In his column July 3, Leonard Pitts Jr. wrote, “There are two particularly effective methods of manipulating people. The first is to create fear. Fearful people are easily stampeded.”

Fear has been used over and over by the Christian Civic League to ensure that equal rights are not attained by “gays.” It appears they scored again by convincing Republican legislators to bail out on LD 1237.

In an editorial July 3, the Portland Press Herald wrote, “Republicans fail to show courage on anti-bully bill. House members should have stuck by their earlier votes and approved the law.”

I immediately emailed Rep. Jerrod Crockett. His timely reply: “The concept behind LD 1237 was good, but if you read the text of the bill we would be creating definitions in law that are still not clear and could be problematic. The other idea to consider is school boards already have the authority to regulate bullying on school grounds. So the bill asked the Legislature to become involved in playground politics.”

Again, from the Press Herald: “The bill had moved easily along the path toward passage earlier in the legislative session, but hit a dead end Wednesday after the Christian Civic League issued an “action alert in opposition.”

If school boards were capable or even interested in stopping bullying, it would have been stopped a long time ago.

I think “playground politics” has nothing to do with the terrible hurt and humiliation that students who are bullied suffer.

We need this law.

Nancy Willard, Woodstock