Your first lesson in fascism, kids:
"Gov. says staff overreacted to tweet" November 29, 2011|Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. - Kansas Governor Sam Brownback apologized yesterday for his office’s response to a disparaging Twitter post by a high school senior who was attending a school function at the state Capitol.
“My staff overreacted to this tweet, and for that I apologize,’’ Brownback said. “Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms.’’
Emma Sullivan, 18, of the Kansas City suburb of Fairway, was taking part in a Youth in Government program last week in Topeka when she sent out a tweet from the back of a crowd of students listening to Brownback’s greeting. From her cellphone, she wrote that she had just made mean comments to the governor.
She said she was just joking with friends, but Brownback’s office, which monitors social media for postings containing the governor’s name, contacted the youth program. Sullivan said she spent nearly an hour in the principal’s office and was told to apologize in writing to the governor.
As word of the governor’s office reaction spread, Sullivan went from 61 Twitter followers before the incident to more than 9,000 yesterday - more than three times the number that follow Brownback’s official Twitter account.
The Shawnee Mission East senior decided to not write the apology and the school district said yesterday there would be no repercussions.
“Whether and to whom any apologies are issued will be left to the individuals involved,’’ the statement said....
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