brilliant Polish professor who was horrified by the careless informality of American speech, including our vague use of words like "stuff" and "guys".

During a student's presentation on Shakespeare, the student made some casual reference to "that sort of stuff." The professor instantly interrupted, "What is this 'stuff' of which you speak?"

Knowing her Shakespeare, the student replied, "Why 'the stuff that dreams are made of', of course." Even the prof had to laugh at that and we heard no more about our use of the word.

 

[kgeaux]

Yep. But how far? How many television and radio people have recently been fired for exercising their right to free speech?

Freedom is not free. There are consequences and now she's getting hit with them.

Freedom is not free, that is for sure. But the day a student cannot voice her opinion, no matter how rudely worded it is, is the day we can kiss another little bit of our constitutional rights good-bye.

She was not an official representative of her school, or any group at all, when she made her post. She was one student, posting her own opinion.

I think it is beyond ridiculous that the governor's office thought this was worth an official response! They took what would have been a statement made to 65 followers and insured that it would be seen nation-wide!

As a matter of principle, I would refuse to apologize, too. For instance, I believe the past governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco, was a poor and ineffectual leader in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I was quite vocal about my opinion. And I would never apologize to her for voicing my opinion! When one ventures into political service, one does so knowing they will not please everyone......and it doesn't sit well with me that a public servant would attempt to squash the opinions of those who do not think their service is up to par.

 

[kgeaux]

I thought she was 18. Isn't that considered an adult?
Regardless, the guy apologizes (even though HE wasn't the one tweeting things) and people are STILL not satisfied!! Unbelievable.

Perhaps people are not satisfied because a public servant tried to quash the opinion of one of the people he is serving?

And so this teenager feels she has public support to express herself no matter how disrespectful, rude or inappropriate her comments are?

A sad commentary on so many issues...

She expressed an opinion via Twitter, to a relatively small number of followers. It isn't the same as walking up to the governor in a public forum and informing him "you suck." In fact, if the governor's office did not have a policy of searching out private citizen's posts that mention his name, this would have been, as we used to say back in the day, a non-happening!

I am really amazed at how many people seem to think it is OK to do what the governor's office did in SEARCHING out posts mentioning his name and then COMPLAINING about the post to school officials! Don't these people have a government to run??

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Freedom is not free, that is for sure. But the day a student cannot voice her opinion, no matter how rudely worded it is, is the day we can kiss another little bit of our constitutional rights good-bye.

She was not an official representative of her school, or any group at all, when she made her post. She was one student, posting her own opinion.

I think it is beyond ridiculous that the governor's office thought this was worth an official response! They took what would have been a statement made to 65 followers and insured that it would be seen nation-wide!

As a matter of principle, I would refuse to apologize, too. For instance, I believe the past governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco, was a poor and ineffectual leader in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I was quite vocal about my opinion. And I would never apologize to her for voicing my opinion! When one ventures into political service, one does so knowing they will not please everyone......and it doesn't sit well with me that a public servant would attempt to squash the opinions of those who do not think their service is up to par.

Great post!

She has every right to her opinion.

And as a fellow resident of the bayou state, ITA with you about Blanco. I'm sure I said "she sucks" multiple times during the Katrina aftermath.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Perhaps people are not satisfied because a public servant tried to quash the opinion of one of the people he is serving?

Right!

The public pressure pretty much forced an apology. Nothing satisfying about that IMO.

 

[Snick1946]

I'm glad to see that Kansas has apparently solved issues like unemployment and economic development so that the Governor can spend time chasing down disrespectful comments by high school kids.

Brownback is a moron. He or his staff turned a minor incident into a major one and there is no way he is going to come out looking good in the end.

 

[Fairy1]

I don't understand the uproar about what she said or how she said it. This is still America, right? I should hope we're all still entitled to our opinions and the luxury of exercising our freedom of speech, no matter the circumstances or setting. As Americans. Low class. Really? Class? If I'm going to be judged and punished for what I say about elected officials, I expect to be drawn and quartered any minute now!

There are so many really valuable teaching opportunities attached to this story. Not the least of which is, when you do exercise freedom of speech, you have to live with the consequences. Yes, she kinda sounded like a dunce, but it could be argued that's directly related to the cutbacks in education the governor has forced. He and his staff look like bigger dunces for drawing so much attention to it. Sorry, but I believe elders, as with anyone, should earn respect.

I'm afraid I'm at a loss as to how the term "sucks," in this day and age, can be construed as a sexual term. Maybe he just sucks eggs?

 

[OneLostGrl]

I'm trying to figure out why this particular news story has upset me so much. It is such a small thing (in the grande scheme of things), but it is really bothering me.

Because it's :maddening: ?

 

[Chewy]

Freedom is not free, that is for sure. But the day a student cannot voice her opinion, no matter how rudely worded it is, is the day we can kiss another little bit of our constitutional rights good-bye.

She was not an official representative of her school, or any group at all, when she made her post. She was one student, posting her own opinion.

I think it is beyond ridiculous that the governor's office thought this was worth an official response! They took what would have been a statement made to 65 followers and insured that it would be seen nation-wide!

As a matter of principle, I would refuse to apologize, too. For instance, I believe the past governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco, was a poor and ineffectual leader in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I was quite vocal about my opinion. And I would never apologize to her for voicing my opinion! When one ventures into political service, one does so knowing they will not please everyone......and it doesn't sit well with me that a public servant would attempt to squash the opinions of those who do not think their service is up to par.

You know what is funny, how much common people get manipulated into getting into some sort of HOOPLAH over some rude teenager and trying to turn it into a violation of The Constitution.


MEEEEEEEEEEANwhile back at the camp we've got 26 Pakistanis killed by NATO and nary a thread on here that gives a flying flick.

I took a sociology course many years ago that spoke to the way media manipulates uneducated Americans with sweet all nothing going on in their lives to focus on the mundane rather than the real issues in the world.

Oh and btw

the Egyptian Elections took place today after the overthrow of the government

and oh a few hundred people died today of starvation etc etc etc


But HEY let's get up in arms about a teenager who got in trouble for being rude on her twitter account. THE CONSTITUTION IS AT STAKE.



Le sigh, le sigh, le sigh.

:truce:

 

[Yoda]

I'm trying to figure out why this particular news story has upset me so much. It is such a small thing (in the grande scheme of things), but it is really bothering me.

My :twocents:
Why is it bothering you? Maybe because her tweet was sensationalism, maybe because she lied in that tweet, maybe because she was not ashamed by the lie. Maybe because you see that the media presented the story as good vs evil, absolute right vs absolute wrong, not errors in judgement made by both parties. Maybe because the community cried 'free speech' in defense of her tweet but free speech has been shouted so arbitrarily and so often that these criers appear like the main character from "The boy who cried wolf".
"Free speech' is no longer the mountain on which people would climb to raise awareness of injustice, it is the dusty gravel which they trod over to take them to their next feigned affront.
Maybe this story disturbs you because, like me, you are scared that our society is spinning of control- people don't care about the other man or his thoughts or feelings. And you go to bed each evening wishing/praying that people would just care for one another.

 

[Fairy1]

You know what is funny, how much common people get manipulated into getting into some sort of HOOPLAH over some rude teenager and trying to turn it into a violation of The Constitution.


MEEEEEEEEEEANwhile back at the camp we've got 26 Pakistanis killed by NATO and nary a thread on here that gives a flying flick.

I took a sociology course many years ago that spoke to the way media manipulates uneducated Americans with sweet all nothing going on in their lives to focus on the mundane rather than the real issues in the world.

Oh and btw

the Egyptian Elections took place today after the overthrow of the government

and oh a few hundred people died today of starvation etc etc etc


But HEY let's get up in arms about a teenager who got in trouble for being rude on her twitter account. THE CONSTITUTION IS AT STAKE.



Le sigh, le sigh, le sigh.

:truce:

Seems to me you've been participating in this thread quite regularly today.

I would sincerely welcome the opportunity to take part in a respectful discourse on the NATO bombing in Pakistan and the ongoing fallout that could quite possibly impact the rest of the world. Would you like to start the thread or shall I?

Meanwhile, freedom of speech is still an incredibly relevant topic in the good ole US of A; regardless of what brings it to the forefront.

IMHO.

 

[Angelonline]

I read the article to my 16 yr old high school junior and asked her opinion without telling her mine. Her response was that she did not feel that the letter of apology was enough. She said the girl was a senior (someone younger students may look up to), on a school field trip (probably not supposed to be tweeting during a school trip), and insulted someone who they visited on the trip. She also said that if the girl didn't like the governor she could have just stayed home that day. That in the future if she disagrees with someones political policies that she should state details of why and not just rudely say they suck... My daughter said if this had happened at her school that punishment probably would have been a day of in school suspension and a letter of apology. She went on to say that this girls actions make high school students opinions look irrelevant to adults. Just thought I would share the opinion of someone similar in age to the Kansas student.

Of course my daughter is not an average high school student, at least not IMO. She is highly interested in politics watches CSPAN and all debates both national and local. She spent election night in Nov on the courthouse lawn here listening to the votes being called out. She is hoping to major in political science and already writes as a contributing author to a large political blog that is geared to young adults. (Can you tell I am a proud mama? lol)

 

[marauder]

An apology from the governor is NOT good enough. The sniveling little creep should keep his nose out of the conversations of teen girls and do his job.

But he's a typical Republican. They say they believe in smaller government, but when these preditors get power they use government as a "small" colonoscopy probe.

 

[kline]

An apology from the governor is NOT good enough. The sniveling little creep should keep his nose out of the conversations of teen girls and do his job.

But he's a typical Republican. They say they believe in smaller government, but when these preditors get power they use government as a "small" colonoscopy probe.

Alot of the polarity of this issue comes down to whether you support Republican Governors gutting their states School Systems as opposed to taxing their wealthy campaign donors as a means of balancing thier State Budget.(Im sure those that do found the young lady's remarks highly offensive.)
She was a kid talking to a friend and is entitled to her opinion.
It amazing how thinskined those on the Right can be considering invective directed at others is pretty much the lifeblood of their ideology.
And yes one would think the Governor and his staff might find more productive uses for their Tax Payer funded time.

 

[21merc7]

While amazed that our hard earned and paid out tax dollars actually pay for this type of internet search, I am simply SHOCKED that an apology was asked for. Not only from the girl but through her school! This is about as irrelevant and inane a conversation can get for young girl just trying to make it through school. Who cares? Why spy? Why say anything about it and disrupt not only her school life, but everyone else in the school, including students and employees? We actually pay for this. This is a rather angering situation. I personally feel the apology needs to come from the other side, and good grief, if trolling the internet for opinions leave the young out of it.

 

[oh_gal]

Great post!

She has every right to her opinion.

And as a fellow resident of the bayou state, ITA with you about Blanco. I'm sure I said "she sucks" multiple times during the Katrina aftermath.

No one here has ever said she didn't have a right to her opinion.

What people are upset about is her nasty, foul mouth.

Unfortunately, we've learned from this thread, and some of the views expressed, that some find absolutely nothing wrong with the language.

You have a teen daughter, correct, Kimberly? If your daughter chose to speak to (or about) an adult that way, you really wouldn't have an issue with it? Really?

I'm not talking about kids kidding each other and calling each other names.

So, I gather her parents have taught her, "Yeah, if someone is an idiot, regardless of whether they are an adult or not, you can unload on them....call them every name in the book!" vs. "You may not agree with him/her; you may think they are an idiot, and maybe they are, but they are an adult, and you are a child, and for that reason alone, they deserve a modicum of respect in how you address them." Is that what those who see no problem with the context of her tweet see it, too? Is that how you're raising your kids up? "Go ahead, say what you want!! You have a right to free speech!!" Really? You can still exercise your right to free speech without sounding like ________________ (fill in the blank yourselves, lest I offend someone with whatever adjectives I would use).

I don't know about everyone else, but when someone starts spouting off with with I would consider base language, I immediately stop listening. The fact that so many see absolutely nothing wrong with her choice of words is really so sad. Is this what we've become as a society?

I'm glad, no, overjoyed, that her parents support this young lady having a mind of her own, and thnking with it. Likewise, I am saddened that they see absolutely nothing wrong with the words their daughter chose to use to express herself to an adult, albeit, through a tweet. Yes, I know, early on her mom said she'd wished her daughter had used a different choice of words, but that little tidbit seems to have gotten swept under the rug as this has mushroomed.

She's so painfully young. Painfully, as in, one day, she'll probably look back on this and cringe, and wish she's handled with a bit more grace and decorum. Of course, that'll probably be 30 years from now.