It seems that Emma Sullivan, the young lady who tweeted late last month, while on a field trip with her school,
that Brownback sucks, has picked up a few critics as well as many, many supporters. I am one of Emma's supporters, by the way. The only thing I think she could do differently the next time she states that Brownback sucks is to state why she thinks Brownback sucks, so that all of her nice eavesdroppers and gentle spies will understand why she opines in such a way.
There's an idea that has been expressed via comments to this blog from posters in this part of the country that Emma Sullivan is somehow responsible for the reactions that the principal of her school, Karl R. Krawtiz, has gotton from the general public since the story aired in the media. That's simply error. Miss Sullivan did not tweet the nation; she only tweeted her friends. While it's true that tweets are internet propoganda, viewable by anyone, the tweet in question would not have been viewed by anyone except the intended viewer if Brownback's office had not eavesdropped. So; rather than blame Miss Sullivan, toward which a few Kansas folk seem inclined, it seems to me that the blame for all of the negative reactions including death threats, (according to my commenters) aimed at Krawtiz, rests upon the governer's office.
"Juli...the lesson Emma and you apparently haven't learned is this - social media has consequences. True enough, the person making the death threat is ultimately responsible. But what brought it to his attention? A post on the internet. More specifically, Emma's posting of her "ordeal" with Dr K. "She didn't think" when she originally posted about Brownback. She found out that gosh...somebody I didn't want noticing noticed this. Did she learn? Nope...even more twits about her "ordeal" of "being yelled at for an hour". Again, I am sure there was no literary embellishment on her part (I say as I roll my eyes). "She didn't think" in the capitol, and after noticing her 60 followers increased to 1,000, I guess "she didn't think" that critical postings about Dr K would get the attention of some nutcase. Sounds to me like she should learn to think before she twits. I don't think she has though."
That's a comment I got about this. First of all, I do not think that anyone did anything to deserve a death threat, so I sincerely hope that no more threats are made to anyone. Second, an eighteen year old has not had as much experience with social media or any kind of media as someone who is Brownback's age, or the ages of those who work for him. I expect more from Brownback and his staff. If Brownback's henchmen did not know that this is a first amendment issue, shame on them. It should be no surprise that when an elected official steps on the rights of a citizen, even if the citizen and said elected official do not agree, any attempt to rob a person of his or her rights is very likely to get heralded by the media. It's happened before. It will happen again. Blaming an eighteen year old is unfair. I think Brownback and his staff should take responsibility for the threats to Krawitz and I think that other people should stop holding Emma Sullivan responsible. Third, eavesdropping is rude. Lots of people have posted in lots of places that Emma Sullivan needs to learn manners; well........so does Governer Brownback.
Of course, there are even more disturbing questions that may have to be answered in the future about Brownback and his merry band of eavesdroppers. This time, it was only tweets of a teenager that were snooped at, but whose communiques will it be next time? How many ethics does this governer violate in a day's time? How does he manipulate the information he gets and who does he manipulate with this information? And......why is he doing it? Does it help him govern the state?
Perhaps, if Emma wanted to be gracious, she might call one of the local news stations and request that a very quick statement be made requesting that anyone who has made threats to Karl Krawitz cease and desist.
