Sam Brownback Hates America (With Updates)

Not only should Ms. Sullivan refuse to apologize, she should attack Brownback for being a spineless wimp as well as an enemy of free speech (and the high school principal should be ashamed of himself). Via the AP:

A Kansas teenager who got into hot water last week over a disparaging tweet about Gov. Sam Brownback said she has received so much support from around the country that now she’s leaning toward rejecting her high school principal’s demand that she apologize to the governor in writing.

Since word of her tweet and the reaction by Brownback’s office and her school was reported in the media, people from across the U.S. have reached out to Emma Sullivan — mostly to encourage her to stand her ground, The Wichita Eagle reported.

“I knew it would cause some uproar, but I definitely didn’t think it would get to a national level or that I would have so many people tweeting at me,” she told the newspaper Friday.

The Shawnee Mission East senior was taking part in a Kansas Youth in Government program in Topeka when she sent out a tweet from the back of a crowd of students listening to Brownback’s greeting: “Just made mean comments at gov. brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot.”

She actually made no such comment and described the tweet as “joking around.”

Brownback’s office, which monitors social media for postings containing the governor’s name, saw Sullivan’s post and contacted the Youth in Government program. Soon she was in the principal’s office for an hourlong scolding and a demand she send Brownback an apology letter.

The principal, who later called the situation a “disciplinary issue” that was not a public matter, even suggested talking points for the letter she was supposed to write.

Many have urged the 18-year-old to not write the letter, suggesting instead that Brownback or his representatives need to apologize to Sullivan for reporting her to school officials.

“I’m really glad most people have been supportive of me, regardless of their political views,” she said. “They’re standing up for the fact that it’s my … right to express myself.”

UPDATE: Good for her:

An American teenager who wrote a disparaging tweet about Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said Sunday that she is rejecting her high school principal's demand for a written apology. Emma Sullivan, 18, said she isn't sorry and doesn't think such a letter would be sincere. ***

The turd is now right where it should be -- in the pockets of Brownback and the school principal. Your move, assholes.

UPDATE II: Looks like somebody gave Brownback some good advice:

Gov. Sam Brownback apologized Monday for his office's reaction to a Kansas high school senior's disparaging tweet about the Republican during a visit to the Statehouse. ***

"My staff over-reacted to this tweet and for that I apologize," Brownback said. "Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms."

No Surprise Here

Fox News makes people dumb:

According to the latest results from Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind poll, some news sources make us less likely to know what's going on in the world. In the most recent study, the poll asked New Jerseyans about current events at home and abroad, and from what sources -- if any -- they get their information. The conclusion: Sunday morning news shows do the most to help people learn about current events, while some outlets, especially Fox News, lead people to be even less informed than those who say they don't watch any news at all.

My experience is that Fox News viewers -- like the asshole who occasionally responds to this blog -- actually think that being informed on the issues is anti-American. In fact, these people seem to celebrate their idiocy on a regular basis.

What did Herman Cain say the other day? He said that the American people "need a leader, not a reader." I bet you Fox News viewers loved that one.

Why Do So Many NASCAR Fans Hate Our Troops?

This is disgusting:

What Perry's Brain Freeze Really Tells Us About The GOP Mentality

OK, I admit that I've watched Rick Perry's screw-up in the debate over and over again. It was hard to watch the first time, but it got more hilarious with repeated viewings.

I recently told a friend that the reason Perry forgot the Department of Energy when he said he'd get rid of three agencies of government -- but could not remember the third one -- was because every GOP presidential candidate is competing with each other to demonstrate who hates government the most; and in Perry's zeal to out-hate the rest of the field, he jumped right in without really thinking about what he was going to say. It is this thoughtless approach to the issue of governing, I argued, that pretty much defines the GOP these days.

E.J. Dionne takes this basic idea and runs with it:

* * * Would Perry end all federal aid to education? Would he do away with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the part of the Commerce Department that, among other things, tracks hurricanes? Energy was the department he forgot. Would he scrap the department’s 17 national labs, including such world-class facilities as Los Alamos, N.M., Oak Ridge, Tenn., or — there’s that primary coming up — Aiken, S.C.?

I’m not accusing Perry of wanting to do any of these things because I don’t believe he has given them a moment of thought. And that’s the problem for conservatives. Their movement has been overtaken by a quite literally mindless opposition to government. Perry, correctly, thought he had a winning sound bite, had he managed to blurt it out, because if you just say you want to scrap government departments (and three is a nice, round number), many conservatives will cheer without asking questions.

This is a long way from the conservatism I used to respect. Although I often disagreed with conservatives, I admired their prudence, their affection for tradition and their understanding that the intricate bonds of community are established with great difficulty over time and not easy to reweave once they are torn asunder. At their best, conservatives forced us to think harder. Now, many in the ranks seem to have decided that hard and nuanced thinking is a telltale sign of liberalism. * * *

Fucking-A.

Bonus Quotes of the Week

"I do view China as a potential military threat to the United States....They've indicated that they're trying to develop nuclear capability and they want to develop more aircraft carriers like we have. So yes, we have to consider them a military threat."

- Herman Cain (note to Cain: China has been "nuclear capable" for about a half a century -- it currently has around 3000 nuclear warheads in its arsenal).

It troubles me that Cain is imploding so badly as of late because I really would like to see him give Romney a run for his money. But I love how radical right wingers like Limbaugh and Coulter are trying to blame Democratic operatives for leaking the Cain sexual harassment story, which makes no sense politically given that every Democrat knows that Cain has no chance of getting the nomination (i.e., every Democratic operative out there would do everything in his or her power to keep Cain viable for as long as possible because it hurts Romney, who will almost certainly be the GOP nominee).

Either this leak came from a rival GOP campaign (somewhat likely) or from someone who worked for or was once a business associate of Cain and has a grudge against him (highly likely).

And here is another quote from this week that I liked. It's from retired Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY), and he made these remarks yesterday while testifying in front of the so-called Super Committee:

“Just a quick note about Grover Norquist. If Grover Norquist is now the most powerful man in America, he should run for president. There’s no question about his power. And let me tell you, he has people in thrall. That’s a terrible phrase. Lincoln used it. It means your mind has been captured. You’re in bondage with a soul.

“So here he is. I asked him. He said, ‘My hero is Ronald Reagan.’ I said, ‘Well, he raised taxes 11 times in his eight years.’ And he said, ‘I know. I didn’t like that at all.’ I said, ‘Well, he did it. Why do you suppose?’ He said, ‘I don’t know. Very disappointing.’ I said, ‘He probably did it to make the country run, another sick idea.’”

Grover Norquist is, of course, the anti-tax crusader who has secured pledges from a majority of Republican members of Congress -- including all six GOP Super Committee members -- to never vote to raise taxes under any circumstances, even during times of war (which goes a long way to explaining why we have such a huge deficit right now). I've long felt that signing such a pledge displayed a deep hatred for America, and I'm glad to see that the GOP is starting to pay a political price for such lunacy.

Quote of the Week

"Our blacks are so much better than their blacks. To become a black Republican, you don't just roll into it. You're not going with the flow...and that's why we have very impressive blacks in the Republican party."

Ann Coulter.