Connecticut State Representative DebraLee Hovey Apologizes For Comments Made About Gabby Giffords During Newtown Visit

Hartford, CT (WIBX) - DebraLee Hovey is apologizing for comments that she made on her Facebook page about former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' visit with the families of the Newtown shooting victims.

An editorial in The Hartford Courant summed up reaction to the original Hovey comment, in which Hovey told Giffords to "Stay out of my towns," this way: "In content and syntax, state Rep. DebraLee Hovey embarrassed herself, the General Assembly and the state."

In her apology Hovey said that she intended her comments to be construed as protective of the privacy of the families and the community, and did not intend for them to be seen as a personal attack against Giffords.

The Hartford Courant editors did one better, posting some advice for anyone else reading who might take to social media to launch an attack against anyone: "Perhaps the lesson, for politicians and the rest of us, is to think, reflect for a moment, before using social media. It is the electronic Pandora's Box."