You don’t have to agree with someone to acknowledge they’ve become a convenient target for bullies.
You don’t have to like them, vote for them, sit with them at a party meeting, or agree with a word they say in public.
But be real enough to acknowledge what’s happening.
Public life is full of disagreement. Good. We need more people willing to argue over policy, question elected officials, challenge party leaders, speak during public comment, and push back when they think government is wrong.
Bullying is something else.
It’s not one sharp exchange or rude comment; but a pattern.
We see the same person targeted again and again. The same group piling on.
Those same threats. Those same insults, personal attacks and labels follow the target to every meeting; they show up under every post.
The bullies win, and in their victory reveal that the discomfiting result is exactly what they wanted. The target falls silent, and leaves the board, party or organization.
Sometimes the target stays. But others watching the target take the arrows decide they’ll never risk public involvement.
Bullying grows stronger when an audience rewards the behavior.
Online, one person starts. Someone else piles on. Another adds a rumor. Friends get tagged. Screenshots travel. Soon the original issue disappears, and the person becomes the issue.
How lazy.
In a public meeting, the pattern looks different but works the same way. Someone gets interrupted every time they speak. A citizen gets mocked from the front of the room. A party member gets belittled whenever they challenge leadership.
The chair lets it continue. People stay quiet or look away.
Everyone in the room learns… something. They learn what happens when a disfavored person dares to contribute.
Those lessons change civic participation.
People sometimes say politics requires thick skin. Sure. Expect disagreement. Expect criticism. Expect people to question your facts, your judgment, your vote, and your priorities.
You don’t have to accept repeated intimidation as the price of admission.
A community where only the loudest or most aggressive people stay involved isn’t healthier. A political party where people quit because leaders tolerate abuse isn’t stronger.
A public meeting where citizens stay silent to avoid becoming the next target isn’t more representative.
And the loss spreads, until the whole community ends up hearing from fewer people, with fewer perspectives.
You also don’t need to become the next combatant.
Instead, name the behavior without pretending to know the motive.
“Let her finish.”
“This is getting personal.”
“We’ve heard the disagreement. Let’s stay on the issue.”
“Chairman, the same speaking rules need to apply to everyone.”
You’re addressing conduct, not accusing someone of being evil or afraid. Once you start assigning motives, you’ve entered the same kind of personal fight you were trying to stop.
Public support matters too. So does private support.
If someone gets targeted repeatedly, tell them you saw it happen. If it happened in a meeting, ask the chair to enforce the rules. If it happened online, don’t feed the pile-on.
And remember, free speech doesn’t settle this question.
Someone has a right to say something ugly. You have a right to say the behavior is unacceptable. A meeting chair enforcing neutral rules isn’t censorship.
Voters deciding they don’t want to reward candidates who traffic in personal attacks aren’t suppressing speech.
Wyoming voters have shown this before.
But here’s what changed. In 2024, outside money and PAC-funded attack ads built on lies and innuendo worked in race after race. Reps. Cody Wylie and J.T. Larson sued the Wyoming Freedom PAC after mailers falsely claimed they’d voted to strip President Trump off the ballot. A judge dismissed the case this year, ruling the lies didn’t meet the “actual malice” standard the law demands for public officials.
Legally, the PAC was in the clear.
But on the grassroots level, voters shunned the PAC’s darlings. And at the 2026 primary they rejected numerous candidates tied to that kind of campaigning.
The public response changed.
Memories are short.
Bullying returns when people ignore the pattern. It works when the complacent crowd allows it, or the intellectually lazy crowd joins it.
Wyoming people don’t like bullies. We don’t like them in public office. We don’t like them online. We don’t like them at political meetings. And we don’t like watching them go after our neighbors.
So when you see the pattern, don’t join in. Don’t reward the behavior. Interrupt without escalating.
And don’t leave the person being targeted standing there alone.
Gail Symons can be reached at gailsymons@mac.com
