Brownback Review: State Governor or School Bully?

By Chris Cronin

Elm Staff Writer

Political controversy can erupt from the most pedestrian of places. Last week, an 18-year-old high school senior named Emma Sullivan went on a field trip with her government class. Among other events, the group heard a speech from Kanas Gov. Sam Brownback. Sitting near the back of the room, Sullivan pulled out her phone and tweeted what she wished she could say: “just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot.” Sullivan only had 60 followers and none would assume that these few words would carry such great portent.

But carry they did. Operatives from Brownback’s political team were monitoring the internet, and when they saw the tweet, they immediately swung into action. Indignant, they forwarded the tweet to school district officials, and Sullivan was called to the principal’s office the next day. According to Sullivan, the principal “laid into me about how this was unacceptable and an embarrassment,” and demanded that she write a letter of apology.

Sullivan was not tweeting to be disrespectful, but to make a political statement. She disagrees with many of the governor’s policies, especially his decision to completely cut the arts budget, making Kansas the only state in the union without a state-sponsored art program. While the school tried to defend its actions as disciplining Sullivan’s perceived lack of respect, what instead occurred was the attempted stifling of one student’s right to free speech. Although the tweet was sent at a school event, the comment was made on her private account. It therefore constitutes a political statement made by an adult, and is protected under free speech. Yes, Sullivan could have done a better job wording her sentiment. But in a nation with voter turnout hovering between 40 and 60 percent, the fact that the school is trying to silence a budding political activist is puzzling.

However, the fact that the impetus for her punishment came from the governor’s office is inexcusable. Sullivan is a registered Democrat, while Brownback is one of the most socially conservative Republicans in government. He supports teaching intelligent design in schools, opposes homosexuality on the grounds that it is “immoral,” and was the only other governor to attend Rick Perry’s 2011 prayer rally. Viewed through this lens, the actions taken by Brownback’s office seem as if his team is trying to silence dissent. It is no wonder, then, that this case has caused considerable controversy in the media.

In the wake of said controversy, Brownback has gone into damage control and withdrawn the original complaint. Sullivan, at least, is off the hook. But perhaps there is a bigger lesson here. In a recent campaign stop at a college in New Hampshire, Brownback’s partner-in-prayer Rick Perry welcomed “those of you who will be 21” by the time of the primary to come out and vote. The voting age is, of course, 18. Strong youth support was one of the main reasons President Obama was elected. And according to national polling data, the youngest voters favor improving gay rights, and oppose the mixing of religion and politics. Perhaps this incident goes further than one student’s efforts to make a statement. Perhaps Brownback’s team was trying to stifle yet another indicator of how out-of-touch the far-right socially conservative agenda has become.

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