To the editor:

Being a relatively newcomer to Kansas, I’m still learning a great deal about our town and state. I believe our move to Lawrence was a good thing, and this is a wonderful town where a large number of the residents hold progressive views.

However, there have been disappointments come out of our capitol in Topeka. The most recent is the de-listing of the red belly snake as told to us in the Oct. 18 Journal-World.  The legislators who prompted this are bullies who used threats of retaliation to get their way. By the way, who are they?  Their names should be published.    

Do we have a system where threats by these bullies can cause undesirable outcomes for all of us, including our environment and all its creatures? John Muir left us with a profound reminder: “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” What is next? Who will feel the next tug?

We teach our children to neither be a bully nor accept a bully’s actions towards ourselves or others. We have a legislature containing bullies who can continue to threaten us with retaliation in order to get their way. Their success in this recent action will undoubtedly lead them to use the tactic again. Who will feel its touch? Where will it be? Will it tug at you?