Kansas high school student Emma Sullivan, the teen who tweeted that Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, a known dork, #blowsalot and proceeded to get in trouble with his social media monitors, will not be writing any apology letters to the governor. Instead, he’s written one to her!… Sullivan had just decided to ignore her school’s demand that she deliver a written apology to Brownback…. This alone got the school to back down from its demand. School officials released a statement saying that they’d “reviewed recent events surrounding the reported tweet by Shawnee Mission East High School student Emma Sullivan” and “[acknowledged] a student’s right to freedom of speech and expression is constitutionally protected.”
I’ve written a lot about Emma Sullivan over the past few days; now I’m happy to report that she can declare victory. After deciding to ignore her school’s demands that she write an apology to Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, both her school and the Governor have APOLOGIZED TO HER. You see, there’s this little thing I like to call “freedom of speech and expression” guaranteed by something you might know as “the Constitution.” It means that the speech of Americans can’t be proscribed simply because people in positions of power don’t like or are offended or threatened by said speech. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times- free speech can be, and often is, offensive speech. Democracy can be messy and occasionally impolite, but bad form and bad manners are not crimes.
Kansas, ruled by knee-jerk Conservatives as it is, isn’t exactly the best example of American democracy. Too many Kansans operate under the “When Liberals do it, it’s immoral and impermissible speech. When Conservatives do it, it’s exercising their 1st Amendment rights.” delusion that brooks no dissent from the accepted line. Conservatives rightly enjoy their freedom of speech and expression. Liberals would be well advised to keep their libelous, treasonous thoughts to themselves.
The sad aspect of this episode is that it took an 18-year-old high school student to remind us what free speech and expression is really all about, and that standing up to bullies is a good and very American thing. Sure, Ms. Sullivan’s tweet was silly, juvenile, and perhaps even inappropriate. It was, however, Constitutionally protected speech, and neither Gov. Brownback nor the principal of her school had any right to attempt to coerce an apology from her. In the end, Gov. Brownback came off looking like the crass bully he evidently is:
“My staff over-reacted 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 lessons for Conservatives? Free speech is just that; sometimes you won’t agree with it or like it. Sometimes you may even find it offensive and insulting. Guess what, though; not liking what someone has to say doesn’t confer upon you the right to proscribe their right to speak their mind. If you can’t handle that inconvenient truth, it’s time to find a career path where you won’t be running the risk of having your tender sensibilities offended.
If Gov. Brownback and school principal Karl Krawitz had simply accepted Ms. Sullivan’s tweet as the silly expression of opposition that it was, they wouldn’t have revealed themselves to be bullies threatened by a high school student. Nice work, eh?
