To the editor:

State Sen. Chris Steineger suggests in his letter of July 22 that his fellow Democratic colleague, state Sen. Mark Gilstrap, is some sort of victim, deprived of his constitutional rights by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, because he supports Phill Kline in his re-election bid as Johnson County district attorney. This is absurd. No one is preventing Gilstrap from speaking (positively) about or associating with Kline. But actions have consequences, and party leaders have as much right to work for his primary opponent as anyone else if they do not agree with him.

At the national level, we find a similar situation with Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., an “Independent Democrat” who supports Sen. John McCain. Sen. Lieberman also faces sanctions by the party and the likelihood that his Democratic colleagues will work for his defeat in 2012, but no one, including Sen. Lieberman, is suggesting that these actions would constitute infringement on his constitutional rights.

If Sen. Steineger really believes what he is saying, then he might consider a refresher course on what we are all constitutionally guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.

Alice Lieberman,

Lawrence