Sam Brownback Apologizes for Overreacting to Teenage Tweeter

Over the weekend, Brandon posted about Kansas high schooler Emma Sullivan, who met Governor Sam Brownback on a field trip, and then got in a heap of trouble after tweeting her thoughts about him:

After her visit, Emma Tweeted of her time with the anti-gay, anti-Palestinian, anti-evolution, anti-stem-cell-research governor:

just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot

Apparently, Emma Sullivan didn't actually tell Gov. Brownback that he "sucked, in person." Still, she thinks he sucks. So -- how did Gov. Brownback respond to this teenager's assault on his non-sucktitude? His staff contacted her school's principal. Now, Emma's got to write a letter to the governor apologizing for voicing her opinions.

Now, Brownback has apologized for overreacting, LJ World reports:

Said Brownback: “My staff overreacted to this tweet, and for that I apologize. Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms. I enjoyed speaking to the more than 100 students who participated in the Youth in Government Program at the Kansas Capitol. They are our future. I also want to thank the thousands of Kansas educators who remind us daily of our liberties, as well as the values of civility and decorum. Again, I apologize for our over-reaction.”

The paper adds:

Sullivan said she landed in the principal’s office for nearly an hour and was told she had embarrassed her school and district. Principal Krawitz told her to write a letter of apology. At first Sullivan said that she would but that she wasn’t sorry. Then she refused to apologize, and the Shawnee Mission school district earlier Monday issued a statement saying she didn’t have to.

“The district acknowledges a student’s right to freedom of speech and expression is constitutionally protected,” the district’s statement said, adding, “The issue has resulted in many teachable moments concerning the use of social media.”

NEWS: Harvey Milk, The Canadian Age of Consent, And Pamela Geller Vs. Turkeys

Today is the 33rd anniversary of the assassinations of Harvey Milk and George Moscone. It's a good time to relisten to that "Hope" speech, which resonates as powerfully now as ever. (Next year, it looks like Harvey will be getting a street.)

This 56-year-old had sex with a 15-year-old three times, and now he's a registered sex offender. (But if they'd slept together exactly one year earlier, somehow, that would have been completely legal.)

 Slate brownnoses an unelected Michigan technocrat who's gutting towns' public services by diktat under an emergency law.

Famed anti-Muslim crazy lady Pamela Geller is courageously uncovering Butterball's stealth campaign to inculcate turkeys with Islamism:

Yesterday I published the latest in the Butterball coverup of foisting halal turkeys on an unsuspecting public. After being exposed in my article in the American Thinker (all Butterball halal turkeys are ‘certfied halal’ but not labeled) the Butterball company is scrubbing their website and telling a completely different story despite repeated confirmations last week that all their whole turkeys were halal.

Their halal happy website has been scrubbed of all of their halal references but they are still in the doanloadable [sic] pdf on the Glossary of cooking terms page:

Arab League imposes sanctions on Syria.

Greek's new Minister of Infrastructure is literally an ax-wielding fascist ...

... and UC Davis's current head has an interesting backstory in Greece.

Fran Drescher on her 18-year marriage to a gay man:

About two thirds of the way through our marriage he started therapy and he realized that he was bisexual but choosing to live his life with me, so I had already known that he had feelings but had never acted upon them, and really didn’t want to lose me. I was still at that place where I didn’t really absorb how that made me feel, only that he must really love me if he’s not only being honest with me but choosing to live his life with me and so we stayed the course. So when he finally came out it was a huge relief for me because I had harbored so much guilt for having hurt him by abandoning him and divorcing him. I just felt like it took a load off my shoulders. That the divorce he so adamantly didn’t want at the time gave him the opportunity to explore his authentic self. I was a little ahead of him in realizing something was wrong.

It's about time to get that anti-sodomy law off the books in Kansas. Think Brownback'll help?

Violence follows the A-List wherever it goes ...

Levi Crocker—the cowboy Cassanova of LOGO’s The A-List Dallas—says that he got attacked by four men at an Oklahoma City gay bar last night just because they hate his show. One even allegedly busted a barstool over his head.

... Crocker posted several messages on Twitter including a shot of his bleeding head after the alleged attack. No word yet on police or other news reports.

Fashion designers of the 1930's predict what you'll wear in 2000, AFTER THE JUMP ... [HT: BuzzFeed]

Sam Brownback's Office Upset Over Teenager's Tweet

Once upon a time, Kansas's new governor, Sam Brownback, wanted to lead the free world. He hated gays and their "marriages," he was dog-tired of America's long moral decline, and most importantly, he was on a first-name basis with the Supreme Creator of The Universe. God, as Sam called him, really wanted Sam to be the President of The United States of America. And so, in 2008, then-Senator Brownback ran for that office on a platform of All Jesus, All The Time.

But Sam was wrong about God's plans for him, and now the governor's ambitions are more modest. Mostly, it seems, he just wants high schoolers to stop making fun of him. This week, Gawker reports on Kansas high school senior Emma Sullivan, who visited Topeka on a field trip to see the governor speak. After her visit, Emma Tweeted of her time with the anti-gay, anti-Palestinian, anti-evolution, anti-stem-cell-research governor:

just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot

Apparently, Emma Sullivan didn't actually tell Gov. Brownback that he "sucked, in person." Still, she thinks he sucks. So -- how did Gov. Brownback respond to this teenager's assault on his non-sucktitude?

His staff contacted her school's principal. Now, Emma's got to write a letter to the governor apologizing for voicing her opinions.

FOX Debate Audience Boos Sam Brownback over Gay Marriage Ban

At last night's GOP presidential debate in New Hampshire, FOX reporter Carl Cameron asked Heidi Cherkot of Dover whether or not there should be a constitutional ban on gay marriage.

Her answer, "absolutely not," received cheers from the debate audience. When the question went to Sam Brownback, who answered "yes," the audience booed.

Said Brownback: "Answer to that is yes. And the reason is, this is a foundational institution. It is a foundational institution. I understand this is a divided audience on this."

Brownback also answered a question about Idaho Senator Larry Craig. Said Brownback: "I'm running saying that the lead thing we need to do is rebuild the family in this country. And I think we need to be clear about our efforts and willingness to do that. ... We shouldn't walk away from family values for fear that instances like this happen within our party."

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #74

HILLARY CLINTON: Announces Presidential exploratory committee.

BILL RICHARDSON: The New Mexico governor announces he's forming a committee to get in the race.

A TALE OF TWO TAPES: Jeff Jarvis looks at announcements from Senator Hillary Clinton and anti-gay Republican Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, who also announced plans to enter the Presidential race this weekend.

SAM BROWNBACK: Dodges gay adoption question from George Stephanopolous.

For more of our guides to the Tube, click here!